Supporting Co-Design using Design Thinking Business Networks

Knowledge sharing and management is becoming increasingly important in complex environments where business networks work on joint projects or supply chains. Such environments are characterized by continuous change requires knowledge workers to continually propose new solutions and search and develop knowledge to support these solutions. This new knowledge often comes from externally, or from business partners and must be shared in flexible ways. This paper develops a model for gathering and sharing of knowledge using tools that lead to innovative outcomes. It develops a metamodel that allows dynamic reconfiguration of systems, while reassigning knowledge processing functions to meet emerging needs. The paper then illustrates a prototype for implementing the model on the cloud

A framework for design rationale capture and use during geometry design

Despite broad agreement on the utility of design rationale use and capture, a review of the relevant literature shows that industrial usage remains limited, especially during geometry design.An initial field study confirmed low design rationale capture during the geometry design stage. The lack of linking between design rationale and geometry models is identified as a factor holding back design rationale capture.A toolset is presented to link entities in geometry models to design rationale, allowing the creation of design rationale referring to a specific geometry design decision. Using the design rationale links it is possible to create graphs of the structure of geometry models and attached rationale. Furthermore the presence and quantity of design rationale can be displayed as a coloured overlay on the geometry.The toolset has been tested by 7 groups of student-designers, and although the uptake of the design rationale linking tool by the users was low, results show that groups using the tool captured relatively more design rationale during geometry design, although reservations have to be made regarding to self-selection bias. The study shows that the availability of design rationale linking tools is not by itself enough to improve design rationale capture during geometry design

Estudo da relação entre as abordagens do Design Thinking e da Engenharia de Produção para o planejamento de projetos

Este trabalho trata inicialmente de um levantamento bibliográfico com base em artigos sobre aspectos do pensamento que compõem a formação em engenharia e a abordagem geralmente utilizada pela engenharia de produção para o planejamento de projetos. Em seguida,um levantamento bibliográfico com base em livros e artigos discute os principais conceitos relacionados à abordagem do Design Thinking, além de um dos principais métodos de aplicação desta abordagem, o método HCD. Finalmente, será realizado um estudo de caso para a análise da aplicação desta abordagem em um projeto real de serviços, de uma empresa de consultoria especializada em Design Thinking. Através da pesquisa conduzida é possível evidenciar as semelhanças e diferenças entre ambas as abordagens. Neste trabalho, as principais atividades observadas na aplicação do Design Thinking no estudo de caso de uma seguradora foram objeto de um estudo de similaridades com conteúdos de disciplinas do curso de graduação de engenharia de produção da UFRJ. A partir da análise destes dados, busca-se identificar possíveis complementariedades, quando o Design Thinking agrega algum valor às técnicas de engenharia de produção, ou inovações, quando traz atribuições sem precedentes nas disciplinas. Além disso,são feitas considerações para o futuro avanço e aplicação das técnicas. Espera-se que este trabalho possa ser usado por alunos e docentes que tenham interesse em conhecer referências de práticas e ferramentas de projetos voltados para a dimensão humana de problemas complexos. A apresentação e o estudo comparativo do conceito de Design Thinking com a abordagem da engenharia de produção pode ser de grande incentivo para inovação e criatividade de futuros engenheiros, servindo como ponto inicial para futuras pesquisas nesta área

