1,720,962 research outputs found
Designing Communication Triggers for the Flexible Office Setting
No full textWith the rise of remote working opportunities, the definition of office is changing and this is also affecting the way that we shape our offices. Nowadays, more\u2028and more companies are switching to the flexible workspace. This shift is redefining the relationships and the communication motives colleagues have with each other. The project explores how the hindered aspect of communication can be revived with triggers in order to help the employees form deeper relationships. This is done via an iterative design process. The end results are guidelines for designing triggers and a digital product that houses the communication triggers.Design for Interactio
Focusing in flexible offices: A design research exploration into workstyle-based workplace selection in Open Plan Offices
No full textOffice work is becoming increasingly dynamic, requiring office workers to perform distinct activities rapidly. These activities range from meetings to individual work. Open plan offices (OPO) facilitate workplaces for office workers in a single hall. This causes office workers who perform distinct activities to share the same workspace. These different activities come into conflict with each other, since they produce different sound levels. Furthermore, the open hall of the OPO causes more co-worker interruptions in comparison with offices which are adjusted to occupants performing distinct activities. This thesis collaboration between Advanced Metropolitan Solutions (AMS) and the Living Office Design Lab (LODL) of the faculty of Industrial Design Engineering TU Delft, explores how to facilitate OPO occupants with distinct activities in achieving focus. Through 5 design interventions, a design guideline for achieving office focus is discovered, consisting of 3 elements. 1) Clustering office occupants based on their workstyle preference, decreases co-worker interruptions. 2) For workstyle-based clustering, office occupants need to communicate one of three workstyle preferences: “focus work”, “team work” or “social work”. “Focus work” workstyle communicates that the users don’t want co-worker interruption. “Team work” workstyle communicates that the occupant allows co-worker interruption, as long as the interruption is work related. “Social work” workstyle communicates that the user allows all interruptions, including non-work-related interruptions. 3) Workstyle preferences need to be communicated to the rest of the office by using indicators. Individual indicators are used for desk-to-desk workstyle preference communication. Zone indicators might enable occupants to find workstyle zones within the office. A set of tools that enables OPO occupants to communicate their workstyle preference, through personal and zone indicators, enables workplace selection based on workstyle preference. By enabling occupants to cluster through workstyle-based workplace selection, conflicting activities and co-worker interruptions are reduced.Design for Interactio
Decreasing multisensory nuisance in an open office: Researching and designing for the experience of office users
No full textIn the past few years, many companies have made the transition from an office with closed working spaces, towards open offices. The Dutch office of IKEA CBF made the transition to an open office in 2016, to support an activity-based way of working. This new way of working has to lead to an increase in complaints, about noise and distractions within the office. Co-workers commonly related this experience nuisance to auditory stimulation, however, visual or temporal stimuli could contribute to this as well. The experience of the office was researched from a co-worker centered perspective, through interviews and contextmapping session. This revealed that co-workers mainly experience nuisance, when they are being distracted during individual focused work activities. Co-workers identified that they experience nuisance caused by six main sources, both relating to the behavior of co-workers and office facilities. Where most co-workers experienced nuisance from co-workers conversation and movement/foot traffic. The amount of nuisance a co-workers experiences is mainly dependent on their role and the amount of individual work activities they perform. nuisance, than other co-workers. Next to this the individual experiences of co-workers are influenced by factors that influence the presence of specific sources and co-workers general ability to deal with nuisance. Co-workers here most frequently identified that individual needs and a low awareness about their own effect on their surroundings, to affect their general experience of nuisance. Finally co-workers all had an equal access to tools to protect themselves from nuisance. Consequently, co-workers’ general experience of nuisance could most effectively be decreased through a design intervention that improves co-workers’ ability to protect themselves from nuisance during individual work. Next to this Co-creation activities with the Com&In teamshowed that a physical design intervention, that could be applied as an individual solution to protect co-workers from nuisance, would most likely lead to valuable insights for the Com&In team. Following I developed Fridfold, a stimulation barrier aimed at decreasing the amount of nuisance that co-workers experience from auditory and visual stimulation, while working at their desks. This design aimed to make working at an individual deskspace feel ‘fridfull’ or serene, by having a calming effect on co-workers. To achieve this Fridfold was developed to both decrease the amount of stimulation and co-workers perception of stimulation. To achieve this, Fridfold aims to decrease co-workers perception of stimulation by increasing co-workers sense of control, through the interactivity of the design, and the perceived sound damping of materials, through the application of a three-dimensional textured screen. The evaluation of the design with students and co-workers showed that the Fridfold influenced the amount of visual stimulation and improved co-workers sense of control, through the interactivity of the design. Furthermore co-workers envisioned that Fridfold could decrease the nuisance experienced from interruptions. While three dimensional-texture of the screen could not influence the perceived sound damping due to other characteristics of the screen. Therefore, Fridfold should be evaluated within the context of the office to identify how the design can influence coworkers’ general experience of nuisance.Design for Interactio
Knitted Smart Textile Sensors: Integrating technlogy into garments by using knitting
