Key Factors in the Medical Examination Product Design and Development Using Human Cell Image Totems

The industry of cultural creativity has a significant influence on the overall economy of a country. The development and application of cultural and creative products in different fields are growing more diverse. In the field of medicine, cultural and creative products can deliver more than aesthetic functions. They can bring healing benefits for patients with different symptoms in different age groups. Creative product designs that combine medicine and cultural/artistic creativity can make medical products warmer and friendlier to users. Focusing on the creative design of medical examination products, this study aims to provide references for more creative and friendly design of medical examination products to help reduce the fear and anxiety of patients when using such products. In this study, micro images of human cells are converted into totems as design elements for the design and development of cultural and creative products. These image totems not only represent the lively cellular world inside human body but also add aesthetics to the product design and make the products look warmer and friendlier to users. The research methods of literature survey, expert interview survey, and analytic hierarchy process (AHP) to first find out the factors in the medical product design using image totems of human cell mutation and reproduction and then measure the relative weight of each factor. Hopefully, the findings of this study can provide references for the creative design and development of medical examination products and help to enhance the design effectiveness.     Keywords: cultural creativity industry, medical examination, products with healing effects, expert interview, analytic hierarchy process (AHP

Emotion-centred design : a human factors approach in affective web design : a thesis for fulfilment of a Master of Philosophy degree, College of Design, Fine Arts and Music

