Using social distinctions in taste for analysing design styles across product categories

People can develop a taste for particular styles of design across a wide range of product categories. The literature has suggested that people’s preferences for such ‘cross-category’ design styles are influenced by social distinctions, based on education level and age bracket. In this article, we have argued more precisely that such social distinctions are indispensable as criteria for an analysis of cross-category design styles. In a quantitative study with over 400 people and 200 products in 10 product categories, we have demonstrated how design preferences across product categories are related to people’s education level and age bracket. We then qualitatively analysed people’s design preferences across product categories, and we arrived at seven cross-category design styles. Five of these styles could be identified only on the basis of the differences in design preferences between groups of a different age and education level, as established in previous studies. Taken together, this article has provided an approach for designers to analyse cross-category design styles, based on the inclusion of social distinction indicators (education level and age bracket) that help identify critical differences in people’s tastes

Decontaminating experiences with circular offerings

Keeping a product offering in the system through continued use and between multiple users creates the potential for interactions which become contaminated. These contaminated interactions can cause a barrier to material circulation and extended product lifetimes. This study seeks to identify the underlying design strategies useful in addressing contaminated interaction. Strategies were identified through an exploration of possible solutions to negative ontamination in two phases. Phase I involved identifying 70 existing solutions to instances of negative contaminated interaction and abstracting these to identify a more fundamental underlying principle. In Phase II, designers participated in a brainstorming session to identify as many solutions as possible to several contaminated interaction design briefs. The resulting 155 solutions were analysed together with the other data to generate a final set of strategies. In the end, eight strategies distilled from the analysis which are used to address contaminated interaction. The strategies represent preventative and responsive solutions applicable to various elements of the contamination process.Marketing and Consumer Researc

Objects with symbolic meaning: 16 directions to inspire design for well-being

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Using symbolic meaning as a means to design for happiness: The development of a card set for designers

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Experiment to measure the electron neutrino mass using a frozen tritium source

We are performing an experiment to determine the electron neutrino mass with the precision of a few eV by measuring the tritium beta decay energy distribution near the endpoint. Key features of the experiment are a 2 eV resolution electrostatic spectrometer and a high-activity frozen tritium source. It is important that the source have electronic wavefunctions which can be accurately calculated. These calculations can be precisely made for tritium and the HeT/sup +/ daughter ion and allow determination of branching fractions to 0.1% and energy of the excited states to 0.1 eV. We discuss the excited final molecular state calculations and describe the experimental apparatus. 2 references, 6 figures

Research and demonstration updates: ISU Rhodes Research Farm and PFI on-farm cooperator data

A recently completed study compared the economic return of hooped buildings versus conventional facilities. Factors considered included pig growth rate, feed efficiency, developing growth function, distrib-qtion of growth, production costs and returns, and rate of return on investment

A STUDY OF THE K0(L) STRONG INTERACTIONS IN THE MOMENTUM REGION 60-360 GeV/c

We propose to design, build and use a tertiary K{sub L}{sup 0} beam produced using the high intensity pion beam being built in the proton area. The main advantage of this beam over previous beam is the low neutron background (K{sub L}/n > 3). We propose to study the large transverse momentum dependence of the particles produced in the strong interactions of a K{sub L}{sup 0} beam, and also the production of leptons, and lepton pairs

New Outlook on the Possible Existence of Superheavy Elements in Nature

A consistent interpretation is given to some previously unexplained phenomena seen in nature in terms of the recently discovered long-lived high spin super- and hyper-deformed isomeric states. The Po halos seen in mica are interpreted as due to the existence of such isomeric states in corresponding Po or nearby nuclei which eventually decay by gamma- or beta-decay to the ground states of 210Po, 214Po and 218Po nuclei. The low-energy 4.5 MeV alpha-particle group observed in several minerals is interpreted as due to a very enhanced alpha transition from the third minimum of the potential-energy surface in a superheavy nucleus with atomic number Z=108 (Hs) and atomic mass number around 271 to the corresponding minimum in the daughter.Comment: 8 pages, 8 figures, 5 tables. Paper presented at VII Int. School-Seminar on Heavy Ion Physics, May 27 - June 1, 2002, Dubna, Russi

Testing the inverse-square law of gravity on a 465-m tower

We have performed a test of Newton’s universal theory of gravitation by comparing gravity measured on a tower to an upward continuation of the surface gravity field. We measured gravity at 12 heights on a 465-m tower at the Nevada Test Site and, in addition, made measurements at 281 locations on the ground. The surface points fell within 91 optimally chosen sectors that extended out to 2.6 km from the tower. These data were combined with 60000 additional surface gravity measurements within 300 km of the tower. We used a surface integral derived from Laplace’s equation to upward continue the surface gravity field and our observations are consistent with the Newtonian predictions to within (-60±95)×10^-8 m sec^-2 at the top of the tower

PSS Users and Harley Davidson Riders: : The importance of consumer identity in the diffusion of sustainable consumption solutions

This is the peer-reviewed version of the following article: Catulli, M., Cook, M. and Potter, S. (2016), ‘Product Service Systems Users and Harley Davidson Riders: The Importance of Consumer Identity in the Diffusion of Sustainable Consumption Solutions’, Journal of Industrial Ecology, which has been published in final form at 10.1111/jiec.12518. Under embargo. Embargo end date: 2 December 2018. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving. © 2016 by Yale UniversityThis paper sets out an approach to researching socio-cultural aspects of Product Service Systems (PSS) consumption in consumer markets. PSS are relevant to Industrial Ecology as they may form part of the mix of innovations that move society toward more sustainable material and energy flows. The paper uses two contrasting case studies drawing on ethnographic analysis, Harley Davidson motorcycles and Zip Car Car Club. The analysis draws on Consumer Culture Theory to explicate the socio-cultural, experiential, symbolic and ideological aspects of these case studies, focusing on product ownership. The paper shows that ownership of Harley Davidson motorcycles enables riders to identify with a brand community and to define themselves. Owners appropriate their motorcycles through customization. In contrast, Zip Car users resist the company’s attempts to involve them in a brand community, see use of car sharing as a temporary fix and even fear contamination from shared use of cars. We conclude that iconic products such as Harley Davidson motorcycles create emotional attachment and can challenge PSS propositions. But we also suggest that somewhat standardized products may present similar difficulties. Knowing more about socio-cultural aspects of PSS may help designers overcome these difficulties.Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio