Front

Matter
Proceedings of DRS 2014: Designs Big Debates.
Design Research Society Biennial International Conference
16-19 June 2014, Ume, Sweden.
Edited by: Youn-kyung Lim, Kristina Niedderer, Johan Redstrm,
Erik Stolterman and Anna Valtonen
Published by: Ume Institute of Design, Ume University
Ume, Sweden
Copyright 2014 by the Design Research Society,
Ume Institute of Design, and the authors
No part of this document may be used or reproduced in any
manner without written permission from the publisher, except in the
content of reviews and for educational purposes.
Every reasonable attempt has been made to identify owners of
copyright. Errors or omissions will be corrected in subsequent
editions.
This proceedings was produced as part of the Design Research
Society Biennial International Conference 2014 held at Ume
Institute of Design, Ume, Sweden from 16-19 June 2014.
Proceedings PDF available at http://www.drs2014.org/en/
programme/proceedings/
ISBN 978-91-7601-068-6
For printed and bound copy, please contact
Ume Institute of Design, Ume University
SE-901 87 Ume, Sweden

DesignResearchSociety

Table of Contents
Editorial

................................................................................................... 1

Paper Programme Committee

........................................................................

Reviewers List
Designing experiences

............................................................................................ 5

Interaction and Service Design as Oering Perspectives in a Space of Action

........................ 7

Mattias Arvola

Deconstructing Expected Passenger Experience in Airports

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Philip Kirk, Anna Harrison, Vesna Popovic, Ben Kraal

Experience Design Framework for securing Large Scale Information and Communication Systems

. 31

Azadeh Nematzadeh, Omar Sosa-Tzec

Product Impact and Perception

Translating smells into colors: a proposal for improve the perception of perfume packaging design.

56

Camila Assis Peres Silva, Clice de Toledo Sanjar Mazzilli

From product to eect: Towards a human-centered model of product impact

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

Steven Fokkinga, Paul Hekkert, Pieter Desmet, Elif zcan

Measuring Product Design Preferences with an Aective Stimulus-Response Compatibility Task

...

84

Katrina L. Schoen, Nathan Crilly

Communication and Perception

Design for Emotional Well-being: A tactile and a material investigation

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98

Alexandra Abalada

Learning from others: A ve-year experience on teaching empathic design

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

Caroline Gagnon, Valrie Ct

Mapping Innovation
The Chef as Designer: Classifying the Techniques that Chefs use in Creating Innovative Dishes

. . 127

Barry Kudrowitz, Arthur Oxborough, Jaz Hee-jeong Choi, Emily Stover

Design Wizard: Tools to Accelerate the Outline of Innovation Process Regarding Co-Design
Structure and Project Scope

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147

Bruna Di Gioia, Joo de Souza Leite

Mapping a design innovation process within a Multinational Corporation  A design perspective to

using Delphi technique

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159

Mersha Aftab, Robert Young

Business Model Design

Creating Organisational Knowledge Through Strategic Business Model Design
Luke Feast

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181

"Should I Patent This"?

............................................................................

195

Bryan Howell

Game feedback techniques: Eliciting big surprises in business model design

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204

Sune Gudiksen

Social Sustainability
Users, Stakeholders and researchers: Dilemmas of Research as Practice and the Role of Design
Thinking in the Case Study of a Rehabilitation Living Lab

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220

Poldma Tiiu, Labb Delphine, Bertin Sylvain, Kehayia Eva, Swaine Bonnie, Ahmed Sara,
Archambault Philippe, Le Dorze Guylaine, Fung Joyce, Lamontagne Anouk

Incorporating Queer Understandings of Sex and Gender in Design Research and Practice

........

234

Isabel Prochner

Altering expectations: how design ctions and backcasting can leverage sustainable lifestyles

. . . . . . 243

Sara Ilstedt, Josen Wangel

Promoting Sustainability
Evolving a design driven `hybrid' research approach to inform and advance sustainable outcomes
in the built environment sector

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255

Kimberley Wilson, Cheryl Desha, Evonne Miller

Communication of Food Sustainability: from Dissemination to Participatory Knowledge Building

268

Young-ae Hahn

Design vs. the Design Industry

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282

Joanna Boehenrt

Usability
Examining Intuitive Navigation in Airports

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293

Andrew Cave, Alethea Blackler, Vesna Popovic, Ben Kraal

The Inuence of User Characteristics in Negative Product Use Experience

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312

Chajoong Kim

Dening the experiential aspects of passengers' comfort in the aircraft interior - an empirical
study

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325

Naseem Ahmadpour, Gitte Lindgaard, Jean-Marc Robert, Bernard Pownall

Human-centred Design and Ergonomics

Ergonomics Information Flow in Product Design: A Case Study About Handles Used by Turkish
Furniture Producers

.................................................................................

335

Yener Altparmakoullar, Ilgm Erolu

A Design Process based on Field Research: An Adjustable Desk for Children in Rural India

. . . . . . 346

Youngchan Jeong, Sumi Kim, Joongseek Lee

User-centred Design
Transforming User Information into User Knowledge: A Multiple Case Study
Isil Oygur

ii

....................

360

Adaptable interface model for intuitively learnable interfaces: an approach to address diversity in
older users' capabilities

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 374

Raghavendra Reddy Gudur, Alethea Blackler, Vesna Popovic, Doug Mahar

Research-based design and research through design: a case study of the improvement in the user
experience of an autism caregiver using ICT.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 388

Chun-Meng Cheng, Hsien-Hui Tang, Miao-En Chien, Ni-Miao Lin, Mike Y. Chen

Visual Communication
Graphic design: focus on nine professional reections?

............................................

401

Karel van der Waarde

Point of View as Mediacy of Information Visualization

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 411

Soojin Jun

Ecological Perception: Seeing Systems

..............................................................

425

Joanna Boehnert

Design Transformation
A framework for design and assessment of products in developing countries

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 439

Timothy Whitehead, Mark Evans, Guy Bingham

Design Prospects: Investigating Design Fiction via a Rogue Urban Drone

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 452

Andrew Morrison

Change through Service Design  Service Prototyping as a Tool for Learning and Transformation

469

Essi Kuure, Satu Miettinen, Mira Alhonsuo

Textile Design
An aesthetic approach to the use of textiles in architecture

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 483

Tina Moor, Andrea Weber Marin, Janine Haeberle

The Design Alphabet for Textiles as applied Method at the Frontiers of Textile Design Research

. . 500

Isabel Rosa Mueggler, Andrea Weber Marin, Franoise Adler, Janine Haeberle, Kim Poldner

Activism and Behavior Change

Designing For Democracy; using design activism to re-negotiate the roles and rights for patients

. 514

Eva Knutz, Thomas Markussen, Signe Mrbjerg, Jette Ammentorp

Communication design as an agent in creating gender equality in India

...........................

530

.....................................................

546

Nicola St John

User Diversity in Design for Behavior Change

Aykut Coskun, Cigdem Erbug

Social Innovation and Change

Our Common Future? Poltitical questions for designing social innovation

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 560

Ramia Maz

Social Design Principles and Practices

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 572

Ins Veiga, Rita Almendra

iii

Social Implication Design (SID)  A design method to exploit the unique value of the artefact to
counteract social problems

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 584

Nynke Tromp, Paul Hekkert

From Poetry to Computing

A STUDY OF CULTURAL PRODUCTS AND THE CHARACTERISTICS OF QUALIA

. . . . . . . 599

Hui Yun Yen, Po Hsien Lin, Rungtai Lin

Employing Poetry Culture for Creative Design With Six-standpoints

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 609

Moli Yeh, Chiu Wei Chien, Rungtai Lin

The Reappearing Computer: the past and future of computing in design research

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 618

Simone Gristwood, Stephen Boyd Davis

Culture and Place 1

Space-and-place modelling-and-making: a dialogue between design and geography

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 633

Robert Harland, Maria Cecilia Loschiavo dos Santos

Archaeology of the Future. Reconsidering the Place and Nature of Trend Forecasting in Design
Discourse

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 645

Elisabeth Petermann

Tool complexes of innovation: Spaces for explorative innovation in four manufacturing industrial
companies

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 663

Jennie Schaeer, Yvonne Eriksson

Culture and Place 2

Sustainable Strategies Through Design in Communities of Practice

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 677

Luiza Rossetto, Celso Scaletsky

What Can Urbanism Be? Problematizing the Design of Cities

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 695

Aseem Inam

Cultural Development
Design as Rhetoric in the Discourse of Resonance

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 718

Veronika Kelly

Making the Case: collaborative concept development of products and services for a new design
museum

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 728

Louise Valentine, Joanna Bletcher, Saskia Coulson

The Impact of Cultural Dierences in Design Thinking Education

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 744

Katja Thoring, Carmen Luippold, Roland M. Mueller

Design Case Studies

Industrial designers and engineering designers; causes of conicts, resolving strategies, and
perceived image of each other

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 757

KwanMyung Kim, Kun-pyo Lee

Political debate as design process: A frame analysis

Darren Umney, Peter Lloyd, Stephen Potter

iv

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 771

SOURCE, a Case Study for the Design of Precious Moments' Memory

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 782

Pierre Alex, Damien Dupr

Design Tools and Methods

Enhancing Collective Creativity via Enactment: A Comparative Study of Design Research
Methods

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 790

Emily Elizabeth Strouse

Enhancing Visual Meaning: Measuring Visual Communication Design Eectiveness

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 803

David Craib, Lorenzo Imbesi

Tools for Eective Communication about Technologies of Domestic Ubiquitous Computing

Systems in User-Centered Design

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 820

Wonjun Lee, Yeoreum Lee, Jong-bum Woo, Jinmin Seok, Ingeon Shin, Youn-kyung Lim

Design Research Methods 1

The promise of cognitive neuroscience in design studies

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 834

Pirita Seitamaa-Hakkarainen, Minna Huotilainen, Maarit Mkel, Camilla Groth, Kai

Hakkarainen

meta-levels in design research: resolving some confusions

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 847

Pieter Jan Stappers, Froukje Sleeswijk Visser

The Use of Grounded Theory Approach in User Experience Based Design Research: A study on
"Automobile Modication" in Turkey

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 858

Selen Devrim lkeba

Design Research Methods 2

Qualitative Study of Smartphone use: Subjective Experience of Time through Personal Ubiquitous
Technology

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 871

Yong-Ki Lee, Kun-Pyo Lee

Wearing Two Hats: Reecting Alongside Authentic Designing

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 886

Simon Bowen, Andy Dearden, Matthew Dexter

Designing Deployment: a visual paper of the batch deployment of research prototypes

. . . . . . . . . . . . . 899

David Cameron, Nadine Jarvis, Andy Boucher

Collaborative Design
Ecotone: A Model for Art / Science Collaboration

.................................................

910

Leanne Elias, Christine Clark

An automatic open-source analysis method for video and audio recordings of co-design processes

. 921

Miika Toivanen, Minna Huotilainen, Huageng Chi, Pirita Seitamaa-Hakkarainen

Trans-Disciplinary Design Education

...............................................................

932

Christoph Holliger, Roberto Iiguez Flores, Juan Claudio Monterrubio Soto

Participation and Co-Design

Investigating the Changing Relation Between Consumer and Designer in Post-Industrial Design
Guido Hermans, Anna Valtonen

. 940

Co-created Facilitation and Perspective Plurality to Foster Mutual Understandings of Risk

. . . . . . . 951

Robb Mitchell

Beyond methods: Co-creation from a practice-oriented perspective

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 967

Elisa Ruhl, Christoph Richter, Julia Lembke, Heidrun Allert

Critical Design
Privilege and Oppression: Towards an Intersectional Critical Design

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 980

Luiza Prado de Oliveira

Agency, Context and Meaning: The Humanities and Design

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 991

Mads Folkmann

Design and the Projecting of the New

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1003

Mads Folkmann

Design Issues 1
Hacking delivery systems: exploring design tools for user-led innovation in urban infrastructures

1015

Lorenzo Davoli, Johan Redstrm, Ruben van der Vleuten

Uncovering Design Competence: An Overview and a Model of Design Skills

.....................

1030

Ufuk Ulusan

Why `design research practice' is not design as we know it

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1039

Tara Mullaney, Erik Stolterman

Design Issues 2
The Rhetoric of Design for Debate: triggering conversation with an uncanny enough artefact

1049

Max Mollon, Annie Gentes

Teaching a User-Centred Approach to Exploring Product Personalities and Sensory Attributes

. . 1062

Lois Frankel

Designing Boundary Objects: Investigating the Aliations of Medical Identication Jewellery

..

1071

Alex Haagaard, William Leeming

Design Issues 3
Designers in complex problem solving: the contribution of Systems Thinking

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1085

John Darzentas, Jenny S. Darzentas

Staging the Interaction  Explorative Interventions for Engaging Citizens in the Development of
Public Knowledge Institutions

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1096

Eva Eriksson, Josef Widestrm

Visual Approaches to Design Education

DESIGNERLY WAYS TO THEORETICAL INSIGHT: Visualization as a means to explore,
discuss and understand design theory

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1109

Anne Louise Bang, Silje Alberthe Kamille Friis, Anne Katrine Gtzsche Gelting

Bombs Away: visual thinking and students' engagement in design studios contexts
Marianella Chamorro-Koc, Andrew Scott, Gretchen Coombs

vi

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1122

Locating the Emerging Design Identity of Students Through Visual and Textual Reection

......

1135

Colin M. Gray

Improving Design Education

Intention-Centred Design Education: Beyond Methods and Techniques

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1157

Ylva Fernaeus, Anders Lundstrm

Envisioning a Better Design Education: How Language Can Invite or Discourage Collaboration

1168

Angela Dow, Susanna Engbers

Framing behaviours in novice interaction designers

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1178

Nicole Lotz, Helen Sharp, Mark Woodroe, Richard Blyth, Dono Rajah, Turugare
Ranganai

Design Education Case Studies

Design ecologies, locating and amplifying individual motivations in a collaborative research
environment

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1191

Nicole Koltick

Nurturing Creativity: Assemblages in HCI Design Practices

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1204

Sisse Finken, Alma Leora Culn, Andrea Gasparini

Complexity in Design Driven Innovation: Case Study of Knowledge Transfer Flow in Subsea
Seismic Sensor Technology and Design Education

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1218

Nenad Pavel, Arild Berg

Design Assessment
Designed Research: Publishing Designs as Scholarship

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1229

Cheryl Ball

Using a visually-based assignment to reinforce and assess design history knowledge and
understanding

......................................................................................

1244

Alethea Blackler

Academic integrity: dierences between design assessments and essays

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1260

Simple Simon, Beth Cook, Mario Minichiello, Chris Lawrence

Design Education for Innovation

An Evidence-Based Design approach for function, usability, emotion, and pleasure in studio
redesign

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1274

Peter Scupelli, Bruce Hanington

The learning needs of small and medium-sized enterprises for design led innovation

. . . . . . . . . . . . . 1288

Mieke van der Bijl-Brouwer, Sam Bucolo

From BoP to ToP and Vice Versa Daily Practices in Settings with Limited Resources to Inspire
Designers

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1301

Eleonora Ibragimova, Annemiek van Boeijen

Design Education through Experience and Reection

Less is too little  more is needed - Body-Motion Experience as a Skill in Design Education
Helena Tobiasson, Anders Hedman, Jan Gulliksen

vii

. . . . . 1316

Learning from Students: Reections from Personal Magazines in Basic Design Course

. . . . . . . . . . 1331

Koray Gelmez, Humanur Bagli

Design and Science

Are you a designer or an engineer? We are both. An insight into Product Design Engineering
through graduate reection

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1353

Blair Kuys, Clara Usma-Alvarez, Charlie Ranscombe

Comparative Analysis of Research on Industrial Design and Engineering Design by Viewpoint of

M Model

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1369

Yuma Sakae, Shuji Kanazawa, Hiroki Tabata, Shuji Takano, Koichiro Sato, Yoshiyuki
Matsuoka

Towards a framework of design principles: Classifying system features, behaviours and types

. . . . 1381

Chih-Chun Chen, Nathan Crilly

Design Practices 1
Research-led practice in design research used to best demonstrate design theories

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1395

Blair Kuys, Christine Thong, Nathan Kotlarewski, Scott Thompson-Whiteside

How Has Interaction Design been Perceived by Industrial Designers?

............................

1412

Canan Akoglu, Anna Valtonen

Contradictions in the design space

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1423

Frederick M.C. van Amstel, Vedran Zerjav, Timo Hartmann, Mascha C. van der Voort,
Geert P.M.R. Dewulf

Design Practices 2
Exploring Open Design for the application of Citizen Science; a toolkit methodology

. . . . . . . . . . . . . 1437

Robert Phillips, Sharon Baurley

Desirable Imperfection in Product Materials

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1452

Owain Pedgley

Airport Security Screeners Expertise and Implications for Interface Design

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1465

Levi Swann, Vesna Popovic, Alethea Blackler, Ben Kraal

Designing for Inclusion

Reality check: Notions of accessibility in today's architectural design practice

....................

1482

Hannelore Wauters, Peter-Willem Vermeersch, Ann Heylighen

Service Innovation and Welfare Technology for Sustainable Home Medication: Insights from
Social Practice Theory

.............................................................................

1492

Ida Nilstad Pettersen

The design of accessible self service products, systems and services: teaching inclusive design

...

1503

Jenny S. Darzentas, John Darzentas

Designing for Empathy

Adapting Data Collection Methods for Dierent Participants of the User Study: to Improve the
Empathic Understanding between Designers and Users
Shu YUAN, Hua DONG

viii

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1519

Supporting the designers to build empathy with people with Parkinson's disease: the role of a
hand tremor simulating device and of user research with end-users

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1526

Laura Bo, Monica Milani, Marco Fontana, Gastone Pietro Papini Rosati

Wellbeing and Happiness

How to Interest People for the Hare instead of the Chase, An exploration of open script design to
change consumer behaviour.

.......................................................................

1535

Liesbeth Stam, Wouter Eggink

Design Approaches for a RCT Complex Intervention: A Stroke Rehabilitation Case Study

......

1548

Alastair Macdonald, David Loudon, Anne Taylor

A Framework of Ethical Nudges in the Design of Consumer Goods

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1558

Anders Haug, Jacob Busch

Experiential Knowledge in the Design Product

Verbalising the Silent? Professionals' Framing of Implicit in Packaging Design

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1571

Toni Ryynnen, Visa Heinonen

A Classication of Consumer Involvement in New Product Development

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1582

Matt Sinclair, Ian Campbell

An Investigation of Interactive Environment Design Constraints

.................................

1599

Mengting Zhang

Experiential Knowledge in the Design Process

Making and perceiving - Exploring the degrees of engagement with the aesthetic process

.........

1612

How to Introduce Experiential User Data: The Use of Information in Architects' Design Process

1626

Priska Falin, Petra Falin

Margo Annemans, Chantal Van Audenhove, Hilde Vermolen, Ann Heylighen

Tactile augmentation: reaching for tacit knowledge

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1638

camilla groth, Maarit Mkel, Pirita Seitamaa-Hakkarainen, Krista Kosonen

Experiential Knowledge in Design Research

Matrix Method: Looking as Generator for Creativity

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1655

Thierry Lagrange

Aspects of Research through Design

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1667

Danny Godin, Mithra Zahedi

Design Values
Can a Light Switch Be Beautiful? Aesthetic Appreciation of Products as Means

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1681

Odette da Silva, Nathan Crilly, Paul Hekkert

A shift of perspective in design inquiries: from individual boundaries to common needs

. . . . . . . . . . 1693

Daniela Rothkegel

Design eectiveness: Building customer satisfaction and loyalty through design

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1707

Ki Woong Nam, Bruce Carnie

Poster Abstracts
Author Index

.....................................................................................

1733

.........................................................................................

1741

ix

Design Research Society

Conference DRS2014, Ume:
Designs Big Debates

Welcome! We hope that you will enjoy browsing the proceedings which have been
compiled for all participants of the DRS2014 conference as well as for the wider design
community as a record and as a means to gain an overview of the different themes,
sessions and paper presentations.
The Design Research Society Conferences are held biennially to further and promote
design research internationally. They are intended to bring together design researchers
from communities in design and further afield to engender debates that break new
ground. DRS 2014 has focused on exploring the future directions, challenges and
opportunities of design and design research and their role for our future world.
We believe there is a shared discourse in design: one that includes all areas of design
research, and that is of vital importance for our understanding and development of the
foundations of design. This discourse is something we share and cultivate over long
periods of time, as it tells stories of past, present and future trajectories of design and its
role in society. With an ever-increasing demand for academic specialization and increasing
numbers of highly specialized conferences, there is a bigger need than ever for a venue
where the design research community can address significant challenges that cut across
domains and big issues that will influence the way our field, as a whole, develops.
The main purpose of the DRS 2014 conference is to foster and support a shared design
discourse. By focusing on key big issues in design, the conference seeks to create a forum
where the questions that have the potential to change the way we think and do design its philosophy, theory, practise, methodology, education, profession and history - will be
discussed and debated.
Since 2006, the DRS Special Interest Groups have become one of the main tools of the
DRS to drive debates and cultivate continuity. They are developed through DRS member
initiative and currently include the Experiential Knowledge SIG (EKSIG), the Special
Interest Group for Objects, Practices, Experiences, Networks(OPENSIG), the Design
Pedagogy Special Interest Group (PedSIG), the Special Interest Group on Wellbeing and
Happiness (SIGWELL), and theInclusive Design Special Interest Group (Inclusive SIG),
with a further SIG on Sustainability to be launched at the DRS2014 conference.
In addition to the SIG themes, a number of other themes have emerged prominently at
this years DRS conference. These include a concern about designing for society and
culture; design for people; emotion and affective design; design thinking and design
ethics; as well as design methods and design research methods, to name but some.
This was the first DRS conference that was reviewed by full papers only. The conference
received over 260 paper submissions. All papers were reviewed by double blind review
process through our international review panel, comprising 230 reviewers and 24
programme committee members. Following the review process, 132 papers were invited
for paper presentation and 25 for poster presentations. The submission response, as well
as the review results, speak well of the health of research in the expanded design field, and
of the enthusiasm of researchers both from the academy and from professional practice.

A word of thanks

Many people around the world have co-operated in planning and organising this
conference. Our thanks go to our local organising committee at Ume Institute of Design
who have helped with the organisation on the ground. Thanks also to the DRS Council for
their support, and in particular Peter Lloyd who acted as our main point of contact and
assisted in sorting out a wide range of organisational challenges and decisions.
Thanks are also due to our many international reviewers and our programme committee
members. Many have freely given advice and support at every stage in the conferences
development and have provided extensive explanatory notes and advice on improving the
papers. Further, thanks to all the session chairs, for taking on this task and for managing
their sessions.
Finally, our most sincere thanks to all of the authors who submitted papers and kept their
sense of humour throughout the process. Their contributions are the lifeblood of the
conference.
Youn-kyung Lim and Kristina Niedderer (Papers Chairs),
Johan Redstrm, Erik Stolterman and Anna Valtonen (General Chairs)

Design Research Society

Conference DRS2014, Ume:
Designs Big Debates

Welcome! We hope that you will enjoy browsing the proceedings which have been
compiled for all participants of the DRS2014 conference as well as for the wider design
community as a record and as a means to gain an overview of the different themes,
sessions and paper presentations.
The Design Research Society Conferences are held biennially to further and promote
design research internationally. They are intended to bring together design researchers
from communities in design and further afield to engender debates that break new
ground. DRS 2014 has focused on exploring the future directions, challenges and
opportunities of design and design research and their role for our future world.
We believe there is a shared discourse in design: one that includes all areas of design
research, and that is of vital importance for our understanding and development of the
foundations of design. This discourse is something we share and cultivate over long
periods of time, as it tells stories of past, present and future trajectories of design and its
role in society. With an ever-increasing demand for academic specialization and increasing
numbers of highly specialized conferences, there is a bigger need than ever for a venue
where the design research community can address significant challenges that cut across
domains and big issues that will influence the way our field, as a whole, develops.
The main purpose of the DRS 2014 conference is to foster and support a shared design
discourse. By focusing on key big issues in design, the conference seeks to create a forum
where the questions that have the potential to change the way we think and do design its philosophy, theory, practise, methodology, education, profession and history - will be
discussed and debated.
Since 2006, the DRS Special Interest Groups have become one of the main tools of the
DRS to drive debates and cultivate continuity. They are developed through DRS member
initiative and currently include the Experiential Knowledge SIG (EKSIG), the Special
Interest Group for Objects, Practices, Experiences, Networks(OPENSIG), the Design
Pedagogy Special Interest Group (PedSIG), the Special Interest Group on Wellbeing and
Happiness (SIGWELL), and theInclusive Design Special Interest Group (Inclusive SIG),
with a further SIG on Sustainability to be launched at the DRS2014 conference.
In addition to the SIG themes, a number of other themes have emerged prominently at
this years DRS conference. These include a concern about designing for society and
culture; design for people; emotion and affective design; design thinking and design
ethics; as well as design methods and design research methods, to name but some.
This was the first DRS conference that was reviewed by full papers only. The conference
received over 260 paper submissions. All papers were reviewed by double blind review
process through our international review panel, comprising 230 reviewers and 24
programme committee members. Following the review process, 132 papers were invited
for paper presentation and 25 for poster presentations. The submission response, as well
as the review results, speak well of the health of research in the expanded design field, and
of the enthusiasm of researchers both from the academy and from professional practice.

Paper Programme
Committee

Alethea Blackler
Erik Bohemia PEDSIG: Design Pedagogy & Education SIG
Rebecca Cain SIGWELL: Design for Health, Wellbeing and Happiness
Lin-Lin Chen
Anna Croon Fors
Hua Dong Inclusive SIG
Haakon Faste
Tom Fischer OPEN SIG: Objects, Practices, Experiences, Networks SIG
Bruce Hanington
Paul Hekkert
Ilpo Koskinen
Jonas Lwgren
Maarit Mkel
Nithikul Nimkulrat EKSIG: Experiential Knowledge Special Interest Group
Arlene Oak
M P Ranjan
Debra Satterfield
Pieter Jan Stappers
Mike Tovey PEDSIG: Design Pedagogy & Education SIG
Brynjulf Tellefsen
Rhoda Trimmingham Sustainability SIG
Mikael Wiberg
John Zimmerman

Comparative Analysis of Research on Industrial Design

and Engineering Design by Viewpoint of M Model
Yuma Sakae, Faculty School of Science and Technology, Keio University, Japan
Shuji Kanazawa, Graduate School of Science and Technology, Keio University, Japan
Hiroki Tabata, Graduate School of Science and Technology, Keio University, Japan
Shuji Takano, Faculty of Computer Design, Shonan Institute of Technology, Japan
Koichiro Sato, Faculty of Science and Technology, Keio University, Japan
Yoshiyuki Matsuoka, Faculty of Science and Technology, Keio University, Japan

Abstract
The division and specialization of Industrial Design (I.D.) and Engineering Design (E.D.)
has made artifacts become large and complex, which turned to be one of the reasons of
causing environmental issues and man-made disasters in recent years. Because the
issues are difficult to solve using a single field, and works of comparison and analysis of
both fields from a same viewpoint are few, I.D. and E.D. should be comparatively
analyzed from comprehensive viewpoint. This paper describes the analysis of comparing
research on I.D. and E.D. using comprehensive viewpoint. Herein, Multispace Design
Model (M model), which consists of value, meaning, state, and attribute spaces, and
circumstance, is introduced. Along with the extraction of research papers from both I.D.
and E.D. research, whether each paper deals with 4 spaces or circumstance is analyzed.
From the ratio of each space and further analysis, the characteristics and relations of I.D.
and E.D. are clarified. By comparing works, both fields show a complementary relation
with respect to meaning space, state space, and circumstance. In conclusion, this paper
indicates the characteristics and the differences of I.D. and E.D. Additionally, by analyzing
both fields with use of M model, the comprehensiveness of the model is discussed.

Keywords
Industrial Design; Engineering Design; Multispace Design Model (M model)
In the mid-19th century, Industrial Design (I.D.) and Engineering Design (E.D.) have
diverged with Arts and Crafts Movement by William Morris as a start (Matsuoka, 2010).
Moreover, during the 20th century, both I.D. and E.D. have developed independently. I.D.
has grown through elaborate design in Bauhaus, while E.D. has developed through
structural analysis and optimization with the development of computers (Mitsui, 1996;
Sato, 1998). Generally, I.D. conducts external design, which emphasizes the object and
its surroundings, whereas E.D. conducts internal design, which focuses object itself.
Therefore, I.D. and E.D. are considered complementary, and both have been adapting to
highly developed technologies and various users' needs by specializing in their own fields.
Modern artifacts have become massive and more complex. This makes it difficult for a
specialized field to solve design problems. Consequently, there is currently a movement to
resolve these issues by integrating different design approaches (Sato, 2009).
Along with the development of I.D. and E.D., for the discussion on unification of I.D. and
E.D, design symposiums have been held. Although many activities focus on unification,
only a few studies have analyzed both I.D. and E.D. from a comprehensive viewpoint.
One of the comprehensive viewpoints is called Multispace Design Model (M model). To
integrate I.D. and E.D. comprehensively, the characteristics of each field must be clarified.
In this research, papers from both I.D. and E.D. research are evaluated using the M model.

1369

Furthermore, research from between 2001-2005 and recent research from between 20062010 are compared to clarify the future task for integrating I.D. and E.D.. In addition, the
utility of M model for comprehensive viewpoint is discussed.

Multispace Design Model (M model) as comprehensive

viewpoint
The Multispace Design Model (M model) is a framework for design theory that can
comprehensively acknowledge all types of design procedures (Matsuoka, 2011, 2013).
The basis comes from the general design studies of Yoshikawa (Yoshikawa, 1981, 1987),
and has been expanded so that the M model can consider concepts such as value,
meaning, and circumstance. As shown in Figure 1, the M model is composed of thinking
space and knowledge space, enabling logical reasoning of design practices through the
design process. When designing, an objects elements are divided into the thinking space,
and the relation of these elements will extract a novel design. Because the M model can
assess design elements comprehensively, herein it is used to analyze the characteristics
and relations of I.D. and E.D..
Thinking space is comprised of circumstance and four spaces: value space, meaning
space, state space, and attribute space. Value space consists of various values (e.g.,
social, cultural, functional, and personal values). Meaning space consists of elements
relating to the objects functionality and image, while state space consists of the state of
an object, which can be described by the relation of the artifact and its circumstance.
Circumstance refers to the usage environment, including the user and the ways in which
artifacts are used. Finally, attribute space holds elements that express the artifacts traits
that are unaffected by its surroundings. Value space and meaning space are grouped as
psychological spaces, while state space and attribute space are grouped as physical
spaces. In addition to thinking space, the M model is comprised of two types of knowledge
spaces: objective and subjective knowledge. Objective knowledge space consists of
general knowledge, while subjective knowledge space is based on personal experience
and characteristics. In short, the M model is created by four thinking spaces and two
knowledge spaces.
Figure 2 shows the design process based on the M model (Matsuoka, 2010). This process
is divided into three parts. The first process is concept design, which mainly considers
psychological elements. The second is basic design, which considers meaning and
physical spaces, and the third is detailed design, which considers and optimizes physical
elements. Furthermore, the concept and basic design processes both include a bottom-up
process and a top-down process, whereas the detailed design only conducts a top-down
design.

Figure 1: Multispace Design Model (M model)

s
1370

Figure 2: Design Process Based on M model

s

Relation of Industrial Design and Engineering Design

Considering the results and an examination of a thought experiment on I.D. and E.D. (Lee
1995a, 1995b; Noguchi 1999), the characteristics of each field were determined. Because
the objective and requirements in I.D. are usually unclear, psychological elements such as
the users needs and societys movement are mainly considered in order to gradually
clarify the design objective. In addition, numerous combinations of physical elements (e.g.,
shape and color) are considered under unclear objectives to derive solution candidates.
The final solution is derived heuristically through trial and error. Hence, I.D. mainly
considers psychological elements as well as the relation with physical elements to create
various design solutions.
On the other hand, the objective and requirements in E.D. are usually clarified in the
beginning. Solutions are derived by considering how to materialize the objects function as
well as the mechanism or material. In particular, when a design problem can be quantified,
the objects function can be replaced with a quantity of states, and an optimization method
can unilaterally derive an optimum solution. Consequently, E.D. mainly focuses on
physical design elements, and consists of an optimized characteristic.
I.D.s characteristics are dominant in the early process of design, whereas E.D.s
characteristics are dominant in the late process of design.

Research Analysis of Recent Years

Process and Results of the Research Analysis
Research papers were extracted from I.D. and E.D. research between 2006 and 2010 to
clarify the characteristics and relations of each field. In order to compare two fields, The
Japanese Society for the Science of Design (JSSD) was chosen as the representative of
I.D.. On the other hand, The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers (JSME) was chosen
as the representative of E.D.. E.D. research papers were extracted by searching papers
that include a word, "design". 315 and 177 papers were extracted from JSSD and JSME,
respectively. These 492 papers were used in the analysis. Because the elements and
characteristics of I.D. and E.D. can be comprehensively explained using the M model, the
M model was used to compare and analyze research papers in these two fields. The
effectiveness of the M model as a comprehensive framework is considered along with the
analysis.

1371

Table 1 shows the evaluation criteria used to determine which items each research paper
evaluated: value space, meaning space, state space, circumstance, and attribute space.
For example, for the paper "Operability and Visual Image of the Knobs Considering the
Number and Touching Points of Fingers" (Table2 and Figure 3) (Matsuzaki, Uehara, Ueno,
& Imura, 2003), the value space corresponded to the operability of knobs, which was also
the objective. Because the meaning space is what realizes this factor, the sense of texture
and the stability could be related here. In addition, this research paper conducted an
experiment to evaluate different gripping patterns of various users. Therefore, the diversity
of the testees corresponded to the circumstance. Finally, the size and the shape of the
knobs corresponded to the attribute space. A similar analysis was conducted for each
paper. Figure 4 shows the results.

Discussion of Results
After extracting the characteristics of I.D. and E.D., these two were compared, including
examples from the extracted research papers.
The analysis indicated 77.8% of I.D. papers examined attribute space, while 76.5%
investigated meaning space. Papers of I.D. research mainly focused on the connection of
attribute and meaning. Concretely, most papers connected the shape and color to the
users image and impression. On the other hand, only 17.8% included circumstance and
few papers (8.3%) discussed value and state spaces. Because I.D. papers mainly
handled visual information such as image and sensitivity, value space, state space, and
circumstance were not sufficiently considered. For example, papers included the relative
spectral distribution of brightness and peoples line of sight. I.D. papers handled many
parameters that are difficult to express quantitatively. Consequently, the examination of
state and circumstance tended to be neglected.

Table 1: Evaluation Criteria

s Value Space
Analyze elements in the value space
Meaning Space Analyze elements in the meaning space
State Space
Analyze elements in the state space
Attribute space Analyze elements in the attribute space
Circumstance
Analyze elements in the circumstance

Table 2: Example of Research Paper

s
Operability and Visual Image of the

Title

Knobs Considering the Number and

Touching Points of Fingers

The elements that affect high

operability, depending on the number
Summary
of fingers and the difference of the
knob diameter are clarified.

1372

Figure 3: Various Structures of Knobs

s
I.D. Research

100.0%

E.D. Research

50.0%

0.0%
Value

Meaning

State

Circumstance

Attribute

Figure 4: Results of Research Analysis from 2006-2010

s
The "Apparent Weight of Color: Effects of Chroma with Different Hue" (Shinohara,
Kinoshita, & Ichikawa, 2007) is representative of I.D. characteristics. Table 3 provides a
brief overview of this research, which aimed to elucidate the effects of hue, chroma, and
brightness on the weight of color based on objective methods. Two experiments done in
this research show the relation of weight and brightness and the relation of weight,
brightness, and chroma, respectively. The value of color weight is expressed by HL and K.
The Munsell brightness and Munsell hue are denoted by V and C, respectively. This
research did not examine value. In this case, the weight of color corresponded to the
meaning space. In addition, because this research did not examine the differences
between the types of light, the state and circumstance were not considered.
Table 3: Example of I.D. Research Paper
s
Apparent Weight Color: Effects of
Title
Chroma with Different Hue
In order to realize the well-balanced
color scheme, this paper aimed to
understand the apparent weight of
Summary
color with different value, chroma, and
hue in terms of systematic
experiments.

1373

Finally, the hue, chroma, and brightness corresponded to the attribute space. Because
this research focused on the relation of meaning and attributes, it is a typical example of
I.D. research.
The characteristics of E.D. differed from those of I.D. (Figure 4). At E.D. research, 97.2%
of the papers examined attribute space, while 79.7% and 68.4% investigated state space
and circumstance, respectively. Thus, E.D. mainly considered the relation of attribute
space to state space and circumstance. For example, E.D. related the measurement and
material to the loading condition and constraint condition. However, only 20.3% and 9.0%
of papers examined meaning space and value space, respectively. Therefore, E.D. did not
sufficiently consider the objects value or function.
"Active Suspension Control Considering Lateral Vehicle Dynamics due to Road Input" is a
typical example of an E.D. paper (Table 4)(Suzuki & Takahashi, 2012). Figure 5 illustrates
a vehicle model when examining an active suspension control system. In this research,
the characteristics of the suspension, vehicle weight, and the height of the barycenter
corresponded to the attribute space, while the displacement amount of the road surface
corresponded to the circumstance. Furthermore, the suspension stroke and horizontal tire
force, which were affected by the displacement amount of the road surface, corresponded
to the state space.
The equation of motion of the vehicle model is expressed in this research. Mb expresses
the vehicle mass, which includes the spring. Mt denotes the mass of each tire, and zu
represents the vertical displacement of the tire. Ir, Ip, and Iy express the vehicle roll angle
moment of inertia, vehicle pitch moment of inertia, and vehicle yaw angle moment of
inertia, respectively. Kf,r represents the spring constant of the suspension, and Cf,r
expresses the damping resistor.
Table 4: Example of E.D. Research Paper
s
Active Suspension Control Considering
Title Lateral Vehicle Dynamics due to Road
Input
A new active suspension control
method for reducing the vehicle
Summary
vibration and vehicle lateral motion due
to the road input are proposed.

Figure 5: Vehicle Model

s

1374

Kt indicates the tread width, zri expresses the vertical displacement of the road surface
and zcg denotes the vertical displacement of the barycenter. Fyi expresses the horizontal
tire force, and Fi represents the thrust created by the active suspension. According to the
MDM, Mb, Mt, Ir, Ip, Iy, Kf,r, Cf, r, and Kt are attribute elements, zui, zcg, Fyi, and Fi are state
elements, and zri is a circumstance element. The equation of motion expressed the
broadside motion regarding the characteristic of the suspension, and was used to
estimate the response of the vehicle against the road surface displacement. Because this
paper modeled the relation of state and attribute, it is a typical example of an E.D. type
research paper.
Table 5 shows the characteristics of papers from I.D. and E.D. research. Based on the
discussion of the characteristics of I.D. and E.D., this section conducts the analysis of
comparing two fields. After evaluating similarities in the value space and attribute space,
the differences in meaning space, state space, and circumstance are discussed.
Both I.D. and E.D. had low percentages for value space (8.3% for I.D. and 9.0% for E.D.),
but both examined attribute (77.8% for I.D. and 97.2% for E.D.). Both fields focused on
attribute space, but not value space. On the other hand, I.D. focused on meaning space
(76.5%), but E.D. did not (20.3%). Although I.D. did not focus on state space or
circumstance (8.3% and 17.8%, respectively), E.D. did (79.4% and 68.4%, respectively).
These results indicate that I.D. tends to research meaning space, while E.D. tends to
research the state space and circumstance. Therefore, I.D. and E.D. form a
complementary relationship within the fields of meaning space, state space, and
circumstance. Due to this relationship, a design that employs both I.D. and E.D. should
sufficiently consider meaning space, state space, and circumstance, and should create a
high quality design considering the users cognition and sensibility.

Comparison to past research

To clarify the future tasks for integrating I.D. and E.D., the tendency of both fields needs to
be discussed. In order to evaluate whether the tendencies of I.D. and E.D. have changed
with time, papers from 20012005 and 20062010 were compared.
Table 5: Characteristics of I.D. and E.D.
s
I.D. Research
E.D. Research
Value

Few research
handling value
space

Few research
handling value
space

Meaning

Many research
handling
meaning space

Few research
handling
meaning space

State

Few research
handling state
space

Many research
handling state
space

Few research
Circumstance handling
circumstance

Many research
handling
circumstance

Attribute

Many research
handling
attribute space

Many research
handling
attribute space

1375

Process and Results

Research subjects from 20012005 were assessed in the same manner as those from
20062010. Figure 6 shows the results from 20012005. I.D. papers focused on meaning
space (83.3%) followed by attribute space (75.6%). Circumstance and state space were
considered in 36.3% and 31.6%, respectively, while value space was only considered in
18.8%. E.D. focused on state space (90%) and attribute space (89.6%). Meaning space
was considered in 36.0% of the papers, while circumstance was considered in 16.3%.
However, value space was the least considered in E.D. papers (2.8%).

Comparison of the Past Research and Recent Research

Compared to papers from 20062010, research papers from 20012005 differed in the
ratios of value space, state space, and circumstance. From 20012005, I.D. research
papers had a larger portion of value space and circumstance than E.D. papers. However,
from 20062010, E.D. papers had a larger proportion in these two spaces. In addition,
there was more than 20% growth of the state space in E.D. research papers.
The change in value space is because researching for new values and reapplying artifacts
to meet users needs is becoming profitable in E.D. (e.g., creative engineering). Table 6
briefly explains research examining value space using an example (Hasegawa, Sonoda,
Tsukamoto, & Sato, 2009). The system was created by a problem comprehension
process and a problem solving process. The problem solving process was composed of
two bottom-up (thinking phase and contradiction solving phase) and one top-down
thinking process (solving phase).
I.D. Research from 2001-2005
E.D. Research from 2001-2005

100.0%

I.D. Research from 2006-2010

E.D. Research from 2006-2010

50.0%

0.0%
Value

Meaning

State

Circumstance

Attribute

Figure 6: Results of Research Paper Analysis from 2001-2005 and 2006-2010

s
Table 6: Example of an E.D. Paper Analyzing Value

Title

Development for Creative and

Inventive Design Support System: 1st
Report, Systematic Approach and
Application of Creative and Inventive
Thinking Process

A systematic approach of the creative

and inventive thinking process for
creative and inventive Design Support
System (CDSS) are proposed. In
Summary
addition, three methods contradiction
understanding and solving methods
and the invention principle of TRIZ- to
this approach is introduced.

1376

Figure 7: Creative Thinking Process

This system was applied to a walking support mechanism for elderly people. Figure 7
shows the creative thinking process used in this paper. The value and purpose of this
research was "to prevent weakening of legs and loins, which disturbs normal walking" and
"to prevent falling and ensuring safety when going outside". Furthermore, the element
"prevent falling when stumbling", which was extracted in the problem comprehension
process, was an element that belonged to the meaning space. State space elements
included "to trip", "angle of elbow", and "distance from body", while "elderly" was the
element of circumstance. Moreover, there were elements such as "break" and "caster" in
the attribute space.
Secondly, the recent change in circumstance was confirmed compared to past research.
This change may be due to the advances in computer technology, which allows
experimental simulations in which the circumstance can be easily altered. For example,
various loading conditions and constraint conditions can be easily observed in a computer.
Another reason is the prosperity of service design, which focuses more on the user than
the artifact itself. Table 7 shows an example of a paper focusing on circumstance where a
method to analyze and extract company and users needs were proposed (Akasaka,
Kimita, & Simomura, 2010). Additionally, the paper proposed a tool to easily implement
the proposed method (Figure 8). The tool has four steps: decision of the analysis subject,
extraction of a practical goal, description of a script, and extraction of RSP. The paper
applied the proposed method to a social infrastructure utility corporation. Because the
paper defined a circumstance when determining the analysis subject, this is a typical
example of a research paper examining circumstance. Because the corporations needs
were extracted when selecting the practical goal, this paper evaluated value. Furthermore,
the RSP, which was the required function, corresponded to the meaning space.
By comparing research from the past to recent research, it was clarified that the
importance of considering value is increasing, although both fields still do not consider
value enough. The same tendency was shown in the circumstance and the state space.
Therefore, in addition to understanding the complementary relationship, both fields need
to consider more of value, circumstance and state.

Future Tasks of I.D. and E.D.

By analyzing research papers based on the M model, and comparing research from the
past to recent research, three tasks were indicated for both I.D. and E.D..

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Table 7: Example of an E.D. Paper Analyzing Circumstance

Title

Development of a Tool to Analyze

Customer Values for B2B Service
Design

A method to extract customer

requirements in a B2B service is
proposed. In addition, a tool for helping
Summary
service designers extract customer
requirements easily and exhaustively
was developed.

Figure 8: Process of Inter-corporate Service Customer Analysis

s
(1) Consideration of value
Recently, I.D. has been shifting from material value to mental value as well as from
quantity to quality. Therefore, further research on value must be conducted to realize this
movement. Especially, both user and maker values, and value affected by time need to be
researched. On the other hand, there is not a movement in E.D. to consider various
values. Therefore, to increase the research of value in E.D., methods to express values
quantitatively or methods to connect the value and function need to be elucidated.
(2) Consideration of meaning in E.D.
This paper suggests that E.D. does not analyze meaning space often, but tends to
consider circumstance, especially in the field of service design. Therefore, E.D. needs to
consider more meaning to specifically realize service through human cognition and
sensitivity.
(3) Consideration of state and circumstance in I.D.
I.D. does not really consider state, and the ratio of analyzing circumstance has been
recently decreasing. Information and visual technology are expected to grow due to the
expansion of the Web and Computer Graphics, and visual research for interface design
should increase. Consequently, state space and circumstance need to be considered to
gain general knowledge in a new field. Thus, I.D. needs to collaborate with engineering
fields to accumulate more knowledge relating to state and circumstance.

Comprehensiveness of M model
Using the M model, the characteristics of I.D. and E.D. were expressed by the four spaces:
value, meaning, state, and attribute. The characteristics were expressed by the ratio of
whether the research paper considers each space. Moreover, by comparing the
characteristics derived by the M model, differences of both I.D. and E.D. were clarified
within the four spaces. Specifically, it was possible to compare I.D. and E.D., a two
distinctive field, by examining the difference in the ratio of each space. Thus, for extracting
characteristics and comparing two different fields, the possibility of comprehension of the
M model was indicated through this research analysis.

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Conclusion
Herein I.D. and E.D. were comparatively analyzed based on the M model, and past
research and recent research on both I.D. and E.D. were compared. As a result, it was
obtained that most I.D. papers analyze meaning space and attribute space, but do not
analyze value space and state space. On the other hand, E.D. papers analyze state
space and attribute space, but only a few analyze value space and meaning space. It
could be suggested from the complementary relationship that the cooperation of I.D. and
E.D. would be effective. In addition, E.D. has tasks of value space and meaning space
while I.D. has tasks of value space, state space, and circumstance. Through this research,
there has been possibility of suggesting comprehensiveness of M model.

References
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Sato, K. (2009). Emergent Design and Optimum Design in the Design Process.
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Matsuoka, Y. (2011). Multispace Design Model towards integration between industrial
design and engineering design. Proceeding of DRS 2012 BANGKOK.
Matsuoka, Y. (2013). Design Thinking on Multispace, Kindai Kagakusha.
Yoshikawa, H. (1981). General Design Theory and a CAD system. Man-Machine
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Yoshikawa, H. (1987). General Design Theory and Artificial Intelligence. NY: Elsevier
Science Publisher.
Lee, W. (1995). Identifying the Attributes of Designers Thinking in the Design Process:
Research on Design Thinking(1). Bulletin of Japanese Society for Science of Design,
42(4), 57-66.
Lee, W. (1995). Identifying the Attributes of Designers Thinking in the Design Process:
Research on Design Thinking(2). Bulletin of Japanese Society for Science of Design,
42(4), 83-92.
Noguchi, H. (1999). How Do Material Constraints Affect Design Creativity?. Proceeding
C&C '99 Proceedings of the 3rd conference on Creativity & cognition, 82-87.
Matsuzaki, G., & Uehara, M., & Ueno, Yoshiyuki., & Imura, Goro. (2003). Operability and
Visual Image of the Knobs Considering the Number and Touching Points of Fingers. How
to Use Fingers during Rotary Control of Columnar Knobs. Bulletin of Japanese Society for
Science of Design, 61-68.
Shinohara, K., & Kinoshita, T., & Ichikawa, M. (2007). Apparent Weight of Color: Effects of
Chroma with Different Hue. Bulletin of Japanese Society for Science of Design, 53(3),
35-42.
Suzuki, T., & Takahashi, M. (2012). Active Suspension Control Considering Lateral
Vehicle Dynamics due to Road Input. JSME Journals, 76(772), 3558-3566.

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Hasegawa, H., & Sonoda, Y., & Tsukamoto, M., & Sato, Y. (2009). Development for
Creative and Inventive Design Support System: 1st Report, Systematic Approach and
Application of Creative and Inventive Thinking Process. JSME Journals, 75(759),
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Customer Values for B2B Service Design. JSME Journals, 76(771), 2782-2790.

Yuma Sakae
Yuma Sakae is presently a student of Faculty School of Science and Technology, Keio
University, Yokohama, Japan. His research areas include design method, especially
Multispace Design Model and M method. He is now interested in various methods of idea
generation and analysis, and focusing on adopting concept of Multispace Design Model to
them.

Shuji Kanazawa
Shuji Kanazawa is presently a student of Graduate School of Science and Technology,
Keio University, Yokohama, Japan. His research areas include design methodology,
especially Multispace Design Model and M method. He is now interested in various
methods of idea generation and analysis, and focusing on adopting concept of Multispace
Design Model to them.

Hiroki Tabata
Hiroki Tabata used to be a student of Graduate School of Science and Technology, Keio
University, Yokohama, Japan. His research areas included design methodology,
especially Multispace Design Model, idea generation methods, and analysis methods.
Now, he works at Yokogawa Denki as a designer.

Shuji Takano
Shuji Takano is a professor at Shonan Institute of Technology, Kanagawa, Japan. His
major research interests are mobility design and product design based on multidisciplinary
design science. During his work at Nissan Motor co., Itd., he was in charge of various car
design and additionally served as a managing director of Nissan Design Europe co., Itd in
Munich and London.

Koichiro Sato
Koichiro Sato, Ph.D, is an assistant professor at Keio University, Yokohama, Japan. His
major research interests are emergence, bio-inspired design, computer aided design, and
soft computing. His research areas include emergent design, value growth design, idea
generation method, and so on. He is a member of JSME, JSDE, and JSSD.

Yoshiyuki Matsuoka
Yoshiyuki Matsuoka is a professor at Keio University, a president of Design Juku, and a
vice president of JSSD. His major research interests are design science. Based on the
design theory and methodology he proposes, he has designed and created various
products and systems. His important works include many books such as DESIGN
SCIENCE.

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Towards a framework of design principles:

Classifying system features, behaviours and types
Chih-Chun Chen, University of Cambridge, Engineering Design Centre
Nathan Crilly, University of Cambridge, Engineering Design Centre

Abstract
Modularity, redundancy, robustness, these and other terms refer to principles that
are well known in design research and widely applied in many varieties of design practice.
What is less well considered within design is that these same principles are invoked by
scientists as a way to characterise the structure, function and underlying logic of
biological systems. More generally, they are also being studied in a wide variety of
disciplines concerned with defining, modifying or maintaining systems, whether those
systems are comprised of hardware, software, ecologies, economies, societies or some
combination of these. This widespread interest in design principles and, in particular,
their attention from biologists, provides an opportunity for design research to provide other
disciplines with well defined, well characterised and well related concepts. However, in
design, science and elsewhere, the lists of design principles offered are often developed
in a seemingly ad hoc manner and are evidently (and knowingly) incomplete. This paper
suggests that a framework can be developed which structures the existing design
principles in a way that is applicable across different types of system. We explore the
foundations upon which such a framework could be built by drawing on work from a broad
range of disciplines.

Keywords
design; science; system architectures; biology; modularity; redundancy; ilities

In recent years, principles of design have been discussed in some of the worlds most
celebrated scientific journals, such as Nature and Science. Here, scientists who are
attempting to explain, model and engineer biological systems, invoke lists of design
principles as a way to characterise the structure, function and underlying logic of those
systems. This has taken place seemingly without attracting much attention from design
researchers and without drawing explicit contributions from the design research
disciplines. With this paper we aim to bring these design-relevant aspects of
contemporary scientific discourse to the attention of design researchers and to explore
what design research might be able to offer to these ongoing discussions. More generally,
the design principles at issue are applicable across a wide variety of systems and so
gaining a better understanding of those principles, and how they are related to each other,
would contribute to many different fields and also to design research itself. As such, we
take the biological literature as a point of departure from which to explore the
representation of design principles that are seemingly universal or at least widely
considered.
We start with a short list of quotations from prominent scientific publications, each of
which lists a set of design principles. These quotations have been selected to reveal the
design-focus that is evident in the scientific discourse and also the connections and

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contrasts between the lists of design principles that are offered. For clarity, each quotation
is accompanied by a brief explanation of its scientific context:
biological networks are seen to share structural principles with engineered
networks. Here are three of the most important shared principles, modularity,
robustness to component tolerances, and use of recurring circuit elements. (Alon,
2003, p. 1866)
- In biological networks, nodes represent molecules and edges represent biologically
significant interactions between molecules (e.g. those that contribute to gene transcription
regulation). Interactions can vary in both strength and valence.

The notion of a part [as used by biologists] is essentially an engineering concept,

reflecting important synthetic goals of modularity, standardized structural and
functional composition, hierarchical assembly, isolation from other components,
characterized behavior, and standardized interfaces. (Knight, 2005)
- Synthetic biology is research field and a technology application relating to the design and
construction of biological devices and systems. Knights discussion relates primarily to
genes, where the part is a snippet of DNA with a defined biological function.

Five popular concepts in biology today redundancy, robustness, modularity,

complexity and evolvability invoke a vision of the cell as an electronic circuit,
designed by and for adaptation. (Lynch, 2007, p. 803)
- This discussion is centred on the evolution of genetic networks and the mechanisms by
which they become established evolutionarily.

These quotations provide lists of what are variously referred to as principles or

concepts but are hereafter simply called principles. Each of the principles in these lists
represents a particular way of thinking about the system in question, a way of
understanding its organisation and the effect of that organisation on its performance.
Although the scientific literature cited above makes very limited reference to the design
literature, the principles listed are well discussed in design and in related literatures such
as engineering and systems architecture. For example, Baldwin & Clarks (2000) fivehundred-page book titled Design Rules is devoted to the concept of modularity in the
design, manufacture and use of products (also see e.g. Gershenson, Prasad, & Zhang,
2003, 2004; Ulrich, 1994). Attention has similarly been devoted to issues of designing with
redundancy (e.g. Pahl & Beitz, 1996; Thompson, 1999), robust design (e.g. Taguchi &
Clausing, 1990; Downey, Parkinson, & Chase, 2003), complexity engineering (e.g. Buchli
& Santini, 2005; Frei & Serugendo, 2011a, 2011b), and so on. In these texts and
elsewhere, researchers define these principles, differentiate them from other principles,
identify sub-principles and explore the basis upon which the principles should be applied
and the consequences of applying them. The principles themselves can be seen at work
in the practice of engineering design, industrial design, software design, service design
and a host of other design disciplines. For example, we can identify redundancy in the
architectures of aircraft propulsion systems, computer storage devices, human
communication systems, and in many other types of artefact.
If referring to design principles is an effective way for scientists to think about the structure
and function of biological systems, then developing more refined lists or other
categorisations would offer a better foundation for that work. Considering the quoted lists
in this way suggests a number of questions we might ask when undertaking such an
exploration:
1. Are the items in the lists all the same type of thing? Note that saying they are all
principles is still quite vague; some items are descriptions of structure whereas
some are descriptions of behaviour.
2. Are the lists complete? Note that each list contains items missing from the other
lists but then it is not clear whether they are all listing the same type of thing.

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3. Are simple lists the most appropriate form of representation for these items? Note
that if the relationship between the items is complicated then lists are generally
inadequate.
To address these questions, this paper reviews the literature from engineering design,
systems engineering and elsewhere that explores how we might identify and categorise
the fundamental design principles that apply to technical and biological systems. As we
shall see later, these principles also extend beyond technology and biology, with
application to ecologies, organisations, economies, and other systems that we might want
to specify, modify, understand or protect.
Before, proceeding with the identification and classification of design principles, it is
important to distinguish this work from a related project with which it might be confused. In
recent years, various fields of design have looked to biology for inspiration in solving
technical problems; this is often called biomimetics (but is also called bionics or natureinspired design). In general, these approaches look for biologically-inspired solutions to
quite specific technical problems. For example, The Biomimicary 3.8 Institute (2008)
categorises biological systems not on the basis of groups such as genus or species, but
on the basis of functional requirements such as adhesion, locomotion and lubrication. This
categorisation of biological solutions can then be used by designers to identify analogous
solutions to technical problems, e.g. problems of reversible adhesion, robust locomotion
or self-lubrication.
Although system architectures are seldom the focus of biomimetic approaches, there are
some authors who describe the architecture of technical systems as though those
architectures are founded on biological principles. For example, in considering the design
of complex computing environments, Forrest et al. (2005, p. 208) say that Among the
principles of living systems we see as most important to the development of robust
software systems are: modularity, autonomy, redundancy, adaptability, distribution,
diversity, and use of disposable components. Some of these principles are identical to
those offered by biologists but Forrest and colleagues are suggesting that biological
systems exhibit principles that are important to the design of technical systems. They thus
make the opposite argument to that made in the opening quotations. As such, in this
paper, we do not take the view that biology borrows concepts from technology or vice
versa, but just that there are fundamental design principles that apply across both
domains and also across other domains.
Before discussing design principles and their classification, it is worth briefly considering
what classification is and how it works. This is important because in grouping principles
together and distinguishing them from each other we need to be explicit about the basis
upon which commonalities and differences are observed. This helps not only in the
identification of principles, but also in how we decide to relate them to each other and how
we represent them.

Classification
Any attempt to provide a list or framework of design principles involves engaging in a
basic process of classification. As we saw in the quotations that open this article, some of
the existing lists in the science literature mix different types of thing together without
comment, and if this is to be improved upon, some attention to the principles of
classification is warranted. Bailey defines classification as the ordering of entities into
groups or classes on the basis of their similarity (Bailey, 1994, p. 1). However, as Marradi
observes, any entity can result in many classification schemes depending on the
classificatory principle used to determine similarity or difference: Take for example the

1383

concept of a political system. One of its properties is the principle of legitimizing rulers. If
that property is taken as fundamentum divisionis, the classes might be: theocratic,
autocratic, plutocratic, democratic, etc. However, if the degree of autonomy of a States
territorial components is taken as the fundamentum divisionis, then the classes will
probably be: unitary, federal, confederal, etc. (Marradi, 1990, p. 123). This variety of
possible classifications for any set of entities means that it is important to be clear over the
purpose of a classificatory scheme.
Along with other classification theorists (see Bowker & Leigh Star, 1999; Marradi, 1990),
Bailey promotes classification based on two rules: (1) that the classes formed should be
both exhaustive (i.e. everything is classified); and (2) that the classes should be mutually
exclusive (things only appear in one class). It is also worth distinguishing between
conceptually derived classifications and empirically derived classifications. Bailey (1994,
pp. 46) calls these typologies and taxonomies, respectively, but terminology varies
between authors (e.g. see Spradley, 1980, p. 115). Irrespective of the classificatory
structure that is arrived at, there are at least two approaches to classifying things: (1)
when proceeding from the general to the particular we can take an overall category (e.g.
Dogs) and identify the various members of that category (e.g. Dalmatians, Poodles,
Greyhounds, etc.); (2) when proceeding from the particular to the general we can take
individual items (e.g. Dogs, Cats, People, etc.) and identify them as members of an overall
category (e.g. Mammals). Often, both approaches are applied at the same time; we start
with some overall categories and some individual items; by exploring the relationship
between them we find that the general categories suggest the existence of individual
items that are missing and also that individual items suggest the existence of general
categories that are missing.

A cross-domain framework
If scientists are looking to define, characterise and classify the design principles that can
be used to modify the behaviour of systems, what can design research offer in response?
Attention to the design literature and to literature from other related areas suggests that
we can identify opportunities for a framework of design principles rather than just a list of
them. Rigorously developing a comprehensive framework of design principles is beyond
the scope of this paper as it will require sustained effort (both conceptual and empirical)
across a number of fields. However, by drawing together the various works that might
contribute to such a framework, we aim to suggest the direction in which development
might proceed and sketch the types of outcome that might be arrived at. The structure of
our proposed framework is initially based on distinguishing system features from system
behaviours. We consider features to be descriptive of a systems architecture or
implementation (e.g. modularity and redundancy) and behaviours to describe how that
system then permits change or responds to it (e.g. robustness and evolvability). There is
prior work to assist us in constructing this framework, and we review this first before
considering the features and behaviours separately in more detail. Finally we consider the
way in which these features or behaviours are identifiable or applicable across different
types of system and how those system types might be considered.

Two existing Frameworks

There are two frameworks in the systems engineering literature that divide design
principles into classes that are similar to the features and behaviours distinction outlined
above. Hastings and McManus (2004) are concerned about the ways in which
uncertainties present risks and opportunities for complex systems, and how those can be
mitigated or exploited to achieve desired outcomes. These last two issues,
mitigations/exploitations and outcomes, are of most interest to us here and so these
aspects of their framework are reproduced in Figure 1. Writing of their framework,

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Hastings and McManus say Completeness is not attempted, although the elements
should be sufficient for a discussion of issues facing complex space systems and
systems-of systems (Hastings & McManus, 2004, p. 2). The elements are presented here
on the assumption that they apply more widely than that.
Mitigations/Exploitations

Outcomes

Margins
Redundancy
Design Choices
Verification and Test
Generality
Upgradeability
Modularity
Tradespace Exploration
Portfolios & Real Options

Reliability
Robustness
Versatility
Flexibility
Evolvability
Interoperability

Figure 1. Two lists of design principles derived from the framework of Hastings and
McManus (2004, p. 2).
In a related piece of work, Fricke and Schulz (2005) develop a framework that identifies
four aspects of changeability (similar to the outcomes listed above) and contrast these
with a set of principles that support these aspects. Fricke and Schulz distinguish between
Basic Principles and Extending Principles, where the former support all aspects of
changeability and the latter support only selected aspects of changeability. The aspects
and principles are reproduced in Figure 2 (but it should be noted that Fricke and Schulz
integrate these into a more sophisticated diagrammatic form).
Principles

Aspects

Ideality/Simplicity
Independence
Modularity/Encapsulation
Integrability
Autonomy
Scalability
Non-Hierarchical Integration
Decentralisation
Redundancy

Flexibility
Agility
Robustness
Adaptability

Figure 2. Two lists of design principles derived from the framework of Fricke and Schulz
(2005, p. 348).
Taken as they are, the two frameworks described above each provide a very valuable
response to the quotations that open this article. However, by comparing these two
frameworks we can explore the matter further. At first glance, it appears that Hastings &
McManus and Fricke & Schulz provide similar lists, and indeed this is the case. Loosely
speaking, both frameworks list a range of features that designers can seek to implement
in the architectures of the systems they design (the mitigations/exploitations and
principles), and also list a range of behaviours that these features promote or support
(the outcomes and aspects). Also, what is common to both frameworks and to the
quotations that open this paper is the system features of modularity and redundancy and
the system behaviour of robustness (flexibility is also mentioned in both frameworks).
However, the rest of the items in each framework are unique to that framework, or put
another way, are missing from the other framework. So, there is good agreement over the
structure of the frameworks (the basic division between lists of features and lists of

1385

behaviours) but only limited agreement over their content (only a small number of items in
those lists are common).
Considering the frameworks above yields the following observations. First, flexibility is
presented as a feature in one of the frameworks but as a behaviour in the other. Second,
scalability and upgradability are presented as features even though they seem to describe
the same type of thing as the behaviours of flexibility, agility and adaptability. Taken
together, these observations might lead us to question the foundations of a featurebehaviour distinction, especially as the opposite observations can be made in other
literatures, where modularity (here considered as a feature) is listed as a behaviour (de
Weck et. al., 2012). The basis upon which features and behaviours might be distinguished
from each other clearly deserves scrutiny, but we proceed on the assumption that the
basis is sound whilst acknowledging that further work is required. Finally, it can be
observed that some of the listed features might better be regarded as design and
development methods: verification and test, tradespace exploration. Such items might
instead be separated into another list altogether, a list of the methods by which the system
features are decided upon and implemented.

System features
Although the two-list structure promoted in the frameworks above is not often found in the
literature, much attention has been given to individual items in each list. Across various
literatures, some of the most commonly cited design principles are modularity and
redundancy. These two principles have been given a relatively thorough treatment in the
design literature, but their formulation and classification tend to be system- or domainspecific and rather ad hoc. References to these principles are made in the quotations that
open this paper. They also appear in the two frameworks proposed respectively by
Hastings & McManus and Fricke & Schulz, as well as being widely cited elsewhere (Jen,
2005, p. 2; Lidwell et. al., 2010, pp. 160, 204). The near ubiquity of modularity and
redundancy in lists of design principles demonstrates their widespread importance. They
are also principles that have received a great deal of attention individually. In their
respective literatures, modularity and redundancy are sometimes treated as umbrella
terms under which a number of sub-principles can be identified. For example, several
varieties of modularity have been suggested (Ulrich & Tung, 1991; Ulrich, 1995; Huang &
Kusiak, 1998; Arnheiter & Harren, 2005) as have several varieties of redundancy
(Johnson, 1989; Pahl & Beitz, 1996; Wada et. al., 2006). These varieties are listed in
figure 3.
Modularity
- Component Sharing, Component Swapping, Fabricate-to-Fit, Mix Modularity, Bus Modularity,
Sectional Modularity (Ulrich & Tung, 1991)
- Integral architectures vs slot, bus and sectional modularity. (Ulrich, 1995)
- Function-oriented modules, production-oriented modules. (Huang & Kusiak, 1998)
- Manufacturing modularity, Product use modularity, limited life modularity, data access modularity.
(Arnheiter & Harren, 2005)
Redundancy
- Passive hardware redundancy, active hardware redundancy, information redundancy, time
redundancy, software redundancy (Johnson, 1989)
- Active, passive (Pahl & Beitz, 1996)
- Parallel, series (Pahl & Beitz, 1996)
- Principle, selective, comparative (Pahl & Beitz, 1996)
- Cold standby, hot standby, warm standby (Wada et. al., 2006)

Figure 3. Classifications of modularity and redundancy from the engineering literature.

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The many classifications of modularity and redundancy suggests that simple lists might
not always be sufficient for representing the design principles that are specific to a
particular application. For example, Ulrich and Tung (1991) identify different types of
modularity that are defined based on the architecture that results from different
combinations of interface compatibility and assembly, while Huang and Kusiak (1998)
focus instead on the purpose served by the modules. Similarly, the classifications defined
in (Pahl and Beitz, 1996) seem to be concerned with different dimensions of redundancy.
Serial and parallel redundancy are distinguished on the basis of whether the redundant
components are sharing the load of realising the function during normal operation (parallel)
or not (serial), while principle, selective and comparative redundancy are distinguished by
the mechanism for realising redundancy (in principle redundancy, multiple non-identical
components with different dependencies are all capable of fulfilling the function by
different means so that systemic failure of all of them is highly improbable; in selective
redundancy, many components fulfil the function in parallel but only one of the outputs is
actually used; in comparative redundancy, comparisons between outputs permit
confidence in the output). The fact that these classifications are not always mutually
exclusive suggests that as well as considering modularity and redundancy as general
design principles, some kind of hierarchy may be required that relates these more general
principles to more specific sub-principles which can be applied in different areas of design
practice.
Looking beyond modularity and redundancy, other system features can also be identified.
Considering the organisational principles that characterise various highly robust entities,
Jen proposes a list that includes redundancy and modularity, but also spatial structure,
diversification, and hierarchy among others (Jen, 2005, p. 2). As with the more specific
classifications within modularity and redundancy referenced above however, it is difficult
to be exhaustive when defining such a list, and different organisational principles are likely
to overlap or be subsumed under others. Identifying the classification that is most useful in
a given scenario requires an intricate understanding of the requirements of the systems or
products concerned.

System behaviours
Whilst principles such as modularity and redundancy describe features of a systems
design or architecture, the quotations that open this paper also referred to principles such
as robustness and evolvability. These are not features of a system of the sort discussed
above, but are instead descriptions of the way in which a system will behave in the
presence of change. From the two frameworks above, it can be seen that these
behaviours are often described using words that end in -ility, including flexibility (Fricke &
Schulz, 2005; Hastings & McManus, 2004), reliability, versatility, evolvability,
interoperability (Hastings & McManus, 2004), agility and adaptability (Fricke & Schulz,
2005). As a consequence of this recurring suffix, these behaviours are sometimes called
the ilities (although this term often refers to a broader set of concepts including quality
and safety). This name persists even though other change-relevant system behaviours
are described with very different words, including robustness (Fricke & Schulz, 2005;
Hastings & McManus, 2004) and resilience (Pavard et al., 2006). Other collective names
for the ilites are less common but more descriptive, including system lifecycle properties
(Ross, Beesemyer, & Rhodes, 2012) and sometimes non-functional requirements (Glinz,
2007). Recent work has advanced our understanding of these system behaviours,
considering their definition and differentiation (e.g. McManus, Richards, Ross, & Hastings,
2007; Ross, Rhodes, & Hastings, 2008; de Weck, Roos, & Magee, 2011). Depending on

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the authors focus, many different lists of ilities have been proposed, but for our purposes
here, those in Figure 4 are indicative of their kind and variety.
adaptability
agility
changeability
evolvability

extensibility
flexibility
interoperability
modifiability

modularity
reconfigurability
robustness
scalability

survivability

Figure 4. A list of ilities from (de Weck, Ross & Rhodes, 2012). Of immediate note in the
list above is the presence of modularity, which we had previously considered as a system
feature rather than a behaviour. But this is discussed further below.
Beyond collection and definition, work has been done to relate the ilities to each other,
understanding their interdependencies and possible subcategories. Early attempts of this
kind can be seen in Boehm et al.s (1976, p. 595) conceptual classification of the
determinants of software quality. More recent work reported by de Weck et al. (2011)
used a keyword correlation analysis of academic articles to understand how peripheral
ilities support the more central ones: for example, flexibility contains evolvability,
adaptability, agility, scalability and extensibility, whilst modularity is a promoter or prerequisite for these. Resilience was also deemed to be an umbrella term that contains
agility, adaptability and parts of robustness (de Weck et al., 2011, pp. 8490). In another
study, a preliminary investigation of a possible means-ends hierarchy for ilities was
conducted by having different groups of participants cluster fifteen ilities (de Weck, Ross,
& Rhodes, 2012). Although the groups arrived at very different hierarchies there was
some agreement about which were the high-level ilities (the ends: robustness,
changeability) and which were the low level ilities (the means: modularity, interoperability).
This broadly corresponded with the results from the keyword analysis of academic articles
reported above and suggests that considering sets of ilities may be more meaningful
than considering them in isolation.
Sets of ilities may be derived from grouping pre-defined ilities that have emerged from
practice (as above), or by formally deriving a set of ilities that are distinguished from each
other by specific components of their definition, for example, by distinguishing whether the
source of system change lies inside or outside its system boundary (Ross et al., 2012).
This latter approach might be used to define general ilities, before defining their sub-ilities
(rather than identifying general ilities from clusters of existing sub-ilities). A simple
example of this would be to distinguish systems that can change from systems that can
accommodate change. Identifying the source of change and the type of change that apply
to each would then permit the systematic definition of various sub-ilites. Either way, this
discussion of umbrella ilites, sub-ilites and sets of ilities supports the point made earlier:
some form of hierarchy may be useful when representing the known design principles, not
just the system features but also the system behaviours. These hierarchies might explain
the double-listing of modularity as both a feature and a behaviour, but the featuresbehaviours distinction seems to emerge from an analysis of the principles (whether
termed means-ends, principles-aspects or mitigations/exploitations-outcomes).

System types
Most of the time, design principles relating architectural features to system behaviours (or
ilities) are formulated within a particular application domain. For example, resilience
(sometimes conflated with robustness and other ilities) is discussed specifically with
respect to resilient organisations (Sheffi & Rice, 2005), cities (Campanella, 2006),

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ecologies (Folke et. Al., 2010; Holling, 1973) and a broad range of technical and sociotechnical systems (Chun, Zhao & Kubiatowicz, 2005; Jackson, 2006; Pavard et al., 2006).
Other authors suggest that such design principles apply not just within but across different
types of system. For example, with respect to modularity, Schilling writes that as a more
refined theory of modular systems evolves, it should prove to be a very powerful
instrument for understanding the integration and disaggregation of many kinds of systems,
including organisational, technological, social, and biological systems. (Schilling, 2000, p.
313). Similarly, writing of flexibility, agility, robustness, and adaptability, Fricke and Schulz
say that Although examples presented in this paper are mainly covering product systems,
the authors are certain that the proposed principles are applicable to any type of system
(e.g. processes, organisations, etc.) (Fricke & Schulz, p. 346). Such claims would seem
warranted, but have not been followed by a focussed examination of how the design
principles are similar or different across domains.
Explicitly considering the application of design principles across different types of system
would be aided by the availability of different classifications of system types, yet few
widely used classification schemes adhere strictly to a consistent set of classificatory
principles for each level. For example, the International Patent Classification (IPC) groups
products and processes using diverse and multiple criteria (WIPO, 2013). Even at the top
Section level, there are classifications based on a diverse set of principles, including
function (e.g. Section A - Human Necessities, Section B - Performing Operations,
Transporting); substrate (e.g. Section D - Textiles, Paper; Section H - Electricity); domains
or practices (e.g. Section C - Chemistry, Metallurgy, section G - Physics); and
combinations of these (e.g. Section F includes Mechanical Engineering, Lighting, Heating,
Weapons, Blasting). New categories are also constantly being added to accommodate
emerging technologies. The difficulty of specifying these new categories has been
explicitly noted by the European Patent Office (EPO), which acknowledges (with respect
to nanotechnology), Its interdisciplinary nature means that the literature especially
patent documents is difficult for searchers to retrieve. The EPO has therefore introduced
Y01N tags to label nanotechnology in EPO databases. Recently Y01N became B82Y
(EPO, 2013).
The ad hoc nature of many commonly used classification schemes such as the IPC is
likely to be a consequence of the way in which they were constructed, namely through the
objects that need to be classified (the IPC is updated regularly to accommodate new
inventions without having to reclassify previous inventions). However, this does not
preclude classifications being developed with a top-down approach. Crawley et al. (2004)
provide one such example, with their classification scheme for things with architectures.
They first distinguish between entities and non-entities which inform or constrain entity
architectures and then further classify entities according to whether they are natural or
designed by people. For those entities that are designed by people, there are further subclassifications (see Figure 5).
Crawley et al.s classification provides a useful foundation for considering the various
system types to which design principles might apply. However, the emergence of new
technologies challenges distinctions that were previously thought to be obvious and clear
cut. For example, biological systems can be both natural and synthetic, or they may have
both natural and synthetic components. Therefore, for design purposes, rather than simply
classifying systems, it may in many cases be more useful to classify the different
perspectives we can take on a system. Rather than say that system A is a biological
system and system B is not, it could be more productive to say that we are concerned with
the biological aspect of system A, or that system A presents more biologically challenging
issues than system B. Similarly we might say that system A is more natural or less
synthetic than system B and hence that more of the design issues we need to address for
system A are those that apply to natural systems (compared to system B).

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Figure 5: Classification of system types based on (Crawley et al., 2004, p. 15).

Different system types can be used as models and metaphors when designing or
attempting to modify a system that would not in the first instance be intuitively
characterised as being of that type (e.g. biological systems can be treated as social
systems and vice versa, see Hemelrijk et al., 2011; both biological and social systems can
be characterised in network terms, see Bonabeau et al., 1999; Dorogovtsev et al., 2003).
Conversely, for some purposes, it may be highly beneficial to apply more fundamental
design and engineering practices to systems that at first sight appear to be too complex to
treat in this way. For example, Endy (2005) asks, [c]ould we usefully consider adapting or
extending ideas from structural engineering to synthetic biology? while at the same time
acknowledging that evolution, is largely unaddressed within past engineering
experience (Endy, 2005, p. 450).
To date, little work has been done to assess the respective benefits and limitations of
different classification schemes to promote cross-domain learning and innovation. For
example, how does seeing a system in social terms or knowing that it developed through
natural processes help us when designing or modifying it? Possible candidates for
defining different system types (or different perspectives on systems) include the type of
components involved (e.g. biological, structural, informational, mechanical, social), the
type of interactions between components (e.g. consensus, logic, physical laws), and the
type of process by which the system has been developed (e.g. designed/planned,
evolved/emergent). Such classificatory principles can also be seen as defining different
levels of abstraction because one could in theory view all systems as physical. The choice
of classification may ultimately involve practical choices over the knowledge available, the
accuracy of viewing systems in particular ways and the efficiency of doing so (Dennett,
1987). A characterisation scheme that would be useful in the design context should make
explicit the benefits of using the scheme in terms of the existing design practices it allows
us to exploit.

Discussion
The quotations at the beginning of this paper showed that scientists draw on design
principles when they are trying to understand the structure and function of biological
systems. Comparing the statements revealed significant variety in which principles were

1390

cited, indicating different areas of interest and the lack of a common source to draw from.
From our survey of the relevant design literature, we identified a range of other principles
to be considered and suggested some approaches to classifying them, including multiple
lists based on different classificatory principles and hierarchies relating taxonomies and
typologies defined at different levels. To better understand the formulation of design
principles, we drew on a number of more specific literatures that detail the features of
systems and the behaviours that those features promote.
From this initial starting point, we plan to conduct a more detailed analysis of the existing
literature, broadening our scope to include disciplines that focus on understanding the
composition and behaviour of complex systems. This will permit fieldwork with experts to
understand how system features are related to each other for different system types. Such
work will offer a better differentiated account of the design principles that govern the
structure and function of systems generally, not just biological systems and technical
systems.
A well developed framework of design principles holds implications for a variety of design
practices. Taking a systems approach to technologies, organisms, ecologies,
organisations, economies and other entities broadens the application of design principles
and provides new perspectives that can push forward the development of design research
itself. This is because each new system type that is examined is developed by different
processes, is amenable to different interventions and responds to those interventions in
new ways. As such, further attention to these design principles promises benefits for
design research and for design researchs capacity to serve science and other disciplines.

Acknowledgments
This work was funded by the UKs Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
(EP/K008196/1).

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Chih-Chun Chen
Dr Chih-Chun Chen is a Post-Doctoral Research Associate at the Engineering Design
Centre, University of Cambridge. She has a multi-disciplinary background with a PhD in
Computer Science (University College London) and first degree in Psychology with
Philosophy (University of Oxford). Her research interests lie mainly in the design and
analysis of complex systems across different disciplines, both theory and practice. She
has worked on a wide range of research projects involving a broad range of methods,
including computational modelling of biological and social systems, statistical and network
analyses of online communities and content, and empirical studies involving surveys and
interviews.

Nathan Crilly
Dr Nathan Crilly is a Lecturer in Engineering Design at the University of Cambridge. His
research interests are in the areas of design, technology and communication. He employs
an interdisciplinary approach to studying how artefacts (e.g. products, systems or services)
are developed, the properties they exhibit and the ways in which people respond to them.
Nathan is a Fellow in Engineering at Clare College, Cambridge. He is a member of the
Design Research Society and The Design Society. He also serves on the International
Editorial Board of Design Studies.

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Research-led practice in design research used to best

demonstrate design theories
Dr Blair Kuys, Swinburne University of Technology, Faculty of Health, Arts and Design.
School of Design. PO Box 218, Hawthorn. VIC, Australia 3122. bkuys@swin.edu.au
Dr Christine Thong, Swinburne University of Technology, Faculty of Health, Arts and
Design. School of Design. Melbourne, Australia.
Nathan Kotlarewski, Swinburne University of Technology, Faculty of Health, Arts and
Design. School of Design. Melbourne, Australia.
Professor Scott Thompson-Whiteside, Swinburne University of Technology, Faculty of
Health, Arts and Design. School of Design. Melbourne, Australia.

Abstract
There is contention in the design research community surrounding the legitimacy of
industrial design practice used in design research in academia. This study claims that
research-led practice in design research within the context of universities through
industry-sponsored projects is deserving of scholarly recognition. It can be argued that
research-led practice in design research provides a platform for demonstrating the
applicability of design theories in practice. Design practice is inspired and directed by
research where concepts generated through industrial design practice provide evidence
that research-led industrial design practice has the ability to generate a new body of
knowledge. It is the research that informs decisions concerning the design process; and
by default informing practice of research-led industrial design practice. To substantiate
this, two research-led industrial design practice case studies from Swinburne University of
Technology, Melbourne, Australia are highlighted to show how design theories are used in
practice to benefit industries separate to academic environments.

Keywords
Academic research; Case studies; Industrial design; Industry; Research-led practice;

Introduction
Summarised by the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design (ICSID, 2003,
as cited in Yang, You & Chen, 2005), industrial design education programs should
educate competence in; generic attributes such as problem solving, communication skills
and remain adaptable to social changes; specific industrial design skills and knowledge
including design thinking, the design process, design methodologies, manufacturing
processes and materials, design management, environmental awareness and prototyping
skills and; knowledge integration through design and system implementation (p. 158).
Additionally, Ho et. al. (1997, as cited in Yang, You & Chen, 2005) divides industrial
design practice into four stages: planning, designing, prototyping and engineering (p.
159). While these examples are of industrial design education and competency, they
relate to learning practice, which is useful to determine the skills and knowledge acquired
to conduct research-led practice. As emphasised by Koskinen, Zimmerman, Binder,
Redstrom and Wensveen (2011) design practice provides methods (p. 23) and in
particular when designing with specific materials as demonstrated in the two case
studies described in this paper research methods such as prototyping or general
experiments with the material is a valuable way of gaining knowledge and research data
associated with a specific design and user testing.

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The activity of developing commercial products through industrial design practice has
been around for centuries, emerging from the industrial revolution. The ability to
categorise this activity as design research and generate research funding to a university
is relatively new. The 1990s and 2000s saw the growth of generative research methods
that put design practice at the core of the research process (Koskinen et al., 2011, p. 23).
However, these methods did not always translate into a commercially viable product
outcome. Dorst (2008) argues that design research should refocus its attention and enrich
academic design research by working on a deep and systematic understanding of the
design object, the designer and the design context. This statement is used to legitimise
the intentions of this study by promoting the designer, the design context and most
importantly the physical manifestations of research-led practice in scholarly design
research, with a direct focus on a new contribution to knowledge that is accessible to
industry.
From an academic standpoint and as research active members of staff within higher
education in industrial design, it serves as a base platform to do both develop
commercial products while satisfying research obligations of a university. This is done to
some degree through academic peer-reviewed papers where teaching pedagogy is
written in the form of scholarly articles, hence trying to maximise the time efficiencies one
has by fulfilling two obligations learning and teaching combined with research output.
Typically these two activities are done through academic peer-reviewed papers and
through the teaching programs where students and staff engage with industry on new
product development. However, the nature of these activities means there is often a
disconnection between academic research and the development of commercial products.
In a sense there is a disconnection between teaching and research. Sometimes this
disconnection between teaching and research might be bridged with scholarly
contributions or articles in teaching. Design research through practice forms a bridge
between the academic community and industry, which can sometimes be distorted
through a lack of understanding by both parties, or a lack of willingness to work cohesively
together. To link industrial design research to industry, Melles and Kuys (2010) states the
status of industrial design with respect to other professions and disciplines in the industry
and manufacturing process remains but has been somewhat modified by the development
of an academic research culture (p. 5228). The work highlighted in both case studies
represented in this paper gives greater insight into successful means to link scholarly
design research with industry while ensuring research targets are met within a university
environment.
Research is contextualised by what the government (and therefore universities)
recognise as research. For the 2012 Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA)
submission, research is defined as the creation of new knowledge and/or the use of
existing knowledge in a new and creative way so as to generate new concepts,
methodologies and understandings. This could include synthesis and analysis of previous
research to the extent that it is new and creative (ERA 2012 submission guidelines, p. 12).
This also includes non-traditional research outputs. These include original created
works which must have been made available publicly (p. 44). This includes design work
described as realised, constructed, fabricated or unrealised building or design projects.
Unrealised projects must have an output that provides evidence of the research involved
(p. 46). This paper provides knowledge on research-led practice in design research with
case studies showing realised research output used to synthesize a new contribution to
knowledge through industrial design practice.

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Constructive design research

Researchers make prototypes, products, and models to codify their own understanding of
a particular situation and to provide a concrete framing of the problem and a description of
a proposed, preferred state Designers focus on the creation of artefacts through a
process of disciplined imagination, because artefacts they make both reveal and become
embodiments of possible futures Design researchers can explore new materials and
actively participate in intentionally constructing the future, in the form of disciplined
imagination, instead of limiting their research to an analysis of the present and the past
(Zimmerman & Forlizzi, 2008, as cited in Koskinen, et al., 2011, p. 5).
These definitions identified by Koskinen, et. al. (2011) presents a distinct contrast
between researchers, designers and design researchers. The term constructive design
research is used by Koskinen et al. (2011, p. 5) as a new name to research through
design because it creates a new beginning, clarifies older names given to design practice
as research and promotes construction as an essential tool used in this kind of research.
The definition given to constructive design research refers to design research in which
construction be it product, system, space, or media takes centre place and becomes
the key means in constructing knowledge (Koskinen, et al., 2011, p. 5). Therefore,
products that push the boundaries of new materials or manufacturing techniques are often
dissected and disassembled to purposely create new knowledge.
One of the deep problems in design research is the failure to engage in grounded theory,
developing theory out of practice. Instead, many designers confuse practice with
research. Rather than developing theory from practice through articulation and inductive
inquiry, some designers mistakenly argue that practice is research (Friedman 2008, p.
154).
Friedmans claim indeed identifies a common misunderstanding between industry practice
and research-led practice in academia. Friedmans (2008) argument continues by
introducing tacit knowledge and highlighting another misconception that the notion that
tacit knowledge and design knowledge are identical as sources of theory development is
linked with the idea that practice is a research method (p. 155). In keeping with
Friedmans perspective, tacit and design knowledge are separate entities. Tacit
knowledge is knowledge known by practitioners from experience. Design knowledge
however, is knowledge attained from experimenting and practicing design. This claim is
further clarified when Friedman (2008) notes the fact that reflective practice itself rests on
explicit knowledge rather than on tacit knowledge (p. 155). Again in this context, practice
is used to investigate and discover explicit knowledge as opposed to tacit knowledge
known by professionals. While we learn the art and craft of research by practicing
research, we do not undertake research simply by practicing the art or craft to which the
research field is linked (Friedman, 2008, p. 156). This claim is imperative to
understanding that a designer cannot practice design and therefore, claim this practice is
research. However, unless the design practice is substantiated in a way that is recognised
as scholarly research by defining what the design questions and intent are, and the result
is a contribution to new knowledge, the act of design practice is simply design practice not
design research.
By identifying Friedmans (2008) concern about design researchers failing to engage with
grounded theory, the case studies used in this study adhere to Fraylings (1993)
theoretical design research model of research into, through and for design (p. 8).
Research into design is an exploration of existing knowledge from literature and historical
evidence of design solutions. Research through design is the act of design practice to
explore design constraints and considerations towards designing new innovative products

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and applications and research for design is the development of a design artefact that is a
refinement of initial design concepts generated through design that embeds a new
contribution to knowledge.
The development of an artefact is an important element to industrial design research-led
practice. Further criticism is given to this research contribution as it is commonly argued
that the researcher receives credit for the artefact in substitution for the theory produced.
Biggs (2002) however, refers to artefacts as embodied knowledge (p. 5) of what has been
found through research and further states neither artefacts alone nor words/texts alone
would be sufficient (p. 6). In respect to making claim that the artefact is a substitute for
written text, it must be noted that researched literature has emphasised and informed the
development of a design artefact. The design process is another contribution to new
knowledge as it depicts the process of practice and presents it in an accredited academic
representation (Biggs, 2002, p. 2).

Case Studies
In order to qualify this study Fraylings (1993) design research theory is used to
disseminate the following case studies conducted through research-led practice for design
research. The two case studies shown conform to similar industry-linked activities with
vastly different outcomes. It is the authors anticipation that these case studies provide an
insight into how industrial design practice from an academic context can better work with
industry to look deeper into research issues that a design consultancy does not have the
time or money to pursue in research and development. It is important to note that the
research completed within the context of the university environment is not to compete with
product development companies. Research within the university looks at design
knowledge with the purpose of problem finding, rather than problem solving. This creates
a level of curiosity with a direct purpose to identify new design opportunities, which
companies can certainly do, but may not have the time or resources to dedicate. It must
also be noted that while design research-led practice in academia has the intention to
contribute a new body of knowledge to society, design practice in industry is conducted to
generate contemporary and future product design solutions for consumer markets.
The case studies presented in this study were conducted for industry in an academic
context. The purpose of presenting these case studies is to highlight the use of grounded
theory to generate a new body of knowledge through industrial design research-led
practice in academia for industry.

Case Study 1: Blair Kuys

New product design and commercialisation
This case study highlights methods of engagement between researchers within academia
and industry, showing the level of detail required to advance a project past the conceptual
stage and emphasises the design process undertaken for this project. This is done to
communicate how a traditional industrial design activity of this nature can disseminate
research-led practice that is recognised by the university and government as research.
This industry linked research-led practice was initiated by the observation of a Small to
Medium Enterprise (SME) that invested heavily in capital equipment that was currently
underutilised. This observation led to a search on how research-led practice could link
with traditional theoretical research that would be recognised by the university. From this,

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Enterprise Connect1 was cited as the potential avenue to pursuing this venture. Enterprise
Connect provided the company with funding for 50 per cent of salary costs (to a maximum
of $AUD50,000) for a one-year placement.
The aim is to:
Help break down the cultural divide between business and the research sector,
Speed up the distribution of knowledge and expertise, and
Accelerate the adoption of new ideas and technologies.
After this contract was organised between both parties work commenced to create new
products for the company involved, which enabled this company to substantially expand
the range of products currently produced. These new products complimented the
manufacturing capabilities that already existed and improved their capacity utilisation.
From this, a connection was made to the buying group for one of Australias largest
hardware companies and concepts were presented to gauge interest. This was positively
received and gave a better understanding of price sensitivities, new product needs and
their customers aspirations. This references a design method showing the importance of
high-quality visuals in presenting ideas to a client by providing greater importance in the
front-end of design activity to help sell an idea (Kuys, Thong & Melles, 2010).
This formed the next phase moving from initial concepts to product refinement,
prototyping and ultimately production. Without understanding the interest levels from the
buying group for these particular products, the project would not advance, as there is no
point investing heavily in new product developments that dont have a market.
In a study from Gemser and Leenders (2001), it was found that the extent to which firms
integrate industrial design in new product development projects has a significant and
positive influence on company performance, in particular when the strategy of investing in
industrial design is relatively new for the industry involved. This was the premise behind
this entire project, as the manufacturing company involved had never engaged with
industrial design before. Results of this particular case study reconfirm the positive
influence industrial design can contribute to company performance.
The first stage of the design process for this case study was initiated by research into
design as highlighted in Fraylings (1993) design research model. The primary method
used in this case study was market analysis. The initial primary target market was
identified as the DIY homeowner. This was determined, as an identified gap was
established for affordable quality products with an emphasis on aesthetics and
functionality for the domestic garden. Current products on the market are commonly
cheap imports or high-end products that lack DIY qualities. The market segment in which
this case study was positioned is the Australian hardware market, identified as having
considerable growth over the last decade and is now generally accepted to include home
improvement, home leisure and building products. The market is currently estimated to
generate sales of approximately $AUD19 billion per annum (Australian Bureau of
Statistics, 2013).

Enterprise Connect is an Australian Government initiative in the Department of Industry,

Innovation, Science, Research and Tertiary Education that offers comprehensive advice and
support to eligible Australian small and medium-sized enterprises to help them transform and reach
their full potential.

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Market analysis (research into design)

This initial research led to the identification of three product categories that fit within the
manufacturing capabilities of the company involved. These three categories are
represented as follows:
Creeping plant panels Existing products in this category have minimal design input
and lack DIY qualities as seen in Figure 1.

Figure 1. Examples of current products used for creeping plants.

Privacy panels Existing products in this category have minimal design and made from
cheap materials with a poor service life as seen in Figure 2.

Figure 2. Examples of current products used for privacy screens.

Feature light panels Existing products in this category have good design resolution but
lack DIY elements and are usually very expensive. A majority of these products are sold
as one-offs and in most parts specified by architects or landscape designers. Examples
are seen in Figure 3.

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Figure 3. Examples of current products used for

feature lighting.
Figures 1 to 3 are examples of research into design to identify existing product designs
and historical evidence of design solutions. After the product categories were defined, this
project followed the process of typical product development (research through design),
while at all stages of conceptual design, the target market and manufacturing capabilities
were considered. As defined by Ulrich and Eppinger (2008) a process is a sequence of
steps that transforms a set of inputs into a set of outputs. It must be noted however like
many product development previously the progression of this complex sequence of
steps is not linear, as areas within the product development process cross-lapped and
were resolved in a circular fashion. However, the following shows the evolution of this
project (presented visually) from initial concept development as research through design
to the final production and retail of the product (research for design). All of these stages
are identified by many (Roozenburg et. al., 1995, Dorst et. al., 2001, Gemser et. al., 2001
and Ulrich et. al., 2008), as key stages in the successful development of a commercial
product. The following visual evolution of this case study also follows the four stages of
the design process as highlighted by Ho et. al. (1997) earlier in this paper.

Concept development (research through design)

Figure 4. Examples of initial sketching used to advance the design outcome.

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Concept proposal/selection

Figure 5. Examples of presentation panels used to communicate the product concepts.

Concept refinement/detail design

Figure 6. Refinement using 3D CAD software and hand sketching helped better link the
product to the intended market and to the manufacturing capabilities.

Finite Element Analysis (FEA)

Figure 7. FEA used to simulate different forces applied to the product. This is a valuable
stage in the design process to further refine the product outcome before investing in
production.

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Prototyping (research for design)

Figure 8. Prototyping was completed on various designs using different materials and
thicknesses to find the optimum product outcome. It must be noted that prototyping
occurred on five separate occasions all with minor iterations until final manufacturing
took place. In respect to Fraylings (1993) design research model this stage of the
theoretical model demonstrates the research into and through design as a design artefact.
The knowledge attained from the design process is embedded into a final artefact where
audiences can view the product outcome and understand the design research conducted
to produce the final design solution.

Testing in context

Figure 9. An example of prototyped products in context. This was used to better

understand to issues associated with DIY installation and longevity of products in its
intended environment.

Manufacturing

Figure 10. The final products being

manufactured.

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Retail/marketing

Figure 11. Virtual rendering of packaged

product.

Figure 12. Virtual rendering of

Creeping Plant Panels.

Figure 13. Virtual rendering of Privacy Panels.

Figure 14. Virtual rendering of

Feature Light Panels.

This project followed various design methods to successfully achieve the projects
intentions that is to diversify the product range by this particular manufacturer by using
the existing capital equipment in place. From an industrial design perspective, this is a
useful example of linking research-led practice with industry to create commercially viable
outcomes. The estimated value this project brings to the manufacturing company involved
is $AUD1.3 million based on 15,000 products selling of each design per year. This in turn
is estimated at creating profit revenue to the retailer of $AUD2.1 million in the first year of
sales.
The success of this case study can be summarised by Hertenstein et. al. (2005) who
states; Industrial design is one of the several key areas critical to new product
development, together with research and development, marketing, manufacturing and
purchasing, among others Researchers in fields like marketing such as Dahl et al.
(1999) and Srinivasan et al. (1997) have acknowledged the importance of the role that
Industrial Designers play in producing products that are successful in the marketplace
(Hertenstein et al., 2005, p. 4).

Case Study 2: Christine Thong

Changing behaviour through design: door handle design
This project also supports the validity of research-led practice to be a scholarly activity
that contributes a new body of knowledge to society that can lead to benefits for industries
in the private sector. Metro Trains Pty Ltd, is a private company servicing Melbournes

1404

public train system. They have engaged with Swinburne University of Technology to
conduct industrial design research as an Australian National Competitive Grant, Category
3: Industry research income.
The purpose of this project was to conduct user-analysis research to inform the re-design
of handles featured on the Comeng style train saloons. Even though the current handle
design works extremely well, the very fact it allows the general public to easily grip the
handles in many different ways to gain leverage to open the doors is what enables the
general public to pry the doors open when they should not. This is a common occurrence,
with many successful attempts leading to serious injuries and in one circumstance, death.
The bulbous shape of the protruding door handle was designed to allow for those with
reduced wrist and hand strength to grip onto the doors, but the protrusion also allows for
bags and clothing to become entangled in a way that people can be dragged along by the
train. Driver vision of people trying to open train doors from the outside as trains are taking
off can also be impaired with the shape of train lines curving slightly as they depart from
the station, therefore it can easily go unnoticed if someone is caught on a door handle.
One solution considered by Metro Trains was to introduce a sensor system that would
alert the driver if the doors were not closed properly, however this system is already in
place and ineffective because of the placement on the drivers dash board. The red light
indicator hidden from sight when in the driving position and the noise indicator ineffective
with train acoustics. To re-design the system and install this in Comeng style trains would
cost a few million Australian dollars to implement, which was not deemed economically
viable given these trains were scheduled to be retired in five years time. It also would not
do anything about altering the behaviour of people trying to open doors when the train is
departing from the platform.
Another solution to the issue considered was to change the door system to be automated
push button entry, however this would again cost a few million Australian dollars to
implement and not provide economic viability.
Therefore Metro Trains determined that the project was required to deliver a low-tech,
cost effective solution that could minimise dangers and unsafe behaviours of people trying
to open train doors when they should not. Given the parameters identified by Metro
(research into design history proves that there are safety issues with the current handle
design), research through design explores if the re-design of static door handles based on
user-analysis research can deliver a low cost solution that increases safety and minimises
the ability of people to engage in dangerous behaviour. The design challenge is finding a
balance of a door that is extremely difficult to open while under pressure to stay closed
(when the train is moving) but easy to open when the doors are not under pressure (when
the train is stationary at the platform). The scope of the current project was to take the
concept to proof of concept prototyping stage, where-by the prototype could be used for
user-testing, and it was identified that all methods for opening doors could not be
mitigated through the project. For example, if a person manages to catch the doorframe
while it was still open, a different handle would not affect this behaviour.
User-analysis research was conducted using a range of non-invasive techniques,
preferred by Metro Trains, to triangulate findings. The methods were:

Observing people embarking and disembarking from Comeng trains on three

different platforms during peak and non-peak periods over two-weeks, using Metro
Trains video footage,
Informal interviews with relevant Metro Trains staff,
Review of reported incidences for twelve months prior,
Artefact analysis including measurement of forces required in practice to open
doors and experimentation with different techniques for opening the door.

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Identifying the problem (research into design)

User analysis identified that techniques for opening doors when a train is moving and the
doors are under pressure to stay closed are extremely varied for both inside and outside
of the train. However, there were two techniques that were repeatedly identified:
Foot push assist for the interior of the train (see Figure 15).
Full handgrip from the exterior of the train (see Figure 16).

Figure 15. Foot push assist.

Figure 16. Various grips for the handle, including multiple full handgrips, used on both the
interior and exterior of trains.

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Through the findings of the user-analysis research, the objective of design work was
further refined through better understanding the techniques used to open doors. To
minimise unsafe behaviours, the design should limit any leverage gained from protrusion
necessary in the foot push technique in Figure 15, and the ability to gain full hand grips.
This form of research into design identifies design problems with existing door handles.

Concept development and prototyping (research through design)

A range of solutions were ideated, considered and developed through prototyping
iterations and consultation with the industry partner Metro Trains.

Figure 17. Computer visualisation of design concept.

Figure 18. Top and side profiles comparing a door handle design concept to the old
Comeng door handle design.

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Figure 19. Predictive modelling to simulate forces of 500N, repeatedly applied to simulate
use of the door handle over a period of 10 years, with a safety factor of 1.18 integrated.

Design outcome (research for design)

The key features of this design identifying how the design has met the project
requirements is summarised as follows:

Form: lessened protrusion and no sharp edges or details for any clothing or carried
items to become entangled (see Figure 18).
Slide grip: similar to a sliding door, can pull with fingers or push with palm, 12
degree angle to allow for a palm to more comfortably press makes it harder to
engage foot assist. Index finger is able to apply 4060N of force.
Manufacturing efficiency: same handle design for inside and outside the train
saloon, suitable for die-casting required for high volume production.
Assembly efficiency: same mounting assembly as existing handle, with only two
screw points to minimise labour and resources. This was predictively modelled to
simulate use over a 10-year period, for which it performed.

The estimated cost of implementing the new door handle design is anticipated to be under
$AUD400,000, which is at least one-quarter the cost of other automated solutions. The
project to date indicates it will be able to successfully provide an economically viable, lowtech solution required by industry partner Metro Trains to improve the safety of users. The
project has delivered proof of concept prototyping (at the time of writing) the next stage

1408

is to conduct user-testing and mechanical-testing for one last iteration of refinement

before production of the door handles and trial installation on Comeng train saloons.
The artefact itself synthesizes research, through industrial designs ability to integrate a
balance of resource constraints, ideas and user-needs into a form that can be
manufactured, produced and ultimately used for the benefit of society. Through
application, the knowledge embodied in the artefact is disseminated in the real world.

Conclusion
Often published literature in design research explores theoretical content that has minimal
impact on society and real-world application. This study aims to empower industrial design
research-led practice in academia, grounded by design research theories by
demonstrating how it can be used as a tool to generate a new body of knowledge to
benefit industry, while rewarding the university through grant funding and the development
of closer relationships with industry partners.
Researchers who engage in doing design work directly impact practice while
advancing theory that will be of use to others (Barab & Squire, 2004, p. 8). In the context
of this study the design process will impact practice, through which the findings are
grounded by theories that can be useful to others. Industrial design research-led practice
is beneficial to industry-linked projects by developing appropriate artefacts used to
generate a new body of knowledge through scholarly recognised design research.
Results developed through practice identify all stages in a design process to inform others
on the requirements to best demonstrate design theories in practical outcomes.
Tacit knowledge as an exclusive knowledge known by specific professions (in this context,
industrial design) is identified by Rust (2004) as a way that designers who research to
inform practice can generate new knowledge and ideas through design artefacts (p. 84).
These artefacts are a form of communicating a designers tacit knowledge as new
knowledge to other professions through a range of different ways such as product and
user interaction or simply by observation. In addition, other professions can therefore,
relate to the artefact and further evaluate and develop the new knowledge as potential
future research. In regards to the two case studies presented in this paper, tacit
knowledge and design knowledge attained from research and practice will assist in
developing an artefact that is appropriate to a research topic, demonstrates the design
process, gives credit to scholarly industrial design research-led practice and presents the
overall project journey so other professions can understand the new knowledge
demonstrated. The designed artefacts in both cases act as an exemplar product where
the application and new knowledge gained can be transferred into other products of
similar nature.
Although some question the value of practice in design research (Durling 2002, p. 7985),
prototyping a typical form of design practice in the design research process has
significance for knowledge creation in creative arts and industries (Mkel 2007, p. 157
163). In this study, the artefact or project, reflection and practice plays a role as the
material resolution of practical applied problems with more general theoretical or
methodological consequences (Pedgley and Wormald 2007). The issues of knowledge
and making in design research have particular relevance to industrial design (Kuys, 2010,
p. 61).
The legitimacy of research-led practice in design research as an academic and research
intense field cannot be developed alone through theoretical papers in the literature.
Rather, research-led practice in design research must prove its value in academia and
industry as offered by the two case studies shown. These cases highlight the practicality

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of design research which helps bridge the gap between industry and universities.
Essentially, this approach must be formally recognised and valued by two different entities
with unique cultures universities and industry. Industry want value-added outcomes,
universities want peer-recognised knowledge disseminated through books, papers and
conferences. Governments want both but in the main do not have sufficient funding
mechanisms or incentives to bring the two together.

References
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Barab, S. & Squire, K. (2004). Design-based research: Putting a stake in the ground. The
Journal of the Learning Sciences, 13(1), 1-14.
Becher, T. & Trowler, P. (2001). Academic Tribes & Territories. 2nd Edition. SRHE &
Open University Press, Buckingham: UK.
Biggs, M. (2002). The role of the artefact in art and design research. International Journal
of Design Sciences and Technology, 10(2), 19-24.
Cross, N. (2006). Designerly Ways of Knowing. London, UK: Springer.
Dooley, L. & Kirk, D. (2007). University-industry collaboration: Grafting the entrepreneurial
paradigm onto academic structures. European Journal of Innovation Management, 10(3),
316-332.
Dorst, K. (2008). Design research: a revolution-waiting-to-happen. Design Studies 29,
Elsevier, 411.
Durling, D. (2002). Discourses on research and the PhD in design. Quality Assurance in
Education, 10(2), 7985.
ERA 2012 submission guidelines. Excellence for Research in Australia (2012). Australian
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978-0-9807997-3-6,
www.arc.gov.au/pdf/era12/ERA2012_SubmissionGuidelines.pdf.
Frayling, C. (1993). Research in art and design: Royal College of Art London.
Friedman, K. (2008). Research into, by and for design. Journal of Visual Art Practice, 7(2),
153-160. doi: 10.1386/jvap.7.2.153_1
Gemser, G. & Leenders, M. A. A. M. (2001). How integrating industrial design in the
product development process impacts on company performance. Journal of Product
Innovation Management, 18(1), 28-38. doi: 10.1111/1540-5885.1810028
Hertenstein, J. H., Platt, M. B. & Veryzer, R. W. (2005). The Impact of Industrial Design
Effectiveness on Corporate Financial Performance. Journal of Product Innovation
Management, 22(1), 3-21. doi: 10.1111/j.0737-6782.2005.00100.x

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Koskinen, I., Zimmerman, J., Binder, T., Resdstrm, J. & Wensveen, S. (2011). Design
Research Through Practice from the lab, field and showroom. Waltham, MA: Morgan
Kaufmann.
Kuys, B. (2010). Science and design: surface modification for timber window frames.
Swinburne University of Technology. Research Office.
Kuys, B., Thong, C. & Melles, G. (2010). First impressions count: the importance of highquality visuals in the Product Design Engineering discipline. Proceedings of the 2nd
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Wales, Australia, 28 June - 01 July 2010
Laurel, B. (2003). Design research: Methods and perspectives. The MIT Press.
Mkel, M. (2007). Knowing Through Making: The Role of the Artefact in Practice-led
Research. Knowledge, Technology, and Policy, 20(3), 157-163.
Melles, G. & Kuys, B. (2010). Legitimating industrial design as an academic discipline in
the context of an Australian Cooperative Centre. Procedia Social and Behavioural
Sciences 2, Elsevier. 2:5228-5232.
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How Has Interaction Design been Perceived by Industrial

Designers?
Canan Akoglu, Ozyegin University, School of Architecture and Design, Department of
Industrial Design, Istanbul, Turkey
Anna Valtonen, Aalto University, School of Art, Design and Architecture, Helsinki, Finland

Abstract
In this paper, we aim to portray the emergence and growth of interaction design within the
practice of industrial design and show how the practitioners of industrial design have
perceived this development. To achieve this, we first show the ambitions of the early
pioneers, then bring forward how interaction design becomes an optional area for the
industrial design professionals and how it is adopted by industrial designers and then
finally how it becomes an area on its own within industrial design based organisations. To
picture these developments within the professional practice of industrial design, we use
the voices of industrial designers and interaction designers themselves. Much of the
primary material for this paper has been gathered through three sets of interviews
between early 2000 and 2012 in Finland, USA and Sweden. From this study, we see that
the development of interaction design within industrial design does not follow a
chronological path. The understanding of interaction design varies among industrial
design practitioners. Hence, it is very much related with how organisations make
investments and adopt interaction design as a professional practice either in-house or outsource, as well as the cultural contexts of the environment in which it is performed.

Keywords
Industrial Design; Interaction Design; Comprehension; Diffusion
Industrial design has broadened during the past decades, from a product-development
oriented practice to include issues and ideas such as sustainable design, user-centred
design, the use of computers, global manufacturing, strategy work, global branding and
consumer involvement, and publicity (Cagan & Vogel, 2002; Cross, 1981; Lockwood,
2007; Overbeeke & Hummels, 2013; Valtonen, 2007).
Especially the developments in information and communication technologies (ICT) has
shifted industrial design from the notion of product as object to product as event by the
increasing the need of understanding dynamic and interactive products better within the
scope of human behaviour. Lwgren and Stolterman (2004) state that digital artefacts
transformed from tools and information processors to communication media in the1990s;
the most visible sign for this transformation being the Internet. Creating new types of
products, documents, environments and services have become parts of the practice.
Interaction design in the view of human-computer interaction (HCI) has had its own
development path as a professional practice, but what we would like to present in this
paper is how interaction design has been seen in relation to industrial design. First it was
only exercised by a few pioneers, then it became an optional area for industrial designers
and finally became an area on its own within industrial design based organisations. This

1412

division is loosely based on Everett Rogers (2003) diffusion of innovations theories where
he divides adopters into early adopters, early majority, late majority and laggards.
To picture these developments, we use the voices of industrial designers and interaction
designers themselves. Much of the primary material for this paper is collected through
interviews with designers at different levels of expertise. Thus many of the opinions stated
here are designers personal views on the adoption of interaction design rather than any
commonly accepted pattern of this process.

Material Collection and Primary Sources

Because this study is fundamentally related with design practice, we conducted interviews
with 48 designers from different countries between 2000 and 2012, in three sets of
interviews. The first set of in-depth interviews with 25 industrial designers was held in
Finland in the first half of the 2000s and the second set of interviews was conducted with
8 industrial designers and interaction designers in the US between 2005 and 2008. The
last set of interviews was conducted with 15 designers in Sweden between 2011 and
2012.
All the interviews were semi-structured and the data was connoted using broad headings
which were prepared before the interviews. Some of the interviewees have been promised
anonymity, and are hence just referred to with a number. This practice was particularly
important in the smaller markets. Others have agreed to us quoting them publically, in
which case the quotes are named.

A brief historical view on the early days of interaction

design: The Early Pioneers
The birth of interaction design is closely related with the development of ICT. The
paradigm shift in the nature of computer interfaces came in the late 1970s, when the first
graphical user interfaces (GUI) were created. The GUI made the user interfaces much
more intuitive, and also made it possible to develop the software code for the interface
separately from the application code it was designed to support. Expansion was further
emphasized by the fact that a growing number of products began to include
microprocessors, displays and graphical interfaces. Interaction design as a term was first
used in the early 1980s when Bill Moggridge and Bill Verplank, two of the pioneers, were
working on a project together. Verplank (2008) states that together they used this term to
bring graphical user interfaces to product design world.
Rogers (2003) argues that an adoption process begins with a very small number of
visionary and highly-imaginative professionals. This adoption period takes more time than
the other periods for the adoption of innovations because it might not be seen
advantageous by the other professionals, but rather as a potential threat. Moggridge
(2009) describes his first use of interaction design as:
I had my first prototype [laptop] in 1981. I took it home and I started thinking, Now
I have a chance to use this myself. I sat down to work, trying to understand what
was happening in this little electroluminescent screen. And within about five
minutes Id forgotten everything about the physical form of the product, I was so
focused on that interaction with the software I found that I was sort of sucked
through the screen into this virtual world. Occasionally Id remember, Oh yeah, I
designed this physical thing, but beyond that, the important aspect the interface

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was something that I didnt yet know how to do. And so I decided to learn how.
(Moggridge ,2009).
As the structure of the interfaces became more complicated and the technical abilities of
the displays grew, the amount of information that was shown to the user increased,
became more complex and needed to be thoroughly designed. A specialized group of
professionals was needed to design the information. Industrial designers had traditionally
designed the physical form of products and appliances, including the graphics and knobs
that were necessary to use the product. When the products started including displays, the
natural assumption for the designers was that the design of the content of this display,
and physical keys for the interaction with the product, were part of the industrial design
process (Ulrich & Eppinger, 2003; Valtonen, 2007; Akoglu & Valtonen, 2012).
Interaction design has also been seen as an extension of the field of software
development and HCI. Weed (1996) explains the rise of interaction design profession in
the software industry and foresaw that interaction design would learn more from industrial
design; he argues that interaction design would be the industrial design of software
industry.
Just as the industrial revolution helped form the discipline of industrial design, the
technological revolution is helping form interaction design: the industrial design of the
software industry (Weed, 1996, p. 11).
In this phase, although icons and visual elements were designed by the existing in-house
practitioners, this new professional area was not really covered by graphic designers,
engineers or programmers. Especially in the mid-1980s organizations discovered that the
new generation of information technology required new and different skills from the
existing creators (Lwgren & Stolterman, 2004).
The common characteristics of this early period was that there were just very few
innovators who talked and wrote about the requirement for a new design profession which
would have a different set of skills and tools from the existing ones. Scholars and
professionals wrote about why it was necessary, but it was not very common that
organisations embraced the new professional practice of interaction design.

