Mixed-fidelity prototyping of user interfaces

This research presents a new technique for user interface prototyping, called mixed-fidelity prototyping. Mixed-fidelity prototyping combines low-, medium-, and high-fidelity interface elements within a single prototype in a lightweight manner, supporting independent refinement of individual elements. The approach allows designers to investigate alternate designs, including more innovative designs, and elicit feedback from stakeholders without having to commit too early in the process. As well, the approach encourages collaboration among a diverse group of stakeholders throughout the design process. For example, individuals who specialize in specific fidelities, such as high-fidelity components, are able to become involved earlier on in the process. We developed a conceptual model called the Region Model and implemented a proof-of-concept system called ProtoMixer. We demonstrated the mixed-fidelity approach by using ProtoMixer to design an example application. ProtoMixer has several benefits over other existing prototyping tools. With ProtoMixer, prototypes can be composed of multiple fidelities, and elements are easily refined and transitioned between different fidelities. Individual elements can be tied into data and functionality, and can be executed inside prototypes. As well, traditional informal practices such as sketching and storyboarding are supported. Furthermore, ProtoMixer is designed for collaborative use on a high-resolution, large display workspace

The communication and recording of conceptual design information by the inclusion of visual data

This thesis reports the results of a three year, full-time research project investigating the generation and communication of product descriptions within the conceptual phase of the engineering design process. The research pays particular attention to the role played by the designer's sketch in communicating new product ideas. The investigation commences with a literature review of existing design process models (Chapter 2), which helps to define the area under investigation while presenting modern views of the process in relation to classic examples from established design research. Chapter 3 presents a literature review of the methods currently used to support communication of product descriptions. These methods of Specification are assessed and particular attention is given to new computer-based recording methods such as DOORS and Cradle. Suggestions for improving the efficiency of such models are put forward and the text-only bias of such systems is identified. This comparison of the existing systems thus identifies the research questions. Having identified the possible improvement to be gained by the incorporation of visual material in addition to the universal text description, Chapter 4 presents a literature review assessing the roles of the conceptual sketch in engineering design. As well as presenting views of drawing from philosophical, psychological and scientific standpoints, this section compares attempts made to support the engineer's sketching activity by computer means. This chapter concludes that efforts made to provide effective computer support of sketching by freehand methods are preferred to attempts made to replicate the process with current computer tools. The resulting research experiment, the methodology of which is described in Chapter 5, uses students from the final year of the Product Design Engineering course at Glasgow School of Art and the University of Glasgow. The main aim of the experiment is to identify means of including sketching within the kind of text-based support methods discussed in Chapter 3. It also observes the volume and pattern of information produced by sketch activity throughout the conceptual stages of the design process and aims to find methods which would enable sketches to indicate the general progress of a design. The findings are detailed in Chapter 6

COMPUTER-SUPPORTED COLLABORATIVE KNOWLEDGE BUILDING IN ENGINEERING DESIGN

Engineering design is defined as a process of devising a technical system, component, or process to satisfy desired needs. Collaborative engineering design (CED) is a knowledge- intensive process that involves multidisciplinary people working jointly, sharing resources and outcomes, and building new knowledge while solving problems. People need to collaborate synchronously or asynchronously, either in the same place or distributed geographically. This thesis proposes that engineering design can be modeled not only as a process of knowledge transformation, but as a process of collaborative knowledge building (CKB). CKB is a goal-driven collaborative process of generating and refining ideas and concepts of value to the community. Properly applied and supported, CKB has the potential to improve both learning and design outcomes resulting from collaborative design projects. Existing collaboration tools have evolved without a clear understanding of designers’ needs, even though a portion of the required functionalities has been achieved separately. This thesis proposes an integrated CKB-orientated model for collaborative engineering design, incorporating the key elements of Stahl’s CKB model, Lu’s ECN-based collaborative engineering model, Nonaka’s knowledge creation theory, and Sim and Duffy’s model of a design activity. Based on the model, a set of specific requirements for collaboration tools are presented and some functionalities not existing currently are identified

Co-constructing a new framework for evaluating social innovation in marginalized rural areas

The EU funded H2020 project \u2018Social Innovation in Marginalised Rural Areas\u2019 (SIMRA; www.simra-h2020.eu) has the overall objective of advancing the state-of-the-art in social innovation. This paper outlines the process for co- developing an evaluation framework with stakeholders, drawn from across Europe and the Mediterranean area, in the fields of agriculture, forestry and rural development. Preliminary results show the importance of integrating process and outcome-oriented evaluations, and implementing participatory approaches in evaluation practice. They also raise critical issues related to the comparability of primary data in diverse regional contexts and highlight the need for mixed methods approaches in evaluation

Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Engineering Design (ICED11):Book of Abstracts

The ICED series of conferences is the Design Society's "flagship" event. ICED11 took place on August 15-18, 2011, at the campus of the Danish Technical University in Lyngby/Copenhagen, Denmark. The Proceedings of the conference are published in 10 individual volumes, arranged according to topics. All volumes of the Proceedings may be purchased individually through Amazon and other on-line booksellers. For members of the Design Society, all papers are available on this website. The Programme and Abstract Book is publically available for download

An investigation of the development of students’ and teachers’ perceptions towards technology: A framework for reconstructing technology education in Malawi

