Towards a kansei-based user modeling methodology for eco-design

We propose here to highlight the benefits of building a framework linking Kansei Design (KD), User Centered Design (UCD) and Eco-design, as the correlation between these fields is barely explored in research at the current time. Therefore, we believe Kansei Design could serve the goal of achieving more sustainable products by setting up an accurate understanding of the user in terms of ecological awareness, and consequently enhancing performance in the Eco-design process. In the same way, we will consider the means-end chain approach inspired from marketing research, as it is useful for identifying ecological values, mapping associated functions and defining suitable design solutions. Information gathered will serve as entry data for conducting scenario-based design, and supporting the development of an Eco-friendly User Centered Design methodology (EcoUCD).ANR-ECOUS

Measuring situation awareness in complex systems: Comparison of measures study

Situation Awareness (SA) is a distinct critical commodity for teams working in complex industrial systems and its measurement is a key provision in system, procedural and training design efforts. This article describes a study that was undertaken in order to compare three different SA measures (a freeze probe recall approach, a post trial subjective rating approach and a critical incident interview technique) when used to assess participant SA during a military planning task. The results indicate that only the freeze probe recall method produced a statistically significant correlation with performance on the planning task and also that there was no significant correlation between the three methods, which suggests that they were effectively measuring different things during the trials. In conclusion, the findings, whilst raising doubts over the validity of post trial subjective rating and interview-based approaches, offer validation evidence for the use of freeze probe recall approaches to measure SA. The findings are subsequently discussed with regard to their implications for the future measurement of SA in complex collaborative systems

Limits of Kansei – Kansei unlimited

This article discusses momentary limitations of the Kansei Engineering methods. There are for example the focus on the evaluation of colour and form factors, as well as the highly time consuming creation of the questionnaires. To overcome these limits we firstly suggest the integration of word lists from related research fields, like sociology and cognitive psychology on product emotions in the Kansei questionnaires. Thereafter we present a study on the wide range of Kansei attributes treated in an industrial setting. Concept words used by designers are being collected through word maps and categorized into attributes. In a third step we introduce a user-product interaction schema in which the Kansei attributes from the study are positioned. This schema unfolds potential expansion points for future applications of Kansei engineering beyond its current limits

Virtual teams: a new opportunity to develop a business

Virtual teams give many advantages to organizations, including increased knowledge sharing and improve organizational performance. Virtual teams have altered the expectations and boundaries of knowledge worker?s interactions and make a new opportunity to develop the business. In this paper, we present summary results of an online survey. The online questionnaire was emailed by using a simple random sampling method to 356 Malaysian manufacturing small and medium ?sized Enterprises (SMEs). The findings of this study show that SMEs in Malaysia are gaining to use virtual teams, and it can be concluded that virtual teams provide a new platform for developing the business in SMEs. Based on the study, we suggest avenues for future research that are important to advancing our understanding of virtual team effects on business growth