Adoption: Becoming an Optional Work Area for Industrial

Designers
Eventually, interaction design became an area that more and more industrial designers
considered themselves capable of. Liddle (2007) suggests 3 stages of technology
adoption: the enthusiast, the professional and the consumer stage. In the first stage, its
not important for enthusiasts whether the technology is easy to use or not because they
are very excited by the technology itself or by what it can do for them. In the professional
stage, there are people who use the technology for only work purposes; they dont buy the
technology, but the organisation they work for buy it for them. At this stage, its not
important for the purchasers whether the technology is easy to use or not, instead they
are more interested in price and after-sales support. The third stage is the consumer
stage where people are more interested in what technology can do for them rather than
the technology itself.
Moggridge (2005) describes the effects of digital technology in design in terms of the
overlapping areas between industrial design and interaction design practice:

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 Now there is an interesting convergence happening because as the digital

technology spreads, it becomes more part of everything. Then gradually products
have digital technology in them. So industrial design is in an era of convergence. I
think one can find a lot of interaction designers working on interaction design
solutions which have products in them. A lot of product designers are working on
products that have interaction features in them. So they are tending to overlap. (B.
Moggridge, personal communication, 2005).
Coming from an industrial design background, Bill Moggridge (2005; 2007) approaches
interaction design by making two definitions: he states the first definition as a broad one
including the long tradition of HCI and then defines interaction design from a designerly
perspective stating that the subjective and qualitative values are much more important.
I think there are actually two answers to that question: there is a broad definition,
which is the design of everything digital. That includes the long tradition of
computer science and HCI which has been around for 45-50 years. Its probably
the definition of general public would think of because its a very broad definition.
However, there is also the narrower version of that definition which is the same
thing: its also the design of everything digital, but its from the point of view of the
subjective and qualitative values which make it equivalent to architecture or
industrial design. When I think about the contribution, I believe there is more to do
with the subjective qualitative and static values of things that are digital. (B.
Moggridge, personal communication, 2005).
There is also a changing way of working within design, from a more linear working
process to an integrated approach involving individuals from several different practices.
Press and Cooper (2003, p.148) say that
the role of design in product development has changed from being a part of a
relay race, in which the product baton was passed from one department to the
next, to being part of a rugby team, in which the ball is passed freely from one
team member to another until it reaches the touchline of a product launch. The
rugby approach characterises cross-functional integration, in which a team of
specialists from each department involved in the project is brought together,
working as a team from start to finish.
The line between what was part of industrial design and what was not in the interface
design process seems to be very fine in the second stage of the diffusion. The area of HCI
is broad and is performed by a multitude of professionals from engineers to cognitive
scientists. The closest professional group to industrial design in this context is according
to the interviewees were accepted to be graphic designers. Many of the industrial
designers who have focused on interface design have also acquired additional training in
graphic design.
On the other hand, the industrial designers themselves seemed to draw a line between
the interfaces on a computer screen and the usability of the product as a whole. They
tended to see the first as graphical design, while designing a user interface for a physical
product with a proprietary physical interface (i.e. hard keys) was industrial design.
Industrial designers used to focus on some interaction design concepts such as physical
manipulation and mechanical interaction. In this sense, industrial design was more about
product-specific user interfaces than general platform user interfaces that could be used
on any computer screen. One of the industrial designers describes this approach:
I do user-interfaces that cannot be separated from the physical product, that include
issues such as ergonomics. My work is not only considering hierarchies and such... It

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includes a graphical user-interface but also a physical product. (Interviewee 1, personal

communication, 2003).
Still, the understanding that user interface design was part of industrial design rather than
graphic design seems to prevail among the industrial designers. Some of the industrial
designers had multiple roles in their organizations.
My title is industrial designer comma user-interface designer (Interviewee 2, personal
communication, 2003)
All our user-interface designers are educated as industrial designers. We dont have any
graphic designers [hired] (Interviewee 3, personal communication, 2003).
However, when the user interfaces connection and the physical product got vaguer, new
user interface designer roles appeared that were difficult to define even for the user
interface designers themselves:
One of these user-interface designers works on demos. When a product is
produced usually a demo about the product is done. It can be more in the spirit of
marketing or as a user manual-type of demo. Usually the demo is put on a cd
which the customer then duplicates to their different clients. This work, as I see it,
could often be considered graphical work. (Interviewee 4, personal
communication, 2003).
The confusion between industrial designers and graphic designers in user interface
design appeared to be quite common in this phase, as the designers so eagerly described
how they differed from each other. The other group of people who worked in close
connection with user interface designers, the people who actually wrote the code for the
user interface, were hardly mentioned in the interviews. It was considered perfectly clear
that this is a completely different group of professionals, usually with technical training,
and that the designer delivers the user-interface design to professionals who then write
the code and make it work in practice.
UX as a professional group is still a very young profession. There are people
who are previously graphic designers who think that they can do a UX design
though which I find very amusing because I think it takes a lot more special skills.
You cant take a traditional graphic designer and then ask them to do a user
interface. I think you have to be a very specific type of graphic designer educated
in a digital world to work for UI or UX. I think there is also still too much technical
flavour on the UI design side and emotional and experiential side. (Interviewee 5,
personal communication, 2004).
It is very frequent that the interviewees used examples to be able to explain clearly what
they think that interaction design is about. Most of them also compared their jobs as
industrial designers with interaction designers. One of the interviewees who has been the
president of a design consultancy that didnt have in-house interaction designers yet at
that time expresses:
We tend to do a lot of human factors design like the tooth brush. Thats about
physical manipulation. I define interaction design as more complex and usually
dealing with electronics I think the interaction between the product and the user
also depends on an emotional dialogue. If you like it, if its easy to use, then you
use it much more. But if not, you only use it for its function Computer interfaces
were very hard to use 25 years ago. But that was OK, because only engineers or
scientists used them But now we would never stand for that! We want to click,

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point the cursor, push the button and get the result immediately! (J. Edson,
personal communication, 2005).
The above viewpoint has similarities with Moggridges (personal communication, 2005)
second definition of interaction design in terms of subjective and the qualitative values that
also refer to one of the stages of technology adoption Liddle (2007) suggests. The third
stage is the consumer stage where people are more interested in what technology can do
for them rather than the technology itself. Just as Edson (personal communication, 2005)
emphasizes above, people dont want to spend too much time to learn how to use the
technology and feel frustrated, but prefer to have the interactions intuitively.
There was a shift in the same design consultancy, because in 2005, when the first
interviews were done, they did not have in-house interaction designers, they began to hire
a small group of in-house interaction designers in 2007, which were there for the second
set of interviews in 2008. An industrial designer from that organisation explains what
interaction designers do in the whole design process:
We are hand in hand with the interaction designers. Typically, they tend to be
more focused on the research aspect; very early interviewing people and
understanding the problem from the users perspective. As industrial designers, we
follow them on their path and just make sure that we are on the same page with
them. In this sense, its interesting because, we only had the interaction design
group for a year now. Before we had interaction design in-house, we used to do
some of what they do, but not as deeply as they do now (S. Lebas, personal
communication, 2008).
The interviewees from interaction design based consultancies also stated that some
industrial design based consultancies contacted them to work together on a project after
having fundamental design decisions, even after the products form has been defined.
Interviewees argued that this situation has negative effects on the final products success
and the level of innovation. An interaction designer explains this effect as:
I'd like to get involved early if possible in the product definition part because its
where the constraints of the product and the user needs determine what this
product can do. Interaction designers have something to say about that also.
Unfortunately, a lot of times the products are pretty well defined and some are
already developed. Its more common and it doesnt work. Then its too late; all you
can do is a skin job, cleaning up the surface but very deep down its still a mess.
Then that product cant be innovative and really successful. (G. Salomon, personal
communication, 2005).
In relation to the above statement, the interaction design practitioners discussed about
taking roles in early phases of the product design process, as they also emphasized the
importance of getting the clients to be really aware of what interaction design is and what
it does.
Something is going to change in terms of educating the clients. The clients dont
know that these projects are so complicated. It is so different than creating a
traditional product. Both the clients and industrial design firms will have to get
more sophisticated about the way they determine time frames for product
development (G. Salomon, personal communication, 2005).
Based on the above statements, it seems fundamental for interaction designers to be
known by clients for their success in the market and to take a role in a product design and
development team early. The fact that the interaction designers need to spend time

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describing, both to their clients and their adjacent professional practices, what they do and
what their professional role is, indicate that the professional practice is still forming. In
bigger companies, the tuition explaining what interaction design is usually passes when
the number of interaction designers in the company grows. Interaction designers who
work within a corporation only have to go through the explanatory phase once, but
interaction designers working for design agencies face this scenario on a daily basis. Very
often the customer uses interaction designers for the first time. This sometimes reflects on
the decision making process. Uncertainty as to who should make decisions about user
interface design or which criteria should be used for the decision making seems to be
quite common in this diffusion phase. Interaction designers sometimes even feel
unrecognised; it probably has to do both with the novelty of the area and with the often
immaterial end-product which is not easy to comprehend for the general public.
Interaction design as an optional work area- user-interface design-for industrial designers
was related to how much organisations need such a new work area. Not all companies
see the value in designing their own user interfaces. Especially in smaller companies the
return on the investment is seen unclear and other less costly alternatives are sought for.
In small-scale industrial design based organisations, industrial designers move in-between
industrial design and interaction design; the interaction between the product and the user
is relatively simpler and has more mechanical qualities rather than digital. In large-scale
organisations, professionals working on industrial design and interaction design are
different people.

Interaction Design: An Area on Its Own

Currently, interaction design has become an area on its own and is seen widely in many
corporations and consultancies as an in-house design profession. However, there are still
different approaches about what interaction design is, both as a discipline, as a
professional practice and also what interaction designers do.
Some examples argue that interaction design does not necessarily need to be related with
digital technology while others argue that interaction design is concerned with peoples
experiences through digital media.
Today there is still no commonly agreed definition of interaction design. Fllman (2008)
states that the core of interaction design can be found in an orientation towards shaping
digital artefactsproducts, services, and spaceswith particular attention paid to the
qualities of the user experience.
In some design consultancies, interaction designers have multiple roles, sometimes even
more strategic roles in the design process.
They [interaction designers] have multiple roles as advisors and as marketing
people and they might be the users advocates all along the process together with
industrial design. They also look at the whole user interface (UI) process. I think
their main battle is about the UI; I was little involved in those meetings, they had
those tremendous work that had to be done on re-mastering and redefining the UI
process; how the user would go through different menus and I think they did an
enormous job there because they came up to something that is really friendly and
intuitive to use for the people who used the previous products. Its a huge leap; its
totally a new world. (S. Lebas, personal communication, 2008).

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After three years in another context from the interviews that are mentioned above, an
interviewee working in-house overviews the situation for interaction design:
When industrial design is interaction design, I interact with a product if it happens
to be thorough a graphical user interface touching it or moving it, thats design.
These borders are changing. Part of me says, its design because design is to do
interaction with a user. Design is interaction with human beings. At the moment the
borders are quite vague I think. Maybe not in an organisation like ours, but in
smaller design offices industrial designers are moving into both interface design
and user experience design (Interviewee 6, personal communication, 2011).
This is a remarkable statement because, this interviewee works in a corporation in
Sweden and the interview was conducted in 2011 while the previous interviewee works in
a design consultancy in the US and the interview was conducted in 2008. Diffusion
appears to be further ahead in the former rather than the latter example and shows that
the diffusion of interaction design does not depend on a chronological order worldwide; it
depends on the context and the conditions of and around the context.
When it comes to the set of interviews that were held between 2011 and 2012 in Sweden,
we see that there is variety among the design consultancies and companies embracing inhouse interaction designers. In large corporations the understanding of interaction design
seems to be more immature than in design consultancies.
There are also big differences when it comes to naming the professional practice in the
corporation:
We dont call it interaction design here, we call it user experience. I would say that
interaction design is a shallow part of use experience design. It is by tradition probably
more a man-machine interface (MMI) sort of design. (Interviewee 7, personal
communication, 2011).
When interaction design becomes an area on its own in an organisation, role changes
occur in the design team. In this case, there was previously a designer dedicated to
ergonomics who also worked on physical handling parts of products whose role changed:
The profession of interaction design works more with the interface of a product. In
this organisation, for example, its about how users interact with appliances. Lets
talk about a washing machine: how users interact with the interface and when it
comes to handling like loading and unloading the machine, that is an area between
an interaction designer and an industrial designer; before we had an ergonomics
designer who was dedicated to be a part of ergonomics-physical handling. But
now it seems to have an interest area of interaction design, so it has become a
part of interaction design. The same also goes with interface design where you talk
about symbols, buttons and such. So I see it as two different areas because when
it comes to for example unloading a washing machine, its more about you take
clothes, maybe you study the angle, so you dont need to bend over to load the
machine, good grip of the handle to make it an easy and self-instructed appliance.
Thats one area. Then when it comes to the interface, we are strictly talking about
displays and panels. Thats another area in itself basically, more about presenting
information and levels of information on the screen and how to interact with that
information. (Interviewee 8, personal communication, 2011).
How industrial designers perceive interaction design even differs in a single working
environment. This might be because of not having worked together, or it might show that

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some designers do not keep themselves updated about the developments connected to
their profession.
I dont work so much with interaction designers. We didnt have interaction designers
when I studied. I cant answer so well what interaction design is (Interviewee 9,
personal communication, 2011).
The above explanation is one of the most radical ones among industrial designers even if
there are interaction designers working in-house in the same corporation. If we go back
and overview the statement of the Interviewee 6 who works in the same organisation with
the owner of the above statement, it becomes clear that there is confusion in
understanding interaction design. Yet another designer in the same corporation explains
the way she sees interaction design even if she does not consider herself up-to-date
about the subject:
Honestly I dont think Im so up-to-date about whats going on in that field. For me
interaction design could be a lot more. Your starting point is the end user It
could be anything from understanding a computer interface, maybe a website to
interact with or it could be to understand which button should I press to get this
thing done; to understand how my DVD player works; so everything could be
looked upon like a kind of interaction I think-both physical products and digital
services and interfaces. Its about making this understandable to the end-user so
its easy to interact with. It could also be a service to interact with. Its tricky to
really define. (Interviewee 8, personal communication, 2011).
Additionally, interaction designers are seen to focus on the research phase pretty much. It
also becomes evident that not in every case, but in some contexts interaction design has
an increasing role in terms of strategy and management.
In this phase, even though interaction design becomes an area on its own, there still
seems to be diversity of the statements of industrial designers and confusion about the
profession even in a single big corporation. It probably indicates that interaction design is
a relatively newly adopted actor in such organisations. When it comes to design
consultancies interaction design is relatively better known than in corporations.

To Conclude
In this paper we portrayed the changes that affect the professional practice of industrial
design with the emerging and growth of interaction design as well as a view of how the
practitioners of industrial design have perceived this development.
In the beginning, interaction design was accepted as a part of the industrial design
process (Press & Cooper, 2003; Ulrich and Eppinger, 2003; Valtonen, 2007). It was first
pursued by a few pioneers, then perceived as an optional work area for industrial
designers. This relates to the product range, investment and strategy of organisations as
well as the needs and requirements of the industry and users. Especially in smaller
companies, the return on the investment was seen unclear and other less costly
alternatives were sought, like out-sourcing interaction design at a later stage of the
product design and development process. Finally, interaction design separates itself from
being a component within industrial design and becomes an area on its own.
From this research, we see that the development of interaction design within industrial
design practice does not follow a chronological path. Hence, it is very much related with

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how organisations make investments and adopt interaction design as a professional

practice. Larson (1979) claims that professionalization is a collective project and bounded
with context. The findings here support this as the development of interaction design
towards being a professional practice on its own differs even within the same country. The
interviews in this research were conducted beginning from the first half of 2000s ending in
early 2010s. When we take an overview on the interviews that were conducted between
2000-2008 in Finland and USA, we see that the phases of adoption are different from
each other. When we overview the interviews in Sweden between 2011 and 2012, we see
that there are different phases in organisations where a corporate might be having a
phase in-between the second and third phase while a design consultancy might be
experiencing the third phase.
Although there are great differences in how and with what pace interaction design has
developed, we can clearly see that the development of the professional practice has been
rapid, and that interaction design is now an area that very few within the field of industrial
design question the importance of, or deny the specific skills and knowledge needed for
the area.

References
Akoglu, C., & Valtonen, A. (2012). Yours or mine? Role sharing between Industrial Design
and Interaction Design. In P. Israsena, J. Tangsantikul, & D. Durling (Eds.), Proceedings
of the Design Research Society (DRS) Conference [CD-ROM]. Bangkok: Chulalongkorn
University.
Cagan, J., & Vogel, C., M. (2002). Creating breakthrough products. Innovation from
product planning to program approval. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hal PTR.
Cross, N. (1981). The coming of post-industrial design. Design Studies, 2(1), 3-7.
Fllman, D. (2008). The interaction design research triangle of design practice, design
studies, and design exploration. Design Issues, 24(3), 4-18.
Larson, M., S. (1979). The rise of professionalism: A sociological analysis. University of
California Press.
Liddle, D. (2007). Three Phases of Adoption. Interview by Bill Moggridge. In Moggridge,
B., Designing interactions (pp. 245-257). Cambridge: MIT Press.
Lockwood, T. (2007). At the heart of everything: Design. Design Management Review, 18
(4), 5-6.
Lwgren, J., & Stolterman, E. (2004). Thoughtful interaction design. A design perspective
on information technology. Cambridge: MIT Press.
Moggridge, B. (2007). Designing interactions. Cambridge: MIT Press.
Moggridge, B. (2009, November 03). Reinventing British manners, the post-it way. Wired
Magazine. Interview by Ben Hammersley. Retrieved November 2, 2011, from

http://www.wired.co.uk/magazine/archive/2009/12/features/reinventing-british-mannersthe-post-it-way?page=all

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Overbeeke, K., & Hummels, C. (2013). Industrial Design. In Soegaard, Mads and Dam,
Rikke Friis (Eds.), The encyclopedia of Human-Computer Interaction, 2nd Ed. Aarhus:
The Interaction Design Foundation. Retrieved January 10, 2014, from
http://www.interaction-design.org/encyclopedia/industrial_design.html
Press, M., & Cooper, R. (2003). The design experience. The role of design and designers
in the twenty-first century. Bodmin: Ashgate Publishing.
Rogers, E. (2003). Diffusion of innovations (5th ed.). New York: Free Press.
Sato, K. (2001). Creating a New Product Paradigm between Media Space and Physical
Space. In ICSID 2001. Proceedings of ICSID Exploring Emerging Design Paradigm
Conference, Korea Institute of Design Promotion, Seoul, Korea, pp. 362-368.
Ulrich, K., & Eppinger, S., D. (2003). Product design and development (3rd ed.). New York:
McGraw-Hill /Irwin.
Valtonen, A. (2007). Redefining industrial design. Changes in the design practice in
Finland. Helsinki: University of Art and Design Helsinki.
Verplank, B. (2008, August 11). Professional. Retrieved May 6, 2009, from
http://www.billverplank.com/professional.html
Weed, B. (1996, July). Visual interaction design: The industrial design of the software
industry. SIGCHI Bulletin, 28(3). Retrieved September 9, 2013 from
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Winograd, T. (1996). Bringing design to software. New York: Addison-Wesley.

Canan Akoglu
Canan Akoglu currently works as Assistant Professor at the Department of Industrial
Design, School of Architecture and Design of Ozyegin University in Istanbul, Turkey.
Previously Akoglu worked as a post-doctoral researcher at Ume Institute of Design
(UID), Ume University in Sweden. Akoglu received her PhD from the Department of
Industrial Design at Istanbul Technical University, Istanbul, Turkey in 2010. Her research
interests are interaction design, the changing role of design and designers, service
design, and tools and methods in service design. Akoglu has papers in both international
and national conferences and has also international scholarships awards.

Anna Valtonen
Professor Anna Valtonen is currently Dean of Aalto University School of Art, Design and
Architecture in Finland. Her research interests are in design&society, its history and
future, and on the role of designers within. Previously Valtonen has been the Rector of
Ume Institute of Design (UID), Ume University, in Sweden. She has also worked
extensively within industry, and holds many positions of trust within universities,
organisations and corporations.

1422

Contradictions in the design space

Frederick M.C. van Amstel, VISICO Center, Department of Construction Management & Engineering, University of
Twente
Vedran Zerjav, VISICO Center, Department of Construction Management & Engineering, University of Twente
Timo Hartmann, VISICO Center, Department of Construction Management & Engineering, University of Twente
Mascha C. van der Voort, Laboratory of Design, Production and Management, University of Twente
Geert P.M.R. Dewulf, VISICO Center, Department of Construction Management & Engineering, University of
Twente

Abstract
The design space is a concept often used to encompass all possible designs for a given brief, impossible
to be determined, but passive of manipulation by creative designers. The concept as such cannot
prevent deterministic accounts of design activity. With the aim of overcoming determinism, this concept
is reconsidered beyond the cognitive realm, as part of the social production of space. This renewed
perspective is applied to study a medical imaging center project in The Netherlands. The boundaries
found in this design space were not self-imposed constraints, but imperative economic, political, and
cultural conditions that contradicted each other. To reveal the materiality of the design space, the
project has been brought to a teaching experiment, where students analyzed the project drawings and
proposed changes using a custom parametric modeling tool. Students faced similar contradictions,
despite working under different conditions, supporting the claim that the design space has intrinsic
contradictions even if not cognized.
Keywords
Design space; problem-solving; constraints; architectural design; activity theory.

Introduction
Previously seen as an outcome of design, especially in architectural design, space is moving towards a
locus where design happens. Contrary to the common sense, the so-called design space does not refer to
the offices where designers work, but to the range of possibilities that designers consider (or not
consider) for a certain design task. This range is called a space by its property to contract by adding
constraints or to expand in many directions by adding new variables (Gero & Kumar, 2006). This
space reflects the indeterminacy of design (Goldschmidt, 1997): there are so many possibilities for any
design task that trying to determine its outcome before it actually happens is unproductive.
On the other hand, the design activity has cognitive, technical, economic, social, and cultural conditions
that limits the possibilities to be considered (Westerlund, 2005). These limitations may or may not be
imposed to the design space as constraints. Since constraints are first processed by cognition before they
enter the design space, the single limitation that can be considered intrinsic to the design space is the
cognitive (Simon, 1991), currently being addressed by computational tools that expand the designer
capability to explore, remember, and combine the possibilities (Woodbury & Burrow, 2006).
There is a contradiction here between the space of possibilities and the possibilities of space. The design
space is infinite in a global level, but quite limited when assessed by one individual. If that is the case,
then it is just a matter of determining the cognitive capabilities of an individual to determine the design
space and all its possibilities. However, design activity as it happens in practice is not restricted to

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2
cognitive processes and is hardly carried on by a single person (Botero, 2010). Even when working alone,
designers are under financial, technical, social, and cultural conditions that are not necessarily cognized
and explicitly set as constraints. Many constraints are taken for granted, or perhaps, they are not yet
constraints.
This paper articulates the notion of contradiction as an intrinsic feature of the design space, going
beyond the notion of constraints. Contradictions are understood as accumulating tensions in a certain
activity that provokes instability and change (Engestrm, 1987; Foot & Groleau, 2011). They can be
cognized, but do not depend on that to exist. Constraints, issues, problems, solutions, and other
cognitive frames approach contradictions from one of their sides. The aim of this paper is to ground
these abstract notions to the concreteness of specific social processes.
The first part of the paper presents a case-study on how contradictions in the Dutch healthcare system
are reproduced by the design of a specific medical imaging center. Ethnographic data reveals the social
construction of its design space. Based on this study, a hypothesis is put forth regarding the reproduction
of contradictions in the design space. The second part of the paper reports testing this hypothesis in a
teaching experiment where students reconstructed the design space and dealt with its inner
contradictions.

The design space

The design space is mainly conceived as a mental, individualistic, a priori, abstract space where design
ideas are generated and considered. One of the most concrete descriptions of the design space is a
network of nodes representing states in a cognitive process (Figure 1). Every move in the design space
arises from the intention of a single designer, even if random (Goldschmidt, 2006). Boundaries are selfimposed, coming either from adopted criteria or from dependences, such as mutually exclusive options
(MacLean, Young, Bellotti, & Moran, 1991) and cognitive processing capacity (Simon, 1991; Woodbury &
Burrow, 2006). At last, the ultimate power of intention in the design space leaves movement to the
arbitrary.

Figure 1 A design problem space composed of a network of states. Redrawn from Goldschmidt (1997, p. 444).

The design space has been mainly used to analyze how designers think alone, but there are new
attempts to use it in collaborative design as well (Botero, 2013; Luck, 2014). In this case, design
movements are not only bounded by personal intention and cognition, but also and perhaps even
more by interaction with other people. Moves in the design space are actually part of that interaction:
they are motivated by the social and cause effects back then, not in arbitrary way.
The division of labor between one activity as design and another activity as use (Suchman, 1994)
should not cover the contribution and dispute of both to shape the design space. Both are trying to use
the possibilities for generating value, and both are subject to the inherent contradiction of exchange and
use value. The possibilities in the design space cause effects in the social because they already have a
potential value, which is or will be the subject of dispute and leverage among many other activities. Due
to this materiality, the design space can be considered both abstract and concrete, abstract inasmuch as

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3
it has no existence save by virtue of the exchange ability of all its component parts, and concrete
inasmuch as it is socially real and as such localized (Lefebvre, 1991, p. 341).
In this perspective, the design space is not an ideal space with all thinkable possibilities waiting to be
harnessed, but an ongoing production of practical possibilities to change activity conditions. One of the
possibilities is to draw ideas from other activities, other design spaces, but such reproduction also
implies the production of adaptations, hacks, or hybrids to the immediate condition. As a matter of fact,
this production is not realized by the mind, but by the entire social activity that constitutes design or
use. To understand how the design space is socially produced, we turn to cultural-historic activity
theory (Engestrm, 1987; Leontev, 1978) and production of space theory (Lefebvre, 1991).

Contradictions in the design space

Design is an activity that happens in a particular place, but also develops along history. In cultural-historic
activity theory, the basic notion of activity is a subject transforming an object by means of instruments
(Leontev, 1978). The object of design is the thing being designed that has the potential to fulfill a need
and the subject might be one or more persons that invest motives in this object. The transformation of
the object is the concern of a community, which develops certain rules and a division of labor to
transform the object. These relationships are put together in the activity system model (Figure 2).

Figure 2 - The activity system model. Redrawn from Engestrm (1987).

Different activities can interact, for instance, when the outcome of one activity is the object of another,
such as performance evaluation or instrument development (Engestrm, 1987; Kuutti, 2011). The latter
is a common connection to design activities, which conceptualizes the connected as use or user
activity (Suchman, 1994). The design activity interacts with the use activity to produce a design space
using methods such as briefing (Barrett, Hudson, & Stanley, 1999; Luck & McDonnell, 2006), which aims
to set constraints for the design space.
The design space is grounded in the use activity and, therefore, its contradictions are also reproduced. In
reproduction there is always the opportunity for change, tough. The contradictions in space become
contradictions of space, aggravating or alleviating the situation in the aforementioned activities. Once
contradictions are embedded into space, they last longer and keep bothering activity even if the original
contradiction has been alleviated or overcome. Contradictions can only be completely overcome if they
are overcome both in activity and in space, configuring a spatio-historical breakthrough (Lefebvre, 1991,
p. 54).
There are four tension levels that must be overcome by spatio-historical breakthroughs (Engestrm,
1987; Foot & Groleau, 2011). In the primary level, the most basic contradiction of society in the case
of capitalist societies, the contradiction between exchange value and use value appears in each
element of an activity (subject, instrument, object, community, rules, and division of labor). The
commoditization of subjects in the labor market (exchange value), for example, can generate powerful

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contradictions regarding their work quality (use value). At the secondary level, contradiction appears in
the relationships between activity elements, for instance, between instruments and rules. When the
activity has a major development, the contradiction achieves the tertiary level, when the old and the
new version of an activity collide. At the quaternary level, the contradiction spread among different
activities. Figure 3 depicts the contradiction levels in the activity system model.

Figure 3 - Four levels of contradictions (in red): intrinsic to an element (left), between two or more of an activity
(middle), between a new and old version of the activity (middle), and among different activities (right).

Research design
Collecting empirical evidence of contradictions in the design space requires an unusual research design
for three reasons. First, contradictions are not just objective phenomenon; they are both objective and
subjective, since they affect and are affected by the observer. Second, contradictions are both cause and
effect of a social situation, therefore, constantly changing. Third, contradictions are not immediately
observable by abstract measures, such as variables. In both cultural historical activity theory and
production of space theory they are grasped by first looking at the historical constitution of the situation,
then applying abstract measures, and finally reconstructing the whole phenomenon as overdetermined,
or in other words, determined by too many causes (Engestrm, 1987; Foot & Groleau, 2011; Lefebvre,
1975).
With that in mind, the research design is setup in two moments: a case-study about a medical imaging
center and a teaching experiment in a design course. The case-study is based on a formative intervention
(Engestrm, 2011) performed by the first two authors in the design of a healthcare facility. The
researchers followed the meetings of the design activity, analyzed the available documentation,
interviewed the designers, developed computer visualizations to support the participation of users, and
joined the workshops where these visualizations were employed.
The researchers notes were stored in an Issue Based Information System (IBIS) and linked to research
questions and theoretical concepts, forming a map of controversies around the project (Kunz & Rittel,
1970; Selvin et al., 2001; Yaneva, 2012). A specific map has been made with the contradictions identified
in the data with the activity system model, in the four levels of tension (Figure 4). The primary
contradictions are lined at the bottom of the map and connected to their aggravation in the second
level, and so on. The data fragments are connected to the contradictions as their observable
manifestations, which are classified as pros and cons in the IBIS notation. This distinction helps to avoid
framing contradictions as inherently good or bad for the project.

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Figure 4 Fragment of a graphical map with contradictions (blue nodes) found in the project, related to their
pros (green) and cons (red).

Based on this study, a hypothesis has been formulated: if contradictions are intrinsic to the design space,
reconstructing the design space in another activity would reproduce the same, or at least, some of the
contradictions from the original activity. To verify this hypothesis and explore how such process unfolds,
an experiment has been organized in the context of a facility design bachelors course.
The experiment was organized according to the double stimulation method (Engestrm, 2011; Vygotsky,
1978): the focus is on reconstructing learning, taking more into account process rather than outcome.
The first stimulus is a contradictory situation and the second stimulus is an ambiguous tool that may be
used to overcome contradictions. The experiment looks on how subjects develop concepts to overcome
contradictions. The purpose of the tool is to objectify the concepts, what helps not only the
experimenters but also the learner himself.
The leaners had the task to reconstruct the design space and to continue its expansion. In so doing, they
would face contradictions in space and of space. A tool was developed to manifest contradictions in
space as walking paths, paths that people would take inside the facility while following routine
procedures. This is a very simplified way of representing activity, but perhaps sufficient to avoid students
dealing only with contradictions of space. The tool was setup differently for two groups of students: one
with initial walking paths and another with no initial walking paths. This was done to check if having

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more constraints in the design space, or in other words, explicit manifestations of contradictions in
space, would help dealing with contradictions of space.
The tool given is Autodesk Revit architectural design software with a custom family designed to
represent the use activity as walking paths1. The family profits from the parametric design features of
the software, generating real-time information about travel distances, waiting times, and room
connection. Activity is modeled in the same interface as is space, therefore enabling iterations between
these two dimensions (Figure 5). This tool was also used to reconstruct the floor plans and the walking
paths designed by practitioners, based on video-recorded explanations of the plans.

Figure 5 - Walking paths parametric design family for Autodesk Revit with walkability performance for patients
(blue) and nurses (green).

The images reconstructed from case data and the images generated in the experiment were stacked to
visualize and compare the parts of the design which changed the most, or in other words, the most
controversial parts of the design. The controversy is related back to the contradictions found in the case
to check if they can be explicated by them.

The design space of a medical imaging center

The case study that follows is a forthcoming medical imaging center in The Netherlands. The center will
offer state-of-the-art diagnosing machines based on techniques such as Magnetic Resonance Imaging
(MRI), Positron Emission Tomography (PET-MRI), Computed Tomography (CT), and
Electroencephalography (EEG). This case study covers a small part of the design process: the evaluation
and final adjustments of the floor plan, which happened between July 2012 and January 2013.
Many contradictions have been found in the case, but for the sake of space, we concentrate here in one,
tracing it from the primary to the quaternary tension level. The contradiction is related to the
1

The custom family is licensed

http://www.utwente.nl/ctw/visico/

under

Creative

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Commons

and

can

be

downloaded

at

7
undergoing changes of Dutch healthcare system since its last reform, in 2006 (Pavolini & Ranci, 2008).
One of the points is the diminishing role of the state and the consequent need for partnering among care
providers. Income is now attached to the actual care delivery, and the providers need to grow by their
own (Cramer, Dewulf, & Voordijk, 2014). The medical imaging center arose in this context, with the value
proposition of offering shared facilities and knowledge co-creation for nearby hospitals, educational
institutions, and technology developers. Each engaged partner would have to face the uneasy transition
from their optimized work procedures to a shared knowledge co-creation activity.
This contradiction manifests at the primary level as the space (outcome) that is supposed to be logically
organized, favoring the productivity of every procedure (exchange value) while reinforcing the
organizational boundaries of those procedures (use value). The procedures were already very much
optimized in their origin; however, in the new center, they should also produce knowledge that go
beyond optimization. When this aggravates to the secondary level, the functions of the rooms (division
of labor) are defined not according to the best workflow possible (rules) but by the political compromise
of assuring a separate space (outcome) for each care provider (community). At the tertiary level, the care
providers that used to compete for attracting patients (old object) are now trying to learn with each
other in this venture (new object). And finally, at the quaternary level, the activities involved in the
project are not sure how the outcomes of the center will help them fulfill their expectations. Figure 6
trace the contradiction spreading through the activity system model.

Figure 6 From optimized work procedures to knowledge co-creation activity contradiction aggravating inside
the design activity (left) and towards use activities (right).

These tensions were not visible to the designers at the beginning of the project; nevertheless, they
reproduced them. The business plan and machines technical requirements were taken as the main
constraint, guiding the definition of isolated functions and spaces, despite the idea of sharing machines
to promote knowledge exchange between research and clinical practice.
Including users in the design was seen as an opportunity to get the commitment of the hospitals to join
the venture. In a participatory workshop, the so-called users joined the design activity in modifying the
design, since the actual plan was overcrowded due to sharing. The reconstructed image reveals that the
dressing rooms were the most unstable part of the design space (Figure 7). There was a doubt if there
should be many small dressing rooms to afford more patients per machine or less dressing rooms
with more space each. Also, if there should be a bathroom nearby, or even a dedicated waiting room
for each scanning machine. After trying many different moves, designers and users realized that the

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most important thing would be to have a corridor that connects the different areas of the facility,
allowing for sharing the dressing rooms and to also informally share knowledge in the breaks.

Figure 7 - The four versions of the floor plan with the respective walking paths stacked in a single picture,
excluding the upper part.

The main finding from this case-study is that the boundaries that defined the design space were not selfimposed constraints, but imperative economic, political, and cultural conditions that contradicted each
other. Designers and users had to deal with these contradictions even if they did not set as constraints in
brief phase. Their moves in the design space alleviated, aggravated, and overcome these contradictions.
If that is the case, then reconstructing this design space in another activity would reproduce the same
contradictions and guide design moves towards similar solutions. A teaching experiment explores this
possibility using the walking paths tool to manifest contradictions in the design space.

The design space extended to a teaching experiment

The course Methods and Strategies for Facility Design of University of Twente bachelors in civil
engineering had related topics to what was observed in the case-study, so the authors brought the
project to the course for a practical learning experiment. The context was introduced as such:
The business case specifies the diagnosing machines that will be available and the amount of
patients to be treated per year in each machine. The managers are wondering how to optimize
the facilities to meet these numbers. (Data fragment).

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This is neither a problem nor a solution, but an issue related to the contradiction from an optimized work
procedure to a knowledge co-creation activity; however its historical background is not given. Instead,
the experimenters provided students with the results of a deterministic simulation they made to support
practitioners in the original project (Figure 8). Students received a copy of the animation generated by
the simulation, with the use activities happening along half a day of operation. The use activities were
simulated in a very simplified way, focusing in the movement of nurses and patients around machines. A
spreadsheet with performance figures such as machine capacity usage, waiting times, and room
occupation was also provided.

Figure 8 Deterministic simulation of the medical imaging center scanning procedures.

The experiment consisted of two sessions: brainstorming and modeling. In the brainstorming session,
students were organized into teams of four, with the task of formulating problems and solutions. They
had to reconstruct the design space in an explicitly social manner: team work.
The design space has been explored in rather abstract way, in the format of written problems and
solutions. In the second session, the design space had to be explored in a more concrete way, as a
parametric model. This was important not only for students to realize the material resistance for
implementing their solutions, but also to measure their explorations in the design space through a
standard format that favors comparison. Students were then introduced to the parametric design tool
with which they could develop further the design, alone or in pairs. They did not work in teams like in the
previous session due to the software/hardware limitation for real-time collaborative modeling. For most
students, this was a first experience with the software and the duration of the experiment was only one
hour, so they could not explore too many features.
The experiment was repeated in two editions of the course. In the first edition, students received the
initial floor plan reconstructed from case data as a digital file. One sample walking path was included in
the file. In the second edition, the full walking paths for nurses and patients were provided, overlaid on
the floor plan. Deriving from that difference, two groups are considered: participants who did not have
built-in activity constraints (group 1, n=31) and participants who had built-in activity constraints, in the
shape of walking paths (group 2, n=28). After the experiment, the previous sessions teams gathered
again and received the educational assignment to write a report with the lessons learnt, which was also
taken into account to interpret the results.

Experiment results
The software used in the experiment was configured to save automatic backups every five minutes,
generating more than one image per student. This was done to track the exploration of the design space
across time, like in the case-study, but in a much shorter interval. All images, from all students, were

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stacked into one, in the same way as in the case-study. The difference here is that the combined images
do not reflect the exploration of one team, but of many teams.
Group 1 had the extra task of drawing the paths from scratch in the same amount of time, what resulted
in fewer paths and focused exploration (Figure 9). This group began by moving the reception closer to
the entrance and then delving in the dressing rooms distribution between MRI and CT (right part).The
corridor solution observed in the case appeared only in two designs of group 1 and not at all in group 2.

Figure 9 - The designs generated by group 1, with no initial paths, stacked in a single image

In group 2, most students began by changing the PET area (left part) due to the performance figures
provided (Figure 10). They framed the longest paths from the entrance as the best opportunity for
improvement. After that, they began to poke with the dressing rooms allocated for PET.
In both groups, the dressing rooms were the most unstable part of the design, pretty much like in the
original project. Some students proposed to change them into dedicated waiting rooms to avoid patients
and nurses to go back and forth during the intermediate waiting steps of the scanning procedure. One
student proposed a coffee-room in the middle of the facility so as to increase the level of comfort for
both staff and patients. Many doors have been opened in both groups to minimize space fragmentation.

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Figure 10 - The designs generated by group 2, with the initial paths already given, stacked in a single image

Instead of restricting exploration, the extra constraint in group 2 let students consider different ways of
rerouting patients and nurses. The exploration of the design space was much more diverse and less
focused. Some steps in the walking paths were decoupled or aggregated and the undefined upper part of
the layout was occupied, what did not happen in group 1. It seems that the given constraints were not
taken for granted by students, being changed or ignored by design moves. One student report stated:
During the assignment some of the routes seemed very odd, that it seemed as if some detours
were functional. [] Unless it was made clear by certain keywords which were used in the model
that the detour had some reasons, these detours were eliminated. (Data fragment).
The students did not have explicit information about contradictions; nevertheless, they aggravated and
alleviated some of them with their designs. Many contradictions found in the original project were not
addressed and kept accumulating in the design space. A comparison between the groups and
practitioners regarding the origin and impact of design moves reveals no significant differences in
interactions with one contradiction (Table 1). Other contradictions are not explored here due to the lack
of space; however, the preliminary data analysis suggests that a design move that alleviates one
contradiction often aggravates another.

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Table 1 Aggravating tensions of from optimized work procedures to knowledge co-creation activity
contradiction and related design moves by practitioners and students groups.
Tension level

Contradictions in space

Contradictions of space

Practitioners
moves

Group 1 moves

Group 2 moves

Productivity
X
Organizational
boundaries

Layout fragmentation
X
Path homogenization

Simulating
procedures to
find bottlenecks

Splitting
dressing rooms

Splitting
dressing rooms

Workflow optimization
X
Political compromise

Exclusive space
X
Shared space

Flexible dressing
room space

Moving rooms
closer to the
entrance

Moving rooms
closer to the
entrance

Tertiary

Competition
X
Collaboration

Compartmentalization
X
Multifunctional

Large internal
corridor

Small internal
corridor

Fewer steps in
walking paths

Quaternary

Outcomes
X
Expectations

Knowledge
centralization
x
Practice marginalization

Participation in
design

Splitting the
waiting room
into many

Occupying
undefined part
of the layout

Primary

Secondary

Students did not directly address tertiary and quaternary contradictions since they depend on project
historical background, not given. That did not prevent these contradictions to influence their designs, on
one hand guiding them to more open spaces, with extra connections and functions favoring
collaboration among partners and, on the other hand to more fragmented, streamlined, and optimized
spaces on the other favoring competition among partners.
This contradiction was also reproduced by the tool introduced in the experiment, what was
acknowledged by a student team in their report:
The situation modeled is an ideal situation, where everything behaves as planned. There is no
scenario for emergencies. Users of the building will not behave as the parameterization. The
modeled walking paths are the ideal paths: patients or staff will not always follow them, because
of the current situation and their own choices and preferences (Data fragment).
The student reports were quite critical about the tool, pointing to its poor usability, automation,
efficiency, and simulation capabilities. On the other hand, they recognized the experiment as an
opportunity to learn about the social construction of the design space:
The last thing we have learned is that every individual gets to a different practical solution with
the software, even though the theoretical solution was conceived by the whole group. This is due
to the different ideas of the best implication of the solutions every individual has (Data
fragment).
The logic of optimization and the dialogue about knowledge co-creation were both present and clashing
in the teaching experiment, even if in a lower tension than found in the case-study.

Discussion
Contradictions are situated phenomena, hard to be grasped in an experiment. For the researchers,
seeing contradictions was much easier while engaged in the project rather than in the experiment. The
deterministic bias of the tool was not fully realized until students criticized it in their reports. Not
surprisingly, researchers could not stay above contradictions and look at them with distance. They were
already reproducing the contradiction by interacting with it. In fact, the research activity was already

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facing this contradiction in the increasing emphasis of publications indicators in Dutch universities (Groot
& Garcia-Valderrama, 2006). In comparison to healthcare activity, academic research is doing the other
way around: from a knowledge co-creation activity to an optimized work procedure. The convergence of
healthcare and research in the medical imaging center is not a coincidence, but a cause and effect of the
contradictions present in their underlying systems.
The main advantage and limitation of double stimulation and formative intervention methods
employed by this research is that they do not isolate cause and effect relationships (Engestrm, 2011;
Vygotsky, 1978). Instead, they investigate phenomenon as being determined by too many causes, or in a
word, overdetermined. The present empirical work shows that it is possible to determine a design space,
provided that the determination is socially constructed and that contradictions are taken into account.
The following relationships were considered to determine the design space: the economic imperative of
productivity, the cultural trend of knowledge co-creation, the engineering design tradition, the
optimization bias of the tools used in the experiment, and the formal characteristics of the design space,
all understood as manifestations of contradictions in history (Engestrm, 1987) and in space (Lefebvre,
1991). The resulting overdetermination could be a better argument against prescription and modeling
rather than indeterminacy (Goldschmidt, 1997).

Conclusions
A parametric design tool has been developed and tested to visualize in a crude way the forces behind the
design moves, arguably the contradictions in space and of space. Using this tool, students ended up stuck
and boosted by the same but not all the contradictions that practitioners faced in the industry
project, despite not working under the same conditions. The data suggests that the contradictions of a
project are intrinsic to the design space, even if they are unknown.
Contradictions are concrete despite any abstractions, such as problems or solutions. They are
constituted by the systemic tensions that accumulate and drive a certain activity, provoking trouble in
many different ways. Contradictions cannot be removed nor solved; rather they can be aggravated,
alleviated, or overcome. In any case, contradictions wont go away. Any alleviated contradiction will keep
accumulating tension without notice until it surfaces again in the design space. Even before that, the
same move that alleviated one contradiction can aggravate another. The design activity, thus, bounces
between contradictions in the design space, not without changing them.
We propose to reconsider the design space not as a space of possibilities, but a space of becoming (Luck,
2014). Any design considered in the design space is not just a possible one, but an actual coming to life. It
already exists and affects the design activity, like any material in the physical world. Each move in the
design space expands or contracts the potential to change the world, already implying the contradiction
between use and exchange values. Making sense of design in this way can strengthen the emerging
approach to design research that pays more attention to artifacts, practices, and history rather than
inscrutable cognitive processes (Kuutti, 2011).

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Exploring Open Design for the application of Citizen

Science; a toolkit methodology
Robert Phillips, the Royal College of Art, London
Dr Sharon Baurley, the Royal College of Art, London

Abstract
The manufacture of mass produced quality assured products has previously remained
within professional practice. Digital manufacture presents opportunities for producing
products in low volumes, catering to bespoke requirements. This phenomenon can benefit
parties where the manufacture of goods has previously been financially unobtainable, i.e.
non-government and charitable organisations. Open hardware (accessible electronic
components) can complement digital manufacture, enabling bespoke products to become
intelligent, with the ability to sense, monitor, record and produce data. This paper tests an
Open Design / Citizen Science toolkit drawing from practice based research and
supporting ethnographic activities.
The study documents design workshops with The Sussex Wildlife Trust and Cornell
Laboratory of Ornithology, conservation and wildlife experts. The papers research
contribution is a design toolkit, identifying insightful opportunities for Open Design through
Citizen Science. The study showcases new prospects for organisations to engage with the
public. The prospects form reciprocal relationships via members of the public fabricating
monitoring devices and gathering data. Users individual accrued data can meet wider
community needs and address local or national conservation challenges. The emphasis of
this study has focused on accessible wildlife monitoring, beyond the valuable but limited
versatility of the smartphone, extending Citizen Sciences reach.

Keywords
Toolkit, Design Methodology, Design Workshops, Citizen Science, Open Design
Open Design (OD) enables collaborative efforts by providing incentives and methods for
freely sharing design information (Vallance et al. 2001). This type of potentially complex
activity can be underpinned by systems enabling people to easily access or create design
information to make personal artefacts. OD is not a new phenomenon; with transferable
design information from the textile industry known as patterns (Kraft 2004), users can
purchase/download a textile pattern, tailoring outputs to meet personal aesthetic, fitting or
material requirements. Whilst different tailoring techniques require more skill, the principle
of adapting core templates remains constant. Patterns have supported economic
rationales, for example the make-do-and-mend movement during the Second World War,
where the public were encouraged to extend garments lifetimes (De la Bdoyre 2002). A
progression from individuals editing blueprints with varying skill is the creation of online
platforms, equipping users with editable parameters and community support.
Open Structures (www.openstructures.net) is an online platform that explores the
possibility of a modular construction model where everyone designs for everyone on the
basis of one shared geometrical grid (Lommee 2012). The system adheres to a grid,
where users apply parallel measurements unifying individual parts. Created parts can then
be used in multiple assemblies, forming an open and editable repository of parts
(Lommee 2012). The same Open Design methodologies have been applied to scientific
equipment by Tekla labs (www.teklalabs.org), a global community for research quality
Do-It-Yourself laboratory equipment (Nilsson Lina et al. 2012). Whilst opening processes

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can have negative effects, such as calibration issues, trust, conformity to standards and
accurate assembly reliance, the process can enable a lower financial entry point, aiding
communities to respond to their own issues (Phillips. R et al. 2013).
Digital manufacturing is changing the accessibility to make bespoke alterations to
products at their digitally created source. The economist John Maynard Keynes stated it
is better to ship recipes than cake and biscuits (Heskett 2005). Digital manufacture is the
reproduction of goods through digital processes, lowering the entry point to industrial
manufacturing processes (Carson 2009). 3D printing or additive manufacture is one
example of digital manufacture (Igoe Tom & Mota Catarina 2011). 3D printing is lowering
the entry point to manufacture as equipment is becoming cheaper and more widely
available, through online services, or in local Fabrication Laboratories or Fab Labs.
Fab Labs are small scale workshops with modern computer controlled equipment open
to members and the public (Massimo Menichinelli 2011). Fab Labs also offer support to
construct more elaborate or technically challenging products like electronics or open
hardware. Open hardware are components whose design is made publicly available so
that anyone can study, modify, distribute, make, and sell the design or hardware based on
that design (Gibb 2013). The key offerings of Digital manufacturing are: the ability to
produce downloadable products, bespoke product outputs and design freedom, i.e.
complex geometries that cannot be created by traditional manufacturing processes
(Hague 2006). This paper does not discuss mass-customisation, acts of user misuse or
intellectual property within Open Design.
The recording of seasonal events has long been a pastime amongst natural historians,
with records going back to the 1730s (Sparks & Carey 1995). Commercial monitoring
equipment has been used within industry and keen amateurs to address documentation
and conservation issues. These monitored events have included earthquakes, weather,
air quality and even domestic gas leaks for preventative, protective and documentary
purposes. Commercial monitoring yields data that when translated can inform policy or
local issues, but can be expensive for average people to purchase or engage with. Citizen
science is broadly defined as the involvement of volunteers in science (Roy, H.E. et al.
2012) providing an indispensable means of combining environmental research with
environmental education and wildlife recording (Roy, H.E. et al. 2012). Citizen Science
currently utilises smartphones GPS for accurate geographical locating or in-built or plug-in
sensors. Top-down Citizen Science models let the public engage but rarely do the
participants dictate possible directions or witness scientific ramifications (Mueller &
Tippins 2012). Grass roots activities can play a major role in studies, often initiating the
surveys leading to professional attention and intervention (Heiman 1997). The process of
including volunteers might not just include data collection but in fact lead to a more
rounded, educated and aware community (Phillips, R., Baurley, S. & Silve, S, 2013).
Citizen Science can be used to gather data encompassing many scenarios; this paper is
interested in Citizen Science within nature and wildlife.
During the last 20 years environmental issues have had more media coverage and
agencies have created enhanced environmental legislation (Law Commission,
Reforming the Law 2012). Whilst national parks are encouraging public engagement,
biologists have pointed out for decades that protected areas are not playgrounds: wildlife
parks are assets for tourism, but they are not tourism assets (Buckley & Pannell 1990).
The following examples illustrate scenarios created with positive motives but caused
negative effects to wildlife: the RSPCA has advised that Sky Lanterns (flammable
balloons released at events) can cause ingestion, entanglement and entrapment to
wildlife (RSPCA 2013). The public feeding of Mallard ducks with white bread, causes
problems, as excess starch makes them lethargic, leading to health problems (Furness
2013). Over feeding Mallard ducks can also cause over-populations of males in
environments leading to forced mating (RSPB 2013). Recent research has also shown

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that baleen whales [are] affected by military mid-frequency sonar (Goldbogen et al.
2013).
These activities highlight the fragile complexity of involving the public in wildlife and
reinforce the care required within this design space, deliberations that have been
considered within the toolkit. Non-professional lead users are already creating monitoring
devices, for example: a child of 14 fabricated an earthquake warning system for under
one hundred US dollars per unit using open hardware (Galant 2012). The papers interest
is how Open Design can enable Citizen Science for lay users. This could evolve users
experiences with wildlife and their surrounding environment beyond the smartphone.

Toolkit Design
The process of design is complex, with factors including careful attention to manufacturing
processes, design aesthetics and functionality, user interpretation and more. Design
toolkits are interface[s] that enables trial and-error experimentation and allows the
customer to take an active part in product development, deconstructing challenges that
users without design experience can engage with (Franke & Piller 2004). The practice of
collective creativity has been around for 40 years, going under the name of participatory
design (Sanders & Stappers 2008). Participatory design can enable bottom-up
innovation, where concepts come from grass roots rather than manufacturers or
producers of goods (Wuytens & Willems 2010). Toolkits have externalised different
consultancies processes for others to use, targeting intended audiences (IDEO 2003).
Containing design processes within toolkits gives users constraints, guiding participants
to an output or discussion (Lockton 2012). Toolkit material needs to ascertain factors
whilst considering wider ramifications as one [Citizen Science] solution does not fit all
situations (Roy, H.E. et al. 2012). Insights from prior research studies have been collated
and prioritised, including ethnography, public engagement (Phillips, R., Baurley, S. & Silve,
S 2013), design workshops (Phillips, R et al. 2013) and design probes (Phillips, R.,
Baurley, S. & Silve. S 2013).
The toolkit comprises 150 printed cards streamlining prior findings from lay users creating
sensor-based technologies. The toolkit has an information hierarchy (Figure.1) that builds
on the knowledge of the expert or lay design user. The toolkit translates users knowledge
into scenarios or briefs using card sorting and storyboard creation (IDEO 2003).

Figure 1: Navigation and hierarchy of information on toolkit cards, 2013.

The toolkit creates a workflow (list.1) for discussion on and around the following topics:
Scenario, the situation for monitoring
Technology, monitoring technologies that could be used
Method, the process in which the device is used

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Output, the output from the device

People, participants involved in activity
What is success? The positive intention of the device
Funding, how this venture might be financed?
Challenges, potential issues Citizen Science and Open Design projects could
encompass.

Figure 2: Process of toolkit workshops, 2013.

The toolkit enables participants to make selections, drawing on their knowledge, interest
and project intentions (Figure.2). The cards can form discussions within groups,
prioritising intentions and recognising relevant topics to their organisation. The informed
discussion is then interpreted into narratives to engage parties unfamiliar to the process of
design. The process of creating narratives aids the conceptualisation and scenario
building involved in creating ideas; this can be achieved through storyboards. Storyboards
help participants to get a grip on context and time by forcing them to attend to diverse
aspects, integrate these aspects and confront the implications that could be postponed
with abstract considerations (Van der Lelie 2006).
The storyboarding process uses A6 cards (Figure.3) as single cells to capture narratives
from viewpoints of You/User/Device/Other intended to help participants create a rounded
narrative. The single cells allow participants to reorder created narratives. During previous
research the touch points of Open Design were defined as open and closed inputs and
outputs, categorising how participants define how open open design is? Open inputs
and outputs can then be defined at different points in the narrative, discussing the
participants intentions (Figure.3).

Figure 3: Storyboard card and documentation details, 2013.

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To test the toolkit, a workshop with Seren partners (www.seren.com), a customer

experience consultancy, was executed involving service designers, brand consultants and
UX designers (Seren 2013). The test critiqued the process, experience, system and
delivery of the toolkit. Workshops were initiated by introducing Open Design / Citizen
Science and digital manufacture, following (Figure.2) format. An initial presentation,
introduced contemporary examples: Public Laboratory of Open Science (Plots,
www.publiclaboratory.org), Open Structures (www.openstructures.net), Little Bits
(www.littlebits.cc) and Airfix (www.airfix.com).

Workshop 1
The Sussex Wildlife Trust (www.sussexwildlifetrust.org.uk) (SWT) is a conservation and
charitable organisation managing over 4500 acres of nature reserves within Sussex in the
United Kingdom. The SWT is renowned for their environmental education programme and
is supported by over 33,500 members, some of whom volunteer (Sussex Wildlife Trust
2013). The SWT run extensive wildlife courses on birds, mammals, flora and ecology
attracting paying participants within and external to their membership (Russell 2013). The
SWT currently engage volunteers for monitoring with their part-time shepherds project,
training hikers, dog walkers, joggers as volunteer shepherds observing sheep in visited
pastures monitoring the health of livestock (Blencowe 2013). SWT are active on social
media platforms, tweeting video content from their video nest bird boxes, showing
familiarity with the positives of accessible technology.
The SWTs headquarters comprise meadows, ponds, woods and viewing points with
classrooms educating the public about environments, demonstrating experience with
public engagement and school participation. SWT collaborate with The Sussex Biodiversity Centre (www.sxbrc.org.uk) (SBC) who collect, manage and disseminate wildlife
data, providing an information service for the whole of Sussex (Anonymous 2013b). The
SBC are active in habitat /species data across Sussex, involved in many species
inventories. Their background places SWT as experts of wildlife conservation and
protection. Prior to workshops SWT were interested in Open Design and Citizen Science
for two initial upsides:
1) Volunteers/public could construct and deploy devices as charitable donations.
2) Digital manufacture responds to low volumes with low investment, presenting pilot
project opportunities.
The workshop participants included SWT volunteers, species experts and staff from the
SBC (www.sxbrc.org.uk) involved in the 2013 State of Nature report ascertaining 60%
of the 3,148 UK species assessed have declined over the last 50 years and 31% have
declined strongly (Burns et al. 2013). The State of Nature highlighted that out of 6,000
species assessed, more than one in 10 are thought to be under threat of extinction in the
UK, highlighting the necessary inclusion of local populations in their surrounding wildlife
(Burns et al. 2013). Workshop participants used commercial monitoring, for example bird
ringing, cataloguing species for the purpose of migration, but were unfamiliar with design
processes and workshops (RSPB 2010).

Workshop Findings
The toolkit guided participants through brief creation in the territory beyond the
smartphone. The charity was unfamiliar with creating products as finances are too
restricted to pursue such activities. Open Design can offer opportunities of low-investment
product creation by designers or volunteers, generating products contributing to topical
issues or local/national public engagement. Initial conversations explored education,
involving new and secondary audiences within wildlife issues. The SWTs initial fears
centred on not replacing nature with a screen. The SWT safeguards such a broad range
of species that it was looking to identify accessible frequently observed wildlife.

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Participants wanted to include everyone within their Citizen Science brief, putting the
experience and participant reward central to their focus. The application of gamification
was discussed in comparison to Cub Scout badges, issued for completion and
documentation of activities (Deterding et al. 2011). Rewards could link to social
networking, promoting issues within wildlife, making participants young ambassadors for
their environment. Participation could broaden engagement for audiences who would not
usually participate, e.g. people who cannot physically access their wildlife sites. The SWT
was concerned with people handling wildlife, in particular endangered species, but saw
great value in concepts produced on demand by the public. The discussion addressed
device creation and data sharing as the next stage in charitable donations (Figure.4).
SWT members could donate accrued data, rather than donating funds demonstrating a
digital economy (Chamberlain et al. 2012).

Figure 4: Card sorting and brief creating with The Sussex Wildlife Trust, 2013.
Users of the devices would need to be trained in how to track, to not disturb, and to place
devices achieving positive results. Public liability issues were also discussed: how, in an
open world of product creation, can charities create a product that puts its users in a
foreign environment yet not place liability upon the organisation itself?
The SWT knew they had to place monitoring activities within "the critical age of influence
before 12 years old (Bird 2007). Before age 12 contact with nature in all its forms, but in
particular wild nature, appears to strongly influence a positive behaviour towards the
environment" (Bird 2007). The SWT explored families playing games to explore wildlife in
Sussex, and saw the advantage of collaborating with local social clubs. Collaborations
would align Citizen Science outputs alongside hobbies mutually benefiting from gathered
data. Several product storylines were created from the workshop, reviewing species that
participants could easily witness. Their motivations were not just to ask research or
Citizen Science questions as intended, but to create an open process of data gathering to
engage diverse audiences. When the notion of success (list 1) was discussed, the most
important goals were educating and engaging the public in the environment that
surrounds them.
Whilst otter experts were present, otter activity in Sussex is rare and could disappoint
observing participants. The SWT were interested in everyday species sightings, and
highlighted the practical problems of people finding and disturbing habitats. The
discussion of product creation also changed the tone of who to include, and when?
Discussions included connected learning strategies that the SWT could offer to schools:
this practice could include the creation of digital devices in technology lessons with
outputs used in geography or biology lessons, creating connected education. This could
subsequently encourage family participation, possibly lead to national interconnected
communities as a translation of language exchanges or pen pals amongst schools.

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The SWT were adamant not to remove participants from the outdoor environment but,
instead, enhance their experiences. This enhanced experience could educate participants
and possibly recruit them as ambassadors for wildlife among their peers. Whilst SWTs
motivations were not solely scientific, they were interested in developing understanding,
educating and engaging the public with data gathering was a subsidiary outcome.
The SWT were interested in outputs that participants could take home either physically
or digitally, for example, a 360 camera view of a birds flight path translated as a childs
memento. They were interested in the concept of a nature street, establishing
competitions on identifying species amongst certain age groups, creating community
competitions. The charity would use data gathered to gain feedback from people visiting
locations in their custody as they currently have limited feedback processes.
Slow worm habitat creation and monitoring was explored purely as a species that is
abundant and protected in the UK, whilst outside the remit of community monitoring and
directed towards public engagement (Anonymous 2013a). In Sussex there is an
abundance of starling flocks moving in unison, creating beautiful swarms; the SWT were
interested in participants capturing movements and volumes. Outputs could not only
create mapping and conservation data but also interpret captured activity into physical
things, bespoke to the viewer or capturer. The SWT workshop highlighted the following
lessons for further development; protocol creation to avoid detrimental factors participants
might have on the monitored environment, reciprocity in data collection for participants
efforts including multiple audiences and new models of charity donations from
conservation data.

Workshop 2
The Cornell Lab of Ornithology (www.birds.cornell.edu) (CLO) is a world leader in the
study, appreciation, and conservation of birds (Cornell Lab 2013). They use
technological innovation to advance the understanding of nature and to engage people of
all ages in learning about birds and protecting the planet (Cornell Lab 2013). The CLO
has been at the forefront of Citizen Science programmes and projects since 1966 and
continues to create online tools enabling people to share and explore their data (Cornell
Lab 2013). The CLO houses the Macaulay library (www.macaulaylibrary.org) with a
mission: to collect, preserve, and facilitate the use of wildlife recordings for science,
education, conservation, and the arts (Cornell University 2013). Their Citizen Science
projects have engaged international audiences leading to prominent scientific findings in
ornithology and wildlife; developing models, methods and practices replicated worldwide.
CLOs projects have included eBird (www.ebird.org), a real-time online checklist program,
cataloguing 1,000,000 bird observations monthly reported by participants (Cornell
Laboratory of Ornithology 2013b), Feeder Watch (www.feederwatch.org), Backyard Bird
Count (www.birdcount.org), YardMap (www.yardmap.org) and the Elephant Listening
Project (www.elephantlisteningproject.org), all relying on user participation for data
collection.
The CLO has a visitor centre accompanying Sapsucker Woods, a 230 acre forest with
ponds, ferny swamps, and abundant wildlife with over 230 bird species documented on
their trails (Cornell Lab 2013). Their visitor centre has a yearly footfall of 40,000 people.
The CLOs active role in Citizen Science activities, public education and documentation
positions them as experts within the execution, administration and development of Citizen
Science projects (Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology 2013a). The toolkit built on the CLOs
experience, informing discussions within the territory of Open Design.
The workshop was held twice with mixed participants from the CLO, including education
and technical teams from the eBird and Elephant Listening projects (Figure.5). The
participants had a different briefing to Sussex Wildlife. The CLO were familiar with Public
Laboratory of Open Technology & Science (www.publiclab.org) and Public Library of

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Open Science (www.plos.org), organisations that embrace open practice. Participants

were guided through the same card sorting (list 1) process as previous groups (Figure.2).
Initial feedback identified the toolkit did not start with a Citizen Science question as
previous models have (Wilderman 2007). The concept of starting with a design
opportunity, technological application seemed strange to the group but it raised interesting
further research questions:

When does a technology push create bad Citizen Science projects?

What is more important, answering a Citizen Science question, or engaging and
educating the public with positive motivations?
How can users and organisations engaged in Citizen Science activities mutually
benefit each other?

Figure 5: Card sorting and discussions with Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, 2013.
The workshop process highlighted the CLOs interest in using participants existing
hobbies or activities to facilitate future projects. For example anglers could gather water
samples for scientific use and protecting their favourite spots presenting mutual gain and
reciprocity. Whilst this could be considered on the fringes of Citizen Science, is this also
an opportunity to connect an approach with an opportunity, communities with a solution?
The groups applied the toolkit to existing projects they already run, reviewing how they
could use Open Design to nurture new audiences. Initial discussions stated the CLO
would open all of their processes if they could guarantee quality control of the products
participants assembled or adapted.
During discussion local fab labs or maker spaces could be used to provide verification
processes. Using a local fabrication or maker space could remove some skill elements but
it should be seen as a verification process, not a process for cheap labour in assembly.
The validation of a process or production route could be the USP of that particular
company/fab lab (over a home user). Resulting in Fab labs not just providing construction
files or equipment but validating user created outputs or products for other organisations.
The consensus of workshop 2 discussions was that, even though the 3D printing of
electronics (Leigh et al. 2012) is becoming viable Open Design products for Citizen
Science would be effective as a kit of parts, using conventional and digitally
manufactured components. The workshop discussions raised the following questions:
What motivations are required for users to assemble/construct products to participate in
Citizen Science activities? Conventionally these have been educational or within users
belief in the ideal of the project (Nov, Arazy & Anderson 2011). What is the required
bridge for appropriate technologies to be constructed by the layperson? This bridge is
currently being explored in 3D printing by Auto desk (www.autodesk.co.uk) and their
creature creator app (Autodesk 123D 2013). The app creates parameters for lay users to
change diameters and forms. These simple software applications could be designed and

1444

deployed to compliment more complex digital technologies, for example monitoring

devices.
What is the data consistency and rigour provided from construction kits? This would need
to be explored in more depth as this depends on the nature of the project and its
intention(s). The last question is the consistency or quality control procedures that need to
be in place to help validate the users construction back to the agency or organisation that
is exploring Open Design and Citizen Science relationship.

Closing project elements

One element critical to Citizen Science projects is the gathered data (Louv, Dickinson &
Bonney 2012). This collation, editing and distillation are usually completed by project
providers, not the citizen. The gathered data, when harvested, is controlled by a central
entity which can then create diverse data sets for multiple applications. There was a fear
relating to the data from open monitoring devices sensing bird movements would direct
end users to particular spots for viewing, with limited consideration to the possible footfall.
In 2011 the Royal Society of the Protection of Birds (www.rspb.org.uk) (RSPB)
documented two wildlife photographers fined 1100 for disturbing a pair of nesting whitetailed eagles on the Isle of Mull (RSPB 2011). This case could have been amplified by
multiple users sharing information online. Would local custodians or youth ambassadors
stop this kind of activity? At what point do you close project elements?
There was an interest in empowering communities to respond to their own problems and
the CLO disclosed that they do not usually initiate projects from the bottom up, due to their
complications. In discussion it was made clear that Citizen Science projects can require
large internal administration or funding, purely to process data. The concept of selling the
data to ensure longevity of a project was discussed, raising ethical questions such as who
would profit? How would organisations ensure that the project was transparent and not
exploit a core set of community approved values, whilst ensuring charitable protocols?
Using local knowledge to influence the outcome and influence the motivation for
participation was a key interest the CLO workshop.
The CLO were intrigued at combining activities that were either during an activity or
hobby, integrating citizen science beyond active participation but into activities that
require passive participation. These hobbies could include parties that are already active
in that monitoring space for example air monitoring and para gliders. The CLOs main
concerns were approval processes verifying Open Design processes from the bottom up.
These processes could include many more aspects at the software creation stage of the
project. These processes could have pay walls to maintain their upkeep, as long as goods
and plans are accessible.

Insights for wider areas

The workshops raised insights and questions that can be applied to multiple areas:

What should be the priority of Open Design Citizen Science projects, the technical
value in data collection or the inclusion of the public in design and adaption of
proposals?
Can a kit, assembled device or service selfdiagnose arising problems, assembly
orientation or troubleshoot?
The opportunity for organisations without design/development knowledge to use
toolkits as a briefmaking tool with outputs that target experts to construct/develop
or design devices.
When does public engagement become Citizen Science and vice versa and what is the
defining goal?

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When in the process do you enable users to openly adapt projects for wider
uncompromised use?

Discussion
Digital manufacture and Open Design have opened opportunities in fields of product
creation by lead users. An example of such product creation is DIY Drones
(www.diydrones.com), a product platform that has enabled lead users to collaborate,
communicate and develop as part of a community (Anderson Chris 2012). 3D printing
has been well publicised and widely received as the next industrial revolution: whilst it
offers opportunities, it also needs to be facilitated for lay users (Anderson 2010).
The Toolkit investigated the relationship from a design opportunity perspective to help
organisations that previously might not have considered opportunities in Open Design and
Citizen Science. Could this collaboration create technological pushes rather than pure
scientific questions? Which element is more important? With the design of construction
kits (the most cost effective, accessible solution), when do you exclude people and how
can this be addressed in future proposals?
The motivation of project volunteers remains critical, whilst Citizen Science projects
primary goal has been scientific knowledge does Open Design present alternate
opportunities? Could the gathering of data be mutually beneficial to all parties? The
construction of a motivation to participate could not only be the collated data but also take
the form of positive reciprocal outcomes. For example, the preservation of anglers fishing
locations through participants cataloguing the weight of their catch, or parents giving
children kites to record live air quality readings in their recreation locations.
The topic of self-financing projects was discussed (complying with charitable protocols)
but raises questions of when charities/schools could create a profitable system enabling a
Citizen Science project to sustain its self without compromising openness or their intention.
Cross-curricular school lessons were alluded to throughout both workshops. These
lessons could combine technical making and scientific analysis in computing lessons with
data insights in scientific classes; the bigger issue is how could schools afford this?

When is open a problem?

The design of goods can be complex, in this case relying on the lay assemblers skills to
create accurate outcomes from open designs. Solutions discussed in all workshops
included kits like the childs toy Lego (www.lego.com) that are accessible to lay people but
can be developed upon by skilled users for higher complexity (LEGO 2013). A proposed
structure could draw from design parallels like Twine (www.supermechanical.com) or
Littlebits (www.littlebits.cc) both interactive plug and play systems. Designing when to
close a project was a high priority workshop output. The toolkit workshops yielded
common themes for further work including; scientific rigour of accrued data, quality
assurance of user assemblies and negative legacies or detrimental effects of
misunderstood data.
The larger concept of open is when parties want participants to develop and when or if
closing processes can ensure quality. The advantages of establishing an Open Design
Citizen Science project are product distribution, adaption, lower financial entry and
extending an organisations capability. The opening of project stages could still require
protocols ensuring quality control and scientific rigour. These stages could be coordinated on a case by case or parameter basis. Protocols could be designed to unify
procedures but these would require complex databases or technical skill. That technical
skill could be out of reach to charities and organisations that would benefit from opening
a product. There is also the question of when and if collated data could be used for
negative use or profiteering by alternate parties?

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The toolkit raised wider discussions for the Open Design and Citizen Science relationship
but it still needs to be applied on a case by case basis. When parties are creating kits
(either for download or assembly) what processes need to be closed, regulated or
controlled ensuring a positive project outcome? So how does a process enable adaption
and development without compromising data collection but still engage the lay or unskilled
user? The opening of Citizen Science projects has already created equipment, for
example: The Public Laboratory of Open Science (www.publiclab.org) and Open ROV
(www.openrov.com) but can you include the lay public in equipment construction through
Open Design and not just opening the construction to technical users?

Conclusion
Workshops presented opportunities for digital manufacture and Open Designs use in
Citizen Science. The work presented possibilities for alternate parties to benefit from
parallel development, i.e. product adaption from a base of interchangeable components.
There were fears from both workshops, not relating to the sharing of data but to the
possible misrepresentation if reviewers were not familiar with data findings, leading to
panic or detrimental outcomes. Validation protocols could be included in an Open Design
and Citizen Science platform that optimises outputs. This platform could be informed by
local manufacturing or fab labs, with modes including, creator, end user and
organisational administrator. The end user could create and input/output but the
administrator could control or advise on project parameters ensuring rigour and quality
control. Another issue is providing a process for motivating open development. Do
designers or technology providers bid for work? Are there protocols for open intellectual
property that can sustain a project or venture?
The toolkit highlighted the viability of the Citizen Science/Open Design territory and that
workshop parties were very willing to explore it. The data from the territory partnership
could lead to organisations collaborating, extracting useful data from each other, if the
projects scope is mutually beneficial. The main problem is trusting the public and possible
data profiteering that companies could exploit. Reciprocity in the collected data could
prove a powerful motivation for both parties (end user and organisation) to participate in
activities the bigger question is. What information holds value for individual users and
organisation(s) alike? The workshops found the following priorities for Open Design use in
Citizen Science projects: user/developer motivation, scientific question(s), technical cost,
support processes and protocols for public inclusion or education. The toolkit was a
practical tool in understanding the pitfalls, benefits and opportunities of this relationship
leading to research insights that were applied to other areas.
The toolkit work resulted in the Bee Lab project (www.beelab.org). The Bee Lab project
applies Citizen Science and Open Design to beekeeping, enabling participants to
construct monitoring devices gathering reciprocal data, motivating participants and third
parties. The project is a collaboration between; The British Beekeepers Association
(www.bbka.org.uk), social innovation from Wolff Olins, The Honey Club
(www.honeyclub.org), and Technology Will Save Us (www.technologywillsaveus.org).
The work was supported by RCUK, Horizon Digital Economy Research
(www.horizon.ac.uk) grant (EP/G065802/1).

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Desirable Imperfection in Product Materials

Owain Pedgley, Middle East Technical University, Turkey

Abstract
Manufactured products are customarily made with materials having perfect surface
qualities, such as uniformity, flatness, glossiness, repetition etc. They are generally devoid
of defects. Although the aesthetic of material perfection prevails, this is not to say that
alternative aesthetics based on material imperfection are either irrelevant or undesirable.
If we especially consider the pressing need to be more responsible about discarding worn
but still functioning products, alongside the satisfaction that can be gained from owning
unique appearance products, then in principle there seems to be unexplored territory in
designing for desirable imperfection through materials. This paper explores why and how
imperfection in materials can be desirable. Literature sources are used to elaborate on the
aesthetics of imperfection and the origins of material surface imperfections. Thereafter,
graduate student design projects on the topic of imperfection in product materials are
presented, with their common attributes analysed so as to give advice to designers who
may wish to adopt imperfect materials. The paper concludes that since material appraisals
are highly contextual, designers must temper their ambitions towards material activism
and user behaviour change by establishing boundaries beyond which material
imperfection will be neither acceptable nor desirable.

Keywords
Imperfection; Product Design; Materials; Values; Activism
In the industrial manufacture of products, quality is invariably correlated to consistency.
Should variations occur during manufacture, deviating from the intended product
specification, the likely outcome is rejection of the offending component or product. The
near-zero tolerance for variability is understandable when considering intended and
realized user experiences: all customers will receive an identical product, displaying
known and pre-stated performance and aesthetic qualities. Everybodys purchase will be
perfectly the same: a principal theme of the mass production ethic.
Although this ethic remains firmly established within todays manufacturing industries
(Pedgley, 2009), we are simultaneously witnessing the emergence of many new product
creation technologies and systems, as well as new social, cultural and environmental
influences on the renewal of our material world. In the present era, we can be prompted to
question whether a move away from the perfectly cloned product towards the perfectly
imperfect product might bring an alternative route to satisfaction with our material objects.
Rognoli & Karana (2014) suggest that present modes of production can be challenged, if
we chase the idea that product imperfection should not be instinctively rejected but
instead a legitimate way to bring about material-based product differentiation (even
individualization) and new aesthetic experiences. For those involved in making products
within crafts traditions, the idea of individualism through materialization is nothing new.
Variability in crafted products is a central source of value, being associated with
individuality and the preciousness of bespoke creations.
The research and subsequent design projects presented through this paper are intended
as a modest platform for provoking and challenging societys polarized values regarding
material perception and appreciation in everyday products. One of the privileges of
designers comes as an opportunity to adjust peoples perspectives about how our

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designed products ought to be, regarding diverse facets including functionality, aesthetics,
meaning attribution, and even behavioural responses (Schifferstein & Hekkert, 2008).
What, then, is implied by a design goal to promote imperfection as a desirable product
attribute; as the antithesis of the mass production ethic? The answer is multifaceted.
Certainly the shift towards more sustainable practices and sustainable living is a major
factor, realized through products having appreciable aesthetic qualities directly linked to
improved sustainability credentials (Datschefski, 2001; van Hinte, 1997; Saito, 2007;
Walker, 1995). Hedonic needs are another important factor: the satisfaction that can arise
from owning, using and admiring a product unlike any other being captivated by its
individual character and how its flaws translate to essential characterful qualities. Such a
view has crossovers with bespoke product design that can be supported by new
developments in 3D printing (Campbell et al., 2003).
For this present research, the focus was on the specific role of materials in helping to
achieve desirable product imperfection. The following questions were posed to guide the
work, which was made through literature reviews, didactic activity and student product
designs.

What makes a product material imperfect?

Under what circumstances does an imperfect material add value to a product, and
when does it detract?
How can designers be guided to use material imperfection as a desirable asset in
their designs?

Before starting to tackle these questions, it became apparent that the over-arching issue
of perfect for what? or perfect for who? should always be borne in mind. The idea of
contextualized material is discussed at length by Karana & Hekkert (2010), who conclude
with the principle that people attribute meanings to a material not only because of inherent
material properties (e.g. sensorial information, technical performance), but also because
of the specific product in which the material is embodied, and the ways in which users are
supposed to interact with that product. In other words, material judgments are made not
by considering a material in isolation, but instead with reference to its application and
intended use scenarios and environments. What may be deemed a perfect material for
one application can certainly be regarded as imperfect in a different application.

Aesthetics of Imperfection
A sense of imperfection about a product may arise from a wide range of physical
attributes (Ostuzzi et al., 2011), e.g. its form, its proportions, its comfort, its performance
and for the focus of this paper its materials. One of the sensitivities when discussing
imperfection is valence: the issue of whether one looks at an imperfection with a negative
or positive eye. These bipolar viewpoints lead to the consideration of imperfection either
as faulty or incomplete (=negative) or not perfect (=positive, or at least no direct
negativity implied). The latter is a rather more optimistic outlook, resonating with the
Japanese concept of Wabi Sabi (circa 900AD), referring to the aesthetic appreciation of
impermanence, transience and evidence of use, against a backdrop of the ingenuity and
efficacy of the natural world (Juniper, 2003).
Deyan Sudjic, Director of the Design Museum in London, proposed the theme
'imperfection' for the inaugural Istanbul Design Biennial in the fall of 2012 an event that
formed the catalyst for conceiving and developing this present work. He explains that the
pursuit of imperfection requires explanation for each discrepancy and demands that the
designer justifies why the perceived norm was not followed (Sudjic, 2012). He elaborates
further:

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"For a designer the tricky thing about looking for the qualities of imperfection is the
demands it places on them to justify aesthetic decisions. Perfection is an aspect of
an object that while it may not be easy to achieve, is conceptually straightforward.
ln the age of mass production, perfection has been taken to mean the ability to
make hundreds, thousands or even millions of objects that are all exactly the same.
The word itself suggests the existence of an original, with the special qualities that
implies. Such objects are understood as perfect copies of something else, rather
than objects that are to be understood as having their own individual qualities"
(Sudjic, 2012)
Thus a critical design challenge is revealed: in the context of volume production, to create
objects with aesthetic value arising from individual qualities rather conformance to the
aesthetics of replication and standardization. Although the aesthetics of imperfection is
distant from the aesthetics of the 'cloned', it is not necessarily distant from the
practicalities of conventional mass manufacture. Sudjic (2012) provides some practical
possibilities: "shiny glossy surfaces can be replaced by lesser degrees of polish. Pure
geometry is not the only possible formal language. Pure colour can give way to muddy
mixes. Symmetry is not the only option". We can make comparisons here with moves
within the skincare and fashion industries to adjust their marketing away from a
stereotypical slim model with perfect skin towards a body image and skin qualities that
more realistically depict human ageing (see, for example, Unilever/Dove Campaign for
Real Beauty).

Material Perfection / Material Imperfection

To understand how we might recognize and come to appreciate imperfection in product
materials, it can be helpful to first understand what makes a perfect material. The two
general points found in literature are that a perfect material is complete and flawless in
one or both of the following characteristics.
1. excellently suited to the functional or hedonic expectations of a product (i.e. a
perfect material choice) or;
2. has an exquisitely uniform surface quality that contributes to the allure of the
product (i.e. a perfect material skin).
If we reverse the meaning of the first perspective such that imperfection implies a
material choice that is not excellently suited to the product then we quickly see that the
scope for serious design exploration is limited, since material choices in industrial design
should not compromise the functioning of the design proposal. For example, there is little
point in using a material with a low melting point for high-powered lighting fixtures; or
allowing the compromise of structural integrity of outdoor play equipment through
specifying unfinished mild steel.
The second perspective is more promising. It makes use of the term product skin
(Boradkar, 2004) as a reference to the sensorial qualities of materials that become
important if we regard materials to be part of the total user interface of a product,
outwardly communicating to users. We should however be careful that this perspective
does not develop into a superficial view of materials and material properties. Materials still
have inner matter, as properly recognised in the first of the definitions. So, reversing the
meaning for perfect, we arrive at a definition of material imperfection as having surface
qualities that are not homogenous or consistent from one region to another, creating an
irregular effect to the eye or to the touch.

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Origins of Material Surface Imperfections

Material surface imperfections can arise at several points along the lifespan of a
materialized product. In reviewing literature on design and imperfection, it became
apparent that three points in time during a product journey are relevant to the creation of
material surface imperfections: (i) material sourcing (at the start, where inhomogeneity
drives imperfection), (ii) material processing (early on, where variability in shaping and
finishing processes drive imperfection), and (iii) material ageing during use, where
temporal effects drive imperfection).

Material Sourcing
At this stage, material imperfections are essentially built in to a raw or semi-finished
material. The material is inhomogeneous with regard to its properties and/or sensorial
qualities. Wood, for example, fits into this description by having grain, figure and texture
that are unique from piece to piece. The combination of these material properties,
alongside differences in colour between species, contributes to the appreciation of wood
in manufactured products (Kotradyova et al., 2012). Recycled plastics and natural fibre
composites often have material surface disturbances. Distressed materials also fit to this
description1, for example denim that is used to give a worn in look to off-the-shelf jeans.
Randomness apparent in surface qualities can be thought of as a ready made source of
imperfection (Pedgley & Sener, 2012).

Material Processing
In the transition from material to materialized artefact, industrial shaping and finishing
processes offer a great many ways to realize imperfect material surfaces. Imperfections
occurring at this stage may be consequential or planned for. For example, industrial
defects (such as pronounced swirling, knit marks or ejection pin indentations on injection
moulded components) can be embraced as a way to achieve standard unique products
rather than rejects (Salvia et al., 2010). Alternatively, during the manufacturing there may
be a purposeful letting go of control, such as with the Sponge polyurethane armchair by
Peter Traag for Edra (2004), which consists of many irregular upholstery folds. Prior to
manufacture, at the stage of computer modelling, randomness can be applied to bring
about surface imperfections. One route is to incorporate random elements within CNC
(computer numerically controlled) machine code, to generate unique surface patterns and
textures (Vectric, 2013). Another is real-time manual intervention into usually predictable
and repetitive manufacturing processes, resulting in surface imperfections (Alpay, 2013).
One further route can be the digital creation of bespoke 3D forms with unique texture,
relief, cross-section, colouring etc., for example as part of a mass customization or
personalization methodology, to be later realized through 3D printing and rapid
prototyping (Campbell et al., 2003).

Material Ageing
Not all materials are born with age-defying resilience (Woolley, 2003). Relatively few
materials retain an impeccable and untarnished skin decades after first use in a product.
Temporal effects turn new material surfaces into old through alteration of sensorial
qualities. What matters here is whether those temporal effects are acceptable even
desirable or not. The concepts of graceful ageing, of product materials obtaining a
worldliness through accumulation of years of interaction (Candy et al., 2004), and of
emotionally durable products (Chapman, 2009) are central to these discussions, as
Rognoli & Karana (2014) elaborate.

Distressing may also be regarded as a material processes, or refinishing process, if carried out
after the production of an artefact.

1455

Some materials degrade while others mature by maintaining or improving

certain qualities. The positive term of maturity is usually used for natural materials
such as stone, paper, wood, and leather, which over the years can acquire scents,
colours, and textures: characteristics that far from diminishing their quality, instead
acquire an aura of antiquity and preciousness.
Contrast this with the generally negative ageing of plastics, which tend towards an
unsightly aesthetic degradation over time (Fisher, 2004), involving colour fading,
scratching and brittleness. Salvia et al. (2010) refer to temporal effects as time and use
signs, regarding product materials as a dynamic and affectable entity. Karana (2012)
refers to traces of life. Materials age through a variety of means: sometimes simply
through the natural passing of time (e.g. metal patina); on other occasions, the ageing
process may be accelerated through wear and continual use (e.g. scratches, rub marks,
indentations); unplanned surface modifications may appear through personalization or
vandalism (e.g. stickers, graffiti, damage); permanent distortions in surface geometry may
arise through adaptations to long-term user-product interaction (e.g. a comfy seat, a well
worn shoe).
It is intriguing to note that in circumstances where ageing is valued (e.g. in antique
furniture, in walking boots), Candy et al. (2004) contend that it cannot be faked.
Sensorially, they say, people are too clever to accept a fake (bringing into question the
value of distressed materials), and from the perspective of utility, brand new sometimes
just does not fit or work satisfactorily some materials need to be worn in before they
reach a satisfactory level of performance or expression.

Istanbul Design Biennial Projects

The principles and arguments uncovered and presented so far in this paper were used as
foundations for a seven-week graduate-level research and design project entitled
Imperfection in Product Materials, carried out under the umbrella of the Istanbul Design
Biennial Academy Program theme of Imperfection and later exhibited at the inaugural
Istanbul Design Biennial between October and December 2012. The aim of the project
was to provide a platform for highlighting societys views regarding material perception
and appreciation in everyday things, through unusual and/or innovative design proposals.
Eleven industrial design MSc and PhD students worked on the project, which involved an
initial analytical phase followed by a longer creative phase. The project progressed
through a combination of formal lecture inputs, class exercises, take-home assignments
and design critiques.

Analysis Phase: Exemplifying (Im)perfection

Students were asked to analyse existing products with an eye to polarizing perfection and
imperfection in materials and identifying product examples with (im)perfect material
surfaces. We started off by making a material classification of perfect and imperfect
materials using physical product and material samples. We then made analyses of the
perfect/imperfect material attributes of products that students brought as A4 printouts, by
making various X-Y plots and discussing their efficacy and problems (Figure 1).
The final plot agreed upon through in-class exercises had the following labels: negative
impression positive impression (x-axis) and perfect material surface imperfect
material surface (y-axis). The x-axis provided a simple measure of valence, whilst the yaxis helped to position the product materials based on a factual (objective) description of
surface properties. The plot led to the labelling of four quadrants (Q1-Q4) in which
material judgements could be placed: negative perfect (Q1), positive perfect (Q2),
negative imperfect (Q3), and positive imperfect (Q4 our target quadrant). During the

1456

in-class exercises, students debated across each others product printouts until they were
satisfied that each was placed into its correct quadrant (Figure 2).

Figure 1: Snapshot of students material classification activity using changeable X-Y plots,
May 2012. Photograph by Owain Pedgley.
Q1 contained products with perfect material surfaces that some students viewed
negatively. The perfection typically led to products being judged as too synthetic, too
controlled, too predictable, too samey, too sterile, too boring, overused or clich. The
design proposition to jump to Q4 from here was to use material imperfection to redress
boredom or provoke inspiration.
Q2 contained products with perfect material surfaces that some students viewed positively.
The perfection was usually linked to remarkable material properties, such as being
strikingly flat, having mirror-like gloss, displaying superior engineering, or having
exceptional control over detail and quality. The design proposition to jump to Q4 from here
was to use material imperfection to conceive a rebellious, disobedient or non-conformist
alternative product.
Q3 contained products with imperfect material surfaces that some students viewed
negatively. The imperfection for these products was unwelcome for reasons such as
ungraceful ageing, unfinished appearance, tasteless application, and defective quality.
The design proposition to jump to Q4 from here was to adjust the intensity, quality or
subject of imperfection.
Q4 contained products with imperfect material surfaces that some students viewed
positively. The imperfection for these products typically added value through product
uniqueness and the charm or wit of individual character. Products within this quadrant
exemplified what might be possible for students to achieve in their own projects.

1457

Q1 - NEGATIVE PERFECT

Q2 - POSITIVE PERFECT

Q3 - NEGATIVE IMPERFECT

Q4 - POSITIVE IMPERFECT

Figure 2: Four material surface quality quadrants filled with students searched product
examples. Collages prepared by Yekta Bakirlioglu.

Creative Phase: Designing for Positive Imperfection

Having forged their own understanding of the potential value of material imperfections, the
students were briefed to propose and visualize a creative solution for the positive transfer
of imperfect material surface qualities into a product (or product sector) where normally
perfection in surface qualities is expected or sought. In other words, the objective in
students product design work was to arrive at a concept that fitted into Q4: an imperfect
material surface that leaves a positive product impression. Students were free to define
their own starting point, for example an existing product in any of the other quadrants Q1Q3 having potential benefit of migration into Q4.

Portfolio of Product Designs

Table 1 contains summary information for the portfolio of eleven product designs
proposed by students. We may call the offered concepts defiant products, in the sense
that they are disobedient or rebellious to normal material surface choices. In the portfolio,
we see designs making varied use of the three origins of material-based imperfection
(material sourcing, material processing, and material ageing).

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Table 1: Portfolio of eleven product designs having desirable material-based imperfections

Product Name & Image
Stratis Computer

Product Description
Product finishing is made with semi-permanent, multi-layered and
coloured patterns, revealed by the removal of upper layers through
daily wear or intentional surface rubbing, leaving a grunge visual
effect.

Lollyware Eye Glasses

The arms of the glasses have a roughened irregular texture made

from food-based resin: as an expected behaviour, users bite the arms,
thereby receiving a sugar boost and exaggerating the irregular
appearance.

Pestone Bowl

Each pebble stone used in the bowl has a unique irregular form and
surface qualities. Furthermore, the order of stones and their rotational
position provide endless ways to re-configure the product.

Cordy Suitcase

The use of freely extruded thermoplastic in constructing the

exoskeleton for the suitcase results in imperfection not only in the
solidified material surface but also in the sinuous suitcase structure,
because of manual intervention in directing the extrusion head.

Torna Lamp

A re-interpretation of an IKEA product, this time using materials that

have inherent imperfect surfaces: wood, aluminium foam, and
temperature sensitive glass able to chromatically change over time.
The goal was to achieve irregularity across multiple sensory
modalities.

Seedy Shoe

The use of seeds as a soft filler material for shoes creates visual and
tactile non-uniformity. Combinations of different seeds, having
variegated or unusual colours, results in further diversity in sensorial
effects.

1459

Karmacha Waste Basket

Assembled from thin rolled strips of recycled paper, the wastebasket

has a multi-coloured but somewhat vulnerable surface quality as well
as asymmetrical from.

Bitty Coffee Table

The work surface of the table is created from leftover wood pieces cut
into non-uniform profiles and joined together with adhesive. Each
piece has visual and tactile irregularities, but the table as a whole is
harmonious.

Topless Slippers

Corrugated cardboard, with its rough and non-homogeneous surface,

is used for these hotel slippers accentuating the products
disposability and vulnerability.

Leaky Shoes

Inside the sole of these shoes is a structural gel that leaks out,
solidifies and bridges any cracks that may occur during use. The sole
therefore assumes an irregular form over time, depending on the load
bearing areas of an individuals foot.

Eco-Top Kitchen Counter

The porous and random surface qualities of terracotta bring an overall

sense of imperfection allied with homeliness. Irregularly placed
ceramic dots adjacent to the hob support hot pans, whilst an
aluminium tube dish drainer in a chaotic form supports wet dishes.

Project Analysis and Discussion

In their explorations of imperfection, students suggested keywords usually adjectives
to articulate their understanding of underlying concepts and to explain design intent. By
clustering students suggested adjectives under the (im)perfection attributes established
earlier in the paper (i.e. material sourcing, material processing, and material ageing), it is
possible to present a polarization of the nature of perfection and imperfection in the
context of material surfaces. Figure 3 assembles the various adjectives used, for the
purpose of guiding designers in the future towards valued imperfections.

1460

Figure 3: Adjective pool describing perfection and imperfection in material surfaces.

Alongside the adjective pool, it is also useful to consider whether a conceptual framework
diagram for imperfection in product materials can be created, synthesising the literaturebased work presented in the earlier sections of this paper with the product analysis and
design proposition work presented just now. Figure 4 presents a draft diagram prepared
by one of the students completing the Istanbul Design Biennial project, intended to
visualize for designers plausible entry points for the creation of imperfect material surfaces.
Although this diagram is preliminary and it requires development with a stronger and
more obvious temporal dimension it has nevertheless been conceived according to
typical conceptual framework parameters with practical application in mind, namely:

Factors (what to consider?)

Categories (how to cluster factors under sharable category headings?)
Hierarchy (which factors/categories are most/least prominent and/or important?)
Relations (how do the factors affect each other?)

1461

Figure 4: Conceptual diagram identifying entry points for imperfection in material surfaces.
Diagram prepared by Hande Isik.

Conclusions
This paper has sought to open-up discussion on why and how imperfections in materials
could be embraced by designers, rather than too quickly dismissed as undesirable and for
elimination. Various strategies for bringing desirable imperfection through product
materials have been argued through literature and demonstrated through student design
proposals.
It is clear that imperfection will not be to everybodys taste. Just as a production-line
McDonalds quarter pounder with cheese or a Starbucks caramel macchiato look, taste
and feel (reasonably) the same around the world, so there will always be people seeking
out, or happy to consume, a more varied and local variety of burger or coffee. Localized
differences, we might say, make all the difference, on an experiential level. The same can
be said of material imperfection: those localized material nuances away from the expected
and normal can define the unique and appealing character of a product, irrespective of its
concept, functioning, comfort and so forth.
The largest challenge facing designers within this subject area is one of persuasion: of
designing products where imperfect material surfaces are seen as a contributor to product
value rather than a source of devaluation. This is certainly not a straightforward task. If
designers get the material-product combination wrong, then peoples judgement of that
products quality, its esteem, and the meanings people attribute to that product can all be
predominantly negative.

1462

Acknowledgements
The author is grateful to the IKSV/Istanbul Design Biennial Academy Program organizers
for accepting the presented work for exhibition; for Kadir Has University Faculty of Art and
Design for hosting the exhibition between 13 October and 12 December 2012; for Arcelik
A.S. for their sponsorship; to all participating students of ID725 Materials Experience
course for their effort and enthusiasm (Merve Coskun, Kivilcim Cinar Okuslug, Ayca
Dundar, Betul Gurtekin, Hande Isik, Ceren Kokturk, Ercin Okursoy, Hande Oztas, Sedef
Suner, Duygu Urun, Nur Yildirim); and to the team of colleagues who helped prepare and
host the exhibition (Assoc. Prof. Dr. Bahar Sener-Pedgley, Res. Asst. Yekta Bakirlioglu,
Res. Asst. Hayri Dortdivanlioglu, Res. Asst. Asli Gunay, Res. Asst Ercin Okursoy, Res.
Asst. Seray Turkay).

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Ostuzzi, F., Salvia, G., Rognoli, V. & Levi, M. (2011). The value of imperfection in
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and graceful aging. In E. Karana, O. Pedgley, & V. Rognoli (Eds.), Materials Experience
Fundamentals of Materials and Design (pp. 145-154). Oxford: Elsevier.
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Owain Pedgley
Owain Pedgley BSc PhD is Associate Professor of Industrial Design at Middle East
Technical University (METU), Ankara, Turkey. His areas of research are: materials and
manufacturing for industrial design; design for user-product interaction and experience;
and routes for fusing design and academic practice. He is Programme Coordinator for the
METU-TUDelft Joint MSc in Design Research for Interaction, and active in design
research networks with Politecnico di Milano and TUDelft. He contributes to teaching at
Bachelor, Master and Doctoral levels and is experienced in establishing and managing
industrially-sponsored educational projects with international and Turkish firms including
Nokia, Bosch Siemens Hausgerate, Vestel and Vitra. Owain is also a partner in the
musical instrument innovation project Cool Acoustics. Prior to his academic career, he
worked for three years as a product designer in the sports equipment sector. He has
numerous articles published in international journals and conferences.

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Airport Security Screeners Expertise and Implications for

Interface Design

Levi Swann, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia,

levi.swann@qut.edu.au,
Vesna Popovic, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia,
v.popovic@qut.edu.au
Alethea Blackler, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia,
a.blackler@qut.edu.au
Ben Kraal, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia,
b.kraal@qut.edu.au

Abstract
This paper describes research investigating expertise and the types of knowledge used by
airport security screeners. It applies a multi method approach incorporating eye tracking,
concurrent verbal protocol and interviews.
Results show that novice and expert security screeners primarily access perceptual
knowledge and experience little difficulty during routine situations. During non-routine
situations however, experience was found to be a determining factor for effective interactions
and problem solving. Experts were found to use strategic knowledge and demonstrated
structured use of interface functions integrated into efficient problem solving sequences.
Comparatively, novices experienced more knowledge limitations and uncertainty resulting in
interaction breakdowns. These breakdowns were characterised by trial and error interaction
sequences.
This research suggests that the quality of knowledge security screeners have access to has
implications on visual and physical interface interactions and their integration into problem
solving sequences. Implications and recommendations for the design of interfaces used in
the airport security screening context are discussed. The motivations of recommendations
are to improve the integration of interactions into problem solving sequences, encourage
development of problem scheme knowledge and to support the skills and knowledge of the
personnel that interact with security screening systems.

Keywords
Airport Security; Eye Tracking; Intuition; Expertise; Interface Design
In the airport security context, x-ray screeners are required to detect broad and ambiguous
categories of threat objects. Successful detection of these threats requires specific
knowledge of an indeterminate variety of objects, and the appearance of these objects under
x-ray conditions (Schwaninger, Hardmeier, & Hofer, 2005). Research investigating the
performance of x-ray screeners has generally focussed on assessing visual knowledge and
object identification. Studies have found that superior visual knowledge enables more
effective threat detection, and as such, experienced security screeners generally outperform
novice and naive screeners in terms of speed and accuracy of detection (e.g. Liu & Gale,
2011; Schwaninger et al., 2005). These general performance increases, however, have
been found to be influenced by specific image circumstances that vary naturally in the

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activity context. When natural image variations were introduced such as clutter and rotation
of objects, experts only moderately outperformed nave observers (Schwaninger et al.,
2005). This suggests that although visual knowledge is important, additional knowledge and
skills are required for effective security screening.
To help support threat detection during these difficult image conditions security screeners
have access to a number of image enhancement functions (IEFs). IEFs are visual
enhancements that change the appearance of x-ray images in order to clarify or highlight
certain areas of the image (Michel, Koller, Ruh, & Schwaninger, 2006). For example, an
organic stripping filter removes objects composed of organic matter and a metallic only filter
shows only metallic objects. While these enhancements are designed to aid threat detection,
their effectiveness is debated, with a number of studies finding that IEFs actually reduced
detection performance (e.g. Klock, 2005; Michel et al., 2006). A common practice of this
research is to perform experiments under simulated conditions (e.g. Hardmeier, Hofer, &
Schwaninger, 2005; Liu & Gale, 2011; Michel et al., 2006) where participants are not given
the option to select relevant IEFs based on situational requirements. Instead, pre-set IEFs
are used for the entirety of the experiment. The results from these studies are useful for
showing that certain IEFs are ineffective under certain image conditions. For instance, the
metallic only filter is ineffective for identifying organic objects (Klock, 2005; Michel et al.,
2006). However, they do not provide significant insight into the human factors that
contribute to the effective use of interface functions in real world situations. It is likely that
experience, knowledge and personal preference have implications on interface interactions
and their integration into effective problem solving.
While detailed investigation of expertise has not been thoroughly conducted in the airport
security screening context, it has been explored in domains that share similar complexities
(e.g. firefighting, military and nursing). This research falls in the category of Naturalistic
Decision Making (NDM) research, which looks to understand expert decision making in real
world situations characterised by uncertainty and dynamic conditions (Klein, 1998). In these
complex environments experts are found to effectively overcome environmental and task
complexity as a result of domain specific knowledge and experience (Klein & Hoffman,
1992). As experience is gained in a task domain, task specific mechanisms are refined and
previously effortful actions become automatic and effortless (Ericsson & Towne, 2010).
The aim of this research is to investigate the role of expertise in airport security screening.
This paper will identify and discuss the knowledge used by security screeners and the
implications this has on interface design.

Investigating Intuitive Expertise

Investigations of expertise have traditionally implemented knowledge elicitation and process
tracing techniques such as observation, case studies, interviewing and concurrent verbal
protocol (Cooke, 1999). These methods are generally employed in a multi-method approach
to ensure that data collection is sensitive to the types of knowledge and processes used by
both expert and novice decision makers (Popovic, Kraal, Blackler, & Chamorro-Koc, 2012;
Sommer & Sommer, 1997). In addition to traditional methods, eye tracking technology has
been reliably used to investigate decision making and expertise (e.g. Horstmann, Ahlgrimm,
& Glckner, 2009; Van Gog, Paas, & Van Merrinboer, 2005). In addition to expertise
research, eye tracking has emerged in human computer interaction (HCI) studies as a result
of its effectiveness for investigating usability (Poole & Ball, 2006). Due to the inextricable link
between visual behaviour and cognition, the analysis of eye tracking data can be used to
make inferences about specific qualities of visual interactions (Hayhoe & Ballard, 2005;

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Poole & Ball, 2006). For research investigating expertise and interface interactions in
naturalistic contexts, eye tracking is particularly compelling as there is minimal likelihood of
the eye tracking technology interfering with other methods or influencing the participants
cognitive processes (Glckner & Herbold, 2011).
The most common eye movement data used to investigate cognitive processes are fixations
and saccades (Bruneau, Sasse, & McCarthy, 2002). Fixations are points that the eye
focuses on and represent cognitive processing, while saccades are the movements between
fixations (Poole & Ball, 2006). In relation to cognitive processing, short fixations between
saccades are generally associated with superficial, automatic processing and search,
whereas long clustered fixations between saccades are associated with deeper processing
and effortful analysis of information (Glckner & Herbold, 2011; Poole & Ball, 2006). In
addition to the individual characteristics of fixations and saccades, the sequences and
arrangements of fixations and saccades, known as scanpaths, are used to infer
characteristics of visual processing (Goldberg & Kotval, 1999). In HCI research, inefficient
and extensive visual interactions are inferred by scanpaths with unfocussed fixation
densities covering a large region of a display. When these scanpaths involve back and
forward transitions and transitions that deviate greatly in direction (>90 degrees) it is likely
that a user is experiencing uncertainty (Ehmke & Wilson, 2007) and a disconnection
between what is expected and what is observed in reality (Goldberg & Kotval, 1999; Poole &
Ball, 2006). On the other hand, effective and efficient visual interactions are inferred by
unidirectional scanpaths with fixations targeted at smaller areas of a display (Goldberg &
Kotval, 1999).
In the context of this research, scanpaths can be used to infer aspects about security
screeners cognitive processes and the implications they have on interface interactions.
For instance, when interactions are driven by prior experience, attention is guided to task
critical information (Wolfe, 2010) and actions are performed effortlessly (Bastick, 1982), and
thus correspond to efficient scanpaths. Conversely, knowledge limitations and inefficient
interactions can be identified by the occurrence of scanpaths that infer inefficient and
extensive visual behaviour (Ehmke & Wilson, 2007).

Method
Forty airport security screeners were observed while they performed x-ray screening of
passenger carry-on baggage. Participants were selected to represent novice and expert
experience levels. The novice experience group was comprised of eighteen security
screeners with experience ranging from 1 to 12 months. The expert group was comprised of
sixteen security screeners with experience ranging from 36 to 108 months. In addition to
novice and expert categories, six security screeners were observed with experience
between 12 and 36 months. Results from these six security screeners are not discussed in
this paper. Participants were required to be able to perform screening without the aid of
spectacles to ensure there was no interference with the eye tracking technology.
The experiment was performed in the field under normal task conditions at the departures
security checkpoint of an International Airport. The duration of observations was between 20
and 30 minutes, comprised of two observation sessions with a break in between. Tobii eye
tracking glasses were worn by participants during each observation. Participants were
instructed to deliver concurrent verbal protocol, verbalising their decision making processes
and actions during observations. Following observations, participants were required to take
part in a short semi-structured interview with questions clarifying aspects about cognitive
process, knowledge and interactions.

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Analysis
Video and verbal data obtained from Tobii eye tracking glasses was coded using Noldus The
Observer XT v10.5 (Noldus, 2013). A coding scheme which identifies key behaviours was
developed from the video data collected from Tobii eye tracking glasses. The coding scheme
identifies six behaviour categories which are search, examine, interface interaction, object
interaction, screener interaction and downtime (Table 1).
Table 1: Behaviour categories from coding scheme
Behaviour
Search

Description
Visual interactions with stimuli displayed on the screen for the purpose of finding threat
objects.

Examine

Visual interactions with stimuli displayed on the screen with the purpose of inspecting the
nature and quality of objects or areas of interest.

Interface
Interaction

Physical interactions with any function on the user interface, including application of zoom
and IEFs, as well as interactions with the Threat Image Projection system.

Object
Interaction

Visual and physical interaction with an object or piece of luggage located on the conveyor
belt adjacent to the security screener.

Screener
Interaction

Interactions with other security personnel, including requests for bags to be manually
searched, requests for bags to be re-screened and asking for assistance.

Downtime

Activities that are performed while not actively screening. For example, waiting for the
machine to resume or socialising.

To further categorise behaviours, modifiers were applied to describe the types of knowledge
and level of intuition used. Table 2 details the modifiers for each behaviour category with
examples of the heuristics used to apply each modifier. Modifiers were developed from
expertise and intuitive decision making literature, as well as inductively from data analysis
during open coding. Open coding involves labelling concepts and categories during early
stages of coding. As analysis progresses, coding themes are solidified in relation to the task
and the aims of the experiment (Benaquisto, 2008). The heuristics used to apply modifiers
have been derived from expertise literature, intuitive decision making literature and from eye
tracking metrics used in current eye tracking research (Table 2).
Implementing open coding and coding heuristics is important for coding visual behaviour as
eye tracking metrics can be interpreted in several ways. For example, high fixation frequency
can denote interest in a subject due to the saliency of the object, or it could be interpreted as
internal uncertainty (Poole & Ball, 2006). To aid the accurate application of modifiers and
assist in clarifying cognitive process behind actions, concurrent verbal protocols were used.
Furthermore, to ensure consistency of coding, data was cross coded by two researchers and
an inter-rater reliability analysis was performed using the Kappa statistic. The result of the
inter-rater reliability analysis was found to be Kappa = 0.69 (p<0.01). A Kappa value
between 0.60 and 0.79 suggests substantial agreement between raters (Landis & Koch,
1977).

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Table 2: Behaviour modifiers and heuristics from coding scheme

Category
Knowledge

Modifier
Perceptual
Knowledge

Description
Explicit knowledge about objects
and concepts (de Jong, 1996). For
example, knowledge of the
appearance of objects used for the
purpose of identification.

Procedural
Knowledge

Knowledge of actions and

procedures (de Jong, 1996; Popovic,
2003). Includes both implicit
knowledge (e.g. search procedures)
and explicit knowledge (e.g.
interface features).
Knowledge of the appearance and
behaviour of situations and
circumstances (Popovic, 2003).
Situational knowledge is required to
build effective problem solving
schemata (de Jong, 1996; Klein &
Hoffman, 1992).
Goal driven knowledge of
sequences of actions and
procedures used to solve problems.
Strategic knowledge involves
reflection and learning (de Jong,
1996).

Situational
Knowledge

Strategic
Knowledge

Insufficient
Knowledge

Application of knowledge that results

in incorrect action or
misunderstanding of a situation.

Uncertainty

Uncertainty

Confusion, denial of information,

irrational decision making, hesitation
and indecision resulting from
Inadequate understanding of
information and incommensurability
(Hall, 2002).

Intuitiveness

Intuitive

Rapid judgments enabled by prior

knowledge and pattern matching
(Bastick, 1982; Baylor, 2001; Salas,
Rosen, & DiazGranados, 2009).

Non-Intuitive

Analytic, deliberative processing of

information and decision making
(Bastick, 1982; Baylor, 2001)

Partially
Intuitive

Switching between intuitive and nonintuitive, surface level knowledge

automated while more abstract
concepts rely on conscious analysis
(Baylor, 2001)

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Example Heuristics
High fixation to saccade ratio
(Goldberg & Kotval, 1999)
Dwell fixations (Goldberg & Kotval,
1999; Poole & Ball, 2006)
Identification and evaluation of
objects (verbalised, indicative of
action) (Schwaninger et al., 2005)
High saccade to fixation ratio
(Goldberg & Kotval, 1999)
Fluid, focussed scanpath (Goldberg
& Kotval, 1999)
Knowledge of interface functions
Users explanation of procedures
Contextually integrated action,
schema driven actions (de Jong,
1996).
Directed and efficient scanpath and
spatial density incorporating several
tasks (Goldberg & Kotval, 1999).
Structured problem solving
sequences (Phye & Sanders, 1992)
Goal directed action (Phye &
Sanders, 1992)
Focused scanpath specific to goals
(Goldberg & Kotval, 1999)
Reflection on action (Phye &
Sanders, 1992)
Trial and error
False positives
Verbalisations such as ah, what is
that..., oh no
Asking for help
Verbalisations indicating difficulty
such as um, I dont know
Inefficient transition matrix (Ehmke &
Wilson, 2007; Goldberg & Kotval,
1999)
Clustered fixations (Poole & Ball,
2006)
Limited or no verbalisations (Bastick,
1982)
Guided actions (Wolfe, 2010)
Automatic and fluid actions (Bastick,
1982; Salas et al., 2009)
Efficient scanpath (Goldberg &
Kotval, 1999)
Verbalisations (before and during
actions) (Bastick, 1982)
Analytic and isolated actions
(Bastick, 1982)
Inefficient scanpaths (Poole & Ball,
2006)
Limited verbalisations (during and
following actions) (Bastick, 1982)
Variable scanpath, some regressive
saccades (Poole & Ball, 2006)
Mixed fixation to saccade ratio
(Goldberg & Kotval, 1999)

Results
Analysed results focus on the knowledge types used by sixteen expert and eighteen novice
security screeners during search, examination, interface interactions and interactions with
security personnel. Results are expressed as percentages of the average time spent utilising
knowledge types during each behaviour category.

Knowledge Types Accessed During Screening Activities

During search activities expert and novice security screeners were found to access
perceptual and procedural knowledge (Figure 5). Both expert and novice security screeners
were more likely to access procedural knowledge than perceptual knowledge during search
activities. On average procedural knowledge comprised 86% of experts and 83% of novices
overall search behaviour.
100%
% of overall search time

90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Novice
Expert

Perceptual
20%
20%

Procedural
83%
86%

Figure 5: Knowledge types used during expert and novice search behaviour
Expert and novice security screeners were found to access perceptual, procedural and
insufficient knowledge during examination activities (Figure 6). On average perceptual
knowledge was the most commonly accessed type of knowledge comprising 78% of experts
and 83% of novices overall examination behaviour.
On average Novice security screeners were found to be more likely to access insufficient
knowledge. Novices accessed insufficient knowledge during 10% of overall examination
behaviour while expert security screeners accessed insufficient knowledge during 6% of
overall examination behaviours. Novice security screeners were also found to be more likely
to experience uncertainty during examination behaviour. On average uncertainty was
experienced during 9% of overall examination behaviours by novice security screeners,
while expert security screeners experienced 5% uncertainty during overall examination
behaviour.

1470

% of overall examination time

90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Novice
Expert

Perceptual
83%
78%

Procedural
15%
20%

Insufficient
10%
6%

Uncertainty
9%
5%

Figure 6: Knowledge types used during expert and novice examination behaviour
During interface interactions, expert and novice security screeners accessed perceptual,
procedural, strategic and insufficient knowledge (Figure 7). Procedural knowledge was the
most common knowledge type accessed during interface interactions. On average expert
security screeners accessed procedural knowledge during 75% of overall interface
interactions and novice security screeners accessed procedural knowledge during 67% of
overall interface interactions.
Results show that novices were more likely to experience knowledge limitations, with 13% of
overall interface interactions performed by novices involving insufficient knowledge. This is
compared to expert security screeners who on average accessed insufficient knowledge
during 5% of overall interface interactions (Figure 7). Experts were more likely to access
strategic knowledge during interface interactions. On average experts used strategic
knowledge during 19% of overall interface interactions while novices accessed strategic
knowledge during 6% of overall interface interactions (Figure 7).

% of overall interface
interaction time

80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Novice
Expert

Perceptual
16%
17%

Procedural
67%
75%

Strategic
6%
19%

Insufficient
13%
5%

Figure 7: Knowledge types used during expert and novice interface interactions

1471

During interactions with other security personnel, expert and novice security screeners
utilised perceptual, procedural, situational, strategic and insufficient knowledge (Figure 8).
Results show that procedural knowledge was the most common type of knowledge
accessed by both novice and expert security screeners. On average expert security
screeners accessed procedural knowledge during 76% of overall screener interactions and
novice security screeners accessed procedural knowledge during 64% of overall screener
interactions.
Compared to procedural knowledge, the remaining knowledge types were found to
constitute relatively small percentages of knowledge used during interactions with other
security personnel (Figure 8). However, this is where the greatest differences between
novice and expert security screeners were observed. Results show that experts were more
likely to utilise strategic and situational knowledge while interacting with other security
personnel. On average experts used strategic knowledge during 10% of overall interactions
with other security personnel, compared to novices who did not access strategic knowledge.
Similarly, experts were found to use situational knowledge during 9% of overall interactions
with other security personnel, while novices used situational knowledge during only 3% of
interactions.

% of overall time interacting with

other security screeners

Novice security screeners were more likely to access insufficient knowledge and experience
uncertainty when compared to expert security screeners. Novice security screeners
accessed insufficient knowledge during 14% of total interactions with other security
personnel, while expert security screeners accessed insufficient knowledge during 2% of
overall interactions with other security personnel. In terms of uncertainty, 19% of novice
security screeners overall interactions with other security screening personnel contained
uncertainty. Expert security screeners on the other hand experienced uncertainty during 7%
of overall interactions with other security personnel.
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%

Perceptual
Novice
4%
Expert
2%

Procedural
64%
76%

Situational
3%
9%

Strategic
0%
10%

Insufficient
14%
2%

Uncertainty
19%
7%

Figure 8: Knowledge types used during expert and novice interactions with other security
screeners

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Data Visualisations
Visualisations of observation data show that the activities performed by security screeners
can be broken into two main types of sequences; search and problem solving. Search
sequences are comprised almost exclusively of search behaviour with other behaviours
occasionally interspersed (Figure 9). Problem solving sequences on the other hand contain
transitioning sequences of examination, interface and screener interactions, with very little
search activity (Figure 9).

Figure 9: Visualisation of screening activity highlighting search and problem solving stages
Problem solving sequences can be resolved quickly, indicated by short sequences (Figure
10, box b), or they can be more intensive involving a number of shifts between different
behaviours (Figure 10, box a). During problem solving sequences, screeners occasionally
experience knowledge limitations which can cause uncertainty if not dealt with effectively.

Figure 10: Detail of problem solving sequences showing (a) long and (b) short interaction
sequences
When experiencing uncertainty, security screeners were found to perform isolated and
ineffective interactions with interface functions and visual stimuli causing interaction
breakdowns and focus shifts. Focus shifts occur when a user performing an action is
required to shift their focus from that action to focus on the tool in use (Bodker, 1996 in
Popovic & Kraal, 2008). In the context of this research, focus shifts occur as the distraction
of attention and reformulation of goals from one interaction to another. This research has

1473

found that novice security screeners are more likely to encounter focus shifts and interaction
breakdowns due to uncertainty and insufficient knowledge. In the novice security screener
group 16 interaction breakdowns have been identified from 18 participants. Comparatively,
within the expert security screener group, 5 interaction breakdowns have been identified
from 16 participants. Of these 5 breakdowns experienced by experts, 1 was found to be the
result of receiving incorrect information.
Figure 11 shows an example of an interaction breakdown experienced by a novice security
screener. The problem solving phase began with the security screener examining an opaque
area on the x-ray image at 155.00 seconds. Unable to identify the object, a black and white
IEF is applied from 160.00 to 164.00. This is followed by another unsuccessful examination
from 164.00 to 167.50 with verbal evidence indicating insufficient knowledge. From 167.50 to
170.50 the security screener applies 2x zoom and unsuccessfully examines the area
between 170.50 and 175.00. Uncertain about the identity of the object, the security screener
incorrectly identifies the object as a fictional threat image between 175.00 and 177.00,
resulting in a short system delay. From 177.00 to 188.50 the screener performs a lengthy
examination of the area indicating insufficient knowledge and uncertainty. Uncertainty and
insufficient knowledge is further highlighted by the visual check of the physical bag between
188.50 and 190. The screener performs a final examination between 190.00 and 191.00
before requesting a physical search of the bag. This decision making process takes 52
seconds to resolve.

Figure 11: Visualisation of a novice security screeners problem solving activity

The novice security screeners problem solving process can be compared to Figure 12 which
visualises an expert security screeners problem solving in a similar event. Starting at 189.00
the expert security screener identifies and examines an opaque area. Unable to identify the
objects the security screener applies 2x zoom from 191.00 to 195.00, immediately followed
by application of a black and white IEF from 195.00 to 196.50. The area is examined in detail
from 196.50 to 201.50. During this examination the security screener is unable to visually
identify the object, however, it is determined that it may be suspicious. From 201.50 to

1474

211.50 a searcher is called over and the security screener provides specific instructions for a
manual search. This decision making process takes 22.5 seconds to resolve.

Figure 12: Visualisation of an expert security screeners problem solving activity

Instead of trial and error, the expert security screener demonstrates a highly organised and
goal directed problem solving structure. Behaviours and interactions are planned and
grouped, shifting focus only once between activities without needing to move backwards
through their process and reformulate goals. The initial examination and interface
interactions are engaged intuitively using procedural knowledge, while the more detailed
examination phase is performed non-intuitively with focused attention. Recognising that their
knowledge and the image presented by the interface are insufficient to identify the object, a
manual search is immediately requested, circumventing any unnecessary interactions and
avoiding uncertainty.

Discussion
The results from this research have found that the tasks performed by security screeners
predominantly require access to knowledge of how and when to use procedures, as well as
perceptual knowledge of objects and their appearance. Based on the primacy of procedural
knowledge it is inferred that most tasks involve routine interactions with the interface and are
performed with little difficulty. This is particularly evident during search tasks where no
security screener experienced uncertainty.
In addition to routine situations security screeners were also found to encounter complex
and unfamiliar problems that required more developed problem solving knowledge. During
examinations, interface interactions and screener interactions, expert security screeners
were more likely to access strategic knowledge, while novice security screeners were more
likely to experience knowledge limitations and uncertainty. The differences observed
between novice and expert security screeners suggest that experience plays an important
role during problem solving activities. As a result of experience, security screeners develop

1475

knowledge and strategies that better enable them to handle complex tasks and avoid
uncertainty.
Although novice and expert security screeners were found to access the same types of
knowledge, differences in their access to insufficient knowledge and strategic knowledge
indicate that the quality of their knowledge base differs. These difference have visible effects
on the way that security screeners interact with the tools used in the decision making
context. According to de Jong, in addition to different types of knowledge, the knowledge
base is further reduced to describe qualities of each knowledge type (de Jong, 1996). De
Jongs framework identifies depth, generality, automisation, modality and structure as the
categories that can be used to describe the quality of each knowledge type. As higher quality
of knowledge is gained, knowledge becomes increasingly integrated. This Integrated
knowledge is known as problem scheme knowledge and refers to high quality and interlinked
situational, procedural and conceptual knowledge (Friege & Lund, 2006). Experts are
considered to have greater access to problem scheme knowledge than novices. When
confronted by a situation, problem scheme knowledge is used to rapidly identify patterns and
recall specific and integrated actions suitable to the situation (Salas et al., 2009). Novices on
the other hand rely less on problem scheme knowledge, using non-specific and unintegrated
declarative knowledge. At a low level this knowledge is Isolated and superficial. Problems
are solved through interpretative application of knowledge which involves dividing solutions
into several individual steps where each individual rule has to be checked to see if it is useful
(Friege & Lund, 2006).
The distinction between different qualities of knowledge is illustrated in the data
visualisations from this research. The problem solving process of the novice security
screener (Figure 11) shows an interpretive application of superficial knowledge; interactions
with interface functions are performed by trial and error and disjointed from examination
activity. The example of expert problem solving (Figure 12) on the other hand demonstrates
integrated problem scheme knowledge. Interface interactions are grouped and performed
intuitively. A clear goal is established facilitating the integration of interactions into a focused
and fluid sequence. These results show that access to different qualities and structure of
knowledge has implications for the way that interfaces and their functions are used in the
security screening context.