Desenvolvimento colaborativo de telhas fotovoltaicas com RCD

Orientador: Prof. Dr. Alexandre Vieira PelegriniDissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal do Paraná, Setor de Artes, Comunicação e Design, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Design. Defesa: Curitiba, 26/02/2014Inclui referênciasÁrea de concentração : Design grafico e de produtoResumo: O presente trabalho tem como objetivo investigar e demonstrar a aplicacao pratica dos conceitos do design colaborativo e do Life Cyrcle Design, no desenvolvimento de telhas geradoras de energia solar fotovoltaica produzidas com residuos de construcao e demolicao (RCD) a partir de um grupo formado por quatro empresas colaboradoras. A demanda global por fontes renovaveis de energia e preponderante para a escolha da utilizacao da energia solar, disponivel em abundancia e ainda pouco explorada para conversao em energia fotovoltaica, especialmente no Brasil. Aprimorar o desenvolvimento de paineis e revestimentos fotovoltaicos e integra--?los as edificacoes disponibilizara componentes que, alem da geracao de energia, promoverao outros ganhos, tais como reducao de materiais utilizados nas edificacoes, ganhos em propriedades termicas para o ambiente interno e viabilidade de explorar variacoes esteticas e, com a disseminacao desta tecnologia, tambem e possivel vislumbrar a reducao dos custos para producao, aquisicao e instalacao destes sistemas. Deste modo, esta pesquisa aplicada foi desenvolvida em cinco ciclos de pesquisa--?acao, explorando a integracao de celulas fotovoltaicas no desenvolvimento de um dos elementos mais basicos de uma edificacao, a telha, mantendo suas caracteristicas modulares com o intuito de prover um gerador fotovoltaico passivel de ser instalado de modo simplificado em qualquer edificacao. Em sua constituicao, a areia do concreto e substituida por RCD, com resultados que apresentam--?se viaveis para producao em larga escala. Todos os demais componentes priorizam um produto sustentavel, com um longo ciclo de vida e que prioriza a manutencao, seu descarte e reutilizacao.Abstract: The present study aims to investigate and demonstrate the practical application of the collaborative design concepts and Life Cyrcle Design, working whit the development of photovoltaic solar generating tiles produced with construction and demolition waste (CDW) from a group formed by four collaborating companies. The global demand for renewable energy sources is leading to the choice of using solar energy, which is available in abundance and still little explored for photovoltaic energy conversion, especially in Brazil. Developing photovoltaic panels and coatings and integrate them into buildings could provide components that, besides the energy generation, promote other gains, such as the reduction of materials used in buildings, gains in thermal properties for the internal environment and feasibility of exploring variations aesthetic and. With the spread of this technology, you can also glimpse the reduction of costs for production, acquisition and installation of those systems. This research was conducted in five cycles of research and action, exploring the integration of photovoltaic cells in the development of one of the most basic elements of a building: tile, keeping their modular characteristics aiming for a feasible photovoltaic generator to be installed in a simplified manner in any building. In its constitution, the sand of the concrete is replaced by CDW, which results in presentable and viable results for large scale production. All other components priories a sustainable product, with a long lifecycle and maintenance, his disposal and reuse

Shared Artefacts and Virtual Worlds in Computer-Mediated Creative Collaboration

Virtual teams are becoming an increasingly common phenomenon within the globalizing surroundings of corporations. The communication between virtual team members is predominantly based on information and communication technology. The question, how different ICT collaboration environments can support different virtual team activities, has gained attention in research and practice. However, collaboration environments' role to foster creative virtual team collaboration is not entirely understood. This dissertation addresses the topic by focusing on the potential of artefacts and three-dimensional virtual worlds. Artefacts – shared visual representations – have been considered necessary for co-located creative collaboration. Though, the entire ecology of artefacts in distributed, computer-mediated creative collaboration has thus far remained unclear. While previous studies have suggested virtual worlds as beneficial for creative team collaboration, a systematic effort to characterize and describe this potential has not been undertaken. The four essays of this dissertation utilize real-life observational data of interaction between technical experts, decision-makers, and engineering designers. Either a web conferencing tool or a virtual world was employed as a collaboration environment during the observed interaction sessions. The first essay outlines virtual worlds' eight affordances towards creative team collaboration. The second essay investigates the question, how the two-dimensional web conferencing tool and virtual world differ in terms of supporting the use of shared visual artefacts. The third essay broadens the observation of the artefacts by studying their roles as boundary objects, which mediate communication within an intersection of different social worlds. Grounding on these results, the fourth essay addresses the artefacts' role in distributed teams' different collaborative activities within creative virtual world collaboration. Findings of the study demonstrate virtual worlds' potential to foster team creativity. Meanwhile the findings indicate a variety of artefacts that are utilized within creative virtual team collaboration, ranging from epistemic to technical objects. Grounding on the observed contrast between the virtual world and web conferencing tool, the results end up in suggesting an expansion of separated auditory and visual channel information to the concept of boundary objects. While the study conveys practical relevance for virtual teams that engage in creative collaboration, it also outlines potential directions to future ICT collaboration environments development path.Virtuaalitiimit yleistyvät liiketoiminnan globalisoituessa. Virtuaalitiimien jäsenet viestivät pääosin tieto- ja viestintäteknologian välityksellä. Tutkimuksessa ja käytännön työssä on havaittu, että eri tieto- ja viestintäteknologiset vuorovaikutusympäristöt voivat tukea virtuaalitiimien eri toimintoja. Vuorovaikutusympäristöjen roolia virtuaalitiimin luovan työn tukemisessa ei kuitenkaan ole täysin ymmärretty. Väitöskirja käsittelee aihetta suunnaten huomion artefaktoihin ja kolmiulotteisiin virtuaalimaailmoihin. Artefaktat – yhteiset visuaaliset dokumentit – on aiemmin mielletty välttämättömiksi samanpaikkaisessa luovassa yhteistyössä. Artefaktojen rooli monipaikkaisessa, tietokonevälitteisessä luovassa yhteistyössä on kuitenkin vielä selvittämättä. Aiemmat tutkimukset ovat arvioineet virtuaalimaailmojen olevan suotuisia luovalle tiimin vuorovaikutukselle; näkökantaa ei kuitenkaan ole luonnehdittu tai kuvattu järjestelmällisesti. Väitöskirjan neljä esseetä hyödyntävät dataa teknisten asiantuntijoiden, päätöksentekijöiden ja teollisten suunnittelijoiden tosielämän vuorovaikutustilanteista. Vuorovaikutusympäristöinä käytettiin web-konferenssityökalua tai kolmiulotteista virtuaalimaailmaa. Ensimmäinen esseistä linjaa kahdeksan kolmiulotteisen virtuaalimaailman ominaispiirrettä, jotka tukevat luovan tiimin vuorovaikutusta. Toinen esseistä selvittää, miten visuaalisesti kaksiulotteinen web-konferenssityökalu ja kolmiulotteinen virtuaalimaailma eroavat toisistaan artefaktojen käytön osalta. Kolmas essee tarkastelee artefaktoja rajaesineinä, jotka välittävät viestintää erillisten sosiaalisten maailmojen leikkauskohdassa. Tuloksiin perustuen neljäs essee tarkastelee visuaalisten artefaktojen roolia monipaikkaisten, hajautettujen tiimien erilaisissa yhteistyöaktiviteeteissa luovan virtuaalimaailma-vuorovaikutuksen yhteydessä. Tutkimustulokset havainnollistavat virtuaalimaailman potentiaalin edistää luovaa tiimitason vuorovaikutusta. Tulokset esittelevät luovien virtuaalitiimien hyödyntämien artefaktojen kirjon, ulottuen episteemisistä teknisiin objekteihin. Havaittuihin virtuaalimaailman ja web-konferenssityökalun eroavaisuuksiin perustuen esitetään visuaalisen ja auditiivisen viestintäkanavan eroon pohjautuvaa laajennusta rajaesineiden käsitteeseen. Siinä missä tutkimus on merkittävä luovaan vuorovaikutukseen osallistuvien virtuaalitiimien kannalta, se myös linjaa mahdollisia suuntia tulevaisuuden tieto- ja viestintäteknologian kehityspolulle

Education on the Gis Frontier: Cybergis and Its Components

Geographic information systems (GIS) are a fundamental information technology. Coupled with advancing developments in spatial analysis through geographic information science (GISci), the capabilities and applications of GIS and GISci continue to rapidly expand. This expansion requires practitioners to have new skills and competencies, especially in computer science and programming. One developing framework for GIS’ future is that of Cyber Geographic Information Systems (CyberGIS), which fuses the technical capabilities of advanced cyber-infrastructure, like cloud and server computing, with the spatial analysis capabilities of GIS. This structure of GIS requires further computer science and programming abilities, but how GIS practitioners use and value the variant components within CyberGIS is unknown. This gap makes teaching and preparing students on the CyberGIS frontier difficult. The GIS skillset is in an ever-present state of re-imagination, but with the growing prominence of CyberGIS, which seeks to capitalize on advanced computing to benefit analysis in GIS, the need for an understanding of educational implications continues to grow. This dissertation uses a mixed-methods approach to explore how CyberGIS functions academically. First, I explore how university geography departments in the U.S. integrate computer science and programming skills in their undergraduate geography and GIS degree programs by reviewing degree requirements in highly-ranked departments. Few departments require computer science or programming courses for undergraduate degrees. Then, I explore the nature of knowledge and skills in CyberGIS using machine reading and q- methodology to explore viewpoints of how key CyberGIS skills function. The three viewpoints I identify reveal highly conflicting mindsets of how GIS functions. Finally, I use syllabi from different GIS programming and computer science courses to identify common topics, course structures, and instructional materials across a broad sample of courses. Three major topic foci emerged, including GIS scripting with Python, web-enabling GIS with JavaScript and HTML, and geodatabase manipulation with SQL. Some common instructional materials exist, but syllabi show little consistency in their curriculum focus and instructional design within or across topics relating GIS programming and computer science. There is little consistency or emphasis in current educational efforts concerning computer science and programming and how they function in building competencies required in CyberGIS. While CyberGIS promises advanced computing capabilities using complex systems, the fractured and uneven nature of basic computer science and programming instruction in GIS indicates that to achieve a Cyber-enabled GIS future, a much larger chasm between GIS and computer science must be bridged