Lifeworld Inc. : and what to do about it

Can we detect changes in the way that the world turns up as they turn up? This paper makes such an attempt. The first part of the paper argues that a wide-ranging change is occurring in the ontological preconditions of Euro-American cultures, based in reworking what and how an event is produced. Driven by the security – entertainment complex, the aim is to mass produce phenomenological encounter: Lifeworld Inc as I call it. Swimming in a sea of data, such an aim requires the construction of just enough authenticity over and over again. In the second part of the paper, I go on to argue that this new world requires a different kind of social science, one that is experimental in its orientation—just as Lifeworld Inc is—but with a mission to provoke awareness in untoward ways in order to produce new means of association. Only thus, or so I argue, can social science add to the world we are now beginning to live in

Elimination of doubt : methods for a predictive design to direct and optimize the flow of visitors

Ympäristömme globaalistuu ja monimutkaistuu kaiken aikaa. Prosessi näkyy muun muassa kansainvälisen liikenteen solmukohdissa. Esimerkiksi lentokentät ovat kyseisiä eri kulttuurien keskinäisen vuorovaikutuksen kohtia. Eri kulttuureista tulevien ihmisten pitää osata orientoitua vieraassa ja usein sekavassa ympäristössä. Jotta toiminta olisi sujuvaa näissä solmukohdissa, on suunnistamiseen tarvittavan tiedon oltava nopeasti omaksuttavaa ja ymmärrettävää. Monet muotoilijat ja suunnittelijat ajattelevat, että opastejärjestelmät ovat reduktionistisia ja mekanistisia syy-seuraus systeemejä. On kuitenkin ilmeistä, että kansainvälisesti harmonisoimattomien piktogrammien kyky välittää informaatiota on epäonnistunutta. Nykyiset kognitiotieteen havainnot osoittavat, että visuaalisen havaitsemisen ja tilallisen orientaation aikaisemmat mallit ovat vain osittain toimivia. Siispä oli syytä kysyä ”onko mahdollista tuottaa ennakoiva malli jonka avulla voi kehittää, toteuttaa ja varmistaa suunnitteluratkaisuja, jotka ohjaavat ja optimoivat vierailijoiden virtaa laajoissa julkisissa tiloissa.“ Tutkimuksen keskiössä on tästä syystä tilallisessa orientoitumisessa tapahtuva kulttuurinen merkityksellistäminen ja paikkatietoisuuden lisääminen (situation awareness). Juuri tuo yksilöllinen merkityksen tuottaminen voi tarkoittaa laajaa kirjoa erilaisia tulkintoja. Paikkatietoisuuden syntymisen erilaiset mahdollisuudet yhdessä erilaisten menetelmien kanssa voivat tuottaa ratkaisuja suunnitteluprosessiin. Suunnitteluprosessissa voidaan ottaa huomioon myös havaintopsykologisia näkökulmia. Kaiken kaikkiaan tämä johtaa systeemis-holistiseen ja käyttäjäkeskeiseen ajatteluun julkisten tilojen opastejärjestelmien suunnittelun kehityksessä. Esitän myös käytännöllisen ratkaisun opastejärjestelmien suunnitteluun ja arviointiin tarkastelemalla olemassa olevien järjestelmien rakennetta ja parametreja sekä niiden kehitystyötä. Työ sisältää yhteensä yhdeksän tapaustarkastelua. Tutkimusmenetelminä käytin laadullista havainnointia ja kvantitatiivista analyysiä. Havainnoin ja tulkitsin etnisiä tottumuksia ja henkilökohtaisia näkemyksiä. Tekemäni kyselyjen perusteella näyttää siltä, että konstruoimaani mallia voitaisiin käyttää kehittämisen ja todentamisen välineenä.The rapid development of international traffic characterizes our increasingly globalized and ever more complex world. Nodal points (for example, airports) have formed where people from various cultural backgrounds and with differing levels of educational attainment need to reorient themselves in a unfamiliar and often confusing environment. A key condition to ensure everything works smoothly in such an international junction is the extremely fast reception and processing of information by everyone involved. The dominant school of thought among many designers and planners of guidance and routing systems is still a reductionist and mechanistic one (cause - effect). It has become apparent that the use of non-internationally harmonized pictograms as information carriers has failed completely. Recent findings in the field of cognitive science demonstrate convincingly that previous models of visual perception and spatial orientation can only highlight partial aspects. For these aspects, the question has arisen: “Is there a possibility to evolve a predictive system to develop, implement and verify design solutions to direct and optimize the flow of visitors in large public spaces?” Therefore, the moment of semiosis of the orientation seekers moved into the focus of the investigation. This moment of meaning-making, which is perceived by every individual differently, spans the entire spectrum of the perception of the designated item (the optical characteristic of the character substrate) between manifold interpretation or absolute certainty. The various viewing options of “situational awareness” with the help of various methodologies provide solutions for the design process. Taking the aspects of perceptual psychology into account leads to the development of a systemic/holistic and user-centred design of orientation systems in public spaces. Identifying and consulting the predictive parameters in a systematic process could show a practicable solution for the planning and evaluation of guidance and routing systems. In various national and international case studies, the process reliability and processing quality of this solution were demonstrated. Involving mixed research methodologies of qualitative observation and quantitative analysis, it was possible to develop a workable model. Through observation and interpretation, ethnic habits and personal views were taken into account to develop the methods. The use of questionnaires or surveys created statistics to prove or disprove the hypothetical model. The capacity of the presented model and the operationalization of the research demonstrated an effective method for overcoming barriers of age, language and culture. The publication satisfies, therefore, the criteria of the academic quality of a practice-based Ph.D

