Investigation of user-centred approaches to design practice in Botswana

Increased competition of product offering has led to the need to better understand the end-user, in order to create a more appropriate product. Furthermore, the ever increasing individualistic culture has led to the need for more customised products; where a New Product Development (NPD) team has to balance user needs and wants. Initial study assumptions were that the more the user involvement the better the product outcome. The aim was to investigate design awareness and use of User-centred Design (UCD) practices in full in the design industry in Botswana; and the training needs of the design industry in relation to UCD. Literature review determined the study focus areas; design awareness (DA), design practices (DP) and UCD. Best global practices were identified since there was little to no literature on UCD practice in Botswana and the researcher investigated products developed for the Base of the Pyramid (BoP). This study has been carried out from the NPD team s perspective. Data collection began with the scoping study, which provided an early overview of UCD practice utilisation in NPD; it also provided a guideline to data collection in Botswana. The survey study provided a broader overview of the use of design and UCD practices within the design industry. The interviews provided a follow-up to questions arising from the survey study and are focused on the Graphic and Advertising (GA) and Furniture and Interior (FI) industries for more in-depth analysis. The case studies were conducted to better understand how specific projects were conducted in relation to UCD practices; they also provided an evaluation mechanism for findings from previous studies. The results show case study findings correlating with findings from previous studies; the lack of documentation, heavy user involvement at the start stage of the PDP followed by the end stage. The vast majority of the participants failed to obtain product needs directly from the end-user and instead used the client as a proxy for the user. Design is viewed as an act of planning; user reaction was also viewed as the most important measure of design effectiveness. The majority of participants reported educational institutions not offering the needed skills. Two thirds of the participants did little market research; but the majority agreed user involvement in the PDP was important and that the user can effectively share ideas with the NPD team. The data was not clear as to whether, user involvement helped or hindered NPD team s creativity. The researcher s views on the user involvement in NPD have evolved to the need of an organised way for obtaining and documenting user and product needs, instead of treating the user like a co-operation partner. More case studies are expected to evolve case study questionnaire to, a tool for facilitating UCD practice use in Botswana s design industry

Urban Design of Bristol Waterfront, Lower Thames Street

The marketplace is going to be one of the highlights on Thames Street, serving as a destination for leisure, shopping and dining. The concept of the project is to have indoor space continue out to the water, providing an outdoor space for dining and leisure, but also giving the boardwalk a resting point. The building is planned as two floors, with the fish market and multipurpose area on the first and an eatery, sitting area, balcony and facilities on the second. The building will be made of a light metal frame with panels to enclose the space and is designed with a folded glass panel that can be opened up to the outside, yet decrease wind pressure in a storm

Urban Design of Bristol Waterfront, Lower Thames Street

Collaboration with the Town of Bristol in the fall of 2013 when students in ARCH 415, Advanced Design Studio – Urban, under the guidance of Professor Ulker Copur, studied the waterfront area along the west side of Thames Street, from State Street south to the armory in Bristol, Rhode Island, including the continuation of a public boardwalk through the area linking up with the adjacent properties. The designs created by students would be used to guide the town in developing a master plan for the area and the new Bristol Maritime Welcome Center

Include 2011 : The role of inclusive design in making social innovation happen.

Include is the biennial conference held at the RCA and hosted by the Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design. The event is directed by Jo-Anne Bichard and attracts an international delegation

Evaluating Occupant Load Factors for Business Operations

The current occupant load factor of 100ft2/person, as specified by NFPA 101, Life Safety Code, and NFPA 5000, Building Construction and Safety Code, for business uses has been in effect since the 1930’s. Business use areas, specifically office environments, have changed since that time, and questions have arisen regarding the appropriateness of the 100ft2/person factor for all types of business use areas. This study investigates the origins of the 100ft2/person factor, previous occupant load studies, changes in office space planning and use, availability of office furnishings, and current office occupant load preferences, then recommends alternate occupant load factors and business use categories

Using Augmented Reality Technology to Construct a Wood Furniture Sampling Platform for Designers and Sample Makers to Narrow the Gap between Judgment and Prototype

The production and design of wood furniture manufacturing includes manufacturing furniture parts and their assembly with appropriate finishing operations; the process requires repeated communication and discussions, as well as furniture sampling and trials, which are indispensable. However, in the sampling process, due to the different understandings of the designer and the sample maker in regard to the size of 2D drawings and the modeling of 3D furniture, the sampling results often differ greatly from the designer’s original concept; such errors appear mostly in the prototyping of wooden furniture. In this study, we focus on the wooden chair to explore whether augmented reality (AR) can contribute to the comparison between the virtual and physical shapes in the furniture prototyping process. We hope that by employing AR, the gap between the prototype and the finished furniture will be narrowed. By researching actual furniture prototyping with three furniture designers and two sample makers, this study has defined three furniture prototyping methods in the industry. Based on the basic principles, we recruited 38 designers to participate in the comparison experiments employing the above three different furniture prototypes. The results confirmed that applying the AR technology can effectively narrow the gap between judgment and prototype

Developing a home assessment instrument for the disabled elderly.

Senior citizens are a rapidly growing portion of our population. This large group of older people has increased the demand for commercial accessible housing such as nursing homes and assisted living facilities. Due to the inflexible design of older homes, the elderly have been forced to move to in such types of housing. The high price of nursing homes and the strong desire the elderly have to remain in their existing homes support the need for a more cost effective and accessible way to live. Therefore, it was the purpose of this research project to develop an assessment instrument to determine the degree of accessibility of an existing older home in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma which is representative of an older home typically inhabited by the elderly. An assessment instrument was developed to evaluate accessibility in the areas of mobility and visual disability. At the end of this thesis study one can use the results of this assessment instrument to create designs correcting problems relating to these inaccessible areas as they are identified by the instrument. Also included in the development of this instrument were considerations for elements that research has indicated increases the quality of life for the elderly. After using the newly designed assessment instrument on the home utilized for this case study, the noncompliant elements were identified and addressed. New design solutions were drawn in order to illustrate the method used to rectify the problem areas and elements identified as insufficient by the assessment instrument. An effort to create design solutions that were aesthetically pleasing that did not appear institutionalized was also a goal of this research project

Universal Design and Visitability: from Accessibility to Zoning

National Endowment for the Art

Promoting Healthy Aging through Transportable Accessory Dwelling Unit Communities.

D.Arch. Thesis. University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa 2017