Implications for Interface Design

Improving interface interactions during problem solving could provide benefits for both
inexperienced and experienced security screeners through facilitating more efficient problem
solving and supporting the transition from novice to expert.
Firstly, interface design should support efficient sequential use of functions in order to
minimise focus shifts and allow the screener to focus on important visual interactions.
Efficient access to interface functions will encourage higher use rate of functions, and the
subsequent development of problem schemas. The more accessible interface functions are,
the more experience with the interface is gained. As experience is gained problem schemas
become refined and the more likely they will be accessed (Mandler, 1985). This is desirable
as it will improve the efficiency of interactions and their integration into effective problem
solving sequences.
Secondly, the design of interface functions should be relevant and adaptive to the problem
context and the skills of the user. During unfamiliar events users often do not have
knowledge of established problem solving methods and are required to improvise and are

1476

susceptible to making errors (Vicente & Rasmussen, 1992). This scenario has implications
for interface design as the errors that occur during unfamiliar events cannot simply be
overcome by improving human factors elements such as the layout and design of controls.
Instead, these difficulties must be understood and addressed in terms of the cognitive
factors that influence interactions (Vicente & Rasmussen, 1992). For interfaces to support
human performance in unfamiliar environments interface design should consider both the
context and the user. Vicente and Rasmussen (1992) suggests that during situations that
are unfamiliar to users, interfaces should be designed to capture the state of complexity in
the context and visualise information and interface functions in a way that supports the skill
level of users. An example of this is the use of adaptive interfaces. In the airport security
screening context, adaptive interfaces could identify difficult image characteristics and
visualise relevant functions to novices during unfamiliar situations. As experience is gained
the adaptive interface design could identify individual strategies used frequently by security
screeners and integrate these into interface functions to improve efficiency.
Although this research focussed on airport security screening, it is believed that the methods
and findings are transferrable to interface design in other domains. By visualising the
activities and cognitive processes of users, insights can be gained about interaction
sequences used to solve problems and the difficulties that are encountered during certain
situations. The observation of interaction breakdowns indicate points of interaction and
specific contextual states where users would benefit from more information or improved
interface functionality. Although this needs to be tested in other domains, it is the belief of
the authors that the methodology and findings presented in this paper could be used to
improve the design of artefacts and interfaces used in other domains. It is particularly
relevant for complex activity contexts where rapid transition from novice to expert is
desirable, for example, medical domains that rely on imaging technology. In addition to
complex activity contexts, these methods could be applied to interface design in domains
that target user groups with varying skill levels, for example the design of check-out
interfaces in retail.

Conclusion
Previous research investigating expertise in the security screening context has focussed on
visual knowledge and threat identification (e.g. Schwaninger et al., 2005). This paper
expands on previous research, finding that type and quality of knowledge also play a critical
role during x-ray screening and affect the structure and effectiveness of interface interactions
during problem solving. As a result of greater experience, expert security screeners are able
to effectively utilise interface functions during strategic and focussed problem solving.
Without access to the same quality of knowledge, novice security screeners are more likely
to experience uncertainty and difficulties during problem solving. Due to this, novice security
screeners are more likely to use interface functions in trial and error type strategies resulting
in inefficient problem solving and interaction breakdowns.
Applying these findings to interface design has the potential to improve the user experience
and effectiveness of the systems used by security screeners. Two recommendations are
proposed which address the differences in knowledge base and knowledge requirements of
expert and novice security screeners. It is suggested that interfaces (i.) should encourage
efficient sequential application of functions, and (ii.) should be adaptive to the problem
context and the skills of the user. It is the aim of these recommendations to support the
knowledge and skills for both novice and expert security screeners during problem solving
as well as facilitate knowledge development and the transition from novice to expert.

1477

The methods used for visualising data in this research enable relationships between
knowledge, activities and interactions to be seen. These methods are significant as they
illustrate how knowledge and cognitive factors influence user interactions with systems and
interfaces. Although this paper focused on airport security screening, it is believed that the
methods and findings discussed in this paper are transferable to interface design in other
domains such as medical imaging and retail.

Acknowledgements
This research forms part of the work undertaken by the project "Airports of the Future"
(LP0990135) which is funded by the Australian Research Council Linkage Project
scheme. The authors also acknowledge the contributions made by the many aviation
industry stakeholders also involved in this project. More details on "Airports of the Future"
and its participants can be found at www.airportsofthefuture.qut.edu.au.

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Levi Swann
Levi Swann received his Bachelor of Design (Honours), majoring in Industrial design in 2009
from Queensland University of Technology. Prior to commencing his PhD, Levi has been
involved with consumer product design and graphic design projects locally and overseas.
His PhD research investigates the processes and knowledge utilised by airport security x-ray
screeners during x-ray threat detection, with the aim to understand and model the role of
intuitive expertise in this context (levi.swann@qut.edu.au).

Vesna Popovic
Vesna Popovic is a Professor in Industrial Design at Queensland University of Technology,
Brisbane, Australia. She has made an international contribution to product design research
where she has integrated knowledge from other related areas and applied to the artifact
design (e.g. human factors/ergonomics, product usability, design and cognition, expertise
and experience, design computing or applied design research) in order to support and
construct design applications. Vesna has been leading Human Systems Program in the ARC
Linkage project Airports of the Future where she has been focusing on peopless
experiences at an airport terminal. She was a joint recipient of the 2011 Engineers of
Australia Queensland award for R&D for a pilot studyAirports of the Future. Vesna has
been a founder of People and Systems Lab research at QUT. The impacts of Vesnas
research lies in the cross-fertilisation of knowledge across humanities and technologies to
design humanised artifacts/ systems by facilitating the understanding of diverse expertise

1480

and experience. Vesna is a Fellow of the Design Research Society (UK). She is recipient of
three Australia Research Council grants (v.popovic@qut.edu.au)

Alethea Blackler
Alethea Blackler is an Associate Professor in Industrial Design at Queensland University of
Technology, Brisbane, Australia. Her principle area of research interest is intuitive
interaction, in which she is one of the world leaders. She pioneered the work on intuitive
interaction with the first empirical work in the field. Dr Blackler has led a prestigious ARC
Discovery project on Facilitating Intuitive Interaction for Older People. She is continuing work
on developing design methodology for intuitive interaction as well as applying intuitive
interaction into other areas, such as navigation and expertise. She has published
extensively, been invited to give presentations at intuitive interaction workshops in Europe
and is the recipient of several awards. She has regularly reviewed papers for international
conferences and journals. Associate Professor Blackler is a member of the Design Research
Society (DRS) (a.blackler@qut.edu.au).

Ben Kraal
Dr Ben Kraal is a Research Fellow with the People and Systems Lab at QUT. His PhD
looked at the lived experience of people who use speech recognition software every day and
at how speech recognition software could be made more useful for daily work. More recently
Dr Kraals work has focussed on how people experience complex systems and services with
a focus on airports and healthcare. He was a joint recipient of the 2011 Engineers of
Australia Queensland award for R&D for a pilot study Airports of the Future. Dr Kraals
work on airport passenger experience has been highly influential and achieved significant
impact in the industry. In the healthcare domain Dr Kraal has focussed on the experiences of
patients, nurses and doctors and other stakeholders in several projects. Notable examples
include identifying expertise in nurses applying compression bandages, performing usertesting for a prototype telehealth stethoscope and investigating eHealth system experiences
of people with an intellectual disability. Dr Kraals work is situated at the intersection of
design and qualitative sociology and draws on both disciplines to reveal how systems and
services are made and made useful (b.kraal@qut.edu.au).

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Reality check: Notions of accessibility in todays

architectural design practice
Hannelore Wauters, KU Leuven, Dept. of Architecture, Research[x]Design
Peter-Willem Vermeersch, KU Leuven, Dept. of Architecture, Research[x]Design
Ann Heylighen, KU Leuven, Dept. of Architecture, Research[x]Design

Abstract
Understandings of accessibility have evolved from focusing on wheelchair accessibility to more
integrated notions like inclusive design, according to which everybody should be able to use space
in an equitable and independent way. In addition, architectural practice witnessed the arrival of new
professional actors in project design and delivery, including accessibility advisors. Given these
evolutions, the study presented here examines how accessibility is understood and thought of in
architectural practice today, what motivates architects to collaborate with accessibility advisors, and
what they expect from this collaboration. Interviews with professional architects and accessibility
advisors suggest that, in todays architectural design practice, interpretations of accessibility stretch
from strictly following accessibility legislation to a broader interest (displayed by architects) or more
integrated forms of advice (offered by advisors). The wish to attend to the diversity of peoples
abilities and conditions exists, but is not fulfilled by legislation, and the norms and procedures it
imposes. The presence of professional accessibility advice holds potential to reconcile both,
provided that a synergy with legal procedures is found and that advisors roles can be developed
from checking whether design proposals meet accessibility legislation to informing architects about
diverse situations of use and offering them best practice examples.

Keywords
Accessibility; architecture; design practice; diversity; inclusive design; legislation
The past decades witnessed an evolution in how accessibility is understood, from focussing on
wheelchair accessibility to more integrated notions like universal (Mace 1985) or inclusive design
(Clarkson et al. 2003), according to which everybody should be able to use products, spaces and
services in an equitable and independent way. Especially in product design, the latter have been
picked up by design consultancies, although discrepancies exist between theoretical models and
industry practice (Dong et al. 2003). In architectural design, by contrast, the uptake of more
integrated notions of accessibility seems relatively limited so far.
The study presented here therefore aims to investigate how accessibility is understood in
architectural practice today. Questions addressed include: what notion(s) of accessibility do
architects and accessibility advisors adopt? What triggers the collaboration between both? And
what do architects expect from it? After sketching the context that triggered this study, we report on
a set of interviews with professional architects and accessibility advisors. This interview material is
used to shed a light on the notion(s) of accessibility that shape todays architectural practice.

Context
Understandings of accessibility underwent considerable changes in the past decades. Amongst
designers an awareness seems to have grown that design should take into account the diversity of
peoples abilities and conditions. This change in attitude is reflected by the conceptual framework
and corresponding terminology used in relation to this topic.
Accessibility is described as the ability to reach, access and use a building, space, service or
medium (e.g., CTPA s.d.). This description suggests a broad(er) interpretation of accessibility
which is not limited to physical accessibility, and includes communication, services and signalling.

1482

Integral accessibility aspires a similar goal, but emphasizes its importance for everybody (e.g.,
CTPA s.d.). A barrier-free footpath benefits wheelchair users, but also older persons, pregnant
women, (grand)parents pushing a pram, etc. To apply these accessibility concepts in practice,
design approaches like universal (Mace 1985) and inclusive design (Clarkson et al. 2003) are
advanced. Universal design, for instance, arose from the disability rights movement in the 1960s,
and formulates seven design principles to arrive at a design that is usable, to the greatest extent
possible, by all people throughout their lifespans, without adaptation or specialised design (Mace
1985).
In architectural practice, the uptake of these new concepts of and approaches to accessibility
seems rather limited so far. Studies suggest that professional architects mainly think about how
they themselves experience a situation, and insufficiently empathize with future users (Imrie 2003).
Moreover, although accessibility legislation requests that public buildings be accessible, in reality
many of them are not (yet). A recent survey in the city of Leuven unmasked 75% of the 1500
commercial buildings in the city centre as inaccessible for wheelchair users (Eckert 2011), even
when applying less stringent accessibility criteria than legally required. From architects
perspective, however, accessibility legislation is felt as restricting their creativity and taking away
their challenge as designer to come up with intelligent solutions (Gray et al. 2003). In a recent
survey amongst the ca. 7,400 architects in Flanders, accessibility legislation ended up in the top 10
of most irritating administrative domains of their profession (NAV 2012).
This tendency to cast accessibility in legislation fits in with the emergence of a risk and regulatory
th
society which, since the mid to end of the 20 century, profoundly impacted architects profession
(Imrie & Street 2011). Together with global challenges like climate change and population ageing, it
introduced newly emerging professional actors in project design and delivery (e.g., project
managers, sustainability consultants, accessibility advisors), some of whom take over functions
previously the preserve of architects. As a result, architects work increasingly within
multidisciplinary teams, composed of people with expertise on different aspects of architectural
design practice, including accessibility. If we want to investigate how accessibility is understood in
architectural practice today, we should thus be aware that the architect is but one actor in the
messy reality of design (Cuff 1992, Imrie & Street 2011).

Methods
The study reported here is part of a larger study on the collaboration between architects and
accessibility advisors, which combined interviews with observations of accessibility consults and
analysis of project documents. This paper focuses on the notion(s) of accessibility currently found
in architectural practice, for which we rely mostly on interviews.
Given the evolution in architectural design practice sketched above, we interviewed both architects
and accessibility advisors. Architects were selected who had collaborated with an accessibility
office at least once. Based on the interviews with them, we selected the accessibility advisors.
Different standpoints, expectations and other aspects of the collaboration were discussed in detail.
We interviewed architects from seven architecture firms (Table 1), differing in terms of location,
size and the kind of projects they design. By deliberately selecting architecture firms active in
different parts of Flanders, we made sure that the interviewees had collaborated with accessibility
offices from different provinces. In the interviews with architects, three different accessibility offices
were referred to. It seemed thus logical to involve accessibility advisors from these offices in our
study too. The three offices are active in four different provinces (see Table 2).
Interviews were semi-structured; we asked each interviewee the same questions, while leaving
room to respond to their answers. We used open questions, allowing interviewees to bring up
topics which might be neglected otherwise. Interview questions were formulated such that the
interviewees answers were steered as little as possible (Baarda & De Goede 2007).

1483

architecture
firm

location

size (#
people)

projects

Firm-1

CityG

30

Firm-2

CityA

10

Firm-3

CityL

20

Firm-4

CityM

10

Firm-4

near
CityL

45

Firm-6

CityT

10

Firm-7

near
CityL

14

new built projects, private (single &

multiple family houses) & public buildings
housing, small refurbishments, public
buildings for province or city
collective housing projects (social &
private), schools, care homes or service
centres
housing, both new built and
refurbishments, variety of public buildings
big-scale projects: hospitals, school
buildings, light industry, offices, care
homes
large-scale mixed-use urban projects:
filling half a city or certain city quarters
renovation projects of protected historic
sites like abbeys, school buildings and
cloisters, usually with a public (school,
museum or religious) function

collaborated with
accessibility
office
Office-A
Office-C
Office-A

Office-A, OfficeB
Office-B

Office-B
Office-B

Table 1: Participating architecture firms

accessibility
office
Office-A

Location / Province

Tasks

CityA / ProvinceA

Office-B

CityB / ProvinceB &

ProvinceD

Office-C

CityC / ProvinceC

accessibility advice, both during design (based on

plans) and in the context of building permit applications
training and sensitization
screening of existing buildings
accessibility advice (based on plans)
assistance for building permit applications
screening and audits of existing buildings
accessibility advice
screening of existing buildings
training and sensitization

Table 2: Participating accessibility offices

The interviews with the architects covered three parts. First, we tried to obtain information about
the architects role within the firm, and their take on accessibility. Subsequently we probed the
architects reasons for and expectations towards the collaboration. We also asked which
accessibility office(s) they had collaborated with and how they got into contact with these. Finally,
we discussed how the collaboration took shape: how much time was spent, what media were used,
and what information it was based upon.
The accessibility advisors were selected based on the architects interviews. Interviewing them
allowed us to gain a better understanding of the collaborations within each project. The interviews
with them were built up in a similar way as those with the architects, except that they focused on
the experiences and findings of the advisor within the collaboration with the architect.
The interviews were transcribed and then analyzed in a qualitative way. Themes were assigned to
the transcripts at different levels, using concepts from literature and concepts emerging from the

1484

data itself. Themes and concepts were discussed amongst the authors to obtain more rigorous
findings. As the study focused on the collaboration, themes were selected such that they provide
insight in how the collaboration is experienced by both architects and accessibility advisors.

Findings
Both the notion of accessibility and the possible collaboration with an accessibility advisor turns out
to be approached in different ways. In what follows, we describe the notions of accessibility as they
appeared in the interviews with architects and accessibility advisors. Besides addressing their
overall take on accessibility, we investigate what triggers the collaboration between both and what
architects expect from it. This is further complemented with the advisors perceived roles in the
collaboration.

From obligation to personal affinity

In the interviews, accessibility came to the fore in different guises. One architect described it as
follows: ... for us that is a bit something that is additional, what you have to take into account
because it is an obligation. At the start, yes, then you curse, of course... But it does have its merit,
we notice ... It does facilitate the use of a building. Regarding accessibility, he pointed out, some
issues need to be taken into account from the start. According to him, the accessibility decree
imposes rules, like turning circles needed for wheelchair users, which impact the magnitude of
spaces. In their firm, he emphasized, it is rarely a matter of conceptual starting points, but rather,
as he clarified: We take that size as ... purely technical, to be able to handle the measurement...
A similar view was expressed by the architects of another firm who, at the time of the interview,
were confronted with accessibility mainly in the context of school buildings. When asked about the
firms take on accessibility, one of them replied: Honestly, I have to say that within our firm
accessibility is viewed rather as an obligation, a norm you have to meet. Actually you are not that
familiar with it since you do not experience it as an obstacle yourself. You are perfectly able-bodied
yourself, so you rather see it as a norm you have to follow and a number of difficult lines inside
which you must colour. This hints at the difficulty of empathizing and having to fall back on
personal experiences (Imrie 2003). Accessibility legislation often forms the sole source informing
architects about disability experience, and a mere technical one at that.
Related views consider accessibility as one of the aspects that must be considered, one you can
no longer ignore in public buildings. An architect accounted: It is something to treat too. But it is
not something we are specifically occupied with more than with other things. It is especially
important in the design to get these big lines in there. I mean, reaching all spaces with an elevator,
for that kind of thing it is very important. For the further detailing it is less... Further detailing refers
to, e.g., contrasting colours for doors and door frames, which does not always resonate with the
interior concept. Furthermore, the architect wants to avoid that accessibility interventions are made
which hinder other users; e.g., ...that the elevator is wheelchair accessible, that we place the
position of the control panel such that it is OK, these are a sort of interventions indeed. That every
floor is announced with a sound signal, then we wonder is this that important? It occurs to me that
someone without sight would also be able to use the elevator when the signal is not announced.
You hear that the doors open... We dont go that far because sometimes it is also disturbing for
other users. This architect is concerned with the big lines to assure a basic accessibility, but
more importantly with how to incorporate these lines in the whole of the design. As such he hints at
an understanding of principles that make a building accessible, rather than solutions prescribed in
detail.
Accessibility measures are considered particularly disturbing in renovation and reuse of protected
monuments (Heylighen 2012). An architect working exclusively in this context did not bring this up,
however. When asked what accessibility means to him and how it is addressed in his firm, he
replied: Often these [monuments] are buildings with a public function, school function, museum
function, religious function, ... So there accessibility is always an issue, of course. He added: You
do want to do it yourself too, of course, because you know that it is an important issue.

1485

Some firms even go a step further and present themselves as strongly committed to accessibility.
One architect made clear that he is highly interested in the topic and that, since the start of his
career, this is an important point of attention to him. In the 1980s, however, there was no
accessibility decree yet, so other methods were applied to obtain an accessible design. About this
situation he said: ... those designs we made too, together with the people who were going to live
there, who were known. At that time I noticed from everyday practice that there were norms ... that
was considerably less stringent than the accessibility as it is now. I think that, by making the
accessibility decree, they have set the bar too high, really... unrealistically high. This architect
seemed to have quite some experience with accessibility and a clear opinion about the difference
between present and past. Norms are again considered as becoming increasingly technical, and at
the same time hindering this architects own experience built up from commitment over the years.
Another firm too has a long-term experience in designing accessible environments, and started
looking for ways to integrate accessibility into the design process long before the accessibility
decree existed. Moreover, for the architect representing this firm, the interest in accessibility seems
a rather personal matter too. It would result in part from the architects education: I have studied
in [architecture school X] and there was a very strong philosophy to start from the person. How do
you experience something? How do you sense something? In this way I have also learned to
design, walking through a project and looking at that project through different glasses or
standpoints. Yet, also the personal confrontation with certain impairments played a role: the
outspoken interest in accessibility has grown increasingly because I had a father-in-law who had
had a cerebral haemorrhage and thus was only half able to walk. Then I discovered, by walking
with this man on the street, that it is annoying when somebody parks on the footpath or when the
pavement is too high ... By being myself short in stature, also...
This broader, more contemporary take on accessibility resonates with the views expressed by the
accessibility advisors. One advisor described her view of accessibility as follows: Accessibility
means to me that everybody can make use, in an equitable way, of buildings, facilities, activities,
anything. A colleague from another office seemed to share this view and said: that everybody
can do his thing in an equitable, independently from each other. Everybody that is very extensive,
that is not limited to the people with a physical impairment or limitation as we say, but so really
everybody. Also a mother with a stroller, for instance, has as many problems to get somewhere as
someone in a wheelchair. This is in fact accessibility for us
However, a more contemporary view turns out to be not always applicable, the interviews suggest.
One architect we interviewed works primarily on designing care homes. When we probed his take
on accessibility, this turned out to be rather nuanced: In this context accessibility is of course an
important theme and a very broad concept, to that extent that we do view accessibility a bit
differently than the accessibility office. In that sense, we are dealing with, certainly in care homes,
with people who are no longer able to do a number of things independently. Whereas, accessibility
starts mainly from the independent use of spaces and the like. So there is a minor difference in
nuance...
In summary, the views expressed by the architects suggest that the take on accessibility differs
from firm to firm. In some firms, accessibility seems to ask the architects attention because it is a
(whether or not important) component of a design, one that has to be addressed. In other firms,
attention for it seems to be steered by a certain affinity with the topic, to which a personal
engagement may give rise. The opinions expressed by the advisors are in line with contemporary
understandings of accessibility, yet may not be applicable in all contexts.

Why collaborate?
When architects decide to obtain professional accessibility advice they contact an accessibility
office. This does not happen just like that. Often there is a reason why the step towards
collaboration is made. In what follows a number of these reasons are discussed.

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Some architects mentioned explicitly that they themselves took the initiative to contact an
accessibility advisor. When asked about the origin of her collaboration with an advisor, one
architect responded: Often on our own initiative, that we just say: We do want that advice, we do
want that it is accessible!
However, with the will to design an accessible building comes the insecurity about their own
knowledge and interpretability of the legislation: We will always present it [to an advisor] because
there are often things that have been changed and that you cannot always find out and they are
always informed about these, we think. It also makes the permit period easier, to have your
application treated more quickly. If you have already presented it for advice, they can also give
advice more quickly to the town planning administration... The architect continued: For us it is a
security that is built in, that no too big comments will come on the permit. Because, yes, it could be
rejected because of that. For us it is first and foremost a security we want to build in. This
reasoning, building in a kind of security, was also found in another testimony: Legislation is always
interpretable, the one is more stringent in these matters than the other... we do start from the
legislation. We do know it in the meantime. But [the accessibility advisors] look at it even more,
how should I say... It is a double check, actually. One of the accessibility advisors confirmed: If
they [the architects] first come over here, and we can already issue favourable or favourable
under conditions, then they have in fact won half a year or a year in the procedure or duration of a
project. What this seems to suggest, is that consulting with the accessibility office about possible
adaptations of a design takes less time than waiting for the permit-granting authoritys decision and
making the changes afterwards.
Other than the architect wanting to secure the building permit, the client can formalize this practice
by demanding an accessibility advise as part of the contract. Especially municipalities, which have
an exemplary role in society, often do so to support the governments accessibility policy. For the
design of a primary school, for instance, one firm was obliged by the client to subject the project to
an accessibility test. In another firm the clients role seems to be somewhat different; according to
their own saying the firm always has its projects screened, unless the client explicitly says it is not
needed. The architect of this firm described his motivation to collaborate with an accessibility office
as follows: ...out of ourselves, that is one. Plus, secondly, our projects are often subsidized by the
[regional] government and they do request that we have [the project] screened, have it checked.
The latter hints at a third reason giving rise to the collaboration brought up by several of the
architects interviewed: the subsidy scheme. Related to accessibility, architects are confronted with
different sorts of subsidies. In the case referred to above, a subsidy was issued by the regional
government relating to care home projects. For the renovation of an abbey, another firm was
confronted with the regional tourist organizations subsidies. Yet another firm had to meet
accessibility standards for the design of a community centre because of the provincial subsidy
scheme. That collaboration is often triggered in this way is confirmed by the accessibility advisors.
As one of them mentioned, [m]ost architects who come over are obliged by two subsidy schemes
[] to obtain advice. Subsidy schemes thus seem to be an effective incentive to collaborate with
an accessibility adviser if this is taken up as prerequisite for the subsidy.
The collaborations financial impact was brought up as an important argument in a different way
too. As one architect mentioned, a reason not to ask for an accessibility advise is its financial cost:
... thus we have asked and then they give you two tenders ... it costs quite a lot ... 260 for the
advice about the building permit and almost 1500 for a complete advice I leave the choice to
[the clients], but it is rather foolish to take the complete advice who is going to pay that much for
it? So then we opt for the limited advice Her colleagues added: A free of charge advice on your
plans would be good perhaps and If it were free of charge then I would make use of it, I think
you can of course figure out all those rules but perhaps you forget some On the other hand, the
accessibility advisors consider this fee as a just cost. According to one of them, the cost of the
advice is outweighed by the amount of time and consequently money that can be saved in the
procedure of obtaining a building permit, as described above. In fact, one architect confirmed this

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as he explained: Our building permit had in this case been rejected, so town planning said that an
advice of accessibility was needed, since that was not included... Architects handing in a design
that violates the accessibility legislation are obliged to collaborate with an accessibility advisor, and
thus to go back several steps in the process.

Architects expectations
The architects testimonies reflect multiple aspects of the design process that lead to the
collaboration with an accessibility advisor. However, the architects also hold certain expectations
with regard to the course, result and possibly other aspects of the future collaboration.
Asked what she expected initially from collaborating with an advisor, an architect responded:
Usually we try to solve the problems with what can be found on the website. If we really have a
specific question of which we say Apparently we cannot solve this well, then we ask this question
either by phone, or via e-mail. We expect that they then give advice on the best way to solve this.
Her reaction was limited to the phone and e-mail aspect of the collaboration, probably because she
never collaborated with an advisor face-to-face. In the course of the interview two colleagues joined
her, and an interesting discussion arose among them.
The architect seemed to expect from a collaboration with an advisor nothing more than purely
checking the rules. One colleague agreed and added that an advisor will not be bothered to
formulate design proposals. It is not entirely clear what both architects responses were based
upon. Perhaps they do not consider advisors capable of coming up with such proposals or they
simply do not want their assistance on this. The other colleague made a comparison with
collaborating with an engineer and consequently did not exclude design input from the accessibility
advisor. Within a single firm, expectations may thus differ across individual architects.
Where this firms architects seemed to prefer phone or e-mail contact for a specific question,
another firms architect prefers to present their questions during a personal conversation. When
there are no specific questions, they still stop by to go through the plans, so that always all items
are checked. He described his expectations towards the collaboration as follows: Goh, yes I now
that they themselves wont really seek a solution. I dont think you should really expect that they will
join you designing either. I think that they, if there is something on the table, maybe should say:
No, this is impossible and then somehow do offer a solution and say why it is impossible... He
himself has not been confronted with this kind of situation yet, the architect further clarified,
because the rules, according to him, are formulated such that they are clear and that actually there
should not be a problem: We [architects] should ascertain ourselves what should happen in the
first place. He seemed to suggest that advisors task is not in the first place to hand rules, but that
architects should seek these themselves.
Another architect expects from an accessibility office mainly that the rules can be dealt with jointly
in a designerly way. He emphasized in this respect the difficulty of interpreting these rules:
there is always an interpretation possible or there is a situation that happens not to be described,
does it comply or not? Somehow it thus would be interesting to be able to talk about that in a
designerly way. Yes, testing together with them whether this still is within the spirit of what this rule
has as objective or just not anymore. What he also expects to obtain from the advisor are
examples, of possible signage panels, spatial solutions for accessibility, etc. Until now these are
available only to a limited extent, according to the architect, but this is being worked on such that in
the future more examples can be offered.
The architect representing one of the firms that, by their own account, have ample experience in
accessible design, explains that their expectations towards the accessibility office take a slightly
different shape: ... that is very difficult because we are already working on this intuitively ourselves
and actually longer than the accessibility office exists... We have already solved many things,
usually they point out small corners or edges to us. Like: This we would like to see more

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accessible or This we would like to see differently. In fact, it is the case that we would like to
collaborate mainly for total projects on a bigger scale, not so much on these small details...
Another firm, by contrast, was very enthusiast about these details. The architect contended: [the
accessibility advisors] can provide very concrete information, very concrete, indeed [...] I wasnt
aware of that in advance, that it would be that detailed. The advice seemed to exceed the
expectations in this respect. About formulating design proposals, the architect said: ... I cant say
that they have participated in the design, no, that not. We dont expect that either.
About architects (non-)expectation regarding accessibility advisors participation in designing, an
accessibility advisor said: I think as architect myself, I would not like it, if I go somewhere and they
say: Maybe you should do such and so and you actually are offered a new design. Therefore
she understands the reaction of architects who do not expect an advisor to participate in designing.
According to her feeling, architects expect foremost that the rules and norms are explained and
checked because these are the things for which they are penalized when applying for a building
permit.
Interestingly, one advisor brought up an expectation which had not been mentioned by the
architects: At this moment, the question is usually: How can I deviate in order to get a building
permit? [] We are actually asked more for How can we deviate? than How will we do it? His
impression is that architects expect from him that, everything that is not in line with the norms
during design, he will accept as deviation. This is not the case, however. Accepting deviations does
not happen like that.
Architects thus seem to hold various expectations regarding their collaboration with accessibility
advisors. Some expect to receive a concrete answer to a specific question, be it face-to-face, by email or by phone. Others demand an overall check of all sub-aspects described in the accessibility
legislation, or would rather collaborate in a designerly way, on a big or small scale. Some
expectations seem to be fulfilled right away, e.g., when a concrete answer is given to a question.
Others even seem to be exceeded, like the architect who received more detailed information than
hoped. Yet other expectations, like obtaining examples, do not seem to be lived up to entirely at
this point, but apparently are being worked on.

Discussion and Conclusion

In todays architectural practice the notion of accessibility is interpreted in various ways, ranging
from legal obligation to an architects personal point of departure. Equally varied are architects
motivations to obtain professional accessibility advicechecking legislation, offering best practice
examples, or describing actions in situations of useand advisors descriptions of itas short-cut
for legal procedures, whether or not requiring co-design. In short, interpretations stretch from
strictly following accessibility legislation to a broader interest (from architects) or more integrated
form of advice (by advisors).
Within this variety, three issues stand out: the limited scope (and fragmented approach) of
accessibility legislation, the desire of some (but not all) architects to broaden attention for and
integrate peoples diversity, and the response to this desire of some advisors offering more
integrated advice. A stumbling block seems to remain the financial and time investment (unless the
legal procedure can be shortened). If collaboration with an accessibility advisor is to offer an added
value, it should start from an integrated view of accessibility, which acknowledges the diversity in
peoples abilities and conditions better than the legislation and procedural time savings do. If
collaboration is limited to unilaterally checking whether the legislation is met, as currently seems to
be the case, architectural practice will remain stuck in fragmented solutions, i.e., the a posteriori
additions architects are dreading.
To conclude, legislation imposes both norms and procedures, and is felt by architects to be
fragmented and too prescriptive. The wish to broaden the attention for peoples diverse abilities

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and conditions exists, but is not fulfilled by legislation. Presence of accessibility offices holds
potential to reconcile both, provided that a synergy with legal procedures can be found.
Accessibility advisors can seek themselves whether the norms are addressed within the broader
integrally accessible (or perhaps better: inclusive) design proposal. Moreover, other roles architects
demand, like informing (about legislation, and diverse use situations) and offering best practice
examples can then be further developed.

Acknowledgements
This study received support from the European Research Council under the European
Community's Seventh Framework Program (FP7/2007-2013)/ERC grant agreements n
201673 and n335002. The authors thank the participating architects and accessibility
advisors for sharing their time and insights.

References
Baarda, D., & De Goede, M. (2007). Basisboek interviewen. Houten: Wolters-Noordhoff.
Centrum Toegankelijkheid Provincie Antwerpen (s.d.). Wat is toegankelijkheid? [What is
accessibility?] . Retrieved May 14, 2013, from http://www.provant.be/welzijn/toegankelijkheid/,
Clarkson, P.J., Coleman, R., Keates, S., & Lebbon C. (2003). Inclusive Design. London: Springer.
Cuff, D. (1992). Architecture: The Story of Practice. Cambridge: The MIT Press.
Dong, H., Keates, S., Clarkson, J., Cassim, J. (2003) Implementing Inclusive Design: The
Discrepancy between Theory and Practice. Universal Access Theoretical Perspectives, Practice,
and Experience, Lecture Notes in Computer Science 2615, 106-117.
Eckert, M. (2011). Draaien en keren om binnen te geraken [Turning and returning to get in]. De
Standaard 1 dec 2011:12.
Gray, D.B., Gould, M., Bickenbach, J. (2003). Environmental barriers and disability. JAPR, 20(1),
29-37.
Heylighen, A. (2012). Inclusive Built Heritage as a Matter of Concern: A Field Experiment.
In: Langdon P. et al. (Eds.), Designing Inclusive Systems. London: Springer-Verlag, 207-216.
Imrie, R. (2003). Architect's conceptions of the human body. Society and Space 27, 47-65.
Imrie, R., Street, E. (2011). Architectural Design and Regulation. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.
MACE, R. (1985). Universal Design. LA: Designers West.
NAV (2012). Ons vak in vorm [Our profession in shape]. Brussel: NAV, de Vlaamse
Architectenorganisatie.

Hannelore Wauters
Hannelore Wauters studied architecture/engineering at the University of Leuven (KU Leuven,
Belgium). In the context of her master thesis, she investigated the collaboration between
professional architects and accessibility advisors in Flanders. Currently she works as an
architect/intern at architecture firm AR-TE, where she is gaining experience in healthcare and office
projects.

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Peter-Willem Vermeersch
Peter-Willem Vermeersch studied architecture/engineering at the University of Leuven (KU Leuven,
Belgium). In 2013 he obtained his PhD from KU Leuven with a study on blindness and
multisensoriality in architectural design. Currently he works part-time as a post-doctoral researcher
in the AiDA research team of the Research[x]Design group at the Department of Architecture, and
part-time as an architect/intern at osar bvba where he works on housing and care centres for older
people.

Ann Heylighen
Ann Heylighen is research professor in the Research[x]Design group of the Department of
Architecture at KU Leuven (Belgium). She leads the multidisciplinary AIDA team, which studies
design processes in architecture and related design domains, and explores how disabled peoples
spatial experience may expand prevailing ways of understanding and designing space. Ann studied
architecture/engineering at KU Leuven and ETH Zrich. After obtaining her PhD in Leuven,, she
was a Postdoctoral Fellow at KU Leuven, Harvard University and UC Berkeley. She was awarded
several fellowships and grants, e.g. by the Research Foundation Flanders and the European
Research Council.

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Service Innovation and Welfare Technology for

Sustainable Home Medication: Insights from Social
Practice Theory
Ida Nilstad Pettersen, Department of Product Design, Faculty of Engineering Science
and Technology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU)

Abstract
Resource limitations and demographic changes constitute challenges to European
healthcare services. Service innovation and welfare technologies are expected to help
make services more efficient and increase the autonomy and quality of life of citizens. The
field of design is expected to help understand how that may happen. Innovation activity in
Norwegian municipalities is however limited. A better understanding of how to support
public service innovation is needed. To understand what is to be changed and by taking
home medication as its case, this paper explores how to theoretically frame the challenge.
It does that by first providing an overview of perspectives on the state of service
innovation and welfare technology implementation in municipalities. Next, it introduces
social practice theory as a way of capturing what goes on. Finally, it discusses the
implications of seeing service innovation and production as (complexes of) social
practices. It argues that such a perspective nuances the expectations for innovation to be
exported into new domains, and for welfare technologies to make services more efficient.
Change is seen as co-evolutionary, innovation as collectively accomplished, and what
tools and approaches open up for as related to the changing configurations of the practice
complexes they are part of.

Keywords
Service design; welfare technology; sustainability; social practice theory
In line with other countries, Norway is facing an increase in the number and share of
elderly persons. By 2025, almost 16 % of the population will be 67 years old or more
(Meld. St. 13 2011-2012). Coupled with the growth in new user groups with chronic
illnesses, lifestyle diseases or both, this means that unless people stay healthy longer or
changes to services are made, one out of three young people will have to choose a health
and social care-related education by 2035 (Meld. St. 13 2011-2012). This is not feasible,
and changes to public services are therefore considered indispensable.
This reflects developments at a European level. As part of the Europe 2020 strategy, a
European Innovation Partnership on active and healthy ageing has been launched. The
aim for 2020 is threefold, to enable our citizens to live longer independently in good
health by increasing the average number of healthy life years by 2, and, in achieving this
target, to improve the sustainability and efficiency of our social and healthcare systems,
and to create an EU and global market for innovative products and services with new
opportunities for EU business (European Commission 2012, p. 40). The goal is thus to
combine a shift towards more years of autonomous, independent living, with service
efficiency improvements and business opportunities.
Welfare technology is expected to hold a central place in the healthcare services of the
future, and to contribute to making them more efficient (The Norwegian Directorate of
Health 2012; Meld. St. 29 2012-2013). Welfare technology is defined as technical

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assistance that contributes to increased safety, security, social participation, mobility and
physical and cultural activity, and that increases the ability of individuals to lead an
independent and autonomous life, in spite of illnesses or social, mental or physical
disabilities (NOU 2011:11, p. 99; Meld. St. 29 2012-2013, p. 110). In addition, it may work
as a support for relatives, or improve the access to or the resource efficiency and quality
of a service offer, and prevent the need for services, admissions and days spent in care
institutions.
A recent White Paper on the future of care focuses on three goals related to the role of
innovation in reducing the mismatch between resources and the needs for care (Meld. St.
29 2012-2013, p. 11). The first is to obtain knowledge about, find, mobilise and make use
of the total care resources in society in new ways. The second is to develop new forms of
care by means of new technology, new knowledge, new methods, and by changing
organisational and physical boundary conditions. The third is to support and strengthen
the research, innovation and development competence of municipalities. An Official
Norwegian Report calls for practical contributions and insights from architecture, design
and technology with regards to how dwellings and technology may increase the quality of
life of users and the efficiency of service provider (NOU 2011:11, p. 129).
This paper reports on a recently initiated interdisciplinary project. The project aims at
contributing with knowledge about the challenges and opportunities associated with
service innovation and technological support of care, at different levels and for different
stakeholders, given goals about safe and sustainable delivery of care. The project
combines perspectives from design, engineering, nursing, sociology and philosophy, and
takes home medication as its case. This is relevant, as home nursing is resource intensive,
and medication errors may lead to complications, hospitalisation and death. Home
medication serves as an example of an area in which technologies and service innovation
are expected to contribute to resource savings, in addition to improved adherence.
This paper takes processes of service innovation and technology procurement in
Norwegian municipalities as its starting point. The background for doing so is the reported
gap between political ambitions and tool development, and the limited actual innovation
activity in municipalities (e.g. Grut et al., 2013). It seeks to theoretically capture the
characteristics of service innovation, in-home technology use, and the relations between
them, to get a better understanding of what kind of challenge it is to foster change in the
direction of safe and sustainable home medication. To do that, the paper draws on
insights from sociology, design, organisation studies and sustainable consumption
literature, explores the value of seeing both service innovation and production as social
practices (e.g. Reckwitz 2002), and discusses what insights and implications such a view
may lead to.
The paper first provides an overview of perspectives on the state of innovation in the
health and care services of Norwegian municipalities. Next, it presents and explores social
practice theory as a potentially relevant theoretical framework for understanding the
current situation and the preconditions for change in service innovation and production,
and finally, it discusses what the implications of such a perspective may be.

Service innovation and welfare technology

implementation in Norwegian municipalities
The current state: Challenges and opportunities
This section provides an overview of what are currently considered key challenges and
opportunities associated with service innovation and welfare technology in Norwegian
municipalities.

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In Norway, the national goal is that welfare technology should be an integrated part of the
service offer by 2020 (Meld. St. 29 2012-2013). The general picture painted by policy
documents and reports on the state of the implementation and use of welfare technology,
is however that experiences are few and the development slow. Mapping the experiences
with the integration of welfare technology in six Norwegian municipalities, Grut et al. (2013)
argue that many are planning to initiate innovation projects, but few projects are actually
running. This does in turn mean that with regards to the potential for technologies to
actually contribute to savings, experiences are few. Grut et al. (2013, p. 33) were in their
study for example not able to assess the effects of the implemented measures or study
the experiences with the transition from pilot project to ordinary operation. No municipality
had yet implemented welfare technology targeting elders as part of their ordinary service
provision.
In a report on the implementation of welfare technology in public health and care services
in the period 2013-2030, the Norwegian Directorate of Health (2012) summarises some of
the challenges. The report points to strengthening of the service innovation competence in
Norwegian municipalities as a precondition for the implementation of welfare technology.
This is confirmed by Grut et al. (2013), who identify missing purchasing competence as
one element inhibiting service innovation and the successful integration of welfare
technology. They find that employees in the healthcare services experience that their
technical knowledge is insufficient for making good purchase decisions. Technology
suppliers do in much the same vein lack in-depth knowledge on services and user needs,
as well as legal and ethical boundary conditions.
The Norwegian Directorate of Health (2012) also points to the need for a driving force or
catalyst, to arrange for welfare technology solutions and foster public service innovation. It
further sees a need for disseminating knowledge about the challenges and limitations
associated with the integration of welfare technology in public health and care services,
and the potential opportunities opening up, also to users and their relatives. The market is
described as immature, actors that could have safeguarded the existence of public and
private demand for welfare technology as missing, and standards as largely absent. The
report argues that the immature character of the market is reinforced due to the lack of
procurement competence in municipalities, which fail to act as demanding customers.
The message is thus that while technical challenges may also be present, making
services more efficient is to limited extents considered a technical challenge. It is for
example rather a question about strengthening the service innovation and procurement
competence of municipalities. In addition, it is an open question how, to what extents and
in what areas technology may contribute to reducing the resource intensity of services.

Tools and initiatives

To cope with the lack of innovation activity and change the situation, different initiatives
have been launched. The goal here is not to provide an exhaustive overview, but to
highlight some relevant examples.
In Norway, a national initiative for needs-driven innovation and industrial and commercial
development in the healthcare sector was established in 2007 by the Ministry of Health
and Care Services, and the Ministry of Trade and Industry (The Norwegian Directorate of
Health 2011). While at first focusing on the specialist services, it has been evaluated, and
an extension from a five to a ten-year period and a broadening of scope to also covering
the care sector and thus also municipal services, recommended (Meld. St. 7 2008-2009).
Needs-driven innovation is in that context defined based on a Danish definition of userdriven innovation (Danmarks Erhvervsrd 2006). It is seen as about mapping and
understanding the experienced and latent needs of the users, while identifying the market
potential and technology, and finding partners capable of meeting the actual need and

1494

seeing how technology can be used in new ways (The Norwegian Directorate of Health
2011, p. 5).
The national initiative has come accompanied by dissemination events and courses, and
the development of tools and approaches (e.g. Reitan et al. 2011; Grut et al. 2013; The
organisation of the municipal sector 2013). The tools include a digital tool for making use
of innovation methodology in a specific project or learning about innovation, New, Useful
and Utilised (Nytt, nyttig og nyttiggjort or N3) (The organisation of the municipal sector
2013). This tool presents an abstracted innovation process consisting of work on needs,
the development of a solution, and testing. Drawing on Carlson and Wilmot (2006), it
suggests that the five aspects (1) important needs, (2) value creation, (3) innovation
champions, (4) innovation teams, and (5) organisational alignment are critical to the
opportunities for succeeding with an innovation. Further, based on the ISO standard for
human-centred design (ISO 9241-210 2010), and the mentioned mapping of experiences
with welfare technology in Norwegian municipalities (Grut et al. 2013), a roadmap
specifically addressing welfare technology-related innovation has been developed. This
tool is intended to guide the process from planning to the establishment of a new practice.
This all comes in addition to general initiatives focusing on innovation through public
procurement (e.g. Meld. St. 7 2008-2009). Edler and Georghiou (2007) describe public
procurement as an innovation policy tool that may drive innovation when oriented towards
innovative products and solutions, but also as an underused one beginning to receive
more attention at a European level. The emphasis on procurement is again linked to the
descriptions of the market for welfare technology as immature, the lack of public and
private demand for it, and the insufficient procurement competence of municipalities (The
Norwegian Directorate of Health 2012). The Agency for Public Management and
eGovernment (2012, p. 3) links the development processes described above to processes
of procurement. They recommend starting out by identifying what the central challenge is
and the needs are, before engaging in a broad dialogue with the market. If relevant
solutions do not exist, a research and development project may be considered. If they do,
innovative public procurement is a more relevant approach.
Except for the study by Grut et al. (2013), little research has been done on actual work on
service innovation and welfare technology in Norwegian municipalities. The mentioned
innovation-oriented initiatives are relatively new, and it is too soon to say much about their
ability to spur change.
The distance from the abstract notions in guides and tools to the details of everyday work
and private life, may also be great. In the context of interaction design, Stolterman (2008)
argues that insufficient understandings of the nature of design often has inhibited the
success of design research aiming at supporting design practice. As design now is
moving into new domains, to for example target issues that traditionally have been dealt
with by fields like management and organisation, it is not only relevant to gain insight into
the theories and understandings upon which they are based, but it also becomes highly
relevant to examine what characterises design (Sangiorgi 2011; DiSalvo et al. 2013).
The topic in question here, how to support service innovation for safe and sustainable
home medication, taps into challenges at different levels and in different contexts.
Organisations are expected to transform themselves to become critical procurers, cocreators or service innovators, and thus to engage in or with design activity. To support
that, a sufficient understanding of what kind of challenge that is, what it entails and what
the degrees of freedom are, is needed. Theoretically coping with such issues requires
theories that are capable of capturing the characteristics of and relations between
innovation and professional healthcare activities, and medication practices in private
households.

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A practice-oriented perspective on service innovation

and production
In the following, I will explore the value of seeing design and innovation, service
production, and the everyday activities of citizens as social practices. I will introduce some
central features of practice theory, by drawing on literature on sociology, design,
organisation studies, and sustainable consumption, and by introducing a modified version
of Kimbells (2012) concepts design-as-practice and designs-in-practice service
innovation and service production as practice, and discuss what the implications of such a
view may be.

Social practice theory

When taking the social practice as unit of analysis, attention is directed towards ordinary
activities or processes such as cooking or cleaning, in this case, innovation, procurement,
and medication. Following the much-cited definition of Reckwitz (2002, p. 249) a practice
may be described as a routinized type of behaviour which consists of several elements,
interconnected to one other: forms of bodily activities, forms of mental activities, things
and their use, a background knowledge in the form of understanding, know-how, states of
emotion and motivational knowledge. Simplifying that, Pantzar and Shove (2010, p. 450)
distinguish between material elements which include things, skill, or bodily knowledge
and competence, and image, or mental activities and symbolic meaning.
A practice can however not be reduced to any such element (Reckwitz 2002). Rather, it is
a coordinated entity and its existence depends on repeated performances where the
single tasks are held together by phenomena summarised by Warde (2005), drawing on
Shatzki (1996), as understandings, procedures and engagements.
Practices are further social in that they are guided by shared practical understandings
(Shatzki 2001, p. 2), indicating what courses of action are not inappropriate (Warde 2005,
p. 140). They are however also internally differentiated, with practitioners adapting,
experimenting and improvising according to the specific situation they find themselves in,
and the differences in their understandings, procedures and engagements (Warde 2005).
Theories of social practice de-centre humans from analyses, seeing them as agents or
body/minds that carry and carry out practice, the individual being the unique crossing
point of practices, or the bodily-mental routines that he or she is carrier of (Reckwitz 2002,
p. 256). Neither humans nor technologies are privileged, and the interest lies in the
relational and emerging (Orlikowski 2007). The social and material may be seen as
constitutively entangled in practice (Orlikowski 2007, p. 1437).
Together the individual practice performances make up a path or trajectory of
development (Schatzki 1996). The history of a practice, as well as the wants that emerge
from the specific practice performances, matter to what happens next (Schatzki 1996;
Warde 2005; Shove et al. 2007). Different practices and elements form systems or
bundles of practices with different qualities, interacting with each other (Schatzki 2006;
Pantzar and Shove 2010).
When it comes to the prospects for change, it is a central point that practices are both
routinized and dynamic. From a practice theory perspective, it is the routines, in the form
of routines of moving the body, of understanding and wanting, of using things,
interconnected in a practice that constitute social structure (Reckwitz 2002, p. 255).
These occur in time, as repetitions. Their routinized character makes up inertia inhibiting
change, but their dynamic character is at the same time what opens up for and spurs it.
Breakdowns and changes in structures happen as everyday crises of routines (Reckwitz
2002, p. 255).

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In the career of a practice (and a practice carrier), different stages or states may be
identified, as in their emergence, persistence, and dying out (Warde 2005; Pantzar and
Shove 2010). Such processes may result from changes in the composition of the practice,
for example as links between elements are made, sustained and broken (Pantzar and
Shove 2010).
While it is possible for actors such as firms and policy-makers to try and disrupt what
exists, support a development in a new direction, or establish an entirely new practice, for
example by introducing and promoting practice elements and the links between them a
proto-practice (Pantzar and Shove 2010, p. 450), it is the integration in practice that
matters.

Service innovation as practice

When it comes to public sector service innovation and what helps and hinders it, Kimbell
(2012, p. 131) argues that a practice-oriented perspective on design and designing may
aid the understanding of the work of designers by moving away from a disembodied,
ahistorical design thinking to a situated, contingent set of practices carried by professional
designers and those who engage with designs, which recognizes the materiality of
designed things and how they come to matter. She highlights how a practice-oriented
view is apt for avoiding some of the problems associated with dominant perspectives on
design, such as the dualism between thinking and knowing and acting, the neglect of the
diverse ways in which designers work, and finally, the tendency to see the designer as the
main agent in design activity.
Taking the practices involved in service design or innovation as unit of analysis directs the
attention to their characteristics. This is a question about the highly diverse elements that
constitute them, how they are embodied, guided by socially shared conventions or rules
and internally differentiated, routinized and dynamic, and situated in space and time. Such
a view highlights that the culturally specific expertise and what are established as
routinized ways of working in specific places opens up for certain possibilities while
excluding others (Kimbell 2012, p. 142). It also points to what creates resistance against
different ways of working. At the same time, it de-centres designers and opens up design
to other participants, including material objects such as computers, sketches and
prototypes, and to other stakeholders such as managers, clients and end-users (Kimbell
2012).
In much the same vein, it is possible to describe organisational activity as bundles of
practices and material arrangements that overlap and connect, also with the practicearrangement bundles of other organisations (Schatzki 2005). The material arrangements
refer to assemblages of material objects persons, artifacts, organisms, and things
(Schatzki 2006, p. 1864).
In this case, the challenge is partly to open up for or introduce a set of design and
innovation practices to organisational settings in which they have not existed before, or
where they only have existed to limited extents. A practice-oriented view highlights the
complexity of that (Kimbell 2012). To exemplify, practices relevant to service innovation
and technology implementation may for example include purchasing practices,
management practices, administrative practices, and care practices, as well as the
(bundles of) practices of other organisations and actors, such as governmental
organisations, industry organisations, private businesses, NGOs, and private citizens.
Each has its own characteristics and history or trajectory of development, and the different
practices relate in different ways. In addition to innovation tools, material ingredients may
include search engines, requirement specifications, and online databases for public
procurement. Practical skills and know-how regarding legal and ethical aspects, and how
to go about innovating, including who to involve at what point, may exist or be missing.
Finally, there are ingredients concerning image or symbolic meaning, as in what

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constructs such as care and service quality entail in different practices. Practices of
service innovation and innovative procurement may not exist, be about to emerge or
already have some history.
The conventions practitioners work by, that are reproduced and changed in practice,
constrain and enable the opportunities for creating change. Different practices may both
interact and create stability or conflict with each other. The challenge becomes to
destabilise or disrupt something that exists, mediate conflicts, or introduce something new,
which in turn has to compete with or be integrated into pre-existing practices, guided by
other ideas about what is not inappropriate (Warde 2005, p. 140; Julier 2007).

Service production as practice

Moving on to the point at which the output of design, in this case a service around home
medication, is tested or put into practice, practice theory highlights the innovating role of
citizens (Pantzar and Shove 2010). Innovation continues in practice, where they make the
integration of practice elements happen and therefore may be seen as co-innovators and
co-producers of service. Practice components such as technology are then only indirectly
important (Shove et al. 2007). The performance of medication management practices also
emerges from relations to and between other issues, such as the spatial features of
homes and the daily rhythm of other activity flows, as found by Palen and Aalkke (2006).
Products such as medicine dispensers enter into an everyday life consisting of multiple
activities, each guided by different conventions regarding why and how to do what. Given
the goals to enhance the autonomy and well-being of individuals while increasing the
resource efficiency of services by means of welfare technology, this is highly important.
From a practice theory perspective, the effect of an intervention emerges at the level of
practice, with objects and practices co-evolving, and each practice performance resulting
in a new starting point for the next (Shove 2003; Shove et al. 2007).
Related to that, practice-oriented research on sustainable consumption criticises
technology-oriented strategies for ignoring what service standards are and what is taken
to be normal, and how that develops and varies across space and time (Shove 2003;
2010). By concentrating on making technologies such as washing machines and
televisions more efficient and getting them into the homes of consumers, service
expectations highly relevant to resulting resource use levels, for example for temperature
levels, display sizes and product lifetimes, are taken for granted, and how they develop
over time not questioned. When ignoring the social and situated character of consumption,
the characteristics and development of the practice and its position in everyday life, the
risk is for example that rebound effects may occur. In the context of sustainable
consumption, the rebound effect is defined as a behavioral or other systemic response to
a measure taken to reduce environmental impacts that offsets the effect of the measure
(Hertwich 2005, p. 86).
Against that background, and based on research introducing practice theory to design (e.g.
Shove et al. 2007), a branch of design for sustainability research argues that taking the
social practice as unit of analysis and intervention may help capture the systemic
dynamics of everyday consumption, and potentially open up for more radical innovation
and more substantial resource savings (Scott et al. 2012; Kuijer et al. 2013; Pettersen et
al. 2013). This is relevant also in the context of public healthcare services. It highlights the
importance of seeing the potential for technologies to contribute to savings as depending
on the local and continuously developing (bundles of) professional and residential
practices of which they are part, and to develop approaches acknowledging this.

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Discussion: Implications for (the governance of) service

innovation and production
Having introduced practice theory, also in the context of design activity and the use of
designs, this section moves on to discussing some implications. It still focuses on the
prospects for service innovation and welfare technology implementation in Norwegian
municipalities, with the aim of supporting safe and sustainable home medication.
The article argues that understanding the nature and detailed characteristics of practice is
a prerequisite for being able to transform it, and to foster change in desired directions. To
build such an understanding, practice theory provides structured guidance (Julier 2007).
Studies of the composition and performance of (bundles of) practices, their relation to
other (bundles of) practices, and their development over time may help identify what
enables and constrains change (e.g. Pettersen 2013). Taking the social practice as unit of
analysis means that ordinary everyday activity is placed at centre stage. Here, this is a
question about exploring how service innovation and service production actually is done,
with what, by whom, when, where and why, how it relates to other activities, and how it
has developed over time. It is a question about what shared conventions guide and are
reproduced in such activity, and how they change.
In addition to resulting in insights on what creates resistance and change, such studies
may help identify possible intervention points and directions to pursue, and inspire the
generation of ideas and concepts for gearing change in new directions (e.g. Pettersen
2013). Depending on the characteristics and development of the practice bundles,
different handles for supporting change may exist. Such opportunities may include
influencing the elements that the practices consist of, the relation between different
practices, the trajectories of practices and practitioners, and finally, the circuits of
reproduction (Shove et al. 2012, p. 146). As argued in research on consumption, taking
the practice as unit of intervention might open up opportunities for more radical change
than what taking single products, users and the relations between them does. This is
highly relevant when faced with the need to cope with considerable demographic changes.
In addition to guiding descriptive (design) research, practice theory might form a starting
point for the assembly and development of tools and approaches for design and
governance (Shove et al. 2012; Kuijer et al. 2013).
With regards to the opportunities for creating change however, establishing innovation
and medication practices is not necessarily simply a question about developing and
promoting practice elements and recruiting the practitioners for it. While de-centring
designers and users, practice theory points to the role of other stakeholders, practical
knowledge and objects in design activity and activities involving designs (Kimbell 2012).
Many different actors are involved in innovating and co-creating service through their
practices, with their own service standards to adhere to. Designers as well as
municipalities are further part of the systems they try to change (Shove et al. 2012;
DiSalvo et al. 2013). Practices are seen as outcomes of processes over which no single
actor is in charge, and as always undergoing change (e.g. Shove et al. 2012). It is an
important point that the effects that interventions have are considered unpredictable.
Rather than trying to govern or design for some desired end state, this implies that the
challenge is to try to support processes of change in desirable directions.
Practice theory does, as pointed out by Kimbell (2012, p. 143), shed a sobering light on
the prospects for exporting design into new domains separated from design culture, in
this case the prospects for introducing service innovation expertise into Norwegian
municipalities. It nuances the dominant policy request for service innovation competence
in Norwegian municipalities by highlighting the complexity of it. It suggests that to
understand the perceived lack of demand for welfare technology, and the opportunities for
managing it, a better understanding of the (potential) relation between such technologies
and the bundles of related professional and private practices may be needed. Such

1499

studies may in turn aid assessments of how the initiatives and approaches for innovation
and procurement promoted at a national level work in practice, and the findings inform
attempts at developing new or improved versions.
With regards to the efficiency of services, it is a relevant point that technology use and
resource consumption happens within and for the sake of practices, while wants and
needs emerge from them (Warde 2005, p. 145). When it comes to the faith in welfare
technology as means for making services more efficient, practice theory points to how the
role of objects is indirect (Shove et al. 2007). Medication practices are co-productions.
Their resulting resource use levels and outcomes are thus on-going accomplishments to
which many different actors, both human and non-human, contribute.