This thesis hypothesised that a major factor in the failure of many e-Commerce ventures was the lack of emotion imparted into the design, with trust barriers still being to the fore, and a lack of affective human factors like fun, pleasure and joy in the user experience. The human brain often acts emotionally before rationally and this affects initial reactions to experiences and the propensity to purchase online. A key to understanding human-computer communication is that form should follow emotion (as well as function). A wide range of design concepts and theories are analysed for linkages to human emotion due to the exploratory nature of this thesis. Aspects of New Media design such as video, sound, images, colour and virtual reality are covered along with previous research into affective human factors; transferability of emotional elements from other products; and the importance of trust and prevention of negative emotions. Case examples are provided throughout via screenshots and commentary, including a special section on the way that the Nike site has met many emotional design criteria. Research into the opinions of designers and users is undertaken via questionnaires to verify literary findings and measure views on emotional appeal within Websites. It was found that there are misunderstandings of human-computer communication - with designers not meeting user expectations in some areas, even though many designers agree that emotional design is important. In particular, there needs to be a better understanding of how to integrate fun, social contact, colour, trust and sound into designs. Emotion is core to human function, and evolution has seen the emotional parts of the brain grow long before rational areas arose. Given the importance of emotion it is only natural that an emphasis should be placed on it in design philosophies. Whilst some designers are realising the importance of this in consumer products this concept needs to be further emphasised in the world of e-Commerce. Designers surveyed in this thesis were nearly all following a form follows function or a subjective/intuitive design philosophy. However, it was found that there was a good level of support (70%) for emotional design. A gap was established from this fact because only 45% believe they are currently using a high level of emotional design in practice. Chi-square tests showed that there were a number of significant relationships between the level of education and other questionnaire variables such as the importance of colour and recontextualising from car and game design. Establishing trust helps to overcome the core human emotion of fear. Branding, seals of approval and high quality navigation are amongst the elements that can assist in bridging human-computer distrust. Predispositions and previous experiences can also affect initial trust values. Questionnaire results found that designers still believe that lack of trust is a major psychological barrier to purchasing online. Major trust dimensions from previous empirical research were all deemed important. It was also found that users and designers rated trust near the top of emotional themes to concentrate on in Web design. Negative emotions (anger and frustration) can also arise if the design is not inherently usable. Usability was the top-rating design theme amongst designers. There has to be a good balance between the rational and emotional sides. Further negative emotions can be evoked if the site is slow or if there are delays. Speed of loading was amongst the top emotional design elements for both users and designers. It is a difficult line for designers to tread - on one hand using speed to prevent negative emotions, but on the other hand balancing the need for other design elements that generate positive emotions through fun and pleasure characteristics (that might slow things down). Designers involved in this study were very much in agreement with the importance of choosing colours to match the emotions they wanted to evoke in visitors (based on understandings of colour-emotion stereotypes and 'temperatures'). Colour can achieve harmonious interactions or cause rejection by the human brain depending on its application. The survey of users revealed that almost half of the respondents counted colour in their top 5 emotional themes, whereas designers did not think, it was as important as other emotive dimensions. Different cultures may respond differently to metaphorical images, colours, and dimensions such as power-distance and masculinity. Nearly all designers believed that empathising with target users (a part of emotional intelligence) was very important, as was involving users in the design process (usercentred design). Only 50% of users felt that designers were respecting their demographies and culture, so there is still a large number of people who feel they could be more satisfied in this sense. It is proposed that more user testing be carried out in conjunction with frameworks that rate cultural dimensions based on target audiences. The use of video and streaming media was portrayed to be a proposition requiring careful consideration and application by previous non-empirical references. Streaming video can connect with people on an emotional level, bringing in a degree of surprise and variation, and fully highlight the appealing characteristics of the product(s) trying to be sold online. Other New Media technologies such as virtual reality (VR) and 3D have been around for quite awhile (in computer games and scientific applications) but are yet to achieve widespread usage in Website e-Commerce. Some literature is against the use of VR and 3D on the Web but several companies have been receiving accolades in this area because of the ability to bridge an emotional gap between brands and consumers. Questionnaire results showed that most design respondents did not think streaming media, 3D and VR were important in order to gain emotional connections. However, higher bandwidth speeds that will facilitate more use of streaming media and 3D are deemed favourable by designers in terms of increasing emotional appeal. The need for social contact, familiarity and recognition of expressions and gestures led to the proposition of using virtual shop assistants and agents. Contact in the form of live text chat can also fulfil some social needs and plays a big part in portraying trustworthiness since a real person is being interacted with. Designers surveyed in this study were reasonably evenly distributed amongst those in favour, unsure and in disagreement with the use of agents. Surprisingly, given that users would not have had much exposure to virtual agents and characters online, they actually deemed them amongst the highest rating emotional design elements - creating a gap between user expectations and designer actions. Resources revealed that sound can account for a large part of an overall experience. Sound creates mood and atmosphere, and is present in the physical retail environment. Although literature stresses the importance of sound to Web design, designers in this study were of quite the opposite view. Sound was not deemed to be an important experience (near the bottom of ranked emotional dimensions). Users, however, rated sound amongst the middle group of emotional elements. More use of sound is an opportunity for the future. Two broad product ranges - automobiles and computer games - were investigated to see what made them such emotion-centred items. Cars and games evoke feelings of pleasure, fun, flow and fantasy because of their design. Designers favoured interactivity, colour use and fun as gaming elements best applied to Web design. More than half of designer respondents believed that the design of cars and games can be recontextualised into Web design, and most users were definitely in favour of seeing emotional elements they like about cars and games placed into Websites. Dimensions and potential mechanisms for measuring or assessing the emotional intelligence of Websites are proposed, and these include the use of semantic maps to position and compare Websites based on their performance against dimensions such as fun, warmth, trustworthiness, use of colour and the ability to engage users on a social level. The capability of building emotion into a Website is then balanced with the need for high-quality navigation, functionality and usability - as poor efforts in these 'rational' areas can lead to negative emotions and distrust. The design also has to keep in line with the demands of the company wanting the Website built. This study was exploratory - with the aim of bringing out into the open some aspects of New Media e-Commerce design that could he better utilised in order to match the emotions and feelings of customers - potentially leading to higher degrees of sales success. This thesis is therefore hoped to be a catalyst for further study in this area.<

Public relation activities in Islamic banking industry: an approach of circuit of culture (COC) model

