A generic multimedia configuration management system for constrained spatial user-interface design

This thesis examined two leading researchers within the fields of Design Science Research in Information Systems. The first was Peffers’ (DSRM), which is a six-step linear process model. The second model was Hevner’s, (DSRC), which is a three-stage design research cycle which comprises of an eight core structure. The process was to map the (GMCMSID) concept-of-prototype (which was the test programme for this thesis) over Peffers’ and Hevner methodology models. By mapping these two pre-existing models, one could ascertain that the GMCMSID artifact can be mapped successfully over these two theories, but certain questions of relevance at different points within the process cycles were raised. Where does the Creative Design cycle process begin within the Design Science in Information System processes model? Does an artifact at a proof-of-concept stage fulfill all of the relevant academic research required for a body of academic work? And can the GMCMSID concept-of-prototype project be successfully mapped over the DSRM and DSRC models, especially when it came to the Evaluation activity stage component within the design science process? The GMCMSID artifact was designed as a configuration management system for design and placements of widgets within the fuselage of a rotary wing aircraft such as the Black Hawk Helicopter, which is continually subjected to design changes to meet evolving engineering and capability requirements. The GMCMSID project allowed the Logistics Manager, Fleet Manager, and Configuration Manager, to reserve locations, internal and external to the aircraft, for future design changes to facilitate the comprehensive, efficient and cost effective design, planning and tracking of changes to the rotary wing fleet’s operational capabilities. The GMCMSID artifact explored the implications of new theoretical approaches to modeling aircraft maintenance, including the realistic configuration of mission capable aircraft for the following deployments, Special Operations, Troop Deployment and Medivac. The study found that the GMCMSID project mapped successfully over both Peffers’ and Hevner’s theological models, showing that a corporate base prototype which had already been designed and built to a concept-of-prototype stage does fall within the guidelines of research and development of an artifact. This study also showed that a concept-of-prototype to the Evaluation activity stage can be recognised as a significant body of research, but a problem does occur at the Evaluation stage as the artifact is still at a proof-of-concept stage and has had very limited field-testing applied to it. The implication of this is that the broader academic community may not accept an artifact at this early stage of development, as a significant research body of work. A new aspect that was brought to the fore in the study was where does creative design fit within the studies of Design Science in Information Systems? By using the GMCMSID project, one could say that the creative design process commenced at the conception of a project and concluded at the design stage of the artifact. Limited research has been carried out on creativity and design within Design Science in Information Systems field, but mostly on the environment around creativity, not where creativity commences or how it is measured. More in-depth research needs to be undertaken in relation to the concert-of-prototype stage of a project that is deemed to be a significant research contribution at the Evaluation activity stage and the process of creative design. In the body of this thesis, suggested guidelines have been incorporated for further discussion within this field. Also, a creative design activity model was developed to show where creative design fits within a Design Science in Information System methodology. Without creative design, you do not have the design

Designing virtual environments to support cooperation in the real world.

Much of the current research in the design of virtual environments is centred on laboratory prototypes and emphasis is placed on supporting cooperation within the virtual world itself. By way of contrast, this paper places an emphasis upon the development of virtual enivronments that support cooperation within the real world. This external research focus situates virtual environments within the bricolage of material artefacts that people use in coordinating and accomplishing ordinary jobs of work. We elaborate the shift to the external environment of ordinary human jobs and users through an ethnographic study of searching for information in the library, and the design and evaluation of a prototype supporting the real world cooperation involved in getting the job of searching done