Turning the shelves: empirical findings and space syntax analyses of two virtual supermarket variations

The spatial structure of a virtual supermarket was systematically varied to investigate human behavior and cognitive processes in unusual building configurations. The study builds upon experiments in a regular supermarket, which serve as a baseline case. In a between-participant design a total of 41 participants completed a search task in two different virtual supermarket environments. For 21 participants the supermarket shelves were turned towards them at a 45° angle when entering the store, giving high visual access to product categories and products. For 20 participants the shelves were placed in exactly the opposite direction obstructing a quick development of shopping goods dependencies. The obtained differences in search performance between the two conditions are analyzed using space syntax analyses and comparisons made of environmental features and participants’ actual search path trajectories

Enterprise Architecture Management: Toward a Taxonomy of Applications

Despite the growing interest in enterprise architecture management, researchers and practitioners lack a shared understanding of its applications in organizations. Building on findings from a literature review and eight case studies, we develop a taxonomy that categorizes applications of enterprise architecture management based on three classes of enterprise architecture scope. Organizations may adopt enterprise architecture management to help form, plan, and implement IT strategies; help plan and implement business strategies; or to further complement the business strategy-formation process. The findings challenge the traditional IT-centric view of enterprise architecture management application and suggest enterprise architecture management as an approach that could support the consistent design and evolution of an organization as a whole

Sustainable urban environmental quality

MEANING as the essential element of urban quality. The role of the three main factors for the urban quality achievement: PLANNING, DEVELOPMENT and PEOPLE. Next to that, it is important to assume the identity of the local CONTEXT as the essential base for designing and shaping of form development. The problems of the quality achievements in the situation of the permanent changes. In such an environment - the RENEWAL of the towns become the basic strategic orientation requiring - evaluation of the development policy instruments. On the road of changes there are PROBLEMS of a strategic nature which should be, firstly, defined and, then, solved before entering in the process of structuring and arrangement. One of these problems is NEW versus OLD. Transition to a new policy of urbanism relying, first of all, on the private investors and international funds of the local authorities - call for a NEW STRATEGY in urbanism, in the context of the sustainability of environment. The sustainability of quality and the categories of the influencing factors. The sustainability of quality as a twofold process of urban design. The quality of environment as an aesthetic phenomenon. The urban situation and environmental quality: feasibility of changes and effects; the environmental capacity as an indicator and quality determinant. The urban quality and international experience. The evaluation of our urban situation. INSTEAD OF CONCLUSION: A general review on the visions and urban quality policy and planning. Toward an evaluation of urban environmental quality: negative and positive indicators; sustainable communities environmental ruling and urban quality planning

Designing Informal EAM Interventions – A Complementary Approach for Managing Enterprise Architecture Complexity

Although Enterprise Architecture Management (EAM) is a mature discipline and widely adopted in practice, surveys indicate effectivity barriers that, at least partially, appear to be a consequence of local decision makers’ non-compliance with enterprise-wide architectural guidelines. Several recent contributions aim at extending the portfolio of EAM interventions by applying informal control mechanisms. Although promising to extend EAM effectivity, informal interventions are apparently not much utilized in EAM practice. Based on the assumption that a comprehensive presentation of design knowledge for informal EAM interventions would support more widespread adoption, this paper integrates existing knowledge components to a coherent design approach. The proposal covers theoretical justification, conceptual foundations, a taxonomy of generic informal interventions, a catalogue of derived EAM intervention types, and a process to systematically instantiate and evaluate situation-specific informal interventions. Two Action Design Research projects in large companies are summarized as evaluative evidence for the potential that comprehensive informal intervention design has for improving EAM effectivity