Purpose – This paper has adopted Circuit of Culture (COC) model as theoretical framework to examine the role of religion in influencing the public relations activity of Islamic banking institutions in Malaysia. Design/methodology/approach – A narrative analysis is used in this study. This analysis is basically involved the application of symbolic interactionist tenets to respective websites and relevant documents of Islamic banks in Malaysia. Findings – The paper has identified six Islamic value orientations elements, especially respect for religious authority, affinity with the past, fatalism, communal kinship, attachment to the eternal life and spirituality and idealism relative to public relations practice among the Islamic banks in Malaysia. The study finds that the respective banks are embedded with Islamic values in their communication tools that reflecting public relations activity. Research limitations/implications – The theme of value orientations that have been generated and used in this study are constantly in flux. There are some other orientations that might be affecting the cultural value of public relations activities of Islamic banking in Malaysia. Furthermore, these value orientations are less effective in identifying dominating cultural factors that can be amended with situational flexibility since the current study focuses on Malaysian context. Future research is required by incorporating a quantitative means of testing and measuring the effectiveness of website by using cultural- economic model for building Practical implications – The study suggests that public relations researchers should not ignore the vital relationship between religion and public relations activity. The findings of this paper provide Islamic banking institutions to improve and enhance their public relations activity. Originality/value – This paper offers an additional literature related to public relations activity by employing Cultural-Economic model. While previous studies have focused on product, brand matters and organisation behavior to define cultural and public relation, very little research has been focused on the role of religion in determining public relations activity and cultural pattern. Indeed, no any study have been focused explicitly on public relations activity of Islamic banks in Malaysia using Circuit of Culture (COC