Conclusion
This paper has explored how to frame the potential role of public service innovation and
welfare technology in making them more efficient. More specifically, it has explored the
capability of practice theory to improve the understanding of what is to be changed. It
suggests that to understand how to support and govern change in service innovation and
production, as well as what constrains and enables it, it is necessary to look into the
detailed characteristics of the (bundles of) practices that are to be established, changed or
disrupted. What they are in the specific case of home medication, and what possible
directions for design and governance may be, are questions for future research to address.

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Ida Nilstad Pettersen

Ida Nilstad Pettersen holds a PhD in Industrial Design Engineering and is a Postdoctoral
Fellow at the Department of Product Design, the Norwegian University of Science and
Technology (NTNU). She participates in the project The Medical Home which focuses on
service innovation and procurement in Norwegian municipalities, and MINDER which
concentrates on design, everyday practice and energy use in non-residential buildings.

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The design of accessible self-service products, systems

and services: teaching inclusive design.
Jenny S. Darzentas Department of Product and Systems Design Engineering,
University of the Aegean, Hermoupolis, Syros, GR84100, Greece.

John Darzentas Department of Product and Systems Design Engineering, University

of the Aegean, Hermoupolis, Syros, GR84100, Greece.

Abstract
This paper offers an account of how various teaching trajectories are being used to help
design students combine the knowledge and skills they learn in separate classes into an
interdisciplinary approach to contribute to creating solutions to complex real world problem
situations. More specifically, it deals with approaches to teaching and learning in the area
of designing accessible self-service including services, products and systems.
Self-service is fast becoming more ubiquitous in everyday life. However, many of the selfservices available through public use technology located in public spaces are often
inaccessible to older and disabled users. Classes in Design for All aim to teach future
generations of students not to unwittingly exclude certain classes of users from the
products, systems and services that they help to design. If Design for All solutions are to
really address the deeper problems inherent in the non-accessibility of services, rather
than just redesign certain aspects of self-service terminals, then a more holistic approach
is needed.
The richness of the problem area and its meaningfulness to our service based economy
offers a contemporary problem space where design students can bring to bear a range of
knowledge sets and approach overall service solutions.

Keywords
Inclusive Design Education, Service Design, Self-Service, Self-Service Terminals,
Interdisciplinarity

Introduction
Research as part of the eAccess network1 (Darzentas, Petrie and Power, 2013) has
shown that designers of self-service solutions are not well educated in understanding the
diverse needs of the general public. Nor are graduates of Design for All courses being
employed in design and manufacturing of self-service terminals (SSTs). Yet research and
development teams in the SST industry describe themselves as working for improving
overall usability and customer experience. At first glance, there appears to be no more
than superficial language use differences: the discourse of Design for All centres on
eAccess+ network (2010-2013) an EU funded project set up to look at eAccessibility in
the areas of web accessibility, interactive digital television and self- service terminals
www.eaccessplus.eu
1

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expressions of accessibility and usability, while Service Design refers to ease of use
user acceptance and of providing access to services and supplying customer needs
(Glusko, 2010). However, the different communities can take very different perspectives
on what these terms and expressions mean to them, amounting to speaking different
dialects and fostering different practices.
Such differences reinforce our general belief that students need to bring to bear on
modern day problems a variety of knowledge sets, and with them a range of
methodologies and tools, in order to be capable of tackling current and future problems in
an interdisciplinary way. The task for universities and design schools is that for their
graduating students to arrive at such a mature state, students need to build up knowledge
through their various design courses, but also undertake research in areas that are not
normally part of the design curriculum, such as business, management and marketing and
economics. Only in this way will graduate become comfortable in interdisciplinary settings,
able to understand the dialects spoken by different stakeholders. The debate around the
T shaped designer (Brown, 2008), - that is, the need to be generalists, but also capable
of being specialists- is a balance that is difficult to achieve, as has been noted by many
writing about design (Norman, 2010; Kolko, 2011). What is important for those in design
education, is to recognise that this balance is not just on the personal level of the
individual, but also on the institutional level, in terms of fostering interdisciplinary thinking
in students.
Interdisciplinarity has become highly valued by universities, research councils, business
and government, for whom complex problems - such as urban governance and
environmental management - require new combinations of qualitative and quantitative
methods, humanities, social and natural sciences, and exploitation of digital media and
visualisation tools. Indeed, recognising the value of design as a driver of innovation in
business, the EU set up a European Design Innovation Initiative in 2011 to investigate
what needs to be done to foster this approach. Their report, (European Design Leadership
Board, EDII, 2012), notes that within Design Research, there is already an increase in
interdisciplinarity: designers working alongside scientists and social scientists, addressing
issues and complex problems such as digital economies, sustainability, democracy and
citizenship (p.60). They continue, however, to report that although in Design Schools
there are strong links to business and industry, this activity often remains at the level of
a designed product or service concept. (p.69). Elsewhere, work on facilitating
interdisciplinary teaching and research focuses on the institutionalisation of such teaching,
that is organising how instructors from different disciplines can work together (Oberg, G,
2009; Borrego & Newswander, 2010) and the need for and organisation of
interdisciplinary research (Sa, 2007, Feller, 2006, Harris & Karri 2008). In both situations
the main desired outcome from interdisciplinarity is more holistic solutions, and developing
synthetic understandings of complex problems (Spooner, 2004).
In the case of design schools, where curricula are already wide-ranging, we believe this
framing of interdisciplinarity should also be focused on the learners in terms of helping
them to combine different knowledge sets to encourage integrated interdisciplinary
thinking (Jantsch,2007). This paper will relate our experience of how we believe that such
thinking is being encouraged. We claim this because the teaching approaches being used
enable students to contribute to creating whole solutions that deal with as much as
possible of the problem space. Putting this in the example of SSTs, means going beyond
fixing the usability of the machine interface to studying the whole service delivery and
making suggestions for change. The main drive for holistic solutions is that of providing
services for all.
The paper is organised as follows. In the next section, the background to the problem of
inaccessibility of self-services is examined. Findings from the literature in terms of

1504

differences of perspectives from deployer and consumer viewpoints on self-services are

elaborated. Following this, we describe our approaches in students learning and project
activities. Finally, we reflect on our experiences and the contribution of the choice of
problem space to teaching Inclusive Design and fostering more interdisciplinary oriented
thinking in order to create more holistic and effective solutions to contemporary problem
spaces.

Background
Self-service based technology is becoming more and more ubiquitous in our everyday life.
The industry reports rising numbers of self-service kiosk deployments (Holman & Buzek,
2012; Datatrend Technologies, 2009). Increasingly, both as consumers and as citizens,
people are asked to interact with a wide range of self- service terminals (SSTs).
Consumers get cash from Automated Teller Machines (ATMs); buy public transport tickets
from self -service ticket dispensers; check-in for flights and luggage labels at airports kiosk
machines; check out their groceries at self- service supermarket checkouts. Citizens can
obtain a range of information based services and documentation via publicly located SSTs,
including government and public authority licenses and certificates.
However, for those who have a disability, be it a sensory, cognitive or mobility related,
using SSTs may be difficult or even impossible. For instance, for wheelchair users, getting
close enough to the controls of a SST may be impossible. The most common reasons for
this is because either because the wheelchair cannot be positioned close enough for the
user to reach over to interact with the interface components, or because the interface
components have been designed for people to stand in front of them, and the interface
components are therefore sited too high for a person sitting in a wheelchair (see Figure 1).

Figure 1: Difficulties to reach, difficulties to approach: Source Australian Human Rights

and Equal Opportunities Commission, 2009
For those with vision impairments, the print on the screen or the buttons may be too small
or not have sufficient contrast. In addition, some people need longer to make some
decisions; people may hesitate because of unfamiliarity with the language or the type of
service, for example, buying a train ticket at a machine in a foreign country. Very often,
SST applications are programmed inflexibly to time out, without offering the choice of
having extra time. These can be a problem for older people who often do need more time
to make the decisions asked of them by SSTs. Even newer, and more intuitive
technologies, such as touch screens can be problematic for those who cannot reach them;
or those who have hand tremors; and impossible for people who are blind.
Extrapolating from statistics of numbers of elderly and disabled people, this demographic
may count for up to as much as 20% of the user population. This represents a
considerable number of people who are being designed out. Moreover, it does not include

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people who are temporarily disabled from accidents and injury, while situations may also
handicap: for instance, bright sunshine may make it impossible to see an SST screen (see
Figure 2).

:
Figure 2: Difficulty reading the screen in conditions of bright sunlight: Source: Nasia
Chroni, 2011.
Finally, we should not forget the numbers of economic migrants, for whom language
literacy or access to technology, e.g. personal possession of smart phones, or access to
internet may represent impassable obstacles. Being able to understand the language of
the country that you are living in and being able to communicate verbally, does not imply
that one can read and understand what is written on the screen of a self-service terminal.
Figures from Eurostat for 2011 are shown in Figure 3 below.

Figure 3: Migrants per 1000 inhabitants, 2011. Source: Eurostat, available at

http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/statistics_explained/index.php/Migration_and_migrant_po
pulation_statistics
If self- service technologies present such difficulties to use, then why are they so
ubiquitous in the developed world? Part of the response is that it is now commonly
accepted that we live not only in an Information Age, but also we operate within a service
based economy, that is replacing the manufacturing based economy of the previous
century (Chesbrough & Spohrer, 2006). According to Bitner (2006), one of the pressing
current challenges for business and management research in service based economy, is
that of services infused with technology, and offered via self-services. She notes that
more research is needed into the questions of how firms should plan, implement and
measure the impact of technology on service encounters, and what makes customers
adopt or reject self-service technologies.
The most commonly accepted definition of what constitutes self-service enabled by
technology is that people themselves perform tasks using technologies without direct

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personal assistance (Meuter et al, 2000, Glusko, 2006). Another way of describing the
move from interpersonal service encounters, where a member of service personnel
mediates the delivery of the service, is that from high touch-low tech to high tech-low
touch (Meuter et al, 2006). Self-service technologies, or technology based selfservice
design (TBSSs) refers to the fact that self-service can be delivered in a variety of ways.
Online banking services may delivered via SSTs placed in public spaces; via websites
using a PC in private space or via internet based applications accessed by personal
mobile devices. In our teaching on with inclusive design, we focused firstly on self-service
delivered via self-service terminals (SSTs), which we discuss next.

Self-Service Terminals
As a paradigm, self-service kiosks or terminals (SSTs) are not new. There have been
several types of self-service terminal around for some time. Vending machines selling
mainly snacks and drinks have been around since the 19th century, while the first cash
dispensers or Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) have been with us since the 1950s.
ATMS in particular represent considerable investment in research and development for
the finance sector. The ATM industry has been called to address the accessibility issues
and has been most active in this area, in part because of regulatory pressure. Recent
amendments to the regulations governing the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), set
forth several new accessibility requirements that became effective in March 2012. Among
other things, the new regulations require that all ATMs be equipped with voice guidance
and raised key surfaces to assist visually impaired consumers. However, despite these
new regulations, the Wall Street Journal reported on March 7, 2012 (Sidel, 2012) that at
least 50% of the ATMs in the US remained inaccessible to the visually impaired. Some of
these new regulations are expected to be applied to SSTs used in other services, such as
flight check-in.
Collectively, the machines involved in self-service delivery can offer many benefits for
both customers and deployers of self-service solutions.
Among the benefits claimed by deployers of self-service are those of maintaining high
levels of service but with reduced staffing costs. Valuable and expensive staff is freed up
from routine jobs that SSTs do well like dispensing tickets. The use of self-service
solutions and SSTs is perceived as a modern approach, which is good for the image of
deployers. Increasingly, the SSTs allow for new services to be bundled in; such as
offering travel information to train ticket buyers, or discount promotions to supermarket
shoppers. Many deployers also find the design of kiosks offer ways to advertise to
customers: many modern designs are surmounted by with large displays (often digital
screens), that are used to push advertisements out to queuing customers.
For the consumers of self service offerings, the most often cited benefit is 24/7
convenience, faster or less queuing and more control, although this last is debatable.
Other more subtle benefits emerge. Mostly young people under the age of 35 interviewed
claimed they preferred the non-personal interaction with machines, rather than dealing
with judgmental employees for services such as train tickets, (Meuter, 2000).
New types of self-service are constantly being introduced and spreading to new
application areas and the claims are that these offer improvement over human mediated
services. For example, in casual dining establishments, diners can order via interactive
surfaces (tabletops or menus); this is seen as especially useful in lunchtime restaurants
for workers, where people want to eat, but not queue to order at a fast food outlet, or wait
for a waiter to take orders in a traditional restaurant setting (Ziosk, 2013). In hospitals,
patients and caregivers can book themselves in for emergency services. This helps with
triage; gives patients, caregivers and staff a common understanding of where they are in

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the system, and frees up nursing and administrative staff from burdensome admission
procedures by sharing the load (Slawsky, 2013).
Some of these types of service delivery are still in their trial stages.Yet many of the
characteristics of the deployment of self-service terminals remain fairly consistent: they
are designed for positioning in public areas; most are designed for walk up and use with
a minimum of instruction and learning, and most are used for executing for rapid
transactions.

Consumer concerns and accessibility worries for the future

Despite the advantages to consumers noted above, consumers are not always happy with
SSTs. When there is a choice then many customers will ignore the self-service option
(Wang, et al. 2012). However, this choice is disappearing: there is an increase in the
number and frequency of unattended machines and services unmediated by humans. For
instance, many railway stations may be unmanned, and tickets and information only
available from machines. What this means is that there are occasions when there is no
other way to get the service except via the SSTs.
More worryingly, if the machine is not accessible (for instance, because of its design or
where it has been placed), usable (perhaps because it is out of order) or understandable
(maybe the language is unknown, or the type of service is not clear), then the service is
unavailable. Worse than this, in some documented cases2, such as air flight check-in and
banking services, when there is a human mediated service in addition to the self service
offering, the public has to pay extra to use it.
Another trend in self-service terminals is that self-service is moving from public use SSTs,
to applications on our personal internet enabled devices. That is, it is possible to make our
own personal devices act as our kiosks. Self-service scenarios are already emerging
where consumers can walk through a shopping mall and buy goods and services that
announce themselves to their devices (e.g. a smart phone or tablet) and pay for them
online. There are no cashiers to deal with, just devices and applications (Tuttle, 2013).
The question that must be asked is what happens to those who do not own devices or
know how to operate these applications. These could be people on low incomes, or
people who have not adopted this kind of technology. While service providers will
probably continue to provide traditional services, they already offer incentives and
promotions to those who use these new services, in an effort to obtain, as is natural, a
return on their investment. This leads to favouring the haves and discriminating against
the have-nots and violating the first principle of Design for All/Universal Design which
states Equitable Use for All (The Center for Universal Design, 1997).

Manufacturer concerns
Designers who work for and with manufacturers of SSTs are not very aware of the need
for Design for All. Field research (Darzentas et al., 2013) carried out by the eAccess+
network at a series of self-service kiosk industrial trade fairs, revealed, that with very few
exceptions, manufacturers had little understanding of what was needed. There is some
awareness of regulatory approaches, such as those specified by laws against
discrimination. These tend to deal with matters of reach, screen height, and space and
approach for wheelchairs. Beyond this physical ergonomic type of accessibility
requirement, there is little understanding regarding the need for information to be
For example this from Ryanair: All passengers are required to check in online and print
their own boarding pass. Passengers arriving at the airport without a pre-printed online
check-in will have to pay 70/70 as of May 2013 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryanair
2

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accessible. That is, awareness that the information on screens and buttons should follow
interface accessibility guidelines. Nor is there awareness about other interaction
guidelines, such as tolerance for errors; or intuitiveness and simplicity of the interaction
style, or perceptible information in the sense of extra modalities (for example, audible
beeps).
Current practice is that manufacturers rely on their designers to produce computer aided
(CAD) models of what is needed for adjusting existing designs to regulatory requirements
such as statutory screen height and then work from them. User testing with the designs is
not common practice. Finally, manufacturers report that they are not often asked for
accessibility features and place the responsibility with the deployers of services.

Student learning and project activities in Self-Services

Design
From within the perspective of inclusive design education, the subject of self-services can
be viewed as a problematic area that yields interesting challenges for student learning and
project activities. Furthermore, binging the philosophy of Design for All (Darzentas &
Darzentas, 2012) into self-service design has been recommended to help this situation
both by industry (Rogers, J.; Birnie, S.; Pengelly, J. & Adams, R., 2006) and by those
investigating on behalf of policy makers (Petrie & Darzentas, 2011). Meanwhile, Castro et
al, (2010) in a policy think tank and recommendation document, call for the setting up of
academic research centres to work on accessible self- service design.
This area proved so rich a source of contemporary subjects of concern that it offered itself
with interesting challenges for project work in other courses. The courses that were
involved, besides Design for All (Inclusive Design), were Ergonomics; Information Design;
and Systems Thinking. In addition, our students met and worked with students from other
Universities during an Erasmus sponsored Intensive Program (IP) of two weeks duration
on Sustainable and Service Design.
It should be remarked that there was no one complete brief on self-service carried on
throughout these various courses as one overall project. Such an approach is sometimes
taken in other design schools. While there are merits to this approach, our intention was to
use the area of self-service in such a way that it became a familiar reference point for
students as they encounter it again, for their new design learning. This meant that other
problematic areas were often used, but when appropriate, exercises and project work
drew upon this area so that students themselves could start to feel their way in bringing in
their knowledge sets to bear in a more integrated or interdisciplinary way.
The next paragraphs briefly describe the kinds of learning and activities undertaken by the
students in different classes. They are not intended to be exhaustive accounts, but to give
the flavor of how one contemporary problematique can be used to raise concerns and
draw in student learning from different perspectives.

Design for All

Design for All is a course offered at our University to introduce students in the Human
Interaction Design direction to expand their designs from the user to users of all types.
The curriculum followed by this course is aligned with the European curricula
recommendations set up by the IDCnet project3 and continued by the DfA@einclusion4
project and well as taking note of teaching styles practiced by other institutions (Dong,
3

IDCnet Project (Inclusive Design Curricula network project)

http://www.idcnet.info/index.html
4
DfA@eInclusion project http://www.dfaei.org/

1509

2010). The organization of class is described in more detail in (Darzentas & Darzentas,
2012). For student project work in this class, we have chosen various aspects of selfservice terminals (SSTs) as the entry point for students into this problem space of self
service offerings. This is because above all, these machines are nearly always intended
for use for the general public, they are nearly always situated in public spaces, but they
are very often not accessible to all would-be users. Students are encouraged to look
beyond the delivery touchpoint of the service, -the SSTs- to the whole service encounter,
to present both suggestions for micro improvements to service delivery, as well as
suggestions for macro improvements to the service as a whole.
More specifically, in this course, as part of the project work, students are asked to study
existing self-service systems and evaluate them for accessibility, using traditional field
studies for collecting data (e.g. by observing users on site, by interviewing them, etc.).
Further to their analysis of problems found, they were asked to diagnose designs that
posed accessibility problems, and to propose improvements and changes.
These proposals range from minor to major changes. Minor changes might be to
suggest relocation for the SSTs to a more physically accessible area or the incorporation
of a shelf or a grab rail for users who have difficulties with the things they are holding or
who may be unsteady on their feet. Examples of more major changes included
incorporating audio instructions for users with vision impairment or for those people who
prefer to have reinforcement with another modality. In this way, students are led to
question standard components such as touch screens and to appreciate that the
Universal Design principle of Flexibility in Use (The Center for Universal Design, 1997)
may be used here to guide designs which offer users more than one way to interact, e.g.
touch and sound.
More deeply seated systemic prposals question whether the self-service cannot be
offered in another way, for instance by minimizing contact of the user with a SST, as in
using contactless cards or devices, and transactions that require a single swiping motion
rather than complicated input interacting with an interface of buttons, screens, slots and
even twisting large knobs (see Figure 4). They are required to consider whether their
designs are workable only with simple transactions, like deducting the price of a ticket
from an electronic card (as in the London Transports Oyster Card system) and whether
they are plausible for more complicated scenarios, where the customer needs to
negotiate with the SST, such as getting information about pricing or wayfinding.

1510

Figure 4: Interface components that may present difficulties in use: The knob in question
is situated under the lower right hand corner of the screen. Source:
http://stibmaitri.voila.net/index_en.html
The students often come up with many innovative ideas. One of these, using air flows
generated by the machinery to be directed to slots that are to be used next in the
interaction process, has been taken up by industry. This was inspired after viewing a
video of a blind user5, trying to plug in his headphones to an ATM to avail himself of
spoken instructions, and struggling to find the socket. The airflow was conceived as a
haptic clue for users without vision, but also as a useful feature for all users unsure of
which slot in the range of slots on an ATM (card reader slot, receipt dispenser slot, cash
delivery slot, barcode reader slot, etc.) is the next to become active in the process.

Ergonomics and Human Factors

As part of the exercises carried out in this class, anthropometric data sets and other
ergonomic and human factors recommendations regarding working conditions in terms of
lighting, noise and temperature levels are applied to SSTs. Students evaluated height and
reach parameters; they studied the locations of specific SSTs and made
recommendations for improvement. Suggestions included facilitating better line of sight to
machine: avoiding locations where conditions may impair users such as those that are
noisy, cold, in bright sunlight, etc. Other exercises asked students to devise laboratory
controlled testing situations for use with test users to collect data on observed interaction.

Tommy Edison (2011 uploaded) How Blind People use the ATM, Tommy Edison
Experience http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jzah0A6IC5o
5

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Information Design
Information Design deals with making data and information understandable by humans.
Several more formal definitions are available. According to the International Institute for
Information Design (IIID)6, it is research and practice in optimizing information and
information systems for knowledge transfer in everyday life, business, education and
science, and Jacobson (2000, p5) notes that the key feature of information design is that
it is to do with meaning, rather than with materials. It is essentially to do with sensemaking, and with how to present data and information in ways that people can easily
understand and use.
Some of the exercises in this class took the students back to SSTs and in particular the
design of instructions on how to use the SST. Evidence showed that instructions supplied
by the manufacturer were often supplemented by the deployer of the SSTs, in the form of
extra instructions taped to the machine or some nearby surface. In addition, the
information that people have to interact with while they are actually using the machine,
that is displayed on screens, on button labels, etc., is often at odds with what they expect
and leaves them confused and frustrated. Sample screen shots were analysed and
redesigns made. However, students were encouraged not to just remain at the level of
redesign of instructional text, but to question the whole process, looking from redesigning
problematic screens to looking for simpler and more intuitive ways to present instructional
information to users.
Tangential to the direct work on SSTs, was the brief for one of the small projects. The
problem to be tackled was that noted by researchers (Choi et al, 2006; Law et al., 2007)
that guidelines for designers of Design for All (or Universal Design) were often not well
designed. Students made infographics that took a set of Design for All recommendations
for designing accessible SSTs that was 76 pages long and turned into interesting and
engaging one pagers. These infographics have been evaluated highly by judges from
outside the department comprising designers as well as interested parties from the SST
industry. The important point was that students made strategic choices about what
information should be included on the infographic, and how other information could be left
to sink into the background. An example is below: see Figure 5.

International Institute for Information Design IIID http://www.iiid.net/.

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Figure 5: Guidelines at a glance. Infographic for the accessible design of SSTs (work
of student Katerina Karagianni)

Systems Thinking
Finally, students have been exposed to Systems Thinking very early on in our design
school. They meet it in the first semester of their first year, and then again in the second
semester of the second year, where they learn about it in detail. By the time students
reach the Ergonomics and Human Factors, Design for All and Information Design courses
that are run in the respectively in the second semester of the third year, the first and
second semester of the fourth year, they are normally well versed in theory,
knowledgeable about examples they have been taught, but with a modicum of exposure
to real-life problems.
We begin by positing that a perfectly designed accessible SST may still deliver an
inaccessible service. A systems thinking approach to the whole problem space of self
service is one which can highlight the interactions within the systems concerned, identify
the relevant subsystems and create root definitions to help to guide interventions that will

1513

be more effective and far ranging than simply dealing with one type of service delivery
mechanism. A more complete description of systems thinking applied to this area is
available in (Darzentas & Darzentas, 2013).

Erasmus Intensive Programme on sustainable and service design

One of the ways we have been able to gauge whether this approach to fostering
interdisciplinarity is being cultivated by our students is in an intensive programme that
runs for two weeks with students from three or four other universities. The complete
programme is described in (Bofylatos et al., 2013)
For our students, this is their first exposure to classes on service design (Maglio et al,
2006, Spohrer et al, 2007) and to sustainable design. The point of the programme is for
students to undertake interdisciplinary work and combine these emerging fields and apply
them to real world projects that involve issues of service and sustainability.
One of the interesting themes to appear was the need of facilitating the customer-service
provider collaboration. This is in line with academic and commercial literature on service
design (Vargo et al. 2008). These show that there is emerging practice in self-service
design of co-designing the experience. In this view, users are viewed as collaborators who
undertake willingly to enter into transactions with the service via whatever delivery method.
This means fostering an atmosphere of cooperation where users are not passive
consumers of services, but active participants in acquiring the goods or services they
require. Thus the problem is not just one of good or accessible design, but also requires
helping customers engage in the collaboration.

Discussion
As is well understood in pedagogical theory and praxis, understanding is significantly
supported when illustrated with good examples. The example of self service is sufficiently
rich and familiar, while being the subject of intense activity that is both practical and
academic, to offer a good grounding for, on the one hand, theories, approaches and
methodologies and on the other, for practice based activities and project work.
At the same time, within this context of self service, stretching the design brief of selfservice design to include the needs of elderly and disabled users, or even the needs of
users in handicapping contexts, such as noisy backgrounds, or difficulties with ambient
lighting, has shown benefits. We have found this assists students in thinking about
solutions that go further and cover needs that people may not even realise they have. It
leads students to go beyond the self-service terminal itself, and to examine the service
offered so as to be more innovative and creative in their approaches to dealing with the
problem space.
Our experiences have led us to believe that our students can be usefully trained in this
way to break out of disciplinary boundaries and attempt more holistic solutions. These
may prove in the long term more efficient than a concentrating on one aspect of the
overall problem. Of course, as good interdisciplinary collaborators they should be capable
of offering assistance with those individual aspects, but this should be with the
understanding that fixing these only offers partial solutions to the overall problem space.
In terms of SSTs, such an outlook could help designers to guard against costly machine
refits that may not be worth the effort and guides designers to look for other types of
solutions. Ideally, such designers will be able to help to achieve both the goals of Design
for All and consumers as well as those of the business, by aligning those goals so as to
be mutually understandable, and as far as possible mutually beneficial, rather than
conflicting.

1514

It goes without saying that working with other disciplines in real life project is also a
necessary part of this process. Hence our students are required to undertake internships
in the final years of their degree courses, when they have finished the majority of courses.
However, we believe that working throughout their courses with some common exemplars
may prove very useful. We offer our experiences in the spirit of looking for ways to foster
the necessary abilities to work in interdisciplinary settings that will be required of design
graduates working on inclusive designs in the future.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The research reported on in this paper has been carried out as part of the eAccess+
network (www.eaccessplus.eu) funded by the European Union.
My thanks to the students who contributed samples of their work and research.

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Vargo, S. L., Maglio, P. P. & Akaka, M. A. (2008) On value and value co-creation: A
service systems and service logic perspective. European Management Journal 26(3) 145152.
Wang, C. Harris, J. & Patterson, P.G. (2012) Customer choice of selfservice technology:
the roles of situational influences and past experience. Journal of Service Management,
23(1) 54-78
Ziosk.com (2013) Revolutionizing the experience and economics of casual dining.
retrieved 15 October 2013 from http://ziosk.com/#intro

Jenny S. Darzentas
Dr Jenny S. Darzentas (BA, London, UK, PhD, City University, UK) works in the
Department of Product and Systems Design Engineering (www.syros.aegean.gr of the
University of the Aegean (www.syros.aegean.gr and lectures on Design for All;
Information Design; Interaction Design Communication Theory, Organisational Theory,
Behaviour and Service Design.

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Her publications cover topics in Design and HCI (Human Computer Interaction), such as
user needs for information; accessibility practices and policies; and educational
requirements for Design for All. In addition, she has worked on many national and
European funded projects, on library and archival programmes; online learning; on issues
of accessibility; on personal profiles/device profiles aiming at seamless interactions, and
has published on these subjects.
Her current research interests focus on the questions about self service and accessibility,
and the contributions of frameworks and methodologies from Systems Thinking to Service
Design and its accessibility and to Information Design. A fuller Curriculum Vitae is
available at http://www.syros.aegean.gr/users/jennyd/cv_en.pdf

John Darzentas:
Professor John Darzentas (BSc Athens, MSc Sussex, UK, PhD, London, UK) is Head of
the Department of Product and Systems Design Engineering (www.syros.aegean.gr) of
the University of the Aegean (www.aegean.gr).
He has held academic faculty positions in universities in the UK and in Greece, and
departmental headships, including Docent at the Abo Akademi, Turku, Finland, visiting
Professor in the Department of Economics, University of Athens, and others.
His research interests are wide ranging and include Systems Thinking and Systems
Design; Service Design; Information Systems Design; Intelligent Systems and Decision
Support Systems; Human Computer Interaction; Design for All; Learning Systems and
Technologies, and issues of Multi-Inter-Trans-Disciplinarity.
He is on the editorial board of a number of journals and has authored many papers
published in books, journals and conference proceedings. He has served as Scientific
Lead in many research programmes, funded both at national and European level. He is
invited expert / member of IFIP TC13 (International Federation of Information Processing
Technical Committee 13) on HCI.
A fuller Curriculum Vitae is available at http://www.syros.aegean.gr/users/idarz/cv_en.pdf

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Adapting Data Collection Methods for Different

Participants of the User Study: to Improve the Empathic
Understanding between Designers and Users
Shu Yuan, Tongji University
Hua Dong, Tongji University

Abstract
Design probes were developed to help collect user data before a co-design workshop,
with the aim to create an effective dialogue between the users and the designers, and to
help designers quickly build empathic understanding. The trial probes were developed
and handed out to four users: a chef with poliomyelitis, a 74-year-old university lecturer,
and two much younger ladies who had hearing impairments. Early feedback was received
from the users and used to adapt the data collection methods for each user. The rich data
collected from the diverse means proved effective in facilitating the subsequent co-design
workshop. Based on the reflections of the study, suggestions were proposed for adapting
data collection methods for different participants of the study.

Keywords
Collecting user data; Probes; Empathic understanding; Co-design

Introduction
Personal interaction with people is the best way of getting contact and building up an
empathic understanding (Mattelmki, 2006, p35). However, for professional designers, it
is not always practical to make a lot of personal contacts with users. Probes are effective
in building empathy between the designers and the participants of the study. Empathy has
two directions: towards the participants of the study to create a respectful dialogue and
towards the designer to support empathic understanding (Mattelmki, 2003, p147).
In 2012, we organized a co-design workshop at Tongji University, Shanghai, and found
that collaboration between professional designers and the participants of the study
(referred to as users) was not a natural process for either side (Author, 2013). On the
one hand, it was a challenge for designers to empathize with users. On the other hand, it
was not easy for users to explicitly express their feelings and thinking during the co-design
process. In preparation for the second co-design workshop in 2013, we adopted probes
as an initial method, with the following purposes:

To gain empathic understanding of users personalities, their living environments,

experiences, personal values and expectations
To collect data for the co-design workshop

Probes
Probes are a collection of assignments through which or inspired by which the users can
record their experiences as well as express their thoughts and ideas (Mattelmki, 2006,
p40). As an approach of user-centered design for understanding human phenomena and
exploring design opportunities, probes have three features. Firstly, probes are based on
user participation by means of self-documentation. Secondly, probes look at the users
personal context and perceptions. Thirdly, probes have an exploratory character
(Mattelmki, 2006, p40). The three benefits of probes are: through self-documentation,
users have topics to explain to designers. Then a conversation begins. Through the data
collected from probes, designers can understand the real situation about users saying

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and then empathize with them. Probes explore new opportunities rather than solve
problems that are known already (Mattelmki, 2006, p40). This will help tackle wicked
problems (Rittel & Webber, 1984), as users often cannot clearly explain what problems
they have.
It was hoped that the collection of rich data through probes would assist the users to
explain their ideas and create a dialogue with the designers at the co-design workshop, as
well as to help designers to build up an empathic understanding of the users.

The Study
Participants
Four persons were involved in the study. Two (User 1 and User 2) had participated in the
co-design workshop 2012, and the other two were new recruits. User 1 is a retired chef
with poliomyelitis. User 2 is a 74-year-old lady who used to be a university lecturer. Users
3 and 4 are two active ladies (aged between 25-30) with hearing loss. They communicate
with the help of hearing aids. The two ladies are very good friends and are both interested
in hip-hop dancing. The participants were selected because of their diverse range of
abilities and backgrounds, as well as their willingness of participation and availability
during the period of the study.
The phases of data collection
At the beginning of the study, the researchers were uncertain whether the probes would
result in a haul of material once they have been sent (Mattelmki, 2006, p85). DeLongis
advice is to minimize the uncertainty by contacting the users and asking about the latest
news at the documentation stage in order to maintain their motivation (Mattelmki, 2006,
p85). A trial probe was developed at the early stage, including a diary style booklet, a film
camera, stationery (pens and tape for recording and sticking together information
collected) and a How to use instruction (Figure 1). The participants were contacted to
give feedback to the trial probes two weeks after they had received the probe pack. Based
on each users feedback, changes were made to make the probe fit the users preferred
ways of recording their lives.

Figure 1: The trial probe pack

Users were asked to take a photo when they were impressed or inspired by something
and wanted to tell others what he/she had seen. In the data collection phase, the camera
was a key element. One purpose of the photographic tasks was to give the user
something to think about, either experiences of the day, or ideas for the future (Mattelmki,
2006, p85). These perceptions and reflections of their daily life collected conversation
topics, which could remind the users when co-designing with the designers. Another
reason of using a camera was that visual materials facilitate information exchange during
their communication/dialogue with the designers, which would enhance empathic

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understanding. The suggestion of Delongis (1992) was followed to adapt data collection
methods according to different users preferences. The data collection means with
different users are shown in Figure 2.

Trial

Data Collection

Outcomes

Figure 2: The phases of user data collection (R: researchers U: users D: designers)
User 1
In the trial, User 1(referred to as U1 in figure 2) was asked to record his daily cooking
process by the camera and take notes in the diary book. When User 1 was visited after
two weeks, he said, I didnt write anything in the diary book. Its too hard for me to write
diary as I seldom write in my daily life now. I prefer operation [cooking]. However when Im
cooking, its not convenient for me to take photos of myself.
User 1s reflections on trial probes showed that he was not interested in recording his life
as he considered it as too much workload. He was not used to the academic way such as
taking notes. He even made fun of himself by saying that he was illiterate. He asked the
researcher (first author) to help record his cooking process. So the researcher shot the
whole cooking process when U1 cooked a formal, traditional Chinese meal at home for his
family. Still photos were also taken at the same time. Figure 3, a screenshot from the
video recording, shows that U1 was a very experienced cook. He was full of confidence
when doing the things he was familiar with. It proved that it was more comfortable for U1
to collect data by his preferred wayoperation instead of taking notes or photos.

Figure 3: Screenshots from U1s cooking recording

The researcher classified all the video and photo data under U1s instructions. Video clips
and photos were presented at the co-design workshop. As operation was a better
communication means for U1, in the co-design workshop, a cooking session was

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arranged for U1 in his dialogue with the designers. It was hoped that the live operation
would help the designers understand U1s experiences and his working environment.
User 2
User 2 (referred to as U2 in Figure 2) received a probe pack with a relatively broad
briefing. During the first two weeks, U2 shot less than 10 photos, but every photo
described a story in her life. Unfortunately, with the film camera, it was impossible to
review the photos when U2 was explaining the stories. U2 also took notes in her own
booklet as she was used to draft lecture notes before a formal copy. Interests and passion
were apparent in U2s conversation with the researcher, which suggested that the trial
probe worked for her.
The researcher encouraged U2 to continue recording scenarios that were meaningful to
her. However, one more week later when U2 was visited again, there was little further
progress. U2 explained, Once I had some reflections either from my own life or
something I saw from others, I would take a photo. But everyday was the same for me,
nothing special happened. Her motivation for recording and taking photos hence
decreased. From the conversation with her, it was found that the focus of her life at the
time was taking care of her husband, who had been recently diagnosed cancer and
stayed in hospital for many months. So U2 was encouraged to take photos around taking
care of her husband and focus on the hospital, for example, the facilities in the hospital.
U2 also said that she was afraid of wasting the film, so before she took a photo she had to
consider whether it was worth shooting. This might be another reason for the small
number of photos she took. So a digital camera was given to her to replace the film
camera after three weeks of trial.
Once a new direction was given, U2 had the motivation again, and took a lot of photos.
Figure 4 shows a bag U2 shot which was used to deliver meals to her husband. There are
two bags together; inside is a bag made of hard plastic and outside is a reusable cloth bag.
As U2 explained, the inner plastic bag was used to ensure stability of the lunch box, but its
handle was too short to put on the shoulder for carrying, so the cloth bag with long straps
was wrapped outside to perform this function. U2 actually invented this meal bag
specially for hospital meal delivery.

Figure 4. The lunch bag

U2 regarded the probe task as a variation of her monotonous life it let her do something
more interesting than just taking care of a patient. Additionally, her higher education

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background made it easy for her to discuss and explain things. In the data collection
phase, more than 80 photos were chosen (of which 50 were taken by U2) and they were
classified into two main parts: one about U2s daily routine, personalities and personal
value; the other part was around hospital issues. The first part was presented in a set of
cards (see Figure 5), with photos and quotes from U2. The hospital photos were added
texts to aid understanding.

Figure 5: Some cards showing U2s daily routine, personalities and personal value
Users 3 and 4
The trial probes were not fully embraced by Users 3 and 4 (referred to as U3 in Figure 2).
Although they wrote daily routines in the diary book, there was little reflection. They were
more used to jot down things in blogs and record interesting occasions on their daily lives
via Wechat, an instant messaging and sharing application for smartphones they use.
The communication between the researchers and U3 were easy as they were of a similar
age, and the two users had decent language skills despite the fact that they had hearing
impairments. User 4 had training in art and design, and they were proactive in suggesting
topics for the co-design workshop. Although they did not make much use of the probe
pack for collecting information, they provided rich data through alternative means that they
were familiar with and were comfortable to use.

Evaluation
The data collected through the probe study and other means (e.g. in the case of U1 and
U3) were presented at the 2nd co-design workshop on the 20th October 2013, in the format
of photos, cards with notes, and short videos. The four users were present when
designers reviewed these data (Figure 6) and helped explain the data and answer
inquires from the designers. Based on these data and user input, design opportunities
were identified and solutions co-developed. The user data collected from the probe study
proved very useful in helping facilitate conversations and empathy building at the codesign workshop.

1523

Figure 6: Photo reviewing at the co-design workshop

The effectiveness of the user data and the co-design process was further evaluated
through questionnaires to the designers and the users after the co-design workshop. For
designers, all of them thought the photos, videos were really helpful for understanding the
users. For users, all of them thought that designers were able to think from their
perspectives for problem-identification and solution-development. Compared with the first
co-design workshop 2012, the 2013 workshop was more successful in terms of userdesigner interaction, thanks to the data collected from the pre-workshop probe study.
Ample photos and videos collected from the probe study had supplied sufficient
conversation topics for the users and designers during the co-design workshop, and
natural interactions between the designers and the users were observed after their
conversations over reviewing the photos, cards, and videos.

Discussion
Probes were adopted as a user data collection method in this study, and the key insight
was that data collection methods should be adapted for different participants of the user
study.
For User 1, writing seemed to be a difficult task. Different methods such as video
recording by another person proved more suitable and effective. However, as users
perceptions often differ from researchers and designers, it is better to encourage users to
get used to recording their lives by photographs. User 2 initially said that there was no
special thing in her life and every day was the same to her (i.e. not too much worth
recording). It proved hard for an older user to be motivated to use a camera to record
their lives. She considered taking photos as a task. On the contrary, Users 3 and 4 had
been taking photos using smart phones all the time and they regarded taking photos as a
natural part of their lives.
For younger users, modern communication approaches such as Wechat and microblog
seemed to be better and faster means to get an insight into their lifestyles. For older users,
ethnographic studies need to be conducted in order to understand users and build good
relationships with them. When they started to lose motivation, directions should be given
to help them focus.

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Although disposable cameras (with film) are often used in design probes, our study
suggests that digital cameras are more effective as the user will be less concerned when
taking photos and the photos can be easily reviewed while discussing them.
Finally, it is important to visit the users regularly to maintain his/her motivation and spot
any potential problems and adapt the method accordingly.

Conclusions
In the book Design Probes, Mattelmki has clearly and precisely explained how probes
could be used for data collection. In a practical study, the design probes were applied in
collecting user data. This paper recorded the whole application process step by step. It
was proved that design probes could help gain rich data for an in-depth study. However,
the application process was time-consuming. This method is better suit for small sample
size.
This study explored design probes as a method for collecting user data for facilitating codesign in terms of creating a dialogue and building empathic understanding. The trial
probe packs were sent to four users and each responded differently. Through early user
feedback, the user data collection methods were adapted timely to suit each type of users,
and rich data were collected from each user, which proved effective in facilitating
interactions between the designers and the users in the subsequent co-design workshop.
During the data collection process, different user preferences were observed, especially
between the younger and older users. Younger users tend to use their familiar means to
record their lives; while older users need motivation and reminders for utilizing cameras to
record their lives. To make design probes more effective, user preferences need to be
investigated and flexible data collection methods should be adopted. Although it can be
time consuming for collecting such rich user data, they proved extremely effective in
contextualizing the conversation between the users and the designers, and had the
potential to enhance the quality of co-designing.

References
DeLongis, A., Hemphill, K. J. & Lehman, D. R. (1992). A structured diary methodology for
the study of daily events. In Bryant et al. (Eds.), Methodological issues in applied
psychology. (pp. 83-109). New York: Plenium Press.
Mattelmki, T. (2003). Probes: Studying experiences for design empathy. In Koskinen, I.,
Battarbee, K. & Mattelmki, T. (Eds.), Empathic Design. User experience in product
design. (pp. 119-130). Helsinki: IT Press.
Mattelmki, T. (2006). Design Probes. Vaajakoski: Gummerus Printing.
Rittel, H. W. J. & Webber, M. M. (1984). Planning problems are wicked problems. In Cross,
N. (Ed.), Developments in design methodology. (pp. 135-144). New York: John Wiley &
sons.

Shu Yuan
A doctoral student in Tongji University in Shanghai, China. Her main research field is
empathic design and co-design.

Hua Dong
A professor and the dean of college of art and media in Tongji University. She has been
doing inclusive design research for more than 10 years.

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Supporting the designers to build empathy with people

with Parkinson's disease: the role of a hand tremor
simulating device and of user research with end-users
Laura Boffi, Interaction Designer and Researcher, Rome, Italy
Marco Fontana, Percro Lab, TeCIP Institute, Scuola Superiore SantAnna, Pisa, Italy
Gastone Pietro Papini Rosati, Percro Lab, TeCIP Institute, Scuola Superiore SantAnna,
Pisa, Italy
Monica Milani, Dyson, UK

Abstract
In this paper we describe a research study aiming to support designers in building
empathy with Parkinson end-users through the introduction in the design process of a
hand shaking wearable device with simulates Parkinson hand tremor. We describe the
experience that designers gained by wearing the hand shaking device and the insights
that they expressed towards the improvement of a specific product they tested the
shaking device with, such as the gas hob. We then focus on a parallel user research with
people with Parkinson's disease that was conducted in the same period in order to
observe how actual users suffering from hand tremor interact with the gas hobs and the
kitchen environment; which constrains they experience; which concerns they express, and
eventually which design opportunities raise from the learnings gained by meeting the
users.
Our conclusion is that the hand tremor simulating device represents and innovative tool
which temporarily can convey designers some physical effects caused by Parkinsons
disease where no other ways are possible nowadays, but the greater understanding of the
end-users, and hopefully an empathic connection, can be reached when the simulated
physical impairment is informed by close observation and active engagement with actual
users.

Keywords
Empathy; User research; Simulation; Haptic interface; Parkinson.

The search for experiencing the physical impairments of

another person
Recently design research has been focusing on building an empathic connection with
end-users through different design ethnographic techniques. What still challenges
researchers and design practitioners though is how to get the physical experience of the
people they are designing for, especially when those people have some kind of body
limitations due to an illness or simply to ageing.
One of the most inspiring designer who tried at first to experience the physical impairment
of another group of users, such as the elderly, has been Patricia Moore. She was a
designer for the design firm Raimond Loewy who couldnt bear the fact that her
colleagues designers were not considering the elderly and their physical limitations when
designing new products. At the beginning of the 80 she dressed up and made up as an
elderly, wore uncomfortable shoes which forced her using a walking stick, plugged her
ears and used glasses to blur her vision, put bandages on her chests forcing her to fold
her body while walking and started to visited several American cities as an elderly lady
(see Fig 1).

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She tried to experience the world with the body of an 80 years old lady thanks to her
camouflage and body prosthetics and managed to gain meaningful insights on what being
an elder can mean.

Figure 1: Patricia Moore experimenting the world as an elderly lady, beginning of the 80s.
Patricia Moore was the author of several designs of objects which are also usable by
elderly people and became one of the initiator on Universal Design and the pioneer of the
search for empathy with end-users.
Cardoso and Clarkson (2012) recently proposed a methodology for inducing on designers
empathy with disabled end-users. The basic concept consists in using a set of devices
worn by designers, called capability-loss simulators, that constraint the motor and/or
perceptual capabilities of the healthy user (i.e. the designer) to induce the sensation of
end-users disabilities.
An analogous approach has been assumed by several car manufacturers and, lately, at
MIT with the AGNES project (Age Gain Now Empathy System) aiming at the development
of an ageing suit able to induce both motor and visual impairments (MIT Age Lab, n.d.).
Such systems are able to induce several visual/motor disabilities that are associated with
ageing. However, due to their passive nature, they lack of flexibility and require a long
time to be dressed, set up and tuned. Recently, the research community has started to
investigate new computer based programmable Human Computer Interaction (HCI)
systems that are able to simulate different types of disabilities. The aim is to deploy a
flexible system that allows to simulate several types of disabilities with different degrees of
severity that can be easily set by programming. One of such systems has been studied for
visual impairments in the field of word processors and web-design software (Oikonomou,
Votis, Tzovaras, & Korn, 2009; Strobbe et al., 2012). Moreover, a tool for the design of
accessible graphical user interfaces based on EmD principles has been developed by
Breiner et al. (Breiner, Wchner, & Brunnlieb, 2011).
The difference between the previous attempt of the camouflage of Patricia Moore and all
those other engineered simulation models developed later lays in the fact that Patricia
was emulating the physical limitation of an elderly in the real world, interacting with real
context and persons around her. She was rehearsing her elderly age in a real scenario,
while constraining her body as if it was older. The engineered simulation models let you
temporarily experience a handicap, extrapolating the experience from its real context and
without letting confront you your simulated experience with users really suffering from that

1527

body problem. We argue in this paper that instead a physical limitation simulator can
express his empathy potential when get enriched by real context immersion and by the
observation with actual users experiencing the body limitation for illness or ageing
reasons.

The hand tremor

Tremor is a common disturbance of movement control, and it is defined as a rhythmic and
oscillatory movement of a body part, caused by involuntary repetitive muscles
contractions. It can vary in time-shape and amplitude, and is influenced by motor,
physiological, or psychological factors. Tremor can be noticed in hands and arms, but it
may affect several parts of the body. Tremor can be classified in:

Resting: tremor occurs when muscles are resting and can disappear or become
less noticeable when muscles moves;

Intention: tremor occurs at the end of an intended movement, such as writing,

pressing a button, or reaching for an object, but can disappear while the affected body
part is at rest.

Postural or actions: tremor occurs when holding the arm or leg against gravity or
other forces in a position, this may happen when holding a cup, the arms out, or standing
up straight.
Every person is slightly affected by tremor that superimposes on the voluntary actions.
Stress, fatigue, anger, fear, caffeine, and cigarettes may induce a temporary increasing of
the intensity of tremor.
However, there are several diseases whose symptoms consist in levels of tremor that
influence and sometimes impede the normal execution of Activities of Daily Living (ADL).
The three most diffused types of pathologies associated with relevant levels of handtremor are: Essential tremor, Parkinson and Cerebellar Tremor. A comprehensive study
and survey of all types of disease that are associated with tremor has been conducted by
Wyne (2005). A numerical investigation of spectral analysis of tremor is reported in Gresty
& Buckwell (1990).
Each type of tremor has its own general characteristics that change according to the type
of disease. Moreover, detailed features of resting, intention and postural tremor may vary
from patient to patient.
Obviously, the simulation of all the aspects that are associated with tremor pathologies
could be desirable but would require complex and expensive systems. In this work, we are
focusing on postural tremor and its effects on the hand during manipulation/handling of
objects.
Hand tremor consists in a rhythmic cyclical movement in the range of some millimeters at
frequencies included in the interval 4-12Hz. Based in this the system has been developed
in order to make it possible to induce on the user hand a programmed vibration of few
millimeters (2-4 mm) in such frequency range.

The hand tremor simulating device

In order to generate artificial hand-tremor, we have employed the 3 Degrees of Freedom
(DoF) Grab haptic interface described in Marcheschi et al. (2007). Grab is a desktop
force-feedback device based on a RRP serial kinematics and employing grounded motors
and steel cable torque-transmissions. The device was designed with the aim of having low
inertia, low friction and large isotropic workspace comparable to that of human arm. Grab
is able to exert continuous forces, with a bandwidth of about 40Hz, over any desired
direction, in a range of 4N in the worst condition (typically 6-7N). All the DoFs are

1528

sensorized with high-resolution angular optical encoders, ensuring a positional resolution

of 0.1mm and stiffness in the range of 6-7N/mm, both measured at the end-effector.
The Grab end-effector is originally equipped with a small spherical joint, integrating a
thimble for the fingertip or a sensorised plate, the latter used when a higher accuracy is
required (Fontana, Marcheschi, Salsedo, & Bergamasco, 2012).

Figure 2. System overview with haptic interface, controller system and video logging
interface (left) and attachment to the user wrist designed with rapid prototyping techniques
(right).
In order to simulate hand-tremor during the operations of manipulation of objects and
exploration of surfaces, the user hands must be completely free, therefore the existing
end-effectors are not suitable for this task. For this reason we have designed a novel
passive 3 DoF spherical joint where the last link is tightly fasten around the user forearm,
close to the wrist, through velcro strips (see Figure 2). The joint is made of light-weight
polyamide charged with aluminum powder, manufactured with a Direct Printing rapid
prototyping system. The second joint is instead implemented with a large diameter
bearing (Kaydon Reali-Slim Bearing K10008CP0) in order to place the center of the
spherical joint on the same axis of the forearm prono-supination motion. In order to have
a comfortable and solid double-supported connection, we have designed and devolped an
ergonomic c-shape attachment enveloping the user forearm.
The design of the spherical joints kept into account the need of not compromising the
frequency response of the system; this was achieved by maximizing the stiffness
(10N/mm) and minimizing the mass (the total weight is 190 g).
The haptic interface is driven by a control unit equipped with encoder counters, Digital-toAnalog converters and current drivers. The controller runs at a refresh rate of 1kHz,
largely above the requirements for controlling movements in the desired tremor-bandwidth
(4-12Hz).
The complete system is composed by:

the Grab haptic interface, equipped with the novel developed wrist attachment;

a current-driver box including the driving electronics DC 48V-400W power supply;

a real-time operating system XPC target machine employed for implementation of

the developed controllers.
The control procedures have been developed in the MATLAB/Simulink environment and
loaded on the real-time target through an Ethernet connection.

1529

We decided to not use force sensors, since the low friction/inertia of the mechanical
structure and the type of employed motors allow to have reliable estimation of the exerted
force directly from the readings of the motor currents.
The strategy designed to control the system is based on a simple recording and playback
mechanism - i.e. recording hand trajectories of users affected by tremor and playing them
back, through the developed system, on healthy users. The recording phase consists of
measurements on patients using a VR motion tracker (Polhemus Fastrak) able to acquire
the 3D trajectories of small sensors attached to the user wrist. The acquired trajectories
are employed to generate a reference control signal for the device; in this way, the effect
of these trajectories are imposed on the operator wearing the haptic interface, through
properly controlled applied forces. In order not to interfere with the voluntary movements
of the user, the acquired trajectory is filtered with a band-pass filter to remove low
frequency components. The filtered trajectory is employed to command a closed loop
adaptive amplitude force control, as described in Rosati Papini, Fontana, Vertechy,
Carrozzino, & Bergamasco (2013). The control is designed in order to introduce minimal
disturbs on the low frequency movements, that are typically voluntary movements, but at
the same time to guarantee that the amplitude of tremor is independent from the posture
and actions of the end-user.

Experimenting the hand tremor simulating device with

gas hobs
The designers, positioned in front of a gas hob, were asked to wear the system on their
right-hand. They tried two different model of gas hobs: one having knobs placed on a
vertical line and with the spark button; the other one with knobs on a horizontal line and
without the spark button.
They were invited to switch the fire on, regulate the intensity and finally position a pot filled
with water onto it. Designers were also invited to explore freely the gas hobs and perform
actions on their will while wearing the haptic interface. For each gas hob, two different
user models were tried that set two different dynamic parameters for the tremor: the first
one is characterized by an intermediate degree of severity of tremor and low frequency
(6Hz) i.e. parameters that corresponds to Parkinsons disease symptoms; the other one
characterized by an intermediate degree of tremor and high frequency (10Hz), i.e.
corresponding to essential tremor disease (see Fig 3 and 4).

Figure 3. A designer involved in the experiment with the Parkinson simulating device with
gas hobs.

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Gathering designers insights and sketching new ideas

By using the developed system trying out two different models of gas hobs, and by
answering to the semi-structured interview, designers came up with various reflections
and learnings, both on their personal experience of physically simulating the right hand
tremor of a Parkinson person and on potential opportunities to improve the existing gas
hobs.

Figure 4. Different moments of the designer experiments where they gained insights for
improving the existing gas hobs for the benefit also of Parkinson users.

Designer
Monica, Head of INDESIT
Design Center

Meaningful Insights
Lifting the pot to put it on another burner gets really
dangerous: you can spill hot water on you! We might want
the grid to allow the user to slide the pot on the
grid...instead of lifting it..

Xavier, Industrial Design Interni

When one needs to clean the gas hob, its going to be a

challenge to assemble back the components due to the
hand tremor. Moreover, one cant really realize whenever
he/she has put the components back in the correct way.
With this system, only one hand is shaking, so I can push
the spark button with the good hand. Parkinson user
would find very difficult to turn the burner on with this gas
hob, assuming both their hands are shaking.

Elisa, Graphic and Interaction

Designer

Holding my hand to something, or resting it on the

surface, I can cope with the tremor and my fingers
become more static. We might want to get a gas hob
surface where to anchor the hand...
Another way to address the problem of spilling the water
from the pot due to the tremor could be to make signs
inside the pots to visualize the maximum level for filling
it...

Table 1 : Some meaningful insights that interestingly show how designers have started a process
toward a better understanding of problems and proposing solutions for impaired end-users.

After the experiment, each designer has been asked to participate to a semi-structured
interview with the researchers, to elaborate on her/his first experience with the haptic
interface and the physical simulation of Parkinson tremor. The semi-structured interview
was conducted as a conversation plot with the researchers which could allow to focus on

1531

the interaction between the designer, the haptic interface and the gas hob, and at the
same time to ensure that the designer could freely point out relevant aspects of her/his felt
experience with the simulation interface. Moreover, designer described several interesting
first insights on improvements that could be applied to the tested gas hobs for being
accessible to Parkinson users (see Table 1). Both the experiments and the semistructured interviews have been video recorded and later edited and subtitled. Eventually
designers were asked to sketch their initial design ideas on how to improve or redesign
the existing gas hobs. They were provided by a template where they had to give a catchy
title to their design, draw it, briefly explain its main feature and describe which kind of
Parkinson related issues they were addressing with their design (see Fig 5).

Figure 5. A sketch by a designers participating to the experiment, describing a friendly

knob that could be better grabbed by a person suffering from hand tremor.

Meeting actual Parkinson users

Running parallel to the experiment with designers wearing the hand tremor simulator, a
further study was conducted with actual Parkinson users, who were invited to try out the
existing gas hobs. The participants suffered from Parkinson, but with different seriousness
and kind of hand tremor. The experiment with people with Parkinson's disease had to be
conducted in a recreated kitchen environment inside a lab and unluckily it was not
possible to meet the end-users in their own home environment due to security reasons
and projects constrains.
Even if this prevented the researchers from observing the users in their usual context, the
close observation with end-users trying out the gas hobs and engaging them in an open
conversation about what Parkinson hand tremor meant to them was still very enlightening
and revealing. The end-users offered a point of view on their body limitation that was not
possible to reach only by getting a simulating experience of the hand tremor through the
simulating device. It happened that participants were not focusing on what they cannot do
in the kitchen environment, but instead on what they learnt to do differently thanks to
work around or just getting used to their body limitation. For example, some of them learnt

1532

quickly and simplified ways to cook their meal, as long as they keep themselves active in
the kitchen and manage their food independently. Having Parkinson could mean taking a
little longer to turn the gas hobs and regulate it, but it may not prevent them from cooking
anyway. At the same time, for example, what it really could be a bother for them, is the
sound produced by their shaking hand beating the pots or of the gas hobs they hold with
their hand.
While on the one hand the shaking simulator shows the designers some of the physical
problems that Parkinson can involve, the observation and engagement with end-users
allow the designers to get what those limitation really mean for the actual users in real life.
This combination of insights can enable the designers to come up with new design
solutions that not only solve functional aspects for the benefit of people with body
limitations, but more important open the designers new design opportunities that are
meaningful for the persons they are designing for.

Figure 6. A person suffering from Parkinson trying out the existing gas hobs.