The study investigated students’ and teachers’ perceptions towards technology and technology education with the ultimate aim of developing their beliefs and practices suitable for teaching and learning broad-based technology education and to inform future policy framework for restructuring the curriculum. Research leading to the development of technology as a school curriculum shows emphasis on the importance of students developing technological literacy essential for living in a technologically mediated society but little is known about developments related to teaching and learning technology in Malawi schools. Malawi’s Vision 2020, the Science and Technology Policy for Malawi and the Malawi Growth and Development Strategy 2006 – 2011 stipulated the need for schooling in Malawi to help students attain technological literacy as it was seen as instrumental for economic growth and development. Attempts were undertaken to include science and technology and also craft, design and technology as learning areas, but among a myriad of factors, teachers lacked theoretical, philosophical and pedagogical underpinnings of the subjects. The existing curriculum also has little scope for developing student technological knowledge and capabilities which would enable them to understand, create, control and manipulate technology. The need now is to establish technology education as a more comprehensive curriculum area than that promulgated in the technical curriculum. This study therefore provided teachers with an opportunity to broaden their understanding of the nature of technology and technology education critical for their meaningful conceptualisation of teaching and learning technology. The focus of the study was to explore influences of, expand the teachers’ and students’ ideas about technology and technology education and also to enhance teaching practices. In order to capture a more holistic understanding of such influences, an interpretive research methodology was adopted and the teachers were involved in in-depth, one-on-one and semi-structured interviews, group discussions and classroom observations before and after professional development workshops. This helped to collectively construct the social reality surrounding the teachers’ existing beliefs and teaching practices and how to change those practices and beliefs. The study was situated in a socio-cultural theoretical framework by encouraging collaborative interactions among teachers in their school groups. The study began by examining students’ and teachers’ existing beliefs and practices and these were seen as impacting on how and what teachers learn. A teacher professional development programme incorporating those beliefs and practices and also focusing on social-cultural frameworks of learning was organised to help teachers reconceptualise their understanding about the nature of technology and technology education. The professional development programme also incorporated a discussion of PATT modelling as a tool for teacher learning of students’ conceptualisation of technology and reflections of their own learning in the workshops. Key characteristics of the professional development model, therefore, included: ∙ An understanding and incorporating the teachers’ beliefs and practices into the professional development programme for teachers to change such beliefs and adopt broader views of technology. ∙ Encouraging collaborative learning in their schools for teachers to share knowledge, their own experiences and that of others, and planning presentations of their interpretations of selected scholarly readings. ∙ Teachers learning about technology from the perspectives of students using PATT data that was seen as an effective professional development tool. ∙ On-going reflections and support to enhance teachers’ capacities to reflect on their own experiences for purposeful change. The professional development helped teachers develop a broader understanding of the nature of technology and technology education using a model that focussed on teachers developing their own concepts through readings of scholarly papers, learning from other teachers’ experiences and through discussion of student concepts and attitudes to technology. Findings of the research revealed an effective professional development model focussed on social cultural frameworks of learning that resulted in teachers’ positive perceptions of technology and technology education. They had also shown innovations to implement technology as a consequence of their enhanced technological pedagogical knowledge. Three key findings arose from the study, and these are: ∙ The teachers’ contexts and the stance on the goals of the technical education curriculum influence understanding of the nature of technology and technology education. ∙ Enhanced technological pedagogical knowledge promotes teachers’ innovations to develop and implement technological activities. ∙ A professional development underpinned by social cultural frameworks of learning is an effective model when it incorporates teachers’ beliefs and experiences. The findings of the study have implications for pre-service and in-service teacher education and development, policy change in relation to curriculum reviews and reforms in Malawi and other developing countries. There are also implications for further research that focus on developing knowledge and understanding among teachers on how to improve teaching and learning that enhances student technological literacy but which considers the context being targeted by the curriculum. Enabling policy for implementing technology education in Malawi exists but a successful realisation of the policy goals is entirely dependent on teachers’ shared understanding about the nature of technology and technology education. This study provided teachers with a rare opportunity for further professional growth and development leading to improved teaching practices and knowledge about technology and technology education. Therefore, more research of this nature would be required to help develop capacity for reconstructing technology education in Malawi and other developing nations which may also plan to shift from colonial industrial arts-based curriculum to a broad-based technology education

ANNOTATION MECHANISMS TO MANAGE DESIGN KNOWLEDGE IN COMPLEX PARAMETRIC MODELS AND THEIR EFFECTS ON ALTERATION AND REUSABILITY

El proyecto de investigación propuesto se enmarca dentro del área de diseño de producto con aplicaciones de modelado sólido CAD/CAM (Computer Aided Design/Computer Aided Manufacturing). Concretamente, se pretende hacer un estudio de las herramientas de anotación asociativas disponibles en las aplicaciones comerciales de modelado CAD con el fin de analizar su uso, viabilidad, eficiencia y efectos en la modificación y reutilización de modelos digitales 3D, así como en la gestión y comunicación del conocimiento técnico vinculado al diseño. La idea principal de esta investigación doctoral es establecer un método para representar y evaluar el conocimiento implícito de los ingenieros de diseño acerca de un modelo digital, así como la integración dinámica de dicho conocimiento en el propio modelo CAD, a través de anotaciones, con el objetivo de poder almacenar y comunicar eficientemente la mayor cantidad de información útil acerca del modelo, y reducir el tiempo y esfuerzo requeridos para su alteración y/o reutilización.Dorribo Camba, J. (2014). ANNOTATION MECHANISMS TO MANAGE DESIGN KNOWLEDGE IN COMPLEX PARAMETRIC MODELS AND THEIR EFFECTS ON ALTERATION AND REUSABILITY [Tesis doctoral no publicada]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/45997TESI