A case study of African-Adinkra and Korean Symbols

학위논문 (석사)-- 서울대학교 대학원 : 미술대학 디자인학부, 2019. 2. 정의철.오늘날의 글로벌 시장에서 대부분의 디자인 제품은 이전에 비해 형식이 점점 더 동일 해지고 있다. 또한 시장에 나와 있는 브랜드 로고를 자세히 들여다 보지 않으면 일부 제품 라인의 차이점을 알기가 매우 어려워지고 있다. 증가하는 제품의 정체성 손실에 대응하기 위해서 전통 문화적 측면을 상징하는 기호, 패턴 등을 제품 디자인에 통합하는 것은 독창적인 제품의 정체성을 제공 할 수 있다. 본 연구의 목적은 Adrinkra" 서 아프리카 기호와 함께 일부 한국어 기호의 의미를 탐구하고, 특징을 추출하여 현대 소비자의 요구를 충족 시키는 제품 디자인으로 변환 할 수 있는 방법을 분석하고 제안하는 것 이다. 따라서 본 연구는 원래의 의미를 강화하거나 이러한 전통적 문화 상징에서 새로운 의미를 창조함으로써 현재의 글로벌 디자인 요구에 부응 하면서도 역사와 유산을 보존 할 수 있는 정체성을 구축하는 것에 목적을 두었고, 동시대 뿐만 아니라 심층적인 문화적 의미를 담고 있는 특수한 언어의 디자인으로 귀결 될 수 있는 방법을 보여 주려고 시도했다. 본 연구는 전통적인 기호를 기반으로 일련의 가구 제품을 구현 하는데 에 중점을 두었다. 이를 위해 의미와 인지도에 따라 Adinkra" 기호와 한국어 기호 일부를 선택 하였고 제품의 설계 가능성을 확인하기 위해 상징적 및 문자적 의미, 속담 표현 및 사회 문화적 맥락을 조사했다. 선택 후 기호학 이론 및 제품 형식 설계에 대한 명확한 분석을 기반으로 다양한 가구 제품 세트가 CAD 프로그램을 통해 구현 되었다.Most of the design products on todays global market, are increasingly becoming more identical in form than before. Without closely looking at brand logos, which also sometimes look similar form-wise, it is becoming so difficult to tell the difference between some product lines. In an attempt to counter the increasing product identity loss, traditional cultural aspects such as symbols, patterns, among others can offer a special character that can be incorporated into product design in order to create product forms that can enjoy a sense of uniqueness. This research project intended to explore the meaning of Adrinkra West African symbols alongside some Korean symbols, translate and extract some features, analyze and suggest how they can transform into product-form designs that can address taste of contemporary market. Therefore, the project attempted to demonstrate how, by interrogating the original meaning or by creation of new meaning out of these traditional cultural symbols can result into a special language of design that is not only contemporary, but with an embodiment of deep traditional cultural identity that can help preserve history and heritage while serving the current global design demands. Through an analysis of semiotics theory and product form design, this project focused on developing a series of furniture products based on Several Adinkra alongside some Korean traditional symbols which were identified upon their popularity. Symbolic and literal meanings, proverbial-expressions and Socio-cultural contexts were further investigated towards identifying product design possibilities.CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1 1.1. Overview 1 1.2. Background to the study 1 1.3. Statement of the Problem 2 1.4. General Objective 2 1.5. Specific Objectives 3 1.6. Research question 3 1.7. Propositions 3 1.8. Relevance of the study 3 1.9. Delimitation 4 1.10. Limitation 4 1.11. Definition of Terms 4 1.12. Order of the text 4 CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE 5 2.1. Overview 5 2.2. Symbol 5 2.3. Theory of Signs and Symbols 6 Overview 6 2.4. Semiotics 7 2.5.1. Metaphors and product semiotics 8 2.5.2. How to create meaning (in physical form-design) 9 2.6. Society as sign users 11 2.6.1. Cultural semiotics 11 2.6.2. Semiotic model of product design concept 12 2.7. Cultural objects and design features 13 2.8. Adinkra Symbols 15 2.8.1. Origin 15 2.8.2. Some elements, rules and principles of African design 20 2.9. Korean symbols 22 2.9.1. Symbolism of Colors in Korea 22 2.9.2. The 8 Marks (p'al kwai): Truths of Life and Nature 25 2.9.3. More Korean symbols and patterns 26 2.9.6. Some other famous symbols around the world 27 2.9.7. The swastika 27 CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY 28 3.1. Overview 28 3.2. Research design 28 3.2.1. Strengths of research approaches used 28 3.3. Library Research Activities 29 3.5. Research tasks 29 3.4. Population for the study (targeted users) 29 Summary of the process from symbols to products 30 4.4. Key Aspects that were Considered by the project 31 4.4.1. Symbolic association 31 4.4.2. The social value of products 31 4.4.3. Design for symbolic association 31 4.4.4. Symbolicaesthetic interaction Connections and Semanticsymbolic interaction 31 4.4.5. Aestheticsemantic interaction 32 CHAPTER FOUR: DESIGN PROJECTS 33 4.1. Some of the design products designed based on symbols 33 4.1.1. Some inspiration furniture products (Visual references) 34 4.1.2. Some African Designed furniture inspirations 36 4.2. Identification of traditional symbols for 1st, 2nd and 3rd projects 37 4.2.1. Reason for picking these particular symbols 37 4.2.2 Identification of product possibilities 37 4.5. The Safe Bar/ kitchen dining Stool project 38 4.5.1. 3D renders and application to home-environment 39 4.5.2. The Basket Stool 40 4.6. The Spiral Stool 41 4.7. The Energy-table project 42 4.8. Mwami Akoye (Exhausted Dad) 44 4.9. Korean based symbols Projects 45 4.10. Nkyinkyim symbol (Twisted chair project) 46 CHAPTER FIVE: FINAL PROTOTYPE 47 5.1. The yin yang coffee table 47 5.2. Material Research 47 5.3. Color Research 48 5.4. Final Product and Exhibition Process 50 REFERENCE 51Maste

The application of Han Dynasty cultural elements to modern product design

Chinese Han Culture, as Chinese nation's "core culture", is the cultural symbol of Chinese nation, and played an important role in the history of Chinese cultural development, even in the history of world cultural development. Designing in the Han Dynasty, while inheriting Chinese traditional culture, but also having its unique style, are appreciated and respected by the people nowadays. In a modern society where the design is becoming more diversified, the innovative design based on traditional culture and art has its unique charm and vitality. This paper presented our recent research on the application of Han Dynasty cultural elements to modern product design, reflected the local design connotation of Han Dynasty cultural elements