No full textNowadays, people are using more and more technology to measure their body performances like smart watches, heart rate sensors etc. These are all separate devices. What if it were possible to integrate these into something we wear daily. Textiles are something everyone wears daily. It is a promising medium to integrate electronics in. Especially through knitting new possibilities arise. Different conductive and non-conductive yarns are explored with a focus on off-the-shelf available materials. The main yarn needing to be elastic to get the fabric back to its normal position after stretching. Knitted fabrics have a unique structure which is perfectly suited to create sensors with. A knitted fabric is stretchable without the yarn needing to be stretchable. This makes searching for good working conductive yarns easier, as non-stretchable conductive yarns are a lot more common. Previous research shows that creating sensors through knitting is possible and can be achieved with simple yarns. The structure of knitted fabrics is mainly useful for creating strain sensors. Using elastic yarn with silver conductive plated yarns, different sensor test samples are created. Optimization is done to improve the sensors' signal output. Two directions for knitting a sensor were tested. The optimized sensors are used in two prototypes that are able to measure the movement of the arm and the breathing pattern of the wearer. The arm movement prototype is tested with two sensors knitted in the vertical (wale) direction and the breathing sensor was made with a long strip of a sensor knitted in the horizontal (course) direction. Both arm and breathing sensors are integrated into a full garment prototype. This prototype is tested by doing different movements and seeing how movements affect the sensor behaviour. Possible designs of a shirt with integrated arm and breathing sensors are briefly discussed to show how the look of the shirt and the integrated sensors could complement each other. The final prototype's sensor data is evaluated and recommendations are made for follow up projects based on this research. This research sets a new and fruitful step in the direction of producing commercially viable body measurement clothing for the near future.Integrated Product Desig
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Design for Relatedness - Appreciation between colleagues to enhance well-being
No full textSocial well-being in the workplace is linked to the quality of relationships between co-workers. This project began by examining the affects of the flexible office (flex-office) at Delft municipality focusing on the relationships between co-workers and their feeling of relatedness, and continued with designing to enhance this feeling of relatedness. Appreciation is a key factor in the need for relatedness. Recognition from peers can build a sense of teamwork and of being part of a bigger purpose, especially for employees who work remotely or are not physically in the office regularly (Vacqua, 2019). Knowing and then using someone’s name can be considered a subtle and very effective compliment (Carnegie, 1936) and can be a form of recognition. This is because our brains need us to be liked by others. People with a ‘best friend’ at work are seven times more likely to be fully engaged in their work. However, these close and intimate relationships are challenged by flex-offices, which are being introduced more and more. People form less friendships in flex-office settings, because they feel like everyone is listening in; flex offices seem ‘too open for transparency’. Trying to counteract this by creating acoustic privacy is a big operation and does not immediately create enhanced relatedness. My design goal was to enhance the social well-being of employees in flex-offices by satisfying and supporting their need for relatedness. The first step towards relatedness is knowing each others’ names. This is a form of recognition, a subtle compliment and thus enhances the feeling of relatedness. Knowing your colleagues’ names can cause a sense of control over your environment and can give you enhanced freedom. Think about if you forgot a colleague’s name, this can cause very awkward situations and even make you avoid that colleague. But knowing your colleagues’ names is only the first step. The main reason for people to connect is proximity and if there is a functional need to connect. This proximity is thwarted by flex working and the Corona measures so people will only connect if there is a functional need to do so. Providing people with information on what they can use other people for might cause people to connect. People do not want to spend a lot of time on learning their colleagues’ names so timing is important. Through an iterative approach several design interventions led to a design where people receive a link once the meeting is made and 15 minutes prior to a meeting, with a name-learning tool and information on what you can approach these people for. After a meeting, all participants are encouraged to express appreciation to each other. Testing shows that it indeed leads to enhanced social well-being.Design for Interactio
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Innovation in a large scale agile organisation: A case study of ABN AMRO
No full textAgile methods seem to be the answer for today’s turbulent industries, and with it roots in software development, coincides neatly with the increasingly digital world we live in. ABN AMRO also decided to implement a large scale agile framework tailored to their company. Agile methodologies are known to work well at small scale and in an IT context, however at ABN AMRO they’ve implemented it for over 6000 employees from both business and IT departments. Unsurprisingly ABN AMRO faces challenges within this agile organisation. One area in which they’re struggling is managing innovation in a way that aligns with the flow of the tailored and scaled agile organisation. The objective was therefore; To design solution that better aligns innovation processes with the flow of the tailored and scale agile landscape. In addition, literature on large scale tailored agile transformation and innovation management within financial services firms is scarce. Both areas are relevant, however no research was found that combined these topics. Therefor in this thesis we attempt to find challenges for innovation management in a large scale tailored agile framework. In order to both find an answer to this question and help ABN AMRO the challenge was approached from two different streams. Firstly, a revelatory single-case study on ABN AMRO’s tailored agile framework served to understand how they tailored agile at such a large scale and what the challenges were. Secondly, through semi structured interviews with 18 ABN AMRO employees, their innovation management efforts were investigated as well as the challenges they experience with it. Both the challenges from a large scale agile perspective and the company-wide innovation management were merged into a set of six new challenges; “governance on innovation in the agile organisation”, “deficiency of exploration skills”, “getting innovation on the backlog”, “Lack of clear guidance & leadership on innovation”, “Dependencies & Limited Autonomy”, and “Organisational and Cultural legacy”. Based on these challenges a new design challenge was posited which was to design a solution that stimulates ownership and awareness amongst idea owners in the grid landscape towards customer problems and needs. This solution needed to provide clear guidance to enable autonomous and successful realisation of these customer centric innovations in the product and system oriented agile organisation. As a solution to the design challenge and in order to help ABN AMRO with their innovation management efforts, the “User Needs Integration Canvas” was created which is an innovation process that focuses on bridging the gap between customer needs and the complex nature of ABN AMRO’s agile organisation. This study further finds that agile methods don’t cover the innovation process in full, and thus extra efforts and support should go towards managing incremental innovation, the front-end of innovation specifically. In addition traditional financial service providers carry cultural legacy, lack innovation legacy and explorative competences. The role of the individual, with their skills, mindset and behaviour are imperative in in the journey towards a nimbler and more innovative financial service provider. There is no shortcut in becoming an innovative company, whilst a large scale agile framework is a step in the right direction, still a lot of time, effort and patience is needed beyond this stepStrategic Product Desig
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
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