Understanding of large Far Eastern organizational cultures in approaches to new product development process:designing versus controlling

This paper explores how approaches to new product design can differ nationally when examining large organizational cultures between the East and the West, especially looking at different approaches in the context of ‘openness’. Currently, approaches to new product development in digital landscape have shifted to evolutionary perspectives, which embrace an ‘open’ context in the design process – ‘designing’, rather than single hierarchical and closed strategy for efficiency- ‘controlling’. This paper highlights that NPD process in Far Eastern Asia’s organizational cultures have been underlined in single hierarchical organizational cultures resulting in engineered product design under ‘controlling’, rather than ‘designing’

Designing for the dichotomy of immersion in location based games

The interaction design of mixed reality location based games typically focuses upon the digital content of the mobile screen, as this is characteristically the primary navigational tool players use to traverse the game space. This emphasis on the digital over the physical means the opportunity for player immersion in mixed reality games is often limited to the single (digital) dimension. This research seeks to redress this imbalance, which is caused, in part, by the requirement for the player?s attention to be systematically switched between the two worlds, defined in this research as the ?Dichotomy of Immersion?. Using different design strategies we propose minimising the reliance of the player upon the mobile screen by encouraging greater observation of their physical surroundings. Using a ?research through design? approach for the mixed reality game PAC-LAN: Zombie Apocalypse, we illustrate design strategies for increasing immersion in location based games, which we believe will aid designers in enabling players to more readily engage with the physical context of the game and thus facilitate richer game experiences

Co-designing playful interactions for public health in green spaces

Public green spaces such as parks are key contributors to peoples’ health and wellbeing. Users often underutilise these green spaces in terms of undertaking casual physical activities and are recognised as having the most to gain from participating in their use and development. The Active Parks project aimed to co-design a concept for a playful and interactive ‘health trail’ in a green space to explore the effects of playful interactive experiences on the casual physical activity of park users. In a series of co-design workshops with local residents, the Lancaster City Council and NHS Lancashire Public Health, a numbers of ideas and concepts were developed, which informed the design proposition of the health trail offering new ways of motivating and taking physical activity specific to local people in their park. Three versions of a proof-of-concept digital prototype - large-scale musical instrument - were developed to explore how it could be used and implemented in the park. Pilot testing showed that the prototypes encouraged positive experiences of intergenerational casual physical activity among young children and teenagers, their parents and grandparents. Users described the experience as ‘fun’, ‘magical’ and ‘brilliant’ and were positive in their feedback about the prospect of the idea becoming a reality in their park. Reflecting on the co-design process the paper recognises the successes of the project while questioning a lack of opportunity for participants to engage in the rich knowledge generation experience of prototyping in the evaluative design phase as a barrier to further innovation

Ambidexterity of design management in different approaches to digital design:review of organizational attitudes in the East and the West in new product development process

Currently, there is growing interest in shaping a digital ecosystem that embraces holistic design approaches. In the digital realm, organizational approaches to managing design are required to shift to ‘designing’ towards holistic digital design, rather than ‘design’ for a completed output. Within this context, this paper reviews how organizational cultures can impact the development of holistic product design in competitive digital landscapes. This is done by investigating different organizational cultures as reflected in large Eastern and Western organizations’ approaches to managing design in the new product development (NPD) process. Despite significances of ‘designing’ this study discovered ambidexterity aspects of digital design in NPD projects, from international organizational perspectives. The findings offer key understandings that can explain the dilemmatic relations by examining key differences of design priorities in new digital product development in the East and the West: namely the East focusing on ‘design output’; whereas the West expecting ‘design outcomes’. Based on this we propose two major scenarios that represent the different approaches to managing design by organizational cultures

Speculative Requirements: Design Fiction and RE

Many innovative software products are conceived, developed and deployed without any conventional attempt to elicit stakeholder requirements. Rather, they are the result of the vision and intuition of a small number of creative individuals who perceive a market opportunity that has been facilitated by the emergence of a new technology. In this paper we consider how the conditions that enable new products' emergence might be better anticipated, making innovations a little less reliant on individual vision and a little more informed by stakeholder need. We contend that this is particularly important where just-over-the-horizon technology would have the potential for social impact, good or bad. Speculative design describes a basket of techniques that seek to explore this landscape. We focus particularly on one of these, design fiction, and describe a case study where it was used to explore how plausible new technologies might impact on dementia care

Tap or swipe? Effects of interaction gestures for retrieval of match statistics via second screen on watching soccer on TV

Accessing match statistics through second screen while watching soccer matches on TV has grown into a popular practice. Although early works have shown how gestures on touch screens performed under distracting environments, little is known regarding how specific gestures (swiping and tapping) to retrieve information on second screen affect the viewing experience of soccer games on TV. For this, a mixed-method user study, which included prototype tests of watching short clips of a soccer match, questionnaires and short interviews, was conducted with 28 participants. The results revealed that the number of people who preferred tapping was more than the number of people who favored swiping under two different second screen activity time scenarios i.e. On-Play or Off-Play. However, neither swiping nor tapping yield better performance of recalling verbatim match stats and exact comparisons in both On-Play and Off-Play. Participant evaluations in On-Play and interviews give us clues regarding such difference.</p