The significance of information visualisation based on the symbolic semantics of Peking Opera Painted Faces (POPF)

Peking Opera as a branch of Chinese traditional cultures and arts has a very distinct colourful facial make-up for all actors in the stage performance. Such make-up is stylised in typical cultural elements which all combined together to form the painted faces to describe and symbolise the background and characteristic of specific roles. The Peking Opera Painted Faces (POPF) was taken as an example to study the information visualisation and transmission, to see how information and meanings can be effectively expressed through the colourful visual elements. In order to identify the state-of-the-art in the related Culture Inspired Design as one of the design principles, the literature resources including illustrations of POPF were investigated, and also the semantic features and elements of other similar forms of modern design which has close connection with multiple aspects of social life. The study has proved that the visual elements of POPF played the most effective role in the information transmittion. Future application of this culture resource may include product design, interaction design, system design and service design around the world

Taking real-life seriously : an approach to decomposing context beyond 'environment' in living labs

The maturity of Living Labs has grown and several researchers have tried to create a uniform definition of what Living Labs are by emphasizing the multi-method and real-life, contextual approach. Although researchers thus recognize the importance of context in Living Labs, they do not provide insights into how context can be taken into account. The real-life context predominantly focuses on the in-situ use of a product during field trials where users are observed in their everyday life. The contribution of this paper will be twofold. By means of a case study we will show how context can be evaluated in the front end of design, so Living Lab researchers are no longer dependent on the readiness level of a product, and we will show how field trials can be evaluated in a more structured way to cover all components of context. By using a framework to evaluate the impact of context on product use, Living Lab researchers can improve the overall effectiveness of data gathering and analysis methods in a Living Lab project

Cultural-based visual expression: Emotional analysis of human face via Peking Opera Painted Faces (POPF)

© 2015 The Author(s) Peking Opera as a branch of Chinese traditional cultures and arts has a very distinct colourful facial make-up for all actors in the stage performance. Such make-up is stylised in nonverbal symbolic semantics which all combined together to form the painted faces to describe and symbolise the background, the characteristic and the emotional status of specific roles. A study of Peking Opera Painted Faces (POPF) was taken as an example to see how information and meanings can be effectively expressed through the change of facial expressions based on the facial motion within natural and emotional aspects. The study found that POPF provides exaggerated features of facial motion through images, and the symbolic semantics of POPF provides a high-level expression of human facial information. The study has presented and proved a creative structure of information analysis and expression based on POPF to improve the understanding of human facial motion and emotion

Culture in the design of mHealth UI:An effort to increase acceptance among culturally specific groups

Purpose: Designers of mobile applications have long understood the importance of users’ preferences in making the user experience easier, convenient and therefore valuable. The cultural aspects of groups of users are among the key features of users’ design preferences, because each group’s preferences depend on various features that are culturally compatible. The process of integrating culture into the design of a system has always been an important ingredient for effective and interactive human computer interface. This study aims to investigate the design of a mobile health (mHealth) application user interface (UI) based on Arabic culture. It was argued that integrating certain cultural values of specific groups of users into the design of UI would increase their acceptance of the technology. Design/methodology/approach: A total of 135 users responded to an online survey about their acceptance of a culturally designed mHealth. Findings: The findings showed that culturally based language, colours, layout and images had a significant relationship with users’ behavioural intention to use the culturally based mHealth UI. Research limitations/implications: First, the sample and the data collected of this study were restricted to Arab users and Arab culture; therefore, the results cannot be generalized to other cultures and users. Second, the adapted unified theory of acceptance and use of technology model was used in this study instead of the new version, which may expose new perceptions. Third, the cultural aspects of UI design in this study were limited to the images, colours, language and layout. Practical implications: It encourages UI designers to implement the relevant cultural aspects while developing mobile applications. Originality/value: Embedding Arab cultural aspects in designing UI for mobile applications to satisfy Arab users and enhance their acceptance toward using mobile applications, which will reflect positively on their lives.</p