An Exploration of the Roles Values Play in Design Decision-Making

The paper presents the findings of a study into design decision-making and specifically the use of values during design decision-making. It briefly describes the development of a taxonomy of values used in design decision-making developed from a series of pilot interviews, protocol analysis and focus groups. This was necessary because although the values agenda is not new, previous studies were found to have gaps, or did not reflect the current state of play. From this more in-depth case studies were carried out to explore the influence of values in design decision-making. Eight designers were asked to design a lectern out of sustainable materials. They were given one day to complete the project. For one hour during the day they were asked to ‘talk aloud’ while being videoed, also known as concurrent verbalisation and protocol analysis. They also took part in a 40 minute retrospective interview about their design work, at the end of the day. One designer was asked to complete a ten day design project in order to verify the results against a longitudinal project. They also took part in a 40 minute retrospective interview at the end of the project. The paper presents some of the rich data collected during the study. And illustrates the ability to research the role of values in design decision-making. The data generated shows values driving many of the decisions designers make including the way in which they cognitively organise their design activity and through which they can reduce avenues of enquiry. Keywords: Design Decision-Making, Knowledge, Skills, Values, Empirical Evidence, Research Methods</p

The role of values in design decision-making

The paper presents the findings of a PhD study into design decision-making and specifically the use of values during design decision-making. Firstly it presents a model of design decision-making as a combination of the use of knowledge, skills and values and discusses a selection of the associated literature. It then describes the development of a taxonomy of values used in design decision-making developed from a series of pilot interviews, protocol analysis and focus groups. This was necessary because although the values agenda is not new, previous studies were found to have gaps, or did not reflect the current state of play. From this more in-depth case studies were carried out to explore the influence of values in design decision-making. Eight designers, ranging from A-level students to professionals were asked to design a lectern out of sustainable materials. They were given one day to complete the project. For one hour during the day they were asked to ‘talk aloud’ while being videoed, also known as concurrent verbalisation and protocol analysis. They also took part in a 40 minute retrospective interview about their design work, at the end of the day. One professional was also asked to complete a ten day design project in order to verify the results against a longitudinal project. They also took part in a 40 minute retrospective interview at the end of the ten day period. The results were analysed using the new taxonomy as a coding system. The study illustrates the ability to research the role of values in design decision-making using a variety of techniques. The data generated shows values driving many of the decisions designers make including the way in which they cognitively organise their design activity and through which they can reduce avenues of enquiry. The paper discusses the key influences of both internal and external values, and similarities and differences between participants. Finally the paper discusses how these findings may contribute to the development of design and technology education and outlines possibilities for future work

An exploration of the roles values play in design decision-making

The overall aim of the thesis is to explore the role of values within design decision-making. The research is carried out within a context of sustainable design, specifically the use of recycled materials. The literature and pilot studies highlighted the nature and role of values in design decision-making. These include the observation that stakeholder values are different from societal values, that designers have an internal perception of external values (or that they make decisions 'on behalf of external influences), and that designers use 'meta-values' (a sub-set of internal values) to organise their activity. The main body of the research includes a series of nine case studies using retrospective interviews and concurrent verbalisation and protocol analysis. Previous research suggested that a designer's values can be researched through looking at their visual representations. This was investigated through an analysis of participants design work. A taxonomy was explored and evidence sought to validate the categories of values influencing industrial design decision-making. Key findings show that values embedded in design, initially considered an external value, could also be an internal value, as designers use these principles to embed value into their designs. It was also found that the choice to be influenced by one set of values and not another, can differ from project to project. The changing role of values in relation to design expertise was explored and, in contradiction to the prior art, there was little evidence that distinguished the influence of values between novices and experts. A primary research output is the development of a new taxonomy, which divides the values influencing industrial design decision-making into external values and internal values. (Continues...).EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Reinventing refills: guidelines for design

This paper presents findings from a DEFRA funded collaborative research project run by Loughborough Design School in collaboration with Boots Alliance GmbH, and presents guidelines for design teams regarding the design of successful, sustainable, refillable packaging. The study focused on ‘body wash’ products in the area of personal care. A broad range of qualitative methods were used to create a background framework, develop design concepts and test the viability of the design solutions. Two concepts were turned into high fidelity prototypes and tested in multi-activity user focus groups. The prototypes were evaluated from an environmental perspective using the Eco Indicator 99. Discussion is focused around general findings regarding refillable packing and also on specific findings related to ‘concentrates mixed in the parent pack’. The findings from this study have increased understanding about the potential implications of refillable packaging and how it might be successfully utilised by business. A range of guidelines for the design of refills have been identified. Further a more detailed understanding of consumer perceptions, business challenges/opportunities and environmental savings associated with ‘concentrated refills that are mixed in the parent pack’, has been identified. It has been seen that to be successful refills must offer good quality; be very easy to use and appropriately delivered; be clearly communicated; be offered through a brand consumers like; and represent good value, whilst radically reducing the amount of packaging manufactured and distributed. Incorporating carefully considered consumer and environmental needs into the brief is critical to the successful development of refillable packaging