The Ten Principles of Socially Responsible Digital Health Design

We are now, more than ever, aware of the social challenges that face us globally, keeping healthy is at the top of the list. Increasingly in the last ten years, designers have turned their attention not just to designing to alleviate and prevent illness but designing specifically to increase individual and community wellness and health. Digital health design has been one of those dimensions adopted to address the challenge. In this opinion piece we posit that in the domain of digital health all design should be socially responsible in order for us to consider it good design. Drawing on the history of socially responsible design and the emergence of digital health applications we propose Ten Principles of Socially Responsible Digital Health Design

Development and preliminary evaluation of a novel low cost VR-based upper limb stroke rehabilitation platform using Wii technology.

Abstract Purpose: This paper proposes a novel system (using the Nintendo Wii remote) that offers customised, non-immersive, virtual reality-based, upper-limb stroke rehabilitation and reports on promising preliminary findings with stroke survivors. Method: The system novelty lies in the high accuracy of the full kinematic tracking of the upper limb movement in real-time, offering strong personal connection between the stroke survivor and a virtual character when executing therapist prescribed adjustable exercises/games. It allows the therapist to monitor patient performance and to individually calibrate the system in terms of range of movement, speed and duration. Results: The system was tested for acceptability with three stroke survivors with differing levels of disability. Participants reported an overwhelming connection with the system and avatar. A two-week, single case study with a long-term stroke survivor showed positive changes in all four outcome measures employed, with the participant reporting better wrist control and greater functional use. Activities, which were deemed too challenging or too easy were associated with lower scores of enjoyment/motivation, highlighting the need for activities to be individually calibrated. Conclusions: Given the preliminary findings, it would be beneficial to extend the case study in terms of duration and participants and to conduct an acceptability and feasibility study with community dwelling survivors. Implications for Rehabilitation Low-cost, off-the-shelf game sensors, such as the Nintendo Wii remote, are acceptable by stroke survivors as an add-on to upper limb stroke rehabilitation but have to be bespoked to provide high-fidelity and real-time kinematic tracking of the arm movement. Providing therapists with real-time and remote monitoring of the quality of the movement and not just the amount of practice, is imperative and most critical for getting a better understanding of each patient and administering the right amount and type of exercise. The ability to translate therapeutic arm movement into individually calibrated exercises and games, allows accommodation of the wide range of movement difficulties seen after stroke and the ability to adjust these activities (in terms of speed, range of movement and duration) will aid motivation and adherence - key issues in rehabilitation. With increasing pressures on resources and the move to more community-based rehabilitation, the proposed system has the potential for promoting the intensity of practice necessary for recovery in both community and acute settings.The National Health Service (NHS) London Regional Innovation Fund

Latin American Passivhaus approach : an exploration of SDGs and policy

Although Passivhaus was first developed for mid- and northern European cold weathers, it has now spread and adopted in many other countries. The climatic conditions may have changed, but the primary goal is still the same: reduce energy consumption while providing high indoor environmental comfort levels. The Passivhaus Standard's recent uptake in Latin American countries brings exciting opportunities to develop and adapt for the certification.This work explores the Passivhaus Standard potential to shape the low-carbon, energy-efficient and healthy buildings practices and policy agenda. In doing so, we explore the Passivhaus positive contribution and negative implications for implementing the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Latin America. The discussions are presented in two separate contexts. The first examines the Passivhaus adoption in Latin America following the current practices and how it responds to five SDGs responding to the UN's specific targets and indicators. The second sets the context for building Passivhaus in Latin America using natural materials, particularly bio-based fibre materials. Therefore, this section builds upon the response to the SDGs discussing these new approaches. Finally, we explore the potential for design-led research to engage real people and communities, understand everyday problems and implement the 'right' solution, not just the 'newest technology.' The findings support the Passivhaus adoption, open the debate for policies and a straightforward transition to healthier and more energy-efficient buildings in the Latin American context

Design capabilities for community resilience: Towards dialogic practices and policies

This paper draws on a pilot study insight into Brazilian informal-settlement communities’ problems, adaptative strategies and needs during the COVID-19 pandemic. Although communities play a noteworthy role in resilience, emergency and recovery plans often lack sufficient community engagement. This contributes to leaving particularly disadvantaged communities behind. Inequalities were further exacerbated during the pandemic, urging the deployment of plural and sustainable measures, which can promote equity in a global health crisis. Design can play a meaningful role in tackling inequalities in emergency and recovery. However, this role of design is still under-researched in resilience. We expand on related work analyses to draw on key design capabilities for the development of dialogic practices and policies aiming to contribute to designing effective participation of communities in decision-making processes. These key design capabilities support the development of dialogic design practices and policies by enhancing and supporting collaboration and communication throughout policy co-design