The Impact of variable data print on usability in design

In a world where people see, process and remember information differently, the question arises: Is technology being used in a manner that acknowledges and addresses user differences to the fullest extent? Currently, new print technologies like Variable Data Printing (VDP) are only being used to create customized direct mailing pieces and personalized products for the purpose of marketing, sales and promotion. However, VDP introduces the ability to change data and design elements in printed documents on an individual basis, making it possible to address differences in visual and cognitive abilities, language and culture, and situational considerations. Applying this concept of customization to educational or informational documents would allow a small amount of input from a user to influence unique output (different sequences or layouts, typographic decisions and appropriate content choices) that are more relevant, usable and engaging. While using VDP as a means to explore and achieve this customization, the focus of this thesis study is not the technology, but the development of a graphic design strategy that also accommodates this customization goal to make information more accessible and usable on an individual basis

Information behaviour in construction project management teams: Contradictions, motivations and influencing factors

This research seeks to understand how teams involved in large complex construction projects share and use information. The context of the research is project team information behaviour within early stage UK local government projects. Project tasks are commonly undertaken in a collaborative manner, modified by situational factors which give rise to informational activities which are recognised as information behaviour. However, there is limited research on collaborative information behaviour, especially focussed on activity in the complex and politically driven environment found within local government. Furthermore, information behaviour at the concept stage may be strategic as it will help to determine major decisions that may have considerable implications (e.g. financial or political), it has long term consequences and it affects the information behaviour of others through the leveraging of power and influence. Cultural historical activity theory, underpinned by critical realism and supported by repertory grid technique and constant comparative method, is used to interpret data from two local authority case studies to address the following questions: ‘What is the information behaviour of project teams involved in local government construction projects at concept stage?’ and ‘What contradictions and congruencies influence the intervening variables that shape information behaviour within the project teams of local government construction projects?’ Contradictions within the project activity system, in particular between the socio-political and the technical domains, cause dysfunctionality. Established project information structures cannot readily cope with this dysfunctionality and, as a result, information behaviour, hidden and overt, creates new structures and shapes micro-political activity not anticipated by project method. As such, the research uncovered significant tensions within the teams’ work activity which caused ambiguity, leading to the creation of ‘information spheres’, where information can be exchanged and nurtured - sheltered from political interventions and to project teams which are invisible to the project board. Where these tensions are not present, information exchange is enabled by value alignment and trust leading to big rooms and extended project teams, where authority is distributed to enable improvements to information exchange. The research also posits a model of project team information behaviour and seeks to make modest contributions to both the information behaviour and project management canon

Information Outlook, April 2007

Volume 11, Issue 4https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/sla_io_2007/1003/thumbnail.jp

Interactive Placemaking: Creativity and User Experience at Urban Installations

Interactive placemaking offers many new opportunities for the consideration and design of urban place, particularly through offering engagement with the creativity and experiences of local populations. This thesis explores the recent area of interactive placemaking from analytical and creative perspectives in developing a framework for both describing behaviours and producing design guidelines. The thesis begins by drawing together and building on existing work in HCI and Design to provide an initial framework for the analysis of interactive place. The framework combines theoretical and practical threads to look at two central questions: how do people behave in interactive places, and how do we design such interactive places? The assumption underlying the thesis is that users' behaviours in public spaces can be observed, abstracted, and formalised to the extent that designers can use in designing and evaluating interactive public installations. In observational studies of four interactive installations the thesis progressively develops the original framework so that it is usable, accessible and understandable by designers. The thesis then goes on to evaluate how twenty design students used the framework to realise a number of public interactive installations in the city of Chicago. The thesis concludes by combining insights from existing research and insights from the studies conducted to present a comprehensive and robust framework structure. The main contribution of the thesis is thus a new generative and evaluative framework for interactive placemaking

An e-portrait of international business schools’ strategy: an exploratory study on business strategy and value proposition as reflected by internationally accredited business schools’ web sites

