New conceptual model for design development of smart clothing

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.Smart Clothing, the convergent future of the electronics and clothing industries, struggles to reach its true potential and enter the mass market because of 1) imbalanced contributions from the electronics and clothing sectors, 2) the lack of an integrated approach to optimise the input from the different areas, and 3) the unclear direction of the products. There is a need for an NPD process that balances all contributions and addresses new values based on user requirements. Moreover, a strategic approach, that challenges the development teams to go beyond their existing creative boundary and reconciles their differences, is required. According to the research, Smart Clothes should take the design approach of functional clothing and focus on the area of sportswear, personal healthcare and physical monitoring, as they fit the users’ lifestyle and requirements. Since social acceptance is an important factor, Smart Clothes must also have a good design and whilst, at the same time, perform all the basic functions that ordinary garments do. They should allow the user to personalise the styles and functions according to the benefits, with respect to product lifecycle and disassembly. A conceptual model of the NPD process was developed and tested with experts in this field. The proposed model provides the basis for a computer software to plan and manage product development teams and activities at the front-end of the NPD process. It offers several advantages: 1. Combining the NPD models and those of collaborative development 2. Providing a holistic view of Smart Clothing development 3. Clarifying of the roles of all participants within the collaborative development teams 4. Describing the responsibilities and expected contributions of all participants 5. Explaining working relationships and overlapping roles and responsibilities 6. Offering the directions for the creative boundary extensio

Applying strategic design as a holistic approach to investigate and address real world challenges

This paper discusses how design can be used strategically to provide a holistic approach for investigating and providing viable solutions for different types of real world problems, which range from helping organizations fulfil their goals right through to addressing social and environmental issues. Moreover, it will be described how design has evolved to become more proactive and strategic. The paper is based around three case studies that explore how design was employed strategically to tackle wicked problems in different contexts. In all cases, the problematic situations will be explained, followed by the investigation processes and proposed solutions. The three case studies will be critically analyzed and compared to extract common practices. The results confirm that design can be used strategically to address wicked problems. From the start, design techniques can be used to visualize and map out relationships of all key issues, which help turn “ill-defined” problems into well-focused questions. Design research also provides a useful framework for investigating problems, gaining insights, analyzing findings and integrating all key issues. Besides, the design thinking and process could be used to create viable solutions that not only address the main problems, but also take other issues into consideration, which make the outcomes more holistic.Keywords: strategic design, design thinking, problem solving process

Co-design for not-for-profit urganization

Co-design has potential to help community-based organizations deliver better services to their beneficiaries, since it encourages users to get involved in designing services that will be delivered to them. Good use of co-design could bring several benefits, e.g. ensuring that services match users’ needs. However, the extent of co-design knowledge among community-based organizations is currently unknown. Hence, this study aimed at investigating their current state of co-design knowledge in order to develop guidance to help them effectively co-design services with their beneficiaries. This project employed a mix-method approach including a survey, interviews, case studies, and a creative workshop. This paper will discuss results of case studies conducted with five organizations, which involved observations and interviews with key staff and users. The results revealed that the level of understanding of co-design among community-based organizations varied greatly. While most organizations have the right mindset for adopting co-design, since they are keen to listen to users’ ideas, only the minority actually involves users in designing services. The lack of awareness may be the main reason of the slow adoption of codesign. Thus, it is important to help them understand the value of co-design and how it can be used to suit their needs.</p

Exploring co-design in the voluntary sector

Co-design is an approach to design that emphasises the creative contribution that can be made by potential users, clients and other stakeholders in developing products, systems or services. Co-design is widely used in the commercial sector to accelerate user acceptance and reduce product/service failure. Co-design is also becoming widespread in the public sector as a way of engaging citizens in design exploration. However, little is known about the capability of voluntary sector organisations, particularly small and medium sized organisations to undertake co-design activities; and resources that describe how to implement co-design tend to be oriented towards the needs and the context of larger commercial organisations. This paper presents findings from an ongoing investigation into co-design capability in small-and-medium-sized third sector organisations in the UK. The investigation combines an on-line survey, in-depth case studies and interviews

Design and Creative Methods as a Practice of Liminality in Community-Academic Research Projects

This paper aims to explore the types of spaces and experiences that are created by design and creative practices. More specifically, it focuses on how design and creative practices can engender transformations in the mindset, knowledge, emotions and social relations of people who participate in such practices. To do this, the paper investigates the concepts of liminality and liminal spaces, and the relationships between design/creative methods and liminal spaces using insights from four case studies. The results reveal that design and creative practices may create liminal spaces in many ways, such as neutralizing the working environments, encouraging people to experiment with new ideas and helping them express themselves more freely

Elementary modelling and behavioural analysis for emergency evacuations using social media

YesSocial media usage in evacuations and emergency management represents a rapidly expanding field of study. Our paper thus provides quantitative insight into a serious practical problem. Within this context a behavioural approach is key. We discuss when facilitators should consider model-based interventions amid further implications for disaster communication and emergency management. We model the behaviour of individual people by deriving optimal contrarian strategies. We formulate a Bayesian algorithm which enables the optimal evacuation to be conducted sequentially under worsening conditions.Supported by EPSRC (IDEAS Factory - Game theory and adaptive networks for smart evacuations, EP/I005765/1