Conclusions
In conclusion, with this paper we would like to raise the importance of the involvement of
real users and having the designers engaged with them during the research. The
simulation of a body limitation, like the Parkinson hand tremor one experimented in this
study, cannot return the global daily life experience that people feel due to their body
impairment and cannot communicate the behaviours real users developed over time to
work around it. What we would like to encourage from our study is to let the designers find
their own ways in the design process embracing both the tools of ethnography design
research and the simulator devices that get gradually available from the engineering field.
We envision that this would allow designers to come up with new design solutions that go
beyond the attempts to solve functional issues linked to the body impairments, and
hopefully to empower the users with new kinds of interactions with objects, no matter their
particular body limitations.

1533

References
Moore, P. (Lecturer). (2010). Patricia Moore lecture. [Video]. United States, California
College of Arts. Retrieved Nov, 2013 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xr3ibtQuf2o
Breiner, K., Wchner, T., & Brunnlieb, M. (2011). The disability-simulator: simulating the
influences of disabilities on the usability of graphical user interfaces. Ergonomics and
Health Aspects of Work with Computers, 109118.
Cardoso, C., & Clarkson, P. J. (2012). Simulation in user-centred design: helping
designers to empathise with atypical users. Journal of Engineering Design, 23(1), 122.
Strobbe, C., Frees, B., & Engelen, J. (2012). An accessibility checker for libreoffice and
openoffice. org writer. Computers Helping People with Special Needs, 484491.
MIT Age Lab, M. A. (n.d.). AGNES - Age Gain Now Empathy System.
Oikonomou, T., Votis, K., Tzovaras, D., & Korn, P. (2009). An Open Source Tool for
Simulating a Variety of Vision Impairments in Developing Swing Applications. Universal
Access in Human-Computer Interaction. Addressing Diversity, 135144.

Laura Boffi is an interaction designer with a background in product design. She likes
engaging with people in context doing users research and involving them in design games,
workshops and co-creation sessions that she designs appropriately for them to get
insights. She crafts prototypes and experiences with different media from the earlier
stages of the concept development to the most refined ones and she reiterates users
testing and evaluations over all the design process.

1534

How to Interest People for the Hare instead of the Chase,

An exploration of open script design to change consumer
behaviour.
Liesbeth Stam, Industrial Design Engineering, University of Twente
Wouter Eggink, Faculty of Engineering Technology, University of Twente

Abstract
In this paper we raise the question: does our consumer behaviour make us happy? The
infinite source of consumer desires seems to be the justification of an ever increasing
amount of products that inundate our lives. Consumption itself is set free from any
functional bond, bringing our current consumption levels to the point that it is ecologically
destructive and unsustainable. By examining philosophical theories of well-being we
argue that consumer satisfaction does not of necessity lead to happiness, and we reach
the conclusion that it is in the act of appropriation -fitting the acquired artefacts into our
lives- that consumption of goods renders a meaningful attribution to our well-being.
Building on theories of Science and Technology Studies, we propose the design of objects
with open scripts, as a means to facilitate and encourage this act of appropriation as a
conscious process. This design perspective is made more tangible by the examination of
several examples from fashion design and investigated further in a short design
exploration. Five design professionals were asked to apply the open script design
perspective in the design of new garment concepts. The results of both activities show
that it is possible to design products that encourage the process of appropriation by
demanding a certain dedication of the user in accomplishing her use-goal. We expect that
this encourages product bonding and render our possessions less replaceable.
Although the few products that employ an open script will not overcome
consumerism and transform society at large, we do believe they can help bring about an
attitude change and help to establish well-being as the purpose of consumption.

Keywords
Well-Being; Consumer behaviour; Design Ethics; Design Activism; Open Scripts; Desire
Fulfilment Theories; Value Fulfilment theory; Interpretative Flexibility.
We live in a society in which many hold the belief that the economy is fundamentally ruled
by consumer desires and that consumer satisfaction is the ultimate economic goal. But as
Gibbs (2004) argues, there is little attempt in literature to consider the worth of what is
being satisfied in terms of well-being: we fail to ask whether our consumer behaviour
makes us happy.
Gibbs observes that the opposite might even be the case and suggests that
consumer satisfaction does not of necessity lead to their well-being. To underline, he
paraphrases Bauman: society proclaims the impossibility of gratification and measures its
progress by ever rising demand and makes the consumer the consuming desire of
consuming (Bauman, 2001, p. 13). The inevitable course that the cycle of desire follows
desire, acquisition, reformulation of desire, ad infinitum presupposes us to be in a
perpetual state of dissatisfaction and reveals the self-propelling and perpetuating nature of
consumer desire. In agreement Belk, Ger & Askegaard point out that: the act of
consumption may be more satisfying or relieving than is the purchased object itself (Belk,
Ger, & Askegaard, 2003, p. 327). It seems -so to speak- consumers are more interested
in the chase (pursuing the object) than the hare (owning the object).

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Structure of this paper

The infinite source of consumer desires seems to be the justification of the ever increasing
amount and variety of products that inundate our lives (figure 1). Consumption is set free
from any functional bond (Bauman, 2000), bringing our current consumption levels to the
point that it is ecologically destructive and unsustainable.

Figure 1: Possessions of South Korean Children, photographed by JeongMee Yoon, from

the 2008 Pink & Blue project (Loesberg, 2011).
Against this background, the purpose of our research is to explore if and how we can
reintroduce limits to consumption by means of design, without limiting the consumer
herself. As part of this research, this paper will explore if, and how designers can
intervene to (re-) establish well-being as the purpose of consumption.
In doing so this paper is structured as follows: using the work of Zygmunt Bauman we
start by examining the core values of consumer society, and discuss how the typical
organization of our society prescribes its members what a good life is. Next we will
discuss this image of the good life in relation to philosophical theories of well-being. We
will introduce Tiberius (2011) value-fulfilment theory as a valuable account of well-being
to understand the consumerist good life. Based on this theory we argue that a product
contributes to our well-being if we care about that product. Subsequently we suggest that
to encourage product engagement it is important to adopt a broader understanding of
consumption.
The third part of this paper explores what these notions mean for actual design
practice. The theoretical considerations lead us to adopt the idea of open scripts as a
perspective for designing consumer objects. Finally, we will present a small case study in
which we asked five professional designers to work with the proposed design perspective.

Consumer society and Desire

The typical way in which a society is organized (e.g., as a consumer society) favours
some ways of living over others (e.g., consumerism), and informs its members what a
good life is and how to live it (Wong, 2012). Bauman (2007) argues that well-being cannot
be understood without examining it in the context of the existential conditions of our
society. He compares a society of producers with consumer society through inquiring
various changes in social-cultural, epistemological and institutional dimensions of these
societies. Bauman asserts that the present-day situation emerged out of the radical

1536

melting of the fetters and manacles rightly or wrongly accused of limiting the individuals
freedom to choose and to act (Bauman, 2000, p. 5), which undermined the pre-existing
sources of authority and generated unprecedented uncertainty. He elaborates the
metaphor of liquidity to describe the present state of our society (Bauman, 2000, pp. 2-15)
and proposes immediacy and novelty to be the existential values of liquid modernity.
Immediacy has become a cornerstone of our society as an answer to the prevalent
uncertainty. Whereas novelty was raised as a core value because it invokes a state of
incomplete satisfaction, satisfying the condition of an ever-rising demand.
The prioritization of immediacy and novelty facilitated the emancipation of
consumption from its past instrumentality (serving real life needs) that used to draw its
limits. The emergent society celebrates limitless consumption and primarily needs and
engages its members in their capacity as consumers, who are driven by desire. This
society closes in on an image of the good life, based on the extent to which one is free
and able to instantly gratify ones infinitely renewing desire. In the following chapter we
explore how this image of the good life lines up with more abstract philosophical theories
of well-being.

Desire-fulfilment and Value-fulfilment

Well-being is used to describe what is ultimately good for a person; achieving well-being
means living a life that is good for you (Brey, 2012). It is generally accepted that there are
three main categories of well-being theories (Parfit, 1984, p. 493): hedonist, desirefulfilment and objective list theories. According to hedonistic theories pleasure is the only
intrinsic good; according to desire-fulfilment theories it is the fulfilment of desire; and
according to objective list theories there is a list of things that are intrinsically good for us
independent of their consequential pleasure or pain.
Desire-fulfilment theories are currently the more dominant view in understanding
well-being (Crisp, 2013; Heathwood, 2005). They emerge in the 19th century with the rise
of welfare economy and hold that well-being lies in the satisfaction of desires or
preferences. The popularity of desire-fulfilment theories might be explained by the
seamless fit between their characterizing features (e.g., liberalism, pluralism) and the
image of the good life raised by contemporary (liquid) society. However, Brey (2012)
points out that desire-satisfaction theories present a very abstract, formal theory of wellbeing that neglects to tell anything about the source(s) of well-being. According to desire
fulfilment theories, it is a necessary and sufficient condition that our desires are satisfied
and thus claim that all desire-satisfactions are intrinsically good. Yet, are things good for
us simply because we desire them, or do we rather desire things because they are good
for us? This raises the problem of so-called defective desires. There are cases abound in
which a person desires things that are bad for him: we can have ill-informed desires,
irrational desires, poorly cultivated desires, base desires, pointless desires, desires to be
badly off and artificial desires (Heathwood, 2005). Satisfaction of such defective desires
does not necessarily make the subject better off in terms of well-being. In other words,
what we are motivated to pursue does not automatically give us reasons to do so.
This critique of desire-fulfilment theories is also relevant to consumerism. We
argue that consumer activity is often fuelled by defective desires. It seems that all too
often the joy in realizing a consumer desire is short-lived and as Belk, Ger & Askegaard
describe is transformed into routine, boredom or even negative feelings about the
purchase. (Belk et al., 2003, p. 342). The magical promise of goods-not-yet-possessed is
strengthened not only by marketers, who put in considerable time, money and effort in
enticing consumers, but also by consumers themselves through window-shopping and
daydreaming. The incredible offer of goods, combined with the constant pressure of
society to renew our desires, is likely to often lead to the gratification of desires that are
defective, in the sense that they are not true to ourselves.

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This conclusion evokes the question, if we want to justify the consumption of

goods in terms of well-being and desires are too irrational to guide consumer behaviour,
what then should guide consumer activity?
Hubin (2003, p. 327) holds that the most important problem with artificial desires is that for
some of these desires their objects may be in conflict with the subjects values. Values
serve as a basis for deliberation and planning, and for assessments of how well our lives
are going, therefore value commitments must be more than simple motivational or
affective states. Accordingly, stability and appropriateness are distinctive features of
values that allow them to play the role in our lives as they do (Tiberius, 2011). These
features stand in contrast with the whimsical and ephemeral nature of desire: desires can
literally take any form and do not have any necessary condition of authenticity. In contrast,
values are by their very nature more lasting. Moreover, by their internality requirement,
values cannot be external (Seidman, 2009, p. 273).
These characteristics of values lead Tiberius (2011) to propose the value-fulfilment
theory of well-being, which states that living a happy life means to succeed by the
standards of your values. Value-fulfilment theory succeeds to capture both the subjectivity
and normativity of well-being: values have a specific relation to the subject because we
identify ourselves in terms of our values, and we take values as ends that are normative
for us: we avow them as things that it makes sense to care about, pursue or promote
(Tiberius, 2011). This account of well-being is very valuable in understanding the
consumerist good life. Following this theory, we hold that in achieving well-being, in
contrast to our desires, our values can be considered as rational guides for our consumer
behaviour. To make this conception more tangible, it helps to focus on our carings.
Tiberius points out that to value something is to care about something in a particular way,
and to care about something is at least in part, to have some positive affective orientation
toward it (Tiberius, 2011). Quoting Frankfurt (2004) beautifully illustrates the importance
of our carings:
It is by caring about things that we infuse the world with importance. This provides
us with stable ambitions and concerns; it marks our interests and our goals. [It]
defines the framework of standards and aims in terms of which we endeavour to
conduct our lives. (Frankfurt, 2004, p. 23)
Accordingly we argue that we find our happiness in coming to care about our products.
Obviously, there are many reasons why and how we come to care about a product: it
might fulfil a certain function, it might do something to our identity, we might find it very
beautiful or we might come to care about it simply through use and the inherent creation
of valuable memories. But independent from why we come to care about a product, it
requires a bond to form between user and product.

Re-interpreting, rather than limiting the act of consuming

In todays society we are inclined to understand consumption solely in the act of buying.
Buying is the activity of consumers: when we say that consumers fail, we mean that they
are not pulling their wallet, and not for example that they are not enjoying their products
or that they dont care for their products. With the rise of consumer society and
consumption becoming a goal in itself, the objects of the desire (the products) are no
longer the primary goal of consumption. The emphasis is on the circulation of goods
rather than on the goods themselves. Bauman describes these patterns that result in the
ceaseless succession of goods in a way that bears quoting at length;
The consumerist syndrome has degraded duration and elevated transience. It lifts
the value of novelty above that of lastingness []. It has sharply shortened the
time span separating not just the want from its fulfilment [], but also the birth

1538

moment of the want from the moment of its demise, as well as the realization of
the usefulness and desirability of possessions from the perception of them as
useless and in need of rejection.
Among the objects of human desire, it has put the act of appropriation, to be
quickly followed by waste disposal, in the place once accorded to the acquisition of
possessions meant to be durable and to their lasting enjoyment. (Bauman, 2007,
pp. 85-86)
Here, a paradoxical relation is revealed. Consumerism on the one hand requires a
commitment to the material, while it simultaneously requires disengagement. It seems
better not to get too attached to our products because we are constantly pressed to part
with them again. The constructs of consumer society put the bonding process under
extreme stress. To overcome these structures we need to re-conceptualize our
understanding of consumption as well as our notion of being a consumer.
To keep the consumer from losing herself in infinite renewal of desire we must
encourage product engagement and regain focus on the objects of our wants - the
products themselves. More importantly, if we want to overcome the cycle of desire we
need to understand consumption in the act of appropriating, rather than in the act of
buying. The act of appropriation -making something to be your own- might include the act
of buying but involves a much broader set of actions that allow you to create a bond with
the product. In this perspective consuming a product would mean to incorporate the
product in your life in a way that is meaningful for you.

Emphasising the act of appropriation

In traditional views on product development the consumer and subsequent user are
considered passive agents: marketers deliver finished products which are purchased by
the consumer and used by the user as such. The consumer is not understood to be part of
the shaping of the product. Even despite the focus shift in product development from
technology-push to user-centred design, this has virtually not changed. Although many
recently developed design methodologies include users in the development process, the
actual consumers are not necessarily the same people. Therefore consumers are still
often seen as, and more importantly understand themselves as passive recipients of the
product. We will argue that to encourage product engagement, consumers must be
conceptualized as active actors in the shaping of their products. As we will elaborate next,
following the predicament of scholars of user-technology relations, they become active
actors through the act of appropriation. It is important to note that this simultaneously
introduces a form of responsibility to the notion of consumers: a responsibility to fit their
acquisitions into their lives.
This idea is supported by recent works in the field of Science and Technology Studies
(STS), especially the Social Construction of Technology (SCOT) by Bijker & Pinch (1987)
and Actor Network Theory (ANT) by Latour, Callon and Law (Latour, 1992). In general,
scholars of STS recognize the crucial role of users in shaping technology and claim that
the dichotomy between designer and user should not be taken as an a priori fact
(Oudshoorn & Pinch, 2008). SCOT introduces the term interpretative flexibility to indicate
the multiple ways in which technologies are interpreted by people and thus attain social
meaning. ANT also regards users as active actors in ascribing meaning to technologies. It
uses the concept of script as developed by Akrich (1992), which centres on the
understanding that artefacts can invite, demand or evoke certain behaviour. A designer,
through anticipating future use, implicitly or explicitly builds use-prescriptions in the
materiality of the product:
[] when the technologists define the characteristics of their objects, they
necessarily make hypotheses about the entities that make up the world into which

1539

the object is inserted. Designers thus define actors with specific tastes,
competences, motives, aspirations, political prejudice, and the rest, and they
assume that morality, technology, science, and economy will evolve in particular
ways. A large part of the work of innovators is that of inscribing this vision of (or
prediction about) the world in the technical content of the new object. I will call the
end product of this work a script or a scenario. (Akrich, 1992, p. 206)
However, despite the designers inscriptions, actual users are likely to interpret the script
in their own way and do not per se follow the designers script. Both the concept of
interpretative flexibility as well as script show that when a technology is introduced its
meaning is not predetermined, but socially (and historically) situated. In accordance we
must not consider a product as finished when the marketers take their hands off it: the
final stage of the shaping process starts once a design catches the consumer.
Silverstone and Haddon (1996) call the process that follows domestication, analogue to
the appropriating of livestock to the human needs in ancient history. Domestication is the
aspect of technology development where consumers are confronted with new
technologies and try to fit them in the patterns of their daily life: what is involved is quite
literally a process of taming the wild and cultivation of the tame. (Silverstone & Haddon,
1996, p. 62).
In sum, we have argued that if we understand consumption in the act of
appropriation and see the consumer as an active agent in the shaping process of a
product we can overcome current structures of consumer society and transcend the cycle
of desire. Not only will this introduce a notion of responsibility to the consumer, but it will
also encourage product engagement. More importantly, we believe that this way of
conceptualizing consumption will help in re-establishing boundaries for consumption: not
in terms of needs and survival, but in terms of well-being. To put it in Baumans words: we
believe that understanding consumption in the act of appropriating will transform the
acquisition of possessions to be once again durable and a lasting enjoyment.

How to interest people for the hare instead of the chase?

From our theoretical framework we have come down to the idea of creating products with
an open script -or a high level of interpretative flexibility- in order to stimulate people to
enjoy the possession of products more than the acquisition of new ones. The following
section explores the implications of this idea of open scripts in design practice. We
examined a number of designs that incorporate open scripts and conducted a small
design exploration on fashion design. We chose fashion design as our subject of research
because of its relevance to both consumerism and well-being. Its continual, cyclical nature
presses people to pursue new fashionable garments over and over again. Also, fashion
is very closely related to our identity and the way we want to express ourselves, and
therefore also closely related to our value system.

Open script examples

The first example is the Fatal Dress by Wolford, originally designed by Philippe Starck
(Sweet, 1999). This dress is sold in a box, so small that upon sight it seems nearly
impossible for it to contain a full length dress. Opening the box for the first time might be
quite disappointing: the tube of elastic fabric does not look like a piece of clothing at all, let
alone capable of transforming into a fatal dress. But it does. Even more so, it does not
only transform into a fatal dress, but it can also be worn as a skirt of any length, or as a
top with a straight or sweetheart neckline (figure 1, mid). This simple looking garment
secretly embodies an amazing set of possibilities that allows the user to mold it to her usegoal.

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Figure 1. The Limitless Dress by Emami (left) and the Fatal Dress by Wolford, originally
designed by Philippe Starck as Starck Naked in 1998 (right).
The Limitless Dress, by Emami (figure 1, left) is a garment based on a similar concept,
however slightly more complex than the fatal dress. This garment can be draped into
many different dresses, skirts, tops and even pants. Due to the complexity of this dress it
requires the user to put in some serious effort to create a dress it cannot be simply
thrown on. Via their website Emami offers instruction videos of almost thirty different
ways of draping this dress (Emami.dk, 2013). But this is not all the dress has to offer; for
example, via YouTube users have posted instructions of dresses of their own invention
testifying that the Limitless Dress evokes creativity and engagement of the users. Both
examples show a garment with an open script in that before being able to wear it, the user
must consciously reflect on her use-goals. Only then she can shape the dress such that it
meets these goals. However, although every time she uses the garment she has to quite
literally shape the product, she might not feel as a part of the shaping process because
her contribution is not permanent.

Figure 3: Colour-In Dress by Berber Soepboer and Michiel Schuurman from 2008
(Soepboer & Schuurman, 2008).
This permanent contribution is implemented in the Colour-In Dress, designed by
Soepboer and Schuurman (Figure 3). This will not only enhance product bonding because
the user is encouraged to create a unique garment, but the dress will also raise questions
about how to make this contribution. When will I wear this dress? Do I want to be chic or
casual? By the sheer possibility of allowing the user to color the dress it will encourage the
consumer to think beyond simple cravings, and spark imagination about how to use the
garment. Moreover, the contribution of the user is permanent, but not definitive: it is
possible to initially color a limited amount on, and to color more and different to suit the
dress for another occasion. Furthermore, the Colour-In Dress is a very clever, admirable
design. The intricate graphics allow for any color as well as any amount of color to be
added, while remaining aesthetic. To put it straightforward: it is very difficult to mess up
this design. This touches upon a very important issue in working with open scripts: to
create a successful design the challenge for the designer is to give the user as much
freedom of interpretation as possible while at the same time still being in control of the
quality of the design (aesthetically as well as technically).

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Figure 4. Fragmented Textiles by Berber Soepboer and Fioen van Balgooi (2008).
The final example that we will discuss here are the Fragment Textiles (Figure 4) designed
by Soepboer and Van Balgooi. The goal of the designers was to design environment
friendly garments that can be worn in different ways so that the owner can make choices
in how to wear the cloth (Soepboer & Schuurman, 2008). They developed two small wool
forms squares and stars which can be assembled to create a fabric. The forms have
small slits which enables two pieces to connect and hold but also to be disconnected
again. Hence, the pieces of clothing made from these fabrics are completely changeable
in color and form.

Design exploration
The given examples of garments are open-script designs in retrospect. The designers although sometimes with similar goals in mind- were not aware of this aspect of their
designs. So these examples do not provide any understanding of what the idea of open
scripts means as a design approach. Therefore we conducted a design exploration in the
form of a half-day guided brainstorm session, in which five professional designers
participated.
After a short introduction on open scripts, the session was divided in three design
rounds. In the first round the participants were challenged to design pieces of clothing
from different functionalities (e.g., to cover, to protect, to provide identity). In the second
round the designers were asked to design new ways of shopping for clothing or new shop
concepts addressing the active attitude of the consumer in shaping the clothes to fit her
life. In the final round they were asked to design garments that would be not immediately
wearable.

Figure 5. Two design ideas from round 1: The four season scarf and The endless jeans.
Two results of the first round are shown in figure 5. The four season scarf is a long haired
scarf that can be modified using scissors or a razor, i.e. according to the seasons. The
pattern of the underlying fabric increasingly reveals, allowing the user to create different

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appearances. The Endless Jeans concept shows a dispenser machine that offering
endless trouser leaving the consumer with separate parts that must be assembled. A
similar concept is the Endless scarf that might be offered from a similar machine, where
the consumer must choose the length of the scarf.
Figure 6 shows two results of round 2, re-thinking the way clothing could be
purchased. Choose 'n Make is a store concept similar to a sandwich store, where you can
assemble your roll by choosing all the different toppings. In this clothing store you have to
i.e. combine different models with different fabrics and patterns and for example buttons.
At the end of the lined you can drink a cup of coffee and wait for your garment to be
assembled. Adopt a Sheep offers you to adopt a sheep, or a cotton patch, or an oil pump.
You are then allowed to harvest the raw materials (actually or virtually) which you can
use to make clothing. This way the user is engaged with the process and becomes aware
of what it takes to produce clothes.

Figure 6. Two results from round 2: Choose n Make shop concept and Adopt a Sheep.
Some results of the last round, thinking up garments that are not readily wearable, are
shown in figure 7. Bake a Hat proposes that the consumer bakes a hat. Although this
might not sound as a very realistic solution for everyday clothing, it might form an
inspiration for more realistic products. It is imaginable that we will be able to develop a
fabric that changes colour, dependent on duration and temperature, when it is baked.

Figure 7. Several design ideas from round 3: Bake a Hat, and the shirt concepts Whats
my Size? and Sexy or Conservative?
The other sketches in figure 7 show shirt concepts that need modifications by the user
before they are wearable. The Whats my Size? T-shirt is an extremely large size, so that
the user should stitch the model. This gives an interesting result especially when the
excess parts are not removed. The other shirt has a closed neck which can be cut into
either a very low and sexy neckline or into a high, conservative neckline and everything in

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between. Dotted lines invite the user to do so, and at the same time guide her to prevent
messing-up this customization process.

Discussion
The brainstorm session served as a preliminary exploration of the pragmatic, and as such
to strengthen and further develop the notion of open scripts. Although the open script
concept became clearer over the course of the brainstorm, the designers experienced the
concept to be difficult and still somewhat vague to work with. Obviously it is important to
overcome this vagueness. Efforts in doing so should be partly directed at strengthening
the notion of open scripts, and partly at the education of designers, increasing their
awareness of the social significance of design.
In this perspective the brainstorm did deliver some interesting designs that employ
the notion of open scripts. However not all of them very realistic and it is not sure whether
they would have the intended effect on the consumer. Remarkably though, shortly after
the brainstorm we discovered that the GSUS fashion brand already incorporated one of
the ideas in their line of basic garments (Figure 8, left).

Figure 8. One of the design ideas, as implemented by GSUS (the shirt is pictured insideout). At the right, a shoe design by Janne Kyttanen, to be printed overnight in the CubeX
3d-printer from 3D Systems (dezeen.com, 2013).
On a related track, it is important to note here that over the past two decades many
scholars, especially design scholars, have researched ways to strengthen and intensify
product bonding as such (akmakli, 2010; Csikszentmihalyi & Rochberg-Halton, 1981;
Mugge, 2007). However, the resulting design methodologies are installing an unconscious
process. The user will in most cases not be aware of the actual forming of the bond
between her and her product, but she will simply experience the relationship. As Russo
(2010) shows, most people are only able to explain why they care about their products in
retrospect. Moreover, the resultant methodologies are usually not developed from a
societal perspective and therefore often only function on the product level, maintaining the
cultural structures that stress product bonding in the first place. For example, as
demonstrated in the shoe design by Janne Kyttanen (Figure 8, right) simply involving the
user in the creation process of a product does not necessarily render the desired effect.
Women are invited to print a new pair of lively coloured shoes overnight to match the
occasion over and over again, fostering the values of immediacy and novelty. Which, we
have seen, actually encourages the ceaseless succession of goods altogether.
Accordingly, we believe that existing methodologies aimed at enhancing product
bonding are not capable of contributing to a re-conceptualization of consumption. To
establish well-being as the purpose of consumption we believe an attitude change of the
consumer is necessary: she needs to think about why she buys a product, how she will
meaningfully incorporate it into her life. We believe open scripts are an interesting

1544

possibility in bringing about this attitudinal change, as they evoke conscious questions and
actions of the user.
Reflecting on our initial challenge of understanding how design can support to
establish well-being as the purpose of consumption, it is important to conclude that the
impact of a single few products that employ an open script cannot reach far enough to
overcome consumerism. However open script products may contribute to the realization
that we can actively shape our products to fit our lives and daily routines. Based on the
theoretical as well as the pragmatic exploration we believe that open script products
trigger the consumer to understand that products (not only those with an open script but
products in general) are not the rigid, untouchable entities that we often take them to be,
but that we are active actors in shaping them by moulding them into our lives.

Conclusion
The garments that we have presented as examples of open scripted products, and the
product ideas that we presented as outcomes from the design exploration do encourage
all in their own way the process of appropriation by demanding a certain dedication, or
engagement of the user in accomplishing her use-goal. Simultaneously these products
invite the user to think about her use-goal and how she can achieve it with her product.
Since these products have an open script they do not prescribe a specific path, but force
the consumer to make choices about how she wants to wear it. Following our theoretical
framework, we believe that these garments are more likely to become something the user
cares about, and renders not so easily replaceable. In this way becoming a better owner
of the product. Interested in the product itself, rather than in pursuing a new one. And with
that we believe these products will be likely to contribute to the users well-being. Finding
themselves more interested in the hare, instead of the chase.

Acknowledgements
The authors of this paper wholeheartedly thank Julia Garde, Martijn Zwart, Rick Schotman
and Pepijn van Passel for their contribution to this research.

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Sweet, Fay. (1999). Philippe Starck; Subverchic Design. East Sussex: Ivy Press.
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Liesbeth Stam
Liesbeth Stam is master student Industrial Design Engineering at the Faculty of
Engineering Technology of the University of Twente. She combined her compulsory
programme with a package of courses in Philosophy of Technology at the PSTS master of
the faculty of Behavioural Sciences. This paper is the result of a Capita Selecta, aimed at
combining insights from both master tracks. Liesbeth is currently graduating on a research
project investigating How designers can intervene in the structures that are characteristic
of our postmodern society and are claimed to have a negative impact on our well-being to
promote the good life?.
l.m.stam@student.utwente.nl

Wouter Eggink
Wouter Eggink is Assistant Professor Industrial Design Engineering at the University of
Twente. He is especially interested in the relationships between design, technology and
society. His research concentrates on the translation of insights from theoretical
approaches of human-technology relations to design practice. He also teaches in the
Bachelor and Master programme of Industrial Design Engineering, and the Bachelor
"Creative Technology" at the Department of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and
Computer Science. Wouter has graduated in 1996 at the Delft University of Technology,
worked for ten years in design practice, and obtained his PhD in Design at the University
of Twente in 2011.
w.eggink@utwente.nl
website: http://home.ctw.utwente.nl/egginkw/

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Design Approaches for a RCT Complex Intervention:

A Stroke Rehabilitation Case Study
Alastair S Macdonald, The Glasgow School of Art
David Loudon, The Glasgow School of Art
Anne Taylor, University of Stirling

Abstract
This paper discusses findings from the introduction and integration of qualitative design
research methods into the overall methodology for the design and evaluation of a
complex intervention through a set of pilot random control trials. A visualisation tool was
co-designed and developed with stakeholders to enhance patient-therapist interaction in
the context of stroke rehabilitation. The participative approach recognised the importance
of mobilising lay knowledge and experience to drive innovation in the tool whose use
helped reduce the social distance between therapist, patient and clinical biomechanist to:
i) aid understanding for patients; ii) enhance communication between patient and therapist;
and iii) provide an objective tool for therapists to monitor progress and communicate it to
patients. The implications for the use of design methods in rehabilitation service design
innovation is also discussed.

Keywords
RCT, physical rehabilitation, complex intervention, design innovation, visualisation

Introduction
This case study describes how qualitative design approaches were integrated into the
overall methodology for the design and evaluation of a complex intervention through a
pilot random control trial (RCT) to understand how the use of an innovative visualisation
method might improve physical rehabilitation therapy for patients following a stroke. It
discusses the approach, methods, findings and implications for future healthcare and
service design research.

Stroke and rehabilitation

Stroke, a brain attack caused either by a blockage (ischaemia) and/or a bleed
(haemorrhage) in or around the brain, is a life-changing occurrence affecting c.152,000
people each year in the UK. The effects of a stroke vary between individuals due to the
complex nature of a brain injury, but common outcomes are: weakness or paralysis on
one side of the body; loss of sensation on one side; difficulties in speaking or
understanding; vision problems; and cognitive problems. The effects can be temporary or
permanent, depending on the severity of stroke, and a period of personalised
rehabilitation is required to address the particular needs of the stroke patient. Physical
rehabilitation following stroke focuses on relearning control and coordination of
movements which have been affected by damage to areas of the brain, and on ways to
cope with everyday activities to compensate for losses in function.

Overcoming presentation issues with biomechanical information

For many physical rehabilitation issues a biomechanical understanding of the problem and
its solution (i.e. in a living body, of the forces exerted during dynamic movement by
muscles and gravity) is essential. Both patients understanding of their treatment and

1548

effective communication with clinicians have been identified to have a positive impact on
their compliance leading to a better chance of improved treatment outcomes. However,
despite more than three decades of developments in the field, the potential for
biomechanics to fully influence rehabilitation practice has remained under-exploited due to
the problematic nature of communicating complex biomechanical data and analyses to
other disciplines and to lay people, essentially due to the inaccessible format of
presentation of this kind of data, i.e. in graphs and charts not usable by non-biomechanics
specialists or by lay people.

RCTs and complex interventions

This paper discusses how design methods were incorporated into the design of a complex
intervention evaluated within a RCT. An RCT is the gold standard for a clinical trial, often
used to test the efficacy of a medical intervention within a patient population. The Medical
Research Council (MRC) framework categorises an intervention as complex if this
involves: i) an intervention in individual patient care; ii) modifications to the service for the
patient; and iii) will also provide an educational intervention and decision aid for health
professionals (MRC, 2000; Craig et al, 2008).Clinical metrics for RCTs are usually
quantitative, however Lewin et al (2009) discuss the limitations of these methods:
Complex healthcare interventions involve social processes that can be difficult to
explore using quantitative methods alone. Qualitative research can support the
design of interventions and improve understanding of the mechanisms and effects of
complex healthcare interventions. Most of the qualitative studies were carried out
before or during the trials with few studies used to explain trial results.
Qualitative research within a RCT is still relatively uncommon and the examples published
to date have largely been poorly integrated (Lewin et al, 2009).

The physical rehabilitation setting: contrasting concerns

There is a need to consider the needs of each of the three different stakeholders in the
stroke rehabilitation setting (i.e. clinical biomechanist, therapist and patient, although
carer is a further category outside the scope of this immediate study). Viewed from a
biomechanists perspective, a rehabilitation session is about gaining a detailed
understanding of the dynamic forces exerted by muscles and gravity during movement as
a means to improving the quality of treatment, and ultimately the healthcare outcome. The
therapist, by contrast, is concerned with assisting the patient in a programme of
movement exercises which help in the neuroplastic reshaping of the brains functions,
damaged by the stroke. Finally, the patient is concerned with recovering their normal (i.e.
former) self. Consequently, this rehabilitation setting becomes a theatre for intensively
social and emotional processes involving physical contact and a two-way process,
between the therapist and patient, of communication and understanding (whether poor or
clear), of what movements should be made (and why), and in perceiving progress (or lack
of) being achieved. During this the patient experiences the full gamut of emotions, from
hopes and aspirations to disappointments and frustrations. In fact, the emotional impact of
stroke can be just as profound as the physical effects (Stroke Association, 2013).
Previously, there have been limited means to objectively mediate and enhance the
therapistpatient relationship in this setting: current means are verbal, mirrors, video
recordings, charts and diagrams. These do little to diminish the social distance (Greger
and Hatami, 2013) between the groups (see figure 1) and also disenfranchise the oftenoverwhelmed patient. The hierarchical nature of healthcare research, e.g., between a
clinician, a physiotherapist and their patients, has also traditional defined the agenda, the
decision-making processes, determined priorities, ultimately influencing the model of
research, and the kinds of data and evidence emerging on which a resulting therapeutic
intervention would be based. This then leads to a question whether this reflects the reality
of the complex rehabilitation scenario described above and would be sufficient to achieve
a realistically workable intervention in the practice setting.

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Figure 1. The clinician, therapist and patient are brought together in the stroke
rehabilitation setting. However, the means to engage in discussion of vital issues through
common language and points of reference is absent (left). The visual tool described here
enables the social distance between these three groups to be reduced providing a more
accessible shared visual language (right).

Opportunities for design research methods?

There are a number of issues where design approaches might have some value in this
particular context. Due not only to i) the intensively social nature of the stroke
rehabilitation session (i.e. the patient/therapist communication and interaction) but also to
ii) its technical nature (i.e. concerned with qualities of movements of body segments
such as limbs, hips, shoulders etc), the appropriateness of the design of the visual tool to
be used to assist in patient/therapist engagement and interaction strongly suggests that, if
these are to be understandable to and usable by patients and therapists as end-users of
the visualisation tool, that they are involved, to a greater or lesser extent, in its design.
Previous work by the authors had developed and evaluated a visualisation method which
appeared to overcome the difficulties of access to biomechanical data by lay and nonbiomechanist professionals (Loudon, Carse and Macdonald, 2011; Loudon et al, 2012)
through early engagement of potential end-users. The envisage (2014) project, described
here, enabled the further design and development of this visual tool for use by patients,
therapists and clinicians in the context of stroke rehabilitation. Using a participative codevelopment process, the design development of this visualisation tool for use in the
intervention arm of a set of three pilot stroke RCTs was enhanced through the
involvement of each of these stakeholder groups in an iterative process of design and
feedback. This process also integrated a set of qualitative methods to address the issues
raised by Lewin et al (2009) above throughout the four phases of each trial.

Research approach
The bringing together of the visuals development, the participative co-design process and
qualitative methods framework into the design of the trial and their integration into the
overall methodology for the envisage project is now discussed in more detail and are
summarised in Table 1.

Methodology: rationale
Although the RCT offers a rigorous research method for determining whether or not a
cause-effect relationship exists between a treatment and its outcomes (Sibbald and
Roland, 1998) the quantitative outcome measures to be used by the clinical leads in the

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trials (i.e. the measurement of the patients ability to improve the performance of certain
movements and exercises) would not alone provide any explanation of which aspects of
the visualisation software were successful and which were not. Therefore, in response to
Lewin et al (2009), our approach to the RCT design methodology was to introduce an
over-arching mixed methods qualitative framework into the RCT to: i) test our hypothesis
that visualisation of biomechanical data will enhance health and rehabilitative healthcare
by mediating between users, clinicians and healthcare practitioners, and ii) help in
developing a complementary understanding to that obtained through the quantitative
outcome measures of patients made by the trials clinical leads (e.g., the measurement of
the patients ability to improve the performance of certain movements and exercises, such
as increasing speed and symmetry of walking, or the quality of arm and hand movements
and reach).
Table 1: trials structure: main phases, methods, PPI strategies (see Table 2), and
visualisations development for each phase.
Trials
phase
1.
Design

PPI
Strategy

Qualitative methods

n/a
C
B
B, C

2.
Pre-trial

B
A
A
B

3.
Trial
4.
Post-trial

- scoping review of literature (SR)

- survivors focus group (FG1)
- professionals focus group (FG2)
- testing and feedback sessions of
prototypes with user groups (TF)
- trials leads meetings (TL)
- trials patients questionnaires
- trials patient interviews (PA1)
- trials health professionals interviews
(PR1)
- observation / video (OV)

A
B
C
C

Visualisations development

- trials patients interviews (PA2)

- trials health professionals interviews
(PR2)
- trials patients focus group (FG3)
- trials health professionals focus
group (FG4)

- initial selection of visualisation options

- initial selection of visualisation options
- iterative bespoke visualisations
development for each trial
- iterative bespoke visualisations
development for each trial throughout pretrial phase
- adjustments made as a result of trials

- verification of findings from design and

pre-trials phases plus options for future
developments posed at FG3+FG4

Patient and public involvement (PPI)

The importance of mobilising lay knowledge and experience has long been recognised in
design as a driver of innovation. Although the prototype visual method had been
developed and evaluated in previous studies, this would require further development for
its particular application and use in the three different stroke pilot RCTs. To help us
consider different approaches to patient and public involvement (PPI) Savorys (2010)
framework was helpful as it sets out a series of four ideal strategies for incorporating PPI
into the wider process of translative healthcare research involving technological innovation
(Table 2). This framework helps contrast different approaches amongst the research team.
Whereas the trials leads approached the research using predominantly strategy A to
acquire quantitative data, the involvement of the design team used strategies A through C
for the collection of its qualitative data and for its participative co-design process.

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Table 2. Summary of Savorys (2010) four ideal strategies A to D for patient and public
involvement (PPI).
.
PPI Strategy
A

collecting patient data

represents PPI strategies that focus on the

participation of patients with the primary purpose of
collecting data

patient and public

consultation research

represents a broader based PPI strategy involving

data collection from a wider range of stakeholders

patient-led

represents a strategy where the mode of patient

involvement is complex with them being involved in
the design, conduct and even analysis of the
research

public involvement and

education

concerned with widespread public-involvement in

translative research

A mix of methods
The three stroke trials to receive the visual intervention were i) upper limb; ii) lower limb;
and iii) ankle foot orthosis tuning (AFO - a brace can be used to minimise abnormal gait
patterns following stroke, including preventing foot drop during walking). A mix of
methods involving focus groups, workshops, interviews and observations was used to
obtain feedback during the iterative development on the visualisation tools, to understand
how these could be improved in terms of their function and appropriateness in the
rehabilitation context, acknowledging the experiences and opinions of those who had
either undergone stroke rehabilitation (survivors and current patients) or been involved in
delivering rehabilitation (therapists and clinicians) and also to incorporate the clinical trials
leads requirements for certain types of information (e.g. walking speed, step length, gait
symmetry, and shank angle at during the walking cycle) to be shown visually.

Qualitative data
There were two inter-related aspects to the qualitative data collected (i.e. interviews,
questionnaires and observations). The first related to ideas and feedback useful to the
forward development of the visual tools, i.e. in relation to patients, therapists and trials
leads needs and expectations, and also in relationship to the context in which these were
to be used, i.e. their role in the programme of rehabilitation therapy and their part in
mediating and enhancing the therapist-patient relationship. The second related to
understanding the potential effect of the use of the visualisations during the rehabilitation
process in improving the experience and outcome for both patient and therapist.

Development of visualisation tools and their interfaces

Using as a basis the experience of developing the prototype in prior studies, a process of
iterative development engaged survivors, therapists and trials leads. For the therapists
and clinicians involved in each of the separate trials, the interfaces for the visual tools
were also developed to allow them to select appropriate features, views, overlays and files
for discussion with patients, to the point where these were ready for use in each of the
three trials.

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The Trials
Design phase
In the design phase 1, and following a scoping review of relevant literature, a variety of
visualisation options were prepared for discussion, in FG1 (survivors, n=7) and FG2
(professionals, n=5) to: i) assist the researchers understanding of the appropriate
avenues for further development; and ii) explore survivors and therapists issues within
current rehabilitation care. Early analysis of this work is discussed in Loudon and
Macdonald (2012). Analysis of responses to the phase 1 visualisations in FG1 and FG2
also provided the basis for the methodological framework to be used in the later analysis
of the qualitative post-trial data.

Pre-trial phase
This phase explored patients pre-trial understanding of goal setting, motivation and their
expectations of their rehabilitation. On the therapist side, occupational therapists (OTs) or
physiotherapists (PTs) recruited to trials were interviewed (n=16) to explore their
experiences of current stroke rehabilitation, the potential role and use of the visualisation
intervention in the rehabilitation session and the potential use and integration of the
intervention into clinical practice. Each trial lead (n=3) worked with the visualisations and
software designer to develop and refine the visualisation tools and their interfaces for their
specific trial.

Trials phase
During the trials themselves, video recorded observations (n=57 visual, 32 non-visual)
were made of patients and therapists using the visualisation tools (figure 2) during real
time rehabilitation sessions.

Figure 2. Examples of the three visualisation tools used in the three stroke trials (left to
right): knee lift exercise visualisation in lower limb rehabilitation showing graded colour
coded target; reach and grasp visualisation in upper limb rehabilitation including hand
controlled by motion sensors; shank angle visualisation to evaluate tuning of an Ankle
Foot Orthosis showing simple colour coded good/ok/bad ranges.

Post-trials phase
Patient post-trial interviews from across the three trials (n=12) and two separate post-trial
focus groups of those involved in the trials, FG3 (patients, n=5) and FG4 (professionals,
n=3) were used to elicit a range of views and experiences of using the visualisations and
of being involved in the trials, as well as for exploring some potential future scenarios
taking advantage of recent developments in the technologies involved, from both the
patients and therapists perspectives.

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Findings
The scope and intention of this paper does not provide space for a full description and
discussion of the methodological framework for the analysis of the data or for detailed
findings and limitations of the study to be included here (these can be found at envisage,
2014) but, in summary, the findings are:
Understanding: the visualisation of the patient's own motion provided an aid to
their understanding of their movement problems and the purpose of their
rehabilitation tasks
Communication: the visual representation of the movement and the overlay of
specific measures relevant to their rehabilitation provided a medium for improved
communication between the patient and the therapist
Progress: the combination of quantitative measurement and clear visual
representation of the measures provided an objective tool for therapists to monitor
progress and communicate it to patients

Discussion
Including designers as part of the RCT team is unusual. A number of questions arise.
What were the effects and benefits of bringing designers into the RCT research team?
What kind of progress was made in addressing issues raised by Lewin et al (2009), i.e.
the designers contribution to the approach and type of mixed methods introduced into this
RCT? What value for design research arises from this case study?

Reducing the social distance at the site of rehabilitation

Although the design process was led by the designers in this case, the achievement in the
design of the visualisations acknowledges that design is a collaborative effort where the
design process is spread among diverse participating stakeholders and competences
(Bjgvinsson, Ehn and Hillgren, 2012). Unlike the traditional approach to designing an
RCT intervention, this participative approach ensured that everyone was on the same
page, flattening traditional top-down hierarchical approaches and decision-making,
allowing input from key stakeholders involved in the processes of both delivering and
benefiting from rehabilitation through understanding who needs to know what at each
stage, and why. By providing objective information, the visualisation tools were seen to
enhance communication and understanding between the therapist and the stroke survivor
in trials, while simultaneously enabling the trials leads (biomechanists) contributions to be
much more accessible and understandable.
Due to their co-designed nature, these visualisations helped reduce the social distance
(Greger and Hatami, 2013) between trial lead, therapist and patient, mediating and
changing the nature of the conversation during physical therapy sessions.
Aye, cause if you didnae [didnt] have visuals and they were just saying to you well
this is what you are doing blah, blah blah, me telling you what you are doing wrong
blah, blah, blah, but you are not taking it in. You dont understand what they are
saying until you actually see it and then the conversation changes oh right so Im
doing that and doing this. the conversation does change when youve got the
visuals. (female stroke patient, lower limb trial, post-trial patient focus group)
I took the time to, you know, play back recordings and talk through exactly what I was
seeing and what we were going to work towards and talk a bit about sort of normal
movement...we would play back something then I'd say... you're not stretching your
elbow out as far as it can go, and you're bending your wrist in, so what I want you to
concentrate the next time we do this is trying to open this elbow up as much as you
can and trying to bend your wrist back a little bit, so I think I was explaining more to

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her why I was doing what I was doing and what I wanted her to focus on, and I think
that really helped. (occupational therapist, upper limb trial, post-trial professional
interview)

An improved evidence base for the design of healthcare tools and

services
Whereas the clinical trials leads were predominantly interested in the quantitative outcome
measures within their trials design, the designers were interested in understanding the
therapists and patients needs, preferences and experiences, i.e. through capturing
qualitative data, throughout the four phases of the trials. These data were used in two
primary ways. Firstly, they aided the design of the intervention (i.e. the visualisation tool)
by helping the designers understand what would assist the communication and
understanding of various physical rehabilitation movements and of patients progress. In
doing so the visualisation tools we tried to make the tools more accessible to the three
main stakeholder groups concurrently, i.e. patients, therapists and clinicians. Secondly,
these data were analysed to evaluate the effectiveness of the tools in improving
communication and understanding (e.g. of correct movement and progress) during the
rehabilitation sessions. This qualitative data provides an enhanced evidence base not only
to support the design of the intervention but also to explain, from the analysis of the posttrials interviews PA2 and PR2, some of the findings from its use, summarised above.
RCTs are regarded as the gold standard for research, and the evidence-base they
generate often forms the basis for new treatment plans. However, using peoples
experiences as the basis for co-designing, improving and innovating in healthcare service
delivery has some significant precedents, e.g., in the work of Bate and Robert (2007) and
those mentioned by Hampson, Baeck and Langford (2013).

The contribution of design researchers

This is difficult territory for designers. There is a paucity of reporting, by design
researchers, of their work and contribution within mixed discipline healthcare research.
Designers can be involved but are usually outside the team. In this particular case,
without the inclusion of designers as part of the team, there would have been little or no
acquisition of qualitative data to supplement and explain some of the findings arising from
the more usual quantitative data.
Whatever their recognised strengths, RCTs are necessarily reductionist in nature and do
not mirror the real world context. The designers tried to develop, as far as they could
within the confines of the opportunity afforded by the RCTs, a broader understanding of
the nature of the context, i.e. the rehabilitation settings social as well as its technical
nature. As Wells et al (2012) state: Instead of trying to test the efficacy of an intervention
under ideal, experimental conditions, pragmatic trials are designed to find out how
effective a treatment actually is in routine, everyday practice. This may have been one of
the designers contributions here to shift the RCT design more towards the pragmatics
of the real world context.

Implications for future healthcare service research and design

The consequences of this shift led to extended design and pre-trial phases suggesting
that factoring in additional time for people-centred participative co-design and codevelopment processes for developing a complex intervention may enhance
understanding within research teams of the most appropriate and productive avenues for
enquiry and development in advance of the trials phase. This may provide a better quality
evidence base for the subsequent design of healthcare tools and services.

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Although an understanding of problematic issues arising from current therapeutic

rehabilitation practice is important, rather than solely dwelling on the status quo, designers
are in the business of anticipating and giving shape to the future. Our work was essentially
a process of prototyping involving all the stakeholders from the outset. The findings from
the experiences of the development and trialling of these prototype visualisation tools as
interventions in the above RCTs has provided us with glimpses of how physical
rehabilitation, for stroke survivors, might be better experienced and delivered, the
professional role of therapists might be better supported in delivering this service, and the
expertise of biomechanists might be better deployed in this context. Through the
involvement of and engagement with all relevant stakeholders, we - as designers - can
assemble and give form to these glimpses to become what Simon (1996) referred to as
preferred futures allowing us to re-imagine the design and delivery of healthcare.

Acknowledgements
MRC Lifelong Health and Wellbeing Grant Ref: GO900583. All participants: survivors,
patients, health professionals, and trials leads.

References
Bate, P. & Robert, G. (2007). Bringing user experience to healthcare improvement: the
concepts, methods and practices of experience-based design. Abingdon: Radcliffe
Publishing.
Bjgvinsson, E., Ehn, P., & Hillgren, P-A. (2012). Design things and design thinking:
contemporary participatory design challenges. Design Issues 28(3), 101-116.
Craig, P., Dieppe, P., Macintyre, S., Michie, S., Nazareth, I., & Petticrew, M. (2008).
Developing and evaluating complex interventions: the new Medical Research Council
guidance. BMJ. 2008 Sep 29;337:a1655-a1655.
Envisage (2014). [WWW] Retrieved February 28, 2014, from
http://www.envisagerehab.co.uk/content/wp1_details
Greger, S., & Hatami, Z. (2013). Reducing social distance through co-design. In T.
Keinonen, K. Vaajakallio, & J. Honkonen. (Eds.) Designing for wellbeing. Helsinki. Aalto
University Publication Series, Art+Design+Architecture 5/2013.
Hampson, M, Baeck, P., & Langford, K. (2013). By us, for us: the power of co-design and
co-delivery. NESTA Innovation Unit. Retrieved October 11, 2013, from
http://www.nesta.org.uk/library/documents/ByUsForUs2.pdf
Lewin, S., Glenton, C., & Oxman, A.D. (2009). Use of qualitative methods alongside
randomised controlled trials of complex healthcare interventions: methodological study.
BMJ 2009; 339:b3496
Loudon, D., Carse, B. & Macdonald, A.S. (2011). Investigating the use of visualisations of
biomechanics in physical rehabilitation. In M.M. Cruz-Cunha, J. Varajao, P. Powell & R.
Martinho (Eds.), Proceedings of Enterprise Information Systems, CENTERIS 2011, CISS
221(1); 30-39.
Loudon, D., Macdonald, A.S., Carse, B., Thikey, H., Jones, L., Rowe, P.J., Uzor, S.,
Ayoade, M. & Baillie, L. (2012). Developing visualisation software for rehabilitation:

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investigating the requirements of patients, therapists and the rehabilitation process. Health
Informatics Journal, 18(3); 171-180.
MRC. (2000). A framework for the development and evaluation of RCTs for complex
interventions to improve health. London. Medical Research Council.
Savory, C. (2010). Patient and public involvement in translative healthcare research.
Clinical Governance: An International Journal, 15,191199.
Sibbald B, & Roland M. (1998). Understanding controlled trials: Why are randomised
controlled trials important? BMJ. 1998 Jan 17;316:201-201.
Simon, H. (1996) The Sciences of the Artificial. 3rd ed. MIT Press.
Stroke Association (2013) Feeling overwhelmed. Retrieved October 11, 2013, from
http://www.stroke.org.uk/involved/feeling-overwhelmed
Wells, M., Williams, B., Treweek, S., Coyle, J., & Taylor, J. Intervention description is not
enough: evidence from an in-depth multiple case study on the untold role and impact of
context in randomised controlled trials of seven complex interventions. Trials 2012, 13:95.

Alastair S Macdonald a.macdonald@gsa.ac.uk

Professor Alastair Macdonald is Senior Researcher School of Design at The Glasgow
School of Art and heads a small team of researchers with a focus on design research
within health and care. He is the design research lead for a number of RCUK-funded
multi-disciplinary and inter-institutional translational research projects encompassing
healthcare service design innovation using participative co-design processes, and sociotechnical innovation approaches.

David Loudon
David Loudon (MEng Hons, PhD) is an information visualisation researcher with main
research interests in the design of visualisations for the communication of complex data,
and user-centred methods for their evaluation. He has worked on a number of RCUK
projects applying visualisation within healthcare contexts, including visualising motion
capture data during stroke therapy, and investigating the potential of visualising the
pathogens responsible for Hospital Associated Infections.

Anne Taylor
Anne Taylor (RGN, BSc Hons, PhD) is an experienced qualitative health service
researcher who has been involved in many projects focussing on patients experiences of
illness, improving patients and their families experiences of care and improving the range
of clinical services they can access. She is currently working as the qualitative researcher
on a large UK Randomised Control Trial focussing on womans health with a process
evaluation embedded within it.

1557

A Framework of Ethical Nudges in the Design of

Consumer Goods
Anders Haug, University of Denmark
Jacob Busch, Aarhus University, Denmark

Abstract
This paper focuses on the use of nudging in the design of consumer goods. This
perspective is different from most existing nudging literature, which tends to focus on
nudging as a tool for policy makers. The change of focus to consumer goods has some
implications in relation to existing classifications of nudging, namely that the nontransparent aspect of some types of nudges becomes less relevant. Instead this paper
introduces a distinction of the nudging ability of a product as decisive or non-decisive for a
purchase decision. This dimension is combined with a dimension from an existing
framework to produce four distinct types of nudges in relation to the design of consumer
goods. Through 12 examples, the paper demonstrates the relevancy of these four types of
nudges. Finally, with a basis in the proposed framework, the paper discusses how
designers/producers of consumer goods should proceed from here, and possible ethical
ramifications of using nudges in design are highlighted.

Keywords
Nudging; Industrial design; Consumer goods; Design ethics; Design activism
The concept of nudging was popularized by behavioural economist Richard H. Thaler
and law scholar Cass R. Sunstein in their 2008 book Nudge: Improving decisions about
health, wealth, and happiness. In this book, Thaler and Sunstein (2008) suggest that
public policy-makers and other choice architects influence decision-making processes in a
manner that promotes behaviour, which is in the general interest of society as well as in
the interest of the decision maker. They argue that public policy-makers can influence the
everyday behaviours of citizens in this manner in a cost efficient way while avoiding the
use of injunctions. Since then, the concept of nudging has received widespread interest,
reflected for example by Sunstein becoming an advisor on regulatory affairs for US
President Barack Obama, while Thaler has been an advisor for UK Prime Minister David
Camerons Behavioural Insights Team, referred to as Nudge-unit (govt.uk.co). The use of
nudging has, in particular, gained momentum in public health, health policy and health
promotion (Saghai, 2013).
The effect and ethical aspects of nudging have been subject to widespread debates (e.g.
Bovens, 2008; Chakrabortty, 2010; Wilby, 2010; Bonell et al., 2011; Marteau et al., 2011;
Vallgrda, 2012; Rebonato, 2012; Oliver, 2012; Burgess, 2012). Hansen and Jespersen
(2013) have suggested that many discussions of nudging, ethical discussions inclusive,
are suffering from unclarity as to what exactly nudging is. Thus, they propose a framework
of four types of nudges, intended to clear up some of the confusion that surrounds the
ethical discussion of the nudge approach to behavioural change, and better inform its
adoption in public policy-making. The focus of their framework is on nudging in a broad
perspective, ranging from government policy to design of consumer goods and services,
although there seems to be a clear emphasis on the first. According to the literature we

1558

have identified, this framework seems to be the most solid in relation to understanding
different kinds of nudging.
The identified literature on the use of nudging for ethical purposes focuses on policy
makers or has an even broader perspective. Compared to this literature, our paper differs
by focusing solely on consumer goods. This change of focus has significant implications
for the understanding of nudging. Thus, this paper proposes a framework for
characterising nudging in the context of designing consumer goods, while also suggesting
what nudging implies in terms of designer responsibility.

Literature review
An extensive literature review was carried out for this paper. However, because of the
paper length limitations and the need for an extensive explanation of the framework
suggested by Hansen and Jespersen (2013), only a minor part of the identified literature is
presented. Excluded areas include 'perspectives on nudging' (e.g. Carter, 2004; Hausman
and Welch, 2010; Marteau et al., 2011; Bonell et al., 2011; Burgess, 2012; Vallgrda,
2012: Saghai, 2013), 'information/choice presentation' (e.g. Madrian and Shea, 2001;
Johnson and Goldstein, 2003; Fox et al., 2005; Martin and Norton, 2009; Chandon, 2013)
and 'persuasive technology' (e.g. Latour, 1992; Berdichevsky and Neuenschwander, 1999;
Chliz, 2010; Guthrie, 2013).

Nudging
In the book by Thaler and Sunstein (2008), a position called libertarian paternalism is
argued for. According to this position, nudging should be used by governments,
institutions and businesses to help people make better decisions. This suggestion is
based on the premise that people do not always act in ways that serve their own or others
best interests, for which reason in many instances individual decision-making could be
improved by using nudges. Central to the ideas of Thaler and Sunstein (2008) is that the
mind processes information through two distinct systems that characterize human thought,
which they refer to these as the reflective system and the automatic system (Thaler and
Sunstein, 2008, p. 19). This division is also labelled the division between system 1 and
system 2 in the long-standing research on this topic, summarised by for example
Kahneman (2011). Thaler and Sunstein (2008, p. 19) characterise the automatic system
as "rapid and is or feels instinctive, and it does not involve what we usually associate with
the word thinking". Examples of the automatic system in action include smiling upon
seeing a puppy, becoming nervous by experiencing air turbulence, and ducking when a
ball is coming at you. They characterise the reflective system as being deliberate and selfconscious; and examples of the operations of this system include deciding which college
to attend, where to go on trips, and if to get married or not (Thaler and Sunstein, 2008, p.
20).
Thaler and Sunstein define a nudge as: any aspect of the choice architecture that alters
peoples behaviour in a predictable way without forbidding any options or significantly
changing their economic incentives. To count as a nudge, the intervention must be easy
and cheap to avoid (Thaler and Sunstein, 2008, p. 6). However, in contrast to this
definition, it seems that nudging need not be characterised with regard to economic
incentives only, since other drivers are definitely also relevant when attempting to
stimulate positive behaviour. Another definition which recognises this broader
understanding of incentives is provided by Hausman and Welch (2010, p. 126): Nudges
are ways of influencing choice without limiting the choice set or making alternatives
appreciably more costly in terms of time, trouble, social sanctions, and so forth. They are
called for because of flaws in individual decision-making, and they work by making use of
those flaws. Furthermore, it should be noted that although Thaler and Sunstein (2008)
and many others use the term nudging about making people make positive choices, the

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term is not exclusively used in this manner (Saghai, 2013). In this vein, editor of The
Nudge blog, John Balz, argues that a distinction should be made between nudging and
libertarian paternalism: Libertarian paternalism is a political outlook, but nudging takes
place in [a] variety of realms where the nudgers explicit goal is to promote [the nudgers]
own welfare (think of almost any consumer marketing strategy or retail store layout) (Balz,
2013).