Education and sustainable development: a new context for design

The subject matter of design is the one that concerns itself with change and alternative resolutions (Buchanan, 1995). Increasingly design problems are issue-led with an emerging metaissue of sustainable development (SD) (Fuad-Luke, 2009). This paper discusses the issue of SD in the context of public services in the UK as an opportunity for design. As there is a great diversity in the context, organizational complexity, design and delivery of public services, the focus is on the UK primary education. UNESCO (2009) identified education to be critical in promoting SD and for schools to become ‘centres of expertise and innovation’ in the area. A non mandatory goal from the government and the lack of clarity in definition of SD (Bourn, 2005) leaves schools without strategic incentive for change. The preliminary findings from the interviews of six case studies presented in this paper will seek to explore and identify characteristics and current approaches to SD in the UK schools. The findings will become a foundation for discussion of the role of design within this new context

Design decision-making and materials: research agendas and gathering evidence

This paper describes the development of the research agendas for three PhD research projects which took place over the last two decades in the Department of Design and Technology at Loughborough University. The emergence of these agendas in relation to their eras is described and the data gathering methods developed to pursue them noted. The paper is intended to support teachers, designers and other researchers in the early stages of the design of their research projects

Understanding consumer disposal behaviour with food to go packaging in a move to circular, zero waste packaging solutions

It is clear that a shift from the current make-use-dispose mentality of product consumption is required to move to the ideal of a Circular Economy (CE), where the world’s resources are kept in use for as long as possible and their value retained. The idea of waste as a resource within a CE is not new, but the pressure to apply it to the Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) packaging industry has been growing in momentum since 2016. Many research studies have focussed on recycling behaviours in the home, but few have looked at consumers behaviour with food to go (FTG) packaging disposed out of the home. This research set out to assess the habit strengths of millennial consumers disposing of FTG packaging out of the home within the UK. The outcome of this research showed that millennial consumers have strong habits (upper quartile) in relation to their FTG packaging disposal routine. However, a significant percentage of participants were placing FTG packaging into incorrect recycling bins, showing there is still confusion amongst consumers about how to dispose of waste out of the home. Understanding of habit strengths at the packaging disposal stage could be one element to help in the design of interventions within packaging or waste system design, developing the responsible consumer behaviours required for a circular, zero waste society to exist

Promoting sustainable human development in engineering: assessment of online courses within continuing professional development strategies

Higher Education Institutions play a critical role in societies transition towards sustainable development, educating future professionals and decision makers. In the last few decades, a number of technical universities have devoted major efforts to integrating sustainable development into engineering curricula. There is still, however, an increasing need to further transform learning and training environments and build capacity of educators and trainers on sustainable development issues.Against this background, this paper assesses the role of online training courses, within continuing professional development strategies, in promoting sustainable human development in engineering degrees. It was built upon the implementation of a European initiative, the Global Dimension in Engineering Education, promoted by a transdisciplinary consortium of technical universities and non-governmental organisations.In terms of method, this study analyses two sets of quantitative and qualitative indicators to assess i) the perceived quality/relevance of the training proposals, and ii) the learning acquisition of participants. Quantitative indicators were complemented by a descriptive analysis of findings from a semi-structured survey. The results provide evidence that online learning can be an effective approach for continuing professional development of academics. The findings also suggest that participants perceived online courses' contents and curricula, developed jointly by academics and practitioners of non-governmental organisations, as relevant and useful for integrating sustainability principles in teaching activities. To conclude, authors recommend the leaders of higher educational institutions to explore the integration of online courses addressed to faculty into university policy and strategies, as a way to promote professional development and the engagement of academics on sustainable development.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Testing new tools for introducing the global dimension in engineering education

Resumen del trabajo presentado en la 5th International Conference on Technologies for Development, celebrada en Lausana (Suiza) del 27 al 29 de junio de 2018.Engineers with a broader capacity are needed to contribute to the realization of the SDGs. Though a number of technical universities have recently devoted efforts to integrating sustainable development into engineering curricula, current international debates have not yet explored in detail the role that Higher Education should play within Global Citizenship Education. Here we present lessons learned from a European initiative, the Global Dimension in Engineering Education (GDEE), promoted by a transdisciplinary consortium of technical universities and nongovernmental organisations. GDEE (http://gdee.eu) has developed specific novel tools to widen the training of Engineers in Europe, and to include global development aspects into their professional competences. There are increasing needs to further transform learning and training environments and build capacity of educators and trainers on sustainable development issues (Perez-Foguet et al., 2017). The work discusses project-based training and a recently launched honors programme that represent promising tools to set possible ways forward

Testing new tools for introducing the global dimension in engineering education

Testing new tools for introducing the global dimension in engineering educatio