I23 - Higher Education Research Institutions; M16 - International Business AdministrationSurrounded by and born out of an increasingly borderless, competitive and customer-centred world, business schools are being pushed into replacing the typical educational ad-hoc management by a more strategic and market-driven approach. However, due to the so-claimed specificities of educational service and the academic ambitions of business schools, this path is neither consensual nor generalised. This study looks into international business schools’ web sites as a “shop window” to their choices of resources and interaction with the environment, as well as a “counter” where a service experience is provided to the different stakeholders. Therefore the web site content of a selected group of internationally accredited and/or ranked business schools across the globe has been explored, by analysing homepage content and specific pages about the school, for references to pre-defined strategy and marketing variables. Findings are that even among schools that share some common standards, there is a wide diversity of scenarios, where strategy and value are absent, vague or, in a few cases, well defined and differentiated. Many schools still need to be more strategic about their choices, while basing communication on a stronger value proposition for their customers. We did find traces of isomorphism, mainly in strategy statements, choice of stakeholders addressed and communicated value-in-use. By benchmarking other players, business schools competing internationally have the opportunity not only of guaranteeing they incorporate the must-have key success factors of the sector, but also to find, invest in and highlight the actual combination of resources, competencies and positioning that allow them an effective differentiation.Num mundo cada vez mais global, competitivo e centrado no cliente, as escolas de negócio estão a ser forçadas a substituir o tradicional modelo de gestão ad-hoc por uma abordagem mais estratégica e orientada para o mercado. Mas, devido às alegadas especificidades da oferta educacional e às ambições académicas destas escolas, esta substituição não é consensual nem generalizada. Este estudo aborda os sítios na internet das escolas de negócios internacionais como uma montra para as suas escolhas de recursos e articulação com o ambiente envolvente, assim como um balcão onde é disponibilizada uma experiência aos vários interlocutores. Analisámos o conteúdo dos sítios de um grupo selecionado de escolas de negócios espalhadas pelo mundo e incluídas em rankings e/ou com acreditações internacionais, focando na primeira página e nas páginas sobre a escola, procurando referências a variáveis de estratégia e marketing pré-definidas. Concluímos que, mesmo entre escolas que se regem por orientações comuns, há uma grande variedade de cenários, onde a estratégia e o valor estão ausentes, pouco definidos ou, em poucos casos, claramente apresentados e de forma diferenciadora. Muitas das escolas necessitam ainda de serem mais estratégicas nas suas escolhas, baseando a sua comunicação no valor que aportam aos clientes. Encontrámos exemplos de isomorfismo, principalmente a nível da definição da estratégia, seleção de interlocutores e comunicação de valor. A comparação com outras escolas permitirá garantir não só que são incorporados os fatores críticos de sucesso, mas também que são encontrados, que se invista e sejam destacados os recursos, competências e posicionamento que permitirão uma diferenciação efetiva

Variations and Application Conditions Of the Data Type »Image« - The Foundation of Computational Visualistics

Few years ago, the department of computer science of the University Magdeburg invented a completely new diploma programme called 'computational visualistics', a curriculum dealing with all aspects of computational pictures. Only isolated aspects had been studied so far in computer science, particularly in the independent domains of computer graphics, image processing, information visualization, and computer vision. So is there indeed a coherent domain of research behind such a curriculum? The answer to that question depends crucially on a data structure that acts as a mediator between general visualistics and computer science: the data structure "image". The present text investigates that data structure, its components, and its application conditions, and thus elaborates the very foundations of computational visualistics as a unique and homogenous field of research. Before concentrating on that data structure, the theory of pictures in general and the definition of pictures as perceptoid signs in particular are closely examined. This includes an act-theoretic consideration about resemblance as the crucial link between image and object, the communicative function of context building as the central concept for comparing pictures and language, and several modes of reflection underlying the relation between image and image user. In the main chapter, the data structure "image" is extendedly analyzed under the perspectives of syntax, semantics, and pragmatics. While syntactic aspects mostly concern image processing, semantic questions form the core of computer graphics and computer vision. Pragmatic considerations are particularly involved with interactive pictures but also extend to the field of information visualization and even to computer art. Four case studies provide practical applications of various aspects of the analysis

Financial advisors’ perceptions of ethical and effective attitudes and behaviour in their profession

Unethical behaviour is a concern in the workplace, because of the possible consequences for all stakeholders. This issue is particularly salient in the financial services sector, a highly regulated environment, where breaches of the regulations can result in large fines and reputational damage to the organisation concerned. Unethical behaviour can also have severe effects on customers, such as when inappropriate advice leads to customers losing all or a large part of their savings. Empirical studies have tended to focus mostly on organisational antecedents of unethical intentions and behaviour, with individual factors not being given that much attention. Research on the antecedents of unethical intentions and behaviour has produced inconsistent findings, suggesting that context might play a role. Consequently, my research has attempted to study the individual antecedents of unethical intentions and behaviour in the financial services industry, a specific context where it is salient. Malta presents a particularly pertinent context for this study, as its profile on Hofstede’s cultural dimensions scale has been empirically linked to a higher potential for engaging in unethical behaviour. [Continues.