J. of Design Research (13 papers in press)

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  Using the creativity support index to evaluate a product-service system design toolkit ( Free Full-text Access )

  by Ivo Dewit, Celine Latulipe, Francis Dams, Alexis Jacoby 
  Abstract: The design of product-service systems (PSS) is one of the more recent evolutions in the field of design and innovation. The approach for designing products and services in an integrated way holds the opportunity for developing more value for the user and the entire value chain. Despite the existence of various PSS design tools and methods to optimize this creative development process, it remains unclear to what extent the full array of tools supports the design team in their creative work. In this article, we present the results of four years of iterative evaluation of a PSS Design Toolkit deployed in a graduate education setting, using the Creativity Support Index (CSI), a psychometrically-validated instrument. By using the CSI longitudinally, the results enabled us to iteratively improve the PSS Design Toolkit to better support future generation designers for the challenges that come with designing these product-service systems.
  Keywords: product-service systems; design inclusive research; design education; design process; toolkit; creativity support; front-end of innovation; exploration.
  DOI: 10.1504/JDR.2021.10040621
   
  
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• Design judgement processes in mature Swedish manufacturing companies  
  by Torbjörn Andersson 
  Abstract: Industrial designers make decisions in a different way from other professions. This creates a discrepancy in cross-functional development projects that impacts both the organisation and how strategic decisions are made in a company. A multi-case study was conducted to investigate how design functions in five mature Swedish manufacturing companies were organised and how they made design decisions. Sixteen senior design managers, chief designers, and senior studio engineers were interviewed. The research found that design teams could be organised in three separate ways, depending on the level of strategic involvement in the company and how many were assigned to the team. The respondents described a dual decision process where proposals are judged in a continuum between two intuitive measures, 'Wow' and 'Shame', and a compromise phase with input from other company functions. The results can aid senior management in their understanding of strategic design functions and further the academic design decision discourse.
  Keywords: design management; dual decision-making; intuitive decision making; industrial design; new product development.
  DOI: 10.1504/JDR.2021.10038513
   
  
• Complexity in simplicity: the effects of visual complexity on consumers comprehension of product innovations  
  by Peiyao Cheng, Ruth Mugge, Cees De Bont 
  Abstract: Designers are frequently involved in embodying product innovations. It is challenging to embody really new products (RNPs) because consumers often have difficulty comprehending them. This study explores the value of visual complexity for designing RNPs. In study 1, an experiment was conducted (n = 77) to test the effects of visual complexity on consumers’ comprehension of INPs and RNPs. The results revealed different effects for INPs and RNPs. Specifically, a more complex appearance triggers congruence with the functions of a RNP, which facilitates consumers’ comprehension. For INPs, no effects for visual complexity were found. Based on this finding and the aesthetic value of simplicity in product design, the design strategy
  Keywords: congruence; consumer comprehension; design research; product appearance; product innovation; visual complexity.
  DOI: 10.1504/JDR.2020.10039324
   
  
• Assessing the social and physical walkability of interior public places: the uses of para-public spaces as third spaces by people with disabilities  
  by Alexander Katsanis, Tiiu Poldma 
  Abstract: This study examines the social and physical walkability of para-public spaces such as commercial malls, both as accessible places where people congregate and as places where social relations are made spontaneously, whether positive or negative. The study was conducted using a mixed methods approach, with data collected about people and their movements in going to, and engaging in, social activities.The study environment is a recently renovated commercial complex where changes were made with researchers who engaged in projects within a previous Living Lab study This study is one of many that was conducted after changes were made to see if earlier renovations supported access to, and the walkability of, the interior public places.
  Keywords: walkability; universal design; interior spaces; para-public malls; mixed methods design research; para-public spaces.
  DOI: 10.1504/JDR.2021.10040927
   
  
• Family narratives and identity navigation in social design: a method of analysis  
  by Eva Knutz, Thomas Markussen, Valentijn Visch, E.S.H. Tan 
  Abstract: The aim of this paper is to show how an interdisciplinary merging of social design and narrative theory can increase understanding of how vulnerable families navigate personal and shared identities. We draw upon results from a design research project that introduces board games in prisons to help children to develop bonds with their incarcerated fathers. In our case study, we offer a method of analysis that enables design researchers to delve into the complex field of identity navigation. Further, we offer a focused reflection arguing that the vulnerability of these families can be conceived as family identities being broken or challenged. We attempt to show that identity is constructed through family members' co-authoring of family narratives, which manifest themselves in different formats, such as master narratives and counter narratives. Design research has the potential to examine identity formations by applying narrative theory in practice.
  Keywords: social design; social games; identity navigation; family narratives; master narratives; constructive design research.
  DOI: 10.1504/JDR.2020.10041032
   
  
• Facilitating collaborative processes in transdisciplinary research using design prototyping  
  by Daniela Peukert, David P. M. Lam, Andra I. Horcea-Milcu, Daniel J. Lang 
  Abstract: This article explores the application of design prototyping as a creative method to support collaborative processes within transdisciplinary sustainability research and to meet the challenges they pose. By drawing on discourses on integration, mutual learning and co-production, we identified six different interrelated challenges, concerning (1) diversity, (2) communication, (3) power, (4) epistemology, (5) personal and team, and (6) focus. We applied design prototyping in four workshops that pertained to different phases of a transdisciplinary research process and represented typical collaborative research activities. Our analysis illustrates how design prototyping contributes to addressing the challenges of collaboration, thereby expanding the methodological canon of transdisciplinary research. In particular, it helps to create conditions for future-oriented transformations and their prerequisites, such as trust, common understanding and appreciation of the other. Consequently, we argue that design prototyping can be used to facilitate knowledge integration and collaboration between the variety of actors involved in transdisciplinary processes.
  Keywords: challenges; design research; design methods; integration; knowledge co-production; transition research; transformation; co-creation.
  DOI: 10.1504/JDR.2021.10041108
   
  
• Consistency one-to-many: an analysis of cross-platform visual consistency in the most accessed global sites  
  by Ana Cristina Antunes, Jorge Souto, Inga Saboia 
  Abstract: Users are accessing the same content on multiple platforms. In a user-centric perspective, these different platforms impose different constraints to web designers, namely visually, since the graphic elements of the interfaces need to be adapted and reconfigured to multiple contexts and screen sizes. In this context, visual consistency emerges as a relevant issue because of its impact on user experience across desktop and mobile screens. This study examines visual consistency on the world's most accessed fifteen websites, in their smartphone and desktop versions. Our findings suggest that users perceive different levels of cross-platform visual consistency. There are visual elements, like image texture in logos, icons and photographs, where standards and conventions clearly emerge. But when we examined elements like image size, results suggest less perceived visual consistency.
  Keywords: web design; interface design; responsive sites; multi-platform transition; cross-platform consistency; web graphical elements; consistency; perception of consistency; visual consistency; user-centric.
  DOI: 10.1504/JDR.2021.10041109
   
  
• Designing for the next generation of augmented books  
  by Emily Corrigan-Kavanagh, David Frohlich, Haiyue Yuan, Miroslaw Bober 
  Abstract: This paper presents an advanced process for designing 'a-books', which are augmented printed books with multimedia links presented on a nearby device. Although augmented paper is not new, our solution facilitates mass market use through industry standard publishing software that generates the a-book, and regular smartphones that play related digital media by optically recognising its ordinary paper pages through the phone's built-in camera. This augmented paper strategy informs new classifications of digital content within publication design, enabling new immersive reading possibilities. Complementary affordances of print and digital, and how these are combined and harnessed by a-books in comparison with previous augmented paper concepts are first discussed. Subsequently, an explanation of the workflow for designing a-books is described. The final discussion includes implications for content creators of paper-based publishing, and future research plans.
  Keywords: designing a-books; interaction design; graphic design; design technology; information design; design tools; designing for augmented paper; publication design; reading experiences.
  DOI: 10.1504/JDR.2021.10041110
   
  
• Designing Design Prompts: A Systematic Approach to Support Engineering Design Research  
  by Maria Vittoria Elena, Apurva Patel, Joshua D. Summers 
  Abstract: Experiments that study engineering design rely on participants responding to design prompts (problem statements). Moreover, researchers test multiple variables with small participant pools. In such situations multiple design prompts may be used to boost replication by giving each participant an equivalent problem with a different experimental condition. This paper presents a systematic approach to compare given design prompts using a two-step process that allows an initial comparison of the prompts and a post-experiment verification of the similarity of the given prompts. Comparison metrics are provided which can be used to evaluate a level of similarity of existing prompts as well as develop similar problems. These metrics include complexity (size, coupling, and solvability), familiarity, and prompt structure. Statistical methods are discussed for post-experiment verification. Guidelines are provided for a post-experiment survey. The proposed approach is demonstrated through an experiment where two design prompts were used for within-subject replication.
  Keywords: engineering design; design research; experimental studies; protocol studies; design problems; design prompt; empirical studies; empirical research; empirical design research; research validation.
  DOI: 10.1504/JDR.2020.10041382
   
  
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