Hansen and Jespersens framework

As mentioned, based on our literature search conducted, we found the framework
produced by Hansen and Jespersen (2013) to be the most solid starting point in so far as
the goal is to understand the distinctions between different types of nudging. The
framework is based on two distinctions, type 1 versus type 2 nudges, and nudging that
lends itself to epistemic transparency and nudging that does not (non-transparency). Both
type 1 and type 2 nudges aim at influencing automatic modes of thinking, but type 2
nudges are aimed at influencing the attention and premises of and hence the
behaviour anchored in reflective thinking (i.e. choices), via influencing the automatic
system, while type 1 nudges are only aimed at influencing the behaviour maintained by
automatic thinking, or consequences thereof without involving reflective thinking (Hansen
and Jespersen, 2013). As an example of a type 2 nudge, Hansen and Jespersen mention
the fly-in-the-urinal nudge, which aims at capturing the visual search processes
performed by automatic thinking, and when this happens, the nudge works by attracting
reflective attention. The consequence of the reflective attention is a decision to aim for the
fly or not, which compared to urinals with no flies in them increases the likelihood of a
focus on the current act of urinating. In fact, the result of this particular application of
nudging is claimed to be responsible for a decline in spillage of 80 per cent (Thaler and
Sunstein, 2008). As an example of a type 1 nudge, Hansen and Jespersen (2013)
mention the Wansink (2006) studies, which (among other results) showed that changing
plate sizes in a cafeteria from a 12-inch dinner plate to a 10-inch dinner plate, without
telling people this, led people to serve up and eat 22% less food. A transparent nudge is
defined as a nudge provided in such a way that the intention behind it, as well as the
means by which behavioural change is pursued, could reasonably be expected to be
transparent to the agent being nudged as a result of the intervention, while a nontransparent nudge is defined as a nudge working in a way that the citizen in the situation
cannot reconstruct either the intention or the means by which behavioural change is
pursued (Hansen and Jespersen, 2013). The mentioned fly in the urinal nudge is an
example of a transparent nudge, while the reduced dinner plate size is an example of a
non-transparent nudge, assuming the consumers are not aware of the plate size
manipulation.
Combining the type and transparency dimensions produces four types of nudges. The first
type of nudges, transparent type 2 nudges, includes nudges which engages the
reflective system in a way that makes it easy for the citizen to reconstruct the intentions
and means by which behaviour change is pursued (Hansen and Jespersen, 2013). The
mentioned fly in the urinal nudge is an example of this type of nudge. Other examples of
this type of nudge mentioned by Hansen and Jespersen (2013) include: "making particular
actions salient (look right painted on the streets of London, or the provision of nutritional
advise by showing how to combine food on a plate, as done by ChoseMyPlate.gov, in lieu
of the traditional food-pyramid); making preferences salient (e.g. by the use of green
arrows or footprints to nudge people to take the stairs or throw litter in dustbins); making
consequences salient (e.g., displaying disturbing pictures on cigarette boxes, putting
calorie postings on menus, or providing real-time feedback on energy-use); and using
social salience (e.g., electronic boards that depict ones real-time speed in a way that
makes this speed public knowledge).

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The second type of nudges, transparent type 1 nudges, includes nudges in which
reflective thinking is not engaged in what causes the behaviour change in question.
Rather, reflective thinking occurs as a by-product, but in a way that easily allows for the
reconstruction of ends and means (Hansen and Jespersen, 2013). For this type of nudge,
behavioural change is more or less unavoidable to begin with, but since it is transparent,
the influenced person is allowed to recognise the intention and means of the nudge. The
examples of this type of nudge, mentioned by Hansen and Jespersen (2013), include:
nudges that work by activating instinctive automatic responses (e.g., the use of the colour
red, or flashing lights to draw attention to a sign, and the use of a car horn); nudges that
work by activating learned responses (e.g., the fictive and somewhat dangerous use of
fake potholes painted on the road to slow driver speed); and nudges that work by
changing the consequences of defaults in ways you are bound to notice (changing printer
defaults from one-sided to double-sided printing).
The third type of nudges, non-transparent type 2 nudges, includes nudges which, if to be
successful, require that the reflective system has to be engaged, but it doesnt happen in
a way that by itself gives people epistemic access to the intentions and means by which
influence is pursued (Hansen and Jespersen, 2013). The examples of this type of nudge,
mentioned by Hansen and Jespersen (2013), include: nudges in general aimed at
affecting decision making by the clever framing of risks (e.g., when choosing between two
medical treatments); nudges aimed at improving compliance rates in subtle ways (e.g.,
by posting posters with human faces to increase compliance rates with norms, such as
cleaning up after oneself or paying for coffee); using subtle cues to activate preferences
for making particular choices (e.g., taking the lid off the ice-cream freezer, leading more
costumers to crave and ultimately buy ice-cream); using lotteries to get people to
overestimate the chance of obtaining a rare effect (e.g., lotteries to encourage tax
reporting); and anchoring peoples willingness for what price to pay for chocolate on their
social security number.
The fourth type of nudges, non-transparent type 1 nudges, includes nudges that cause
behaviour change without engaging the reflective system and in a way that does not make
it likely to be recognized and transparent. The mentioned reduced dinner plate size is an
example of this type of nudge. Other examples of this type of nudge, mentioned by
Hansen and Jespersen (2013), include: changing of background defaults (e.g., changing
from an opt-in to an opt-out procedure for registering as an organ donor); subtle and
seemingly irrelevant changes to objects or arrangements in the behavioural context (e.g.,
changing the shape of glasses to reduce calorie intake, the removal of trays in cafeterias
to reduce food waste, and rearranging cafeterias to get people to head for the salad buffet
first rather than the meat); and the use of anchoring expectations (e.g., announcing a
longer waiting time than actually expected, so people become pleasantly surprised).

A framework of nudges in the design of consumer goods

Nudge transparency and consumer goods
As mentioned in the introduction, moving from a focus on governments, institutions and
businesses to designers/producers of consumer goods has some implications. More
specifically, in relation to consumer goods, non-transparent nudging appears to be of very
narrow application, because the consumer is likely to be destined to eventually discover
the nudge at some point of use, and if not, the consumer is likely to be subjected to a
undesired product performance without knowing why. Among the examples of nontransparent nudges, given by Hansen and Jespersen (2013), there are no examples of
consumer goods designed to, in a non-transparent manner, nudge consumers in an
ethical direction. However, some products have characteristics which the consumer does
not detect and which can nudge the consumer towards some kind of behaviour. One of
the clearest cases may be foods which can include ingredients that dispose the consumer

1561

towards certain behaviour, while the consumer fail to discover this effect either
because of not reading the ingredients declaration or not understanding it. However, if
some food ingredients have positive effects, for example increasing the feeling of satiety,
and thereby nudging consumers towards avoiding over-eating, it would appear strange if
the producer of the product would not make great efforts to make consumers aware of this
feature as it is done by many weight loss food products.
Another possible objection to the argument of non-transparent nudges being of minor
relevance in relation to consumer goods design could be that some products can nudge a
user towards better behaviour because of their beauty, comfort or similar, and that this
effect may not be transparent. For example, it has been shown that people experiencing
rooms as beautiful, familiar or likewise (or surrounds themselves with beautiful objects)
are affected in a positive way, although the persons were not necessarily aware of this
connection (Mintz, 1956; Gifford, 1998). The reason that this cannot be categorized as a
non-transparent nudge is that when a consumer buys beautiful furniture, it would most
likely be because of reflections such as this chair is beautiful, it would be nice to have.
Thus, the consumer is actually to a large extent aware of this nudge.
Although, it may not be far fetched to imagine a situation in which a designer/producer,
driven by good intensions, designs a product that non-transparently nudges the consumer
in an ethical direction, it may prove problematic to implement such nudges. For example,
in order to minimize energy consumption in relation to a product, such as a washing
machine, there are at least three principal ways of making users consume less energy: (1)
drawing attention to environmental concerns; (2) making the eco-setting default, and (3)
secretly redefining settings. The first strategy could be implemented by having an ecobutton accompanied by illustrations that draw attention to pollution problems. This would
qualify as a transparent nudge, since the purpose is to make people reflect upon
environmental-friendly choices. The second strategy plays on the convenience principle,
i.e. that we are more disposed to make convenient choices if we do not have clear
preferences or agendas. Thus, by making the eco-button the standard choice, this may
promote users to choose this setting more often. This, however, is also a transparent
nudge in the same manner as the example mentioned by Hansen and Jespersen (2013)
of a printer with double-sided printing default. The question would also be if this would
have the desired effect unless the user would have to use significantly more effort to
choose another setting. The problem with this design is, however, that it may cause users,
who are not interested in using the eco-setting, to dislike the product, which in effect
creates a negative publicity for the product. The third strategy is to simply call the ecosetting for 'standard' without informing about that this in fact is an eco-setting. The
problem of this strategy is that the user most likely would realize that the washing
machine's standard setting implies slower and/or less efficient washes, as compared to
other washing machines, but without being aware that this is because they are using a
more environment-friendly setting. In fact, this problem illustrates a central difference
between consumer goods and initiatives from policy makers, namely that in the context of
consumer goods, the consumer is almost free to make alternative choices, while they only
have a minor influence in relation to policy makers.
As indicated, we have not been able to identify significant non-transparent nudges with
ethical purposes in relation to consumer goods. Having said that, obviously, we recognize
that such may exist. However, if this is the case, we still find it doubtful that such products
constitute such a significant part of nudging in consumer goods that the dimension can be
considered relevant to include as of present. If designers were to aim at developing these
kinds of nudges, there is nothing in terms of material limitations that stand in the way of
doing so. But until such development takes place, the use of nudging in relation to
consumer goods seems to differ much from public policy contexts where non-transparent
nudges can be found in many forms and be rather efficient.

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Decisive and non-decisive nudges

Having argued against the relevance of non-transparent nudges in relation to consumer
goods, we propose to make another distinction, namely that of the nudging features of a
consumer good being decisive for a purchase decision (decisive nudges) or not (nondecisive nudges). In the case of decisive nudges, the nudging feature is a major argument
for the decision to buy, whereas for non-decisive nudges the decision to buy is mainly
founded on other factors.
An example of a non-decisive nudge is the above-mentioned of a printer with a default of
double-sided printing, which is implemented in the hope of changing the printing
behaviour of the consumer. In the classification by Hansen and Jespersen (2013), this is
categorized as a transparent type 1 nudge, where the transparency label is used
because at some point it becomes evident to the user that this setting is the default, and
the type 1 label is appropriate because in some parts of the process the user may print
without being aware of this setting. This type of nudge can be categorized as a nondecisive nudge because it seems impossible to imagine that this feature could be a major
argument (or an argument at all) for buying exactly this printer.
An example of a decisive nudge are dinner plates that are manufactured in a size smaller
than the usual one in the hope that this will subconsciously trigger the user to eat less, i.e.
an effect similar to the one mentioned in the Wansink (2006) studies. The big difference in
this case is that in the Wansink studies the participants were not aware of eating from
smaller plates, and at no point did they become aware of this. They put less on the plate
and ate less without knowing it. Thus, Hansen and Jespersen (2013) categorized this as a
non-transparent type 1 nudge. However, the non-transparency is lost when consumers
buy smaller plates that are designed and marketed as a means to eat less. In the case of
the smaller plate, it is exactly the size of the plate and the predicted effect of eating food of
a smaller plate, that is the decisive reason for choosing a plate of this kind, with these
particular nudging features.

Four types of ethical nudging in the design of consumer goods

By combining the distinction between decisive and non-decisive nudges with type 2 and
type 1 nudges, as defined by Hansen and Jespersen (2013), four types of nudges are
produced as shown in Figure 1. To make the nudge labels more explanatory, the terms
reflective and non-reflective are used instead of type 2 and type 1, respectively.

Figure 1: Types of nudges in consumer goods

The four main types of ethical nudges in the context of consumer goods can be defined as
follows:

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Reflective decisive (RD) nudge: aims at influencing reflective thinking by

influencing the automatic system; the nudging-features of the product are decisive
for choosing the particular product.

Reflective non-decisive (RND) nudge: aims at influencing reflective thinking by

influencing the automatic system; the nudging-features of the product are not
decisive for choosing the particular product.

Non-reflective decisive (NRD) nudge: aims at influencing the behaviour maintained

by automatic thinking without involving reflective thinking in part of the use process;
the nudging-features of the product are decisive for choosing the particular product.

Non-reflective non-decisive (NRND) nudge: aims at influencing the behaviour

maintained by automatic thinking without involving reflective thinking in part of the
use process; the nudging-features of the product are not decisive for choosing the
particular product

To further explain the nature of these four district types of nudges, subsequently examples
of these nudges are provided. Table 1 provides an overview of these examples.
Nudge type
RD

RND

NRD

NRND

Example
CO2 switch
Wattson clock
WaterGuide
Seat belt alarm
Food with salient calorie information
Smartphone with high volume warning
Smaller plates
Drinking glasses in particular shapes
Cleancut dispenser
Printer with two-sided printing default
Computer with low power use default
Dishwasher with eco default

Purpose
Make oneself use less electricity
Make oneself use less electricity
Make oneself use less water
Make the user use the seatbelt
Make the user avoid overeating
Make the user avoid hearing injury
Make oneself eat less
Make oneself drink less alcohol
Make oneself use less kitchen towel
Make the user use less paper
Make the user use less energy
Make the user use less energy

Table 1: Examples of the four types of nudging

An example of a RD nudge is the co2 light switch sticker, from Hu2 Design, shown to the
left in Figure 2. The idea of this product is that each time the light switch is used the
sticker captures the attention of the user and makes him/her reflect about the co2
emission consequences of electricity consumption. Another example of a RD nudge is the
Wattson clock, from the company Energeno, shown in the middle of Figure 2. The
Wattson clock initially looks just like an ordinary clock, but it comes with a clip and a
transmitter which should be connected to the electricity meter of the house, so that the
Wattson clock can measure the total energy expenditure of the household in real time.
Besides showing the watts used, the Wattson clock can calculate the costs of running
different electrical appliances. According to Jespersen (2013), developers at Energeno
claim it reduces energy usage by 25 %. Another example of a RD nudge is the
WaterGuide, from Smile Energy, shown to the right in Figure 2. The WaterGuide should
be attached to the mixer tap in the shower, and can hereafter give live feedback audibly
and visually on the screen. The audio feedback makes sounds in response to water and
hot water consumption, while the visual feedback consists of a lit up background in the
easily recognisable traffic light colours (i.e. red, yellow and green) and animated smileys
in response to consumption. According to Schmidt (2012), WaterGuide has been tested
on 35 families, which resulted in a cut of 30 % of the households water consumption.

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Figure 2: CO2 wall sticker (Hu2, 2013), Wattson clock (Energeno, 2013), WaterGuide
(Smile Energy, 2013)
An example of a RND nudge is a car seatbelt alarm that continuously makes noise until
the seatbelt is fastened. The idea of this nudge is that the automatic system is influenced
by the (annoying) alarm sound, which activates the reflective system that affects us in a
way that makes us put on the seatbelt to make the sound stop; or it is seen as a reminder
to the user to put it on. It should be noted, that although Hansen and Jespersen (2013)
define a seatbelt alarm as a nudge, it could be debated whether its function does not
makes the choice of not putting on the seatbelt appreciably more troublesome. Such
discussions are, however, outside the scope of this paper. Another example of a RND
nudge is saliently placed calorie information (how much does the product contain and
what is the recommended daily intake) on food products, which aims to capture the
attention of the consumer before using the product. For this to be a RND nudge, it should
cause the user, when about to consume the food product, to become aware of the calorie
information and to reflect in a manner that makes him/her eat only what is necessary. A
third example of a RND nudge is the use of red colour when the volume is set too high on
the volume display on a smartphone when using earphones. The red colour is associated
with a warning, for which reason it automatically captures the attention of the listener, and
thereby forces the user to become aware of, and thereby reflect upon, that the volume
may be set too high.
An example of a NRD nudge (besides reduced dinner plate size) is specially shaped
drinking glasses. According to Van Ittersum and Wansink (2005), bigger, wider and more
curved drinking glasses increase the tendency to drink more, while slimmer, taller and
straighter drinking glasses have the opposite effect. If a drinking glass is marketed as
having this effect, and this leads to a purchase decision, it qualifies as a NRD nudge.
Another example of the NRD nudge is the Cleancut Dispenser, shown in Figure 3. The
Cleancut Dispenser is claimed to be able to take any brand of kitchen towel and
dispenses it automatically in small strips, thereby reducing use of kitchen towels. Buying
this dispenser is obviously a result of reflective behaviour, but the aim of buying the
dispenser may be, besides making it easier to cut towel into smaller pieces, to make
oneself use less towel without thinking about it.
An example of a NRND nudge (besides default double-sided printing) is a computer
designed with a low default power setting. The power default may result in the user
accepting this setting despite of being used to a more energy consuming setting. The user
may without being aware of it grow accustomed to the low power setting and decide not to
change it, even if eventually becoming aware that it can be changed. A similar example of
a NRND nudge is a dishwasher with an eco-setting, which without hiding that it is an ecosetting presents this as a standard/default setting. Thus, in cases in which the user does
not have any washing preferences, the user may choose this setting because it is the
default. Since it is visible that the setting is an eco-setting, this is a transparent nudge.

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Figure 3: Cleancut Dispenser (Kirk, 2011)

Discussion
Having defined four distinct types of nudges in relation to the design of consumer goods,
while recognising that these products only constitute a minor part of consumer goods, the
question emerges: what are the barriers in relation to implementing such nudges? In
relation to the incorporation of non-decisive nudges into consumer goods, a major
challenge seems to be that the producer (unless the nudge is implemented following a
public regulation) provides the consumer with some product characteristics, which the
consumer in many cases did not ask for or may prefer not to have. In fact, such nudges
could potentially have a detrimental effect on a great number of consumers who may
choose other products as a consequence. On the other hand, companies producing
products harbouring nudges may gain a reputation of being concerned about its
customers and thereby attract new consumers as well as increase customer loyalty. Thus,
it appears that for such nudges to gain more widespread use, products with such nudges
need to be accompanied by significant marketing efforts. In relation to decisive nudges,
the demand for such products seems to be a major challenge. More specifically, the
relatively small availability of such products would, according to market logic, be explained
by a lack of demand. Since there is a large market for products that either are good for the
consumer or environment-friendly, this lack of demand appears to be related to a lack of
useful products or a lack of awareness on behalf of consumers about the efficiency of
such products. Thus, to promote such products, it appears that there is a need for better
products and/or information about these.
However, it seems naive to believe that market mechanisms alone will pave the way for
more widespread use of nudges in consumer goods. Thus, one could ask: what is the
responsibility of designers? Whenever a design is implemented, it opens up certain
possibilities and closes off others. How does this raise special issues, if any, regarding the
ethics of design? What makes nudging unique in a design context is that nudging may
both enable designers to highlight certain overall user preferred decisions opportunities,
but also enables the designer to affect decisions of users or those who inhabit designed
environments by bypassing the reasoning processes of users. If designers have the ability
to paternalistically influence people in ways that make people make choices for
themselves that are, on general accounts better for them and better for society as a
whole, than choices that may be worse, are they obliged to do so, or are they even
permitted? It has to be recognised (as argued by Thaler and Sunstein) that most
instances of nudging take place where a decision is already being made unconsciously.
Which plates to use in a cafeteria, and how to design urinals, is a matter of choices. Some
kind of plate size has to be used, and some kind of urinal design has to be used. Thus,
environments and designs are already nudging us, as we speak. What we have come to
realise is that we are affected in this way, all of us, and now we have a choice as to

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whether we want to be ethically responsible in our designs or simply ignore the fact that
people base choices in part on the basis of recognisable modalities, and ordering of
objects. One could argue that because we are already being nudged in one way or
another, it is not the case that by making a choice about which way to influence people we
thereby undermine their autonomy any more than it is already being undermined. In cases
where we are already being nudged, designers do however have ethical responsibility if
they decide to incorporate nudges in their design, because they will be doing so
intentionally. In certain cases where no nudging through the necessity of design is bound
to take place, there will be the same ethical issue if nudging is introduced. If nudging takes
place, we suggest that is in line with the preferences of users. This we take to be nonproblematic, since the category non-transparent nudging seems to be so rare that users
normally will be fully aware of purchasing designed goods intended at nudging them, and
no one would presumably buy something that is designed for satisfying certain
preferences if they did not have those preferences.
Another aspect, which needs to be considered, is that not all consumers are equally well
equipped for making choices for themselves, and not everyone form their decisions based
on the normal cognitive abilities. Thus, designers need to take vulnerable populations into
account. For example, certain people may struggle with nudges due to limited cognitive
ability, and thus transparent nudges (see for example Blumenthal-Barby and Burroughs
(2012) for a related point in the context of organ donation schemes and medical treatment)
may take the form of potential non-transparent nudges for someone. In these cases (as in
general), designers need to consider whether a particular way of nudging may count as an
instance of manipulation, perhaps as something that limits people's options of choice.
Thus, when nudging by default is used, it must be fairly easy for people to opt out of the
default option (Blumenthal-Barby and Burroughs (2012) make this point in the context of
bio-ethics). People need to be able to recognise that they are using a designed object
operating with a default option. Thaler and Sunstein are aware of this when suggesting
that nudging should not burden choices (Thaler and Sunstein 2008, p. 5). However,
burden of choice as well as ease of opting out are relative terms. If users are less
educated, or illiterate or, as mentioned above, somehow impaired, what may constitute a
simple procedure of change for one user, may constitute a serious challenge for another.
When people are being defaulted into certain behaviour, designers need to think broadly
about the consequences of doing so; both in terms of the heterogeneity of users and their
abilities, but also in terms of user preferences. It is hard to imagine that every user who
operates a defaulted designed object will experience that as being in line with their own
reflected preferences. Thus, the idea that nudges are simply justified in virtue of being in
line with user preferences can come under pressure, and a different kind of justification
needs to be addressed. In the least there should be good evidence that the intended
behaviour nudged for is beneficial in general. What the extent of our paternalistic
responsibility should be is a further and complex issue which goes beyond the scope of
this paper.

Conclusion
This paper has provided argumentation for why existing ways of classifying nudges are
not suited when the focus is on consumer goods design in an ethical perspective more
specifically, because non-transparent nudging seems to be almost irrelevant in this
context. Instead, this paper proposed a distinction of the nudging features of a product as
decisive or non-decisive for a purchase decision. Employing the remaining dimension
from Hansen and Jespersen (2013), the paper produced the four types of nudges: (1)
reflective decisive nudges, (2) reflective non-decisive nudges, (3) non-reflective decisive
nudges, and (4) non-reflective non-decisive nudges. Through 12 examples of such
nudges, the paper demonstrated the relevancy of these four types of nudges, as well as
the distinct difference in the nature of these.

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The discussion based on the framework pointed to some of the challenges related to the
different kinds of nudges, more specifically that consumers may be annoyed by nonrequested nudges, while there is a lack of nudging-focused products and/or awareness
about these. Furthermore, the paper argued that in relation to products that in some ways
nudge us (often in relation to more consumption), designers have an obligation to
consider such nudging aspects of their designs and to avoid pushing consumers in a
negative direction. However, the extent of such paternalistic responsibilities needs further
discussions, which are beyond the scope of this paper.
In relation to the usefulness of the proposed framework, it may aid designers and
producers in making more ethical products by pointing to four distinct ways of
incorporating ethical dimensions into the design of consumer goods. Furthermore, the
framework may support future discussions of the use of nudging in relation to consumer
goods, so that unfruitful discussions, caused by different underlying conceptions of what
nudging is, can be avoided. Future research needs to explore barriers for the use of
ethical nudges in relation to consumer goods, as well as continuing the discussion of the
responsibility of designers' in this context.

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Anders Haug
Associate Professor in Design Management at the Department of Entrepreneurship and
Relationship Management, University of Southern Denmark. Anders has produced more
than 50 international publications related to different areas of design.

Jacob Busch
Post Doc in Philosophy of Science at the Department of Society and Culture, University of
Aarhus. Jacob Has published on different aspects of philosophy of science, and he has
also been active in the area of ethics and political philosophy.

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Verbalising the Silent? Professionals Framing of

Implicit in Packaging Design
Toni Ryynnen, Dept. of Economics and Management, University of Helsinki
Visa Heinonen, Dept. of Economics and Management, University of Helsinki

Abstract
The idea for this article was noticed by the authors during analysis of interview materials
collected from 14 professionals working with packaging. The professionals frequently
touched themes of creative and implicit activities needed to accomplish design projects.
The purpose of this article is to open up discussion about implicit elements in packaging
design expressed in verbal form. Drawing on discussions about tacit knowledge (Polanyi,
1974; 2009), reflective practice and practitioner (Schn, 1983; 1995), wicked problems
(Rittel & Webber, 1973), and designerly ways of knowing (Cross, 2006) the phenomenon
of implicit elements in packaging design is examined. The materials are approached with
a case study approach. Casing is built around two research themes: how the
professionals describe implicit activities typical for packaging design, and what are the
characteristics of these implicit practices spontaneously brought up in the interviews.
Three implicit elements were constructed inductively across the interviews. These are 1.)
verbal descriptions of interpretation and understanding of a design task, 2.) role of
creativity, intuition and instincts when design activities are verbalised, and 3.) meaning of
making and experience in design practice. Although, the research design is solely
explorative and based on interviews, discussions about implicit phenomena in design are
brought forward in the discussion chapter.

Keywords
Case study; Professional interviews; Packaging design; Packaging; Tacit knowledge;
Qualitative research
How to design a packaging that creates sense of solidarity, is on a same
wavelength with a user, conveys certain feelings, plays like a good music, proceeds like
an interesting book or resonates nicely with a user experience? What kind of design is
most advanced yet acceptable (e.g. Loewy, 1951)? How this kind of a design is realised?
The starting point of this article was a research material based observation that revolved
around the questions mentioned. Professionals working closely with packaging and
packaging design were interviewed in the spring of 2012. Initially, the purpose of the
research material collection was to investigate broadly current issues around packaging
especially from the marketing, design and consumer points of view. The topic of this
article was not considered during collecting the interviews. During analysing and revising
two conference articles (see Ryynnen & Rusko, 2013; Ryynnen & Hakatie, 2013) it
became evident that professionals working with packaging have certain impressions and
thoughts about realising packaging design which are mostly implicit. However, these
implicit practices were referred to with certain pointers. The term tacit is not used in this
article, since it has established meaning discussed later in the article.
The interviewed professionals mentioned frequently challenges in their work that needed
certain abilities or implicit working methods that escape verbalisation. The professionals

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emphasised that some of the challenges in packaging design are solved only with
professional skills or special expertise. In this context, meanings of creativity and
creative aspects of designing were emphasised. Intuition and uncompromising
professional eye were terms used to describe or verbalise the phenomenon under study.
What seemed to be common for all of these expressions is that the professionals cannot
explicitly specify, what the abilities mentioned above are and how they are applied. In
other words, how designers operate or what is it that they actually do when they apply, for
example an uncompromising professional eye, left unanswered. Design solutions are
rising out from somewhere, they happen or take place as a design process
progresses. Design solutions are seen as obvious or self-evident. Producing a design
solution was described as highly context-bound. Circumstances where designing takes
place were constructed in the interviews as challenges that described how creative activity
is organised.
The unit of analysis is the whole of hints of implicit elements in packaging design
expressed in the interviews. In the analysis, attention was especially paid to expressions
that could shed light to these silent elements. Especially situations described as
challenges, that called for creativity and that were somehow described as odd or
demanding by the interviewed professionals. Expressions were picked up by the authors.
Likewise, the implicit elements discussed later were constructed by the researchers.
Excerpts of interviews related to the themes were collected from several interviews. The
excerpts were collected together and analysed as one research material corpus.
Quotations describing similar events and action were constructed as three elements
presented in the next chapters. Analysed case - what are the implicit elements in
packaging design expressed in verbal form - revolves around different situations, actions
and information that the packaging professionals brought up during the interviews. The
purpose is to identify implicit elements in packaging design and to give it a
comprehensible meaning: that is, to make silent and implicit meanings transparent in a
way that issues in packaging design involving are easier to recognise.
This article is organized in the following sections. Firstly, a short introduction to the
research context is provided. Secondly, research materials and methods are presented,
followed by a section describing what the observed implicit elements are and how the
packaging professionals described these elements in the interviews. Finally, the three
elements identified are discussed in the context of packaging design.

Tacit Knowing of a Reflective Practitioner Solving Wicked

Problems with Design Thinking?
If there is a shared discourse in design, the one discussed in this article is challenging to
grasp. The claim is that certain themes in packaging design escape verbalisation. If so,
how can this discourse be analysed? It is argued, that implicit and silent ways that
characterise packaging design can be basically applied to other areas of design, as well. It
is also worth pursuing knowledge that increases deeper understanding of the foundations
of design. A big debate, not only relevant in the field of broadly understood design,
concerns how human beings are creative and how creativity could be described.
People know more than they can say (Polanyi, 1974; 2009). This tacit knowledge is visible
in Polanyis well-known example: how are we able to identify a familiar face in the crowd?
We can do it, but we do not know how we do it. Tacit knowing is a trait of an individual.
When applied to work of designers, it can be argued that all of the choices were made
while designing cannot be explained. On the other hand, designers are described as
reflective practitioners. Reflection happens or at least it becomes visible, when an

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individual or a group of people actively make something and consider what they do at the
same time. Reflection in action and reflective practices can be examined during making
and designing (Schn, 1983; 1995). These practices often escape verbalisation.
Another point relevant in the context of this article is presented by Rittel and Webber
(1973) in their seminal text. Their approach was task or problem-based. They
characterised design and planning problems as wicked or ill-defined. It is presented that
these problems are basically unreachable by the research methods of science and
engineering tackling with tame problems. Designers tackle with complex tasks. It is also
suggested that there is a collection of design abilities designers employ implicitly. Cross
(2006, 20) identifies four characteristics of design ability. These are 1.) a competence to
resolve ill-defined problems, 2.) a tendency to adopt solution-focusing strategies, 3.) an
ability to employ abductive and productive thinking, and 4.) a capability to use non-verbal,
graphic and spatial modelling. These features are claimed to comprise designerly ways of
knowing, which is a particular synthesis of knowing and doing.
Context of this article is built on the following assumptions: designers know something
they cannot verbalise (tacit knowledge), they reflect what they do while designing
(reflection in action), problems a designer tackles with are typically ill-defined (wicked
problems) and designers employ certain abilities (design thinking) in order to succeed in
what they do. All of the characteristics mentioned are related to design work and they
embody implicit elements that are tricky to verbalise. In this article, focus is on
professionals verbal description of implicit elements in packaging design. The purpose is
not to verify the above mentioned theories, but to explore what professionals tell about
design work in this context.

Research setting, materials and method

Research materials incorporate 14 theme interviews collected from the professionals
working with packaging. The representatives of higher education (5), packaging
researchers (5) and representatives of packaging design agencies (4) working closely to
packaging development were interviewed. Number of the interview and the background of
the professional (education = E, research = R, business = B) are indicated in the end of
quotations. The interviews lasted from two to four hours, and they were recorded and
transcribed in detail. The transcribed text file contains altogether 469 pages. The first
author, educated as consumer economist, collected the interview materials. All of the
materials are collected in Finnish and quotations presented are translated by the authors.
The themes discussed during the interviews included various aspects of the packaging
value chain from the materials and technology development to design, marketing and
consumer issues.
The structure of each interview varied because the interviewer pushed flexible and
informal situation in order to create an open minded conversation easy to contribute.
Personal interviews as a research material collection method produce information in a
constructive manner. An interviewer and interviewee construct the achieved information in
mutual interaction by making interpretations and injecting insights to the conversation
(Moisander et al., 2009). Because this research is based on the interview materials, it is
essential to take into consideration that the analysis revolves around speech and
verbalised descriptions of design and designing. The research materials do not allow
interpretations or deductions to be made of design work or design practices as such. This
article is therefore tied to the research tradition of speech and text (e.g. hermeneutics)
instead of pragmatism or phenomenology. In other words, article deals with professionals
speech acts interpreted by the authors: how they produce or construct implicit elements of
packaging design in the interview situation?

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The talk about implicit issues in designing was isolated from the main data corpus for
detailed analysis. This was done by the authors in the analysis phase. The task of
identifying implicit issues from the interview materials was not an easy one: all of the
references touching upon challenges, issues described as problematic and somehow
abstract or inexplicable were included for further analysis. The approach of this article is
close to what is called explorative case study (Ragin & Becker, 1992; Stake, 1995; Stake,
2000). The approach is useful as the phenomenon under scrutiny is complex, contextual,
and context sensitive (Yin, 2003).
The case studied is defined as the professionals perception of implicit issues in
packaging design that are hard or sometimes even impossible to articulate. The
examination of the case is research material-led and implicit elements constructed during
the analysis stage are examined from the professionals viewpoint. The voice of the
professionals are brought forward with substantial quotations extracted from the
interviews. However, the roles of the researchers are substantial in producing
interpretations about implicit elements. The main concern is in understanding the case
studied in itself, with lesser interest in theoretical inference or empirical generalisation
(George & Bennett, 2005; Hammersley & Gomm, 2011).

Interpretation and understanding formulation of design

task
When a design project is examined in a chronological order, kick-off meetings and written
packaging design tasks are the first occasions when implicit elements seem to appear in
the interviews. These elements do not appear as such, but rather in a form of anxiety and
uncertainty about a design process to come. Interviewed professionals brought frequently
up the first steps in a design process as problematic. Especially, the meaning of a design
brief was perceived as something not that easy to understand and communicate with
others. A design brief or a task given to a designer was seen as a potential source of
misunderstandings (Ryynnen & Hakatie, 2013). Packaging design briefs were brought up
in the interviews especially by the designers. One way to explain this is to emphasise
company-led brief in a negative sense or that clients cannot explicitly tell what they want:
Packaging design briefs from companies are a bit of this and that, such vague
assignments. It is one of the challenges. Industry is doing a bit (..) trying to develop
everything at once. But the result is that nothing is done properly in the end. (E1)
I think that the problem is () in a sense, it is company-led brief. () Design briefs
have a major effect on what you can and are basically allowed to do. I will critically
generalize, but typically they [customer companys representatives] have not had
time or bothered to think about what should be done in designing. Then a designer
has a tremendous task to process a fuzzy general brief into something that is
maybe sought after by a client company. Well, I guess it is part of our expertise to
stitch up a design task. () It should be studied and discussed how you give a
proper brief for a creative activity. (E4)
They [company representatives] know there is a problem; they cannot pin down
the problem. They just want sales to increase. They cannot give a proper brief.
Designers have to (..) interpret (..) something. (B9)
Company representatives buying packaging design cannot typically verbalise what they
actually want or expect. However, customers buying packaging design do make
interpretations about outcomes of the design process. This was identified as one of the

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implicit elements in packaging design by the authors. It is typical that packaging

development team members have different understanding about the task at hand. Another
problem arises when packaging design project is divided into separate tasks conducted by
different organisations. In these cases complexity increases since all of the participant
organisations can have their own interpretations about the task:
Formerly and still today, design is bought from one place and graphical design
from another place. And third actor - an engineer - is responsible for material
development. It is a mess. All of the participants understand the task differently.
And if we are to build a brand logically (..) I am sure that the designer is pulling to
other direction than the graphical designer. Also the engineer has her own visions
about the design task. (B5)
Design brief can be seen as embodying implicit assumptions from the client companys
side. From another point of view, it is perceived as a designers job to simplify and
concretise the needs. But how is this done? It is obvious that subjective opinions,
viewpoints and knowledge that define design briefs are implicit in a way that their
meanings are rarely shared. Another question is: Should a company buying packaging
design know in advance what they want? (Ryynnen & Hakatie, 2013) And if they do, how
could both a designer and a client verbalise this information so that the mutual
understanding can be formed? It was also perceived as one of the tasks of a designer to
carve out what actually should be designed:
Customer companies buying packaging design cannot tell what they want. So, you
have to guess something that will probably lead to right direction. You just try to
come up with designs that the company can probably use in their business. (B7)
I must say that it depends on how good luck a company has with a designer. (..)
Designer should be able to concretise, at least moderately, companys goals. (..) A
good designer can see situation in SMEs straight away. (..) I have seen that a
good designer can help a company even if company representatives have no idea
where they are going or what it is that they really want. One of the most important
characteristics of a designer is (..) that she can see the strategic situation of a
company better than an average developer. (R6)
What seemed to be common in the interviews is that implicit elements are also connected
with an act of creating something new. These situations are perceived as challenges,
because something new cannot be evaluated in advance or when a design brief is
planned. It is typical to expect something new from the packaging design process. How to
design it and what the new is, is mostly implicit. Creating something new in the guidance
of a design brief given in the beginning of a project was defined as a design challenge:
On the other hand, a challenge is that you need to create something new that
looks fresh. You just cannot take average solutions and try to make it as an
interesting packaging. It will not simply stand out. Exceeding the present and
creating something new is one challenge a designer always faces. (E1)
All designers want to make something new. So it is not only (..) That is a bit
egoistic thing where () We go and meet the client and we listen to them and we
think that they can be right about stuff. But also it is nice, that it is a truth, that you
can also make something new. And that is a value in itself. (B9)
Starting points of any design project and especially design briefs were perceived as
embodying implicit elements. Other points discussed were: How design task is interpreted
by participants? And how expected outcomes are understood in the beginning of a project?

1575

Also something new is expected from a packaging design process. What it is and how it is
created was perceived as an implicit matter in the beginning of a design project. All of the
factors discussed seemed to have certain elements that escaped verbalisation. Various
explanations were presented as challenges. However, detailed insight about, how to deal
with these abstract issues in packaging design, was not provided in the interviews.

Intuition and instincts how to get ideas?

What are the elements in packaging that communicate certain associations, for
example that a product is perceived as ecological? What are the design elements?
How do you communicate the matter to the consumers? You should use design to
back up the message. (..) In a way that the message is first, observable and then,
understandable. How ecological is communicated with packaging? (R7)
The quotation above shifts emphasis from design briefs, differences in interpreting design
tasks and various ways of understanding the expected design outcomes to an act of
designing. In the interviews implicit elements were attached also to actual design work. An
act of verbalising how a form is given in a packaging design process seemed to be quite a
demanding task. For example, abstract factors such as creativity and intuition as general
traits of a designer are mentioned in the interview materials:
Processes of realising design are kind of (..) Well, we are talking about quite fuzzy
area. Just if you could open it up or explain it somehow reasonably. And it revolves
around this design thinking terminology (..) They [design researchers] have started
to conduct some research about (..) What really happens when you design? When
I talk about it (..) It is like mostly intuition. But they conduct, on some level, kind of
useless research, because they should just use design in the first place. You could
say straight away that: lets make this and this. Instead, research is done about
some pointless details. (E4)
In this context, interesting questions are: Where do design ideas come from? Where is a
design idea produced? How something new appears into the mind? Implicit elements
incorporated to the mentioned questions are not explained as actions of outsiders (e.g.
client organisations representatives buying design) not knowing how to do their jobs.
Rather, the questions are related to individual traits of a designer or some other collective
meaning making system. In this context it is actually suitable to talk about Polanyis (2009)
tacit knowledge. One of the interviewed professional working as researcher described
creativity in designing as culturally-bound experiencing: It is like aesthetic experience, it
rises from a kind of cultural unknown (R6). Two examples presented next are drawn from
the designers working in packaging design agency and higher education. They describe
complexity of creative acts and creativity of a packaging designer. In this case realising
packaging design is not always informed decision making, but it involves risk taking and
trusting ones intuition:
I think what we do is really stressful, tough, and it is making tough decisions (..) I
do not think sometimes you can make informed decisions. If you think about some
of the most successful products on the market they have just been put on. ()
Sometimes I think (..) I am all for taking risks and gut feeling. (..) I think you have
got to trust instinct more. (B9)
What is designers perception of time? Is her or his world just here or possibly in
the past, and is she or he able to sense intuitively (..) or collect something relevant
from this time? (..) Everything is here and now. Future is not over there. Something,

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such as sensitivity in a person, that she is capable of express things that will
attract the masses soon. (E4)
Professionals brought up in the interviews that getting or producing new and fresh ideas
for further development is not a clearly manageable process. Creating something new on
a general level was mentioned in the previous chapter. In this case, the question is about
how does a designer get or produce ideas in the making. Spontaneous comments were
connected to feelings and act of filtering out unsuitable ideas:
Best way to get fresh ideas is when I do not even try to think [about a design task].
It is typical for me to get an insight on a free time. But we have noticed that one
must filter out bad ideas first (..) to make more room for realisable thoughts. If my
head is full of things, I cannot produce anything useful. I have to think that I have
all the time in a world just for this task. Then it starts to flow. It is one of the hardest
things when you are in the business. You do not have time, just tight schedules.
(B5)
Generally, of course, you can feel it. Because a designer should, if she is
designerly inclined, to follow the world around from various perspectives. But often
you just cannot find the words to describe these issues or you just cannot express
the needed level of substance. (E4)
Descriptions of how to get fresh ideas for a packaging design was not easily verbalised in
the interviews. However, things like following ones feeling, not to think the design task in
order to solve the task, risk taking and trusting ones intuition were mentioned. These are
hardly good advices for young designers starting their career in the industry, but the
issues brought up in the interviews describe implicit elements running through
professional design work. Yet, good packaging designers are known because of their
ability to deliver. They are experienced and able to think through their hands these are
the topics discussed in the next chapter. Implicit references to intuition and instincts
employed by a designer are changed to considerations about actual designing and the
role experience plays in design work.

Making and experience How to realise ideas?

I have noticed an interesting phenomenon among designers. Or at least many
colleagues of mine have pointed out that when a designer puts forward a new and
potential packaging, other professionals always state that it is too expensive or it is
impossible to realise. Then I just want to show that the design can be carried out
(..) to demonstrate that it works in the real surroundings. (E4)
The design process is not complete, when a packaging design is realised on a computer
screen or as a sketch on a paper. As indicated in the excerpts above, the design has to
meet standards and limitations of the real world. After a brief and a phase of ideation a
designer has to bring an idea to a concrete level. This, in turn, has implicit elements. In
packaging design, operational conditions and packaging machinery can embody
surprising elements that becomes visible in this stage:
That is the part where the designers know how (..) and work is needed to get the
idea and the concept into production. So that is equally important place for
designer to work because there will be those: Oh my God, this is not working! Or
the engineer saying that this measurement is totally wrong, and then you have to
redesign all of it. (B9)

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First you have to work with fragile ideas and thoughts. What is already done, what
we could realise, how could we think differently, how this could work differently.
Basically, it is also functional challenging of present solutions. I cannot say when
the actual form giving steps in. () an insight probably comes with working and
doing. Some other product category can be a source of inspiration or totally
different area of design. Innovation in packaging can be an ordinary solution in
other field of design. But the one not applied to packaging before. It is the
innovation. (B5)
The interviewed professionals emphasised certain skills and traits that are relevant for a
packaging designer. These characteristics were perceived as important, but professionals
did not describe in detail how a packaging designer should train or apply these skills. The
mentioned abilities included visual, prototyping and model building skills. Also traits such
as persistence, open-mindedness, flexibility and the right type of compromising were
mentioned:
It is the visual skills that are put into practice. It is a question of proving and
demonstrating that the design works. Sometimes what you need is the skill of
building working prototypes. This is important especially when you are working
with engineers. (..) Sometimes you have to show like: Look it works like this. You
have to build a tangible model in order to show how to do it. Then you can have a
response: Well, this might work after all. You have to give A solid proof. ()
Then you need persistence and open-mindedness. When difficulties arise, you
have to try to find a way to go around and solve problems. () A packaging
designer should be able to react swiftly to new challenges and come up with new
solutions in a fast pace (..) Even if a particular design task is quite boring. (E4)
A packaging designer has to be flexible. We have to get our packages into
production, into market. So it is the right type of persistence and right type of
compromising, the flexibility (..) That is when you get the relationship with the
engineer and engineer starts to work for you not against you. (B9)
Most of the skills mentioned by the professionals were mainly used to justify designers
work and to convince other participants of packaging development to adopt a new design.
One of the professionals pointed out that other participants may, in fact, work against a
designer although the goals are the same. One interpretation is that experienced
designers highlight these issues, because they perceive communication as an important
factor in a successful design process. However, interviewed stressed also the fact that
designers have to evaluate or reflect their work not only in respect of the work others do in
the same project, but also in terms of feasibility and functionality:
One must familiarise oneself, to do background studies, with materials and
production technologies. () Of course, you can do conceptual designs. A kind of
visualisations that hover in absurd spheres (..) But basically in packaging design,
even concepts must be quite close to this world. Realisable possibilities are
restricted in many ways to the place and time. Otherwise, your concepts remain
just nice visions. (B5)
I think that I can evaluate my [design] work quite well. (..) Well, I probably go
beyond that point where a design is still most wanted but still acceptable. When
you have practiced this profession, and when you realise a design that pleases
your own eye, then you should do a bit duller version of that very same design.
And probably to design another version which is in between of these two. (..) That
you do not go too far with the design. It would help or support your design

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decisions. At least, that you know whether you are going to the right direction (..)
or not. (B8)
The latter quotation can be interpreted in a context of the innovation borderline theory
discussed by Alberto Alessi (in Verganti, 2009, 109110). This refers to a borderline
between, what could become real and what will never become real in terms of product
design. This borderline practice is difficult, since a designer cannot know in advance
where this unclear line is drawn, and there is a risk going beyond. If all of designed
packages are successful, a designer has been too conservative and stayed away from the
borderline. On the other hand, failure is the revealing moment which shows where the
borderline was. Necessary understanding about packaging design builds also through
working with other parts and participants of the packaging chain. Understanding is
described as essential in the interviews, because the knowledge about whole chain needs
to be filtered to the designs. Working experience and amount of work put into a design
were described as expertise in packaging design:
Packaging design is something else, it is not art. (..) A packaging designer will not
be successful if she is just selling her own style. You should be a professional in a
way that you take advantage of designers own viewpoint and apply it to a brand
under development. A design should follow brands style. And it does not mean at
all, that it is pleasing to your own eyes. But of course, it is filtered through your
expertise and through your uncompromising professional eye. (B5)

Discussion
An idea for this article originated from observations during research material collection
and writing up two conference articles. Based on 14 interviews with packaging
professionals, the case about implicit elements in packaging design was identified. An
implicit element is a term introduced in the article describing issues that are not easily
recognisable during a design process. These elements typically escape verbalisation.
Basically the implicit elements seem to be shared in the field of design. This research was
not intended to be a complete description of implicit issues involved in design expertise.
Instead, the focus was on the issue, how professional experienced design and verbalised
their experiences in the interviews. The context of the article was drawn from the theories
of tacit knowledge, reflective practitioner, wicked skills and design thinking. It is evident
that all of the mentioned theories are relevant when design practice is examined. However,
implicit elements are useful in order to describe issues that remain silent in a design
process. The purpose of the article was not to describe implicit elements from a single
designers point of view. Moreover, the intention was to recognise elements that are
common on a general level.
The case examined was built on two questions around packaging design: how implicit is
described and what are the characteristics of these implicit elements. Based on the
interviews, three implicit elements were inductively constructed by the authors. These
involved the integration of interpretation and understanding (formulation of a design brief
and task), intuition and instincts in designing (how to get ideas for design?) and making
and experience (how to realise design ideas?). These were identified as elements that
can be hard to verbalise and that can carry silent information in a packaging design
process.
By emphasising that human beings know more than they are able to verbalise is not a
brilliant starting point for a research utilising interviews as research materials. Although,
the professionals interviewed could not describe in detail how they are creative or how
packaging designs are realised, there were certain characteristics that were reached

1579

spontaneously with interviews. First, phenomenon under scrutiny became visible for the
interviewees themselves. That is to say, both creative elements in packaging design and
professionals actions regardless of their area of expertise became objects of reflection.
This allows professionals to pin point most implicit situations in a packaging design
process and develop ways of communicating their work to others. Second, the interviews
revealed, what are the specific areas where silence in packaging design probably take
place. Third, the implicit elements as such were not reachable with the research design.
However, implicit elements were verbalised as challenges and problems faced during a
packaging design process.
There is a need for future research that sheds light on how typical the identified elements
are in design practice. Also methodological examination into how to acquire information
about these implicit, but meaningful issues and events embedded into design practice are
welcome. Case studies and inquiries employing well-prepared observations might provide
needed information about silent in packaging design and implicit ways of designing.

Toni Ryynnen
Ryynnen is a consumer economist and post-doctoral researcher (adjunct prof.) working
at the University of Helsinki, Department of Economics and Management. His research
focuses on media, design and consumer cultural studies.

Visa Heinonen
Heinonen works as a professor of consumer economics at the University of Helsinki,
Department of Economics and Management. His research focuses on the trajectory of
consumer society, especially in Finland. He is also interested in consumer mentalities,
advertising and societal control of consumption and other elements of consumer culture in
contemporary world.

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A Classification of Consumer Involvement in New

Product Development
Dr. Matt Sinclair, Loughborough University, UK.
Dr. Ian Campbell, Loughborough University, UK.

Abstract
Processes such as co-design, crowdsourcing and open design are challenging previously
held notions about the role of the consumer within New Product Development. The degree
and validity of consumer involvement in product creation varies according to the process
concerned, however to date little research exists to classify this involvement. In this paper
the New Product Development process is divided into four phases: conception,
specification, design and manufacture. The ability of the consumer to influence each
phase when engaged in design activity is assessed. A graphical classification of New
Product Development strategies is presented, mapped aginst the commitment of the
designer to consumer involvement, and a number of new categories of design are
proposed. The changing role of the designer from interpreter to facilitator of consumer
wishes is also discussed.

Keywords:
New Product Development; Design Processes, User Participation; Consumer Design

In recent years the notion that industrial design is an activity in which anyone can take
part has become increasingly common. Design has been described as everything from
the teacher arranging desks for a discussion [to] the team building a rocket (Dubberley,
2004). According to Norman (2004: p.224), deciding where to put your coffee cup and
book is an act of design. Within mass customisation literature it is common to read of the
user-designer or user as designer (e.g. Ciccantelli and Magidson, 1993; Franke and
Piller, 2004; Koren and Barhak, 2007), and even that the professional designer is
replaced by the user, (Randall, Terwiesch, and Ulrich, 2003). Unsurprisingly, such
assertions have caused consternation amongst design practitioners, who sense that their
skills and professionalism have been misunderstood and devalued 1. They point out that
the consumer choices often presented as design represent only a fraction of the tasks a
designer will undertake in the course of a typical project (Parsons, 2009). Some have
attempted to simply shut down the argument by protesting that Consumers consume;
designers design. End of Story (Duffy and Keen, 2006).
Yet this polarisation of the argument into two extremes, summarised as either everyone
is a designer, or only professional designers can design, has done little to illuminate the

1. See for example http://boards.core77.com/viewtopic.php?t=16060

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ways in which new technologies and processes have allowed consumers to engage in the
design of their own products (Stappers, Visser and Kistermaker, 2011; McGuirk, 2012).
Fischer (2002) notes the over-simplification of this position when suggesting that
consumer and designer are not binary choices, but that a continuum exists between the
two. To date however, little research exists to compare the extent to which new methods
of design enable the consumer to engage in design activities. Olsson (2004), whose
classification of degrees of user involvement defines users as co-operation partners,
informants or subjects, is a notable exception. However by concentrating on the
traditionally modelled design process, Olssons classification excludes user interventions
through (for example) mass customisation, modding and crowdsourcing. Etgar (2008)
considers mass customisation in a model of consumer involvement in production, but
again focuses only on activities mandated by the manufacturer in a traditional model of
product development.

The New Product Development (NPD) Process

Walton (1999) presents four models of product development (see Figure 1). In addition
Perks, Cooper and Jones (2005) construct a NPD model based on Cooper's (1994) stage
gate process. These can be broadly defined 2 as follows:
Definition: The identification of a consumer need or market opportunity, and an
initial identification of a product archetype (or lack of existing archetype) which
might meet that need.
Specification: A list of the characteristics of a product which would be required to
satisfy the previously identified consumer need, including modularity and
customisation strategies if applicable.
Design: The process by which an agreed solution to the specification is arrived at;
it includes industrial, engineering and process design functions.
Manufacture: Pilot production and ramp up to full production of the designed
product.
Within this paper, NPD refers to the development of consumer products (including
consumer electronics, furniture and household goods, personal transportation and FMCG)
and professional products (including office, scientific and medical products, public
transportation, heavy machinery and military). It does not include graphic and user
experience design, fashion design, or architectural and interior design, and so the
conclusions of the paper should not be taken as applicable in these fields.

2. The fifth stage in Anderson's process - 'Follow Up' - and Perks, Cooper and Jones's process - 'Launch' - is
discounted in this case.

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Clark & Fujimoto

(1991)
Wheelwright &
Clark (1992)
Ulrich &
Eppinger (1995)

Product
Definition
Concept
Development
Concept
Development

Product
Planning
Product
Planning
System-level
Design

Product
Engineering

Process
Engineering

Product/Process
Engineering

Pilot Production/
Ramp Up

Detail
Design

Testing & Production

Refinement Ramp Up

Anderson
(1997)

Product
Definition

Architecture

Design

Ramp Up

Perks et al (2005)

Identification
of Need

Concept
Generation

Design and
Development

Production

Authors
(2014)

Definition

Specification

Design

Manufacture

Figure 1: Models of New Product Development, adapted from Walton (1999) and Perks et
al (2005).

Approaches to Design within NPD

Past definitions of design within NPD have typically viewed the consumer or end user as
an external component, either as an influence on the solutions that designers arrive at, or
as part of a target market (Holmes and Azam, 1995; Pahl and Beitz, 1996; Clarkson and
Eckert, 2005). Furthermore, definitions of industrial design, for example, in referring to
mass manufacture or volume production (e.g. McDermott, 2007; Design Council, 2010)
have increasingly proved inadequate at describing design for mass customisation or rapid
manufacture, in which low volume or even unique products are the outcome.
This problem is overcome somewhat in definitions of design which stem from an
observation of process, rather than a description of the service which professional
designers offer. Fiell and Fiell (2003) for example, describe industrial design as
the conception and planning of products for multiple reproduction - [it] is a creative
and inventive process concerned with the synthesis of such instrumental factors as
engineering, technology, materials and aesthetics into machine-producible solutions
that balance all user needs and desires within technical and social constraints.
This definition is not without weaknesses: the term multiple reproduction is problematic in
this context. Importantly though, by listing the tasks typically undertaken by the designer,
the definition suggests the possibility of quantifying the extent to which the consumer is
acting as a designer, rather than a simple yes/no classification. This paper exploits such a
possibility in order to ascertain the degree of consumer involvement in design in each of
the four stages of NPD given in the table above.
It may be noticed that throughout the paper the term user rarely appears. This follows
Redstrms (2008) contention that traditional ways of describing design, and its reliance
on ever more sophisticated methods of understanding the user, break down in situations
where users themselves participate in acts of designing. In such situations the commonly
accepted necessities and practices of user centred design and user research become

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confused, if not nonsensical. Redstrm proposes instead that there are two ways of
defining a products use: the definition which designers do in predicting a products usage,
and the definition which users do in actualising it. The example is given of the record
player, whose redefinition by hip-hop DJs as a musical instrument was entirely
unforeseen by audio equipment designers. This paper continues that theme by
considering acts of customisation and appropriation, but goes beyond the redefinition of
existing products to consider the consumers involvement in the design and definition of
products yet to be manufactured. In such situations the term user seems paradoxical:
there must be something to use for actual use to happen as Redstrm puts it. Thus the
terms consumer designer and simply consumer are preferred.

Conventionally designed products

For the purpose of this classification, conventional products are those whose definition,
specification, design and manufacture occur with no consumer input. Such products are
created using a process first identified by Archer (1965) in which readily available
information on users is collected before the Creative Phase begins. Thus techniques
such as trends analysis and consumer feedback (on existing products) may inform the
creation of a conventional product, but the consumers first engagement with the product
will be during his/her decision as to whether to purchase it.

Bespoke products
Bespoke products are those whose specification and/or design occur with direct input
from the individual consumer, usually through personal consultation with the designer or
manufacturer. The term originated in the 17th century to describe individually tailored
clothing, made to the customers specific measurements and requirements (Mahon, 2005).
Nowadays bespoke is used to describe products as diverse as watches, shoes, wallpaper
and computer software, though in consumer goods markets it is typically understood to
signify high cost, often handmade, luxury items.

Customised products
Customised products are conventional products whose specification and/or design and/or
manufacture are modified by the individual consumer after purchase. Crucially, such
modification occurs without the manufacturers express permission, and although such
activity, (when carried out by individual consumers) is largely tolerated or ignored, the
legality of customising products is something of a grey area (Oram, 2005). One of the best
known genres of customised products are hot rods - cars whose engines and bodywork
are modified to improve performance or alter the appearance.

Mass Customised products

Mass customised products are those whose specification and/or manufacture occur with
direct consumer input, usually through online configuration tools. The concept has been
defined variously as the ability to provide your customers with anything they want
profitably, any time they want it, anywhere they want it, any way they want it, (Hart, 1995),
and less dramatically as a strategy that creates value by some form of companycustomer interaction at the fabrication/assembly stage of the operations level to create
customized products with production cost and monetary price similar to those of massproduced products, (Kaplan and Haenlein, 2006). In practice this typically involves the

1585

consumer choosing from pre-determined selections in order to configure a product

uniquely suited to their own requirements; the Dell computer and NikeID websites are two
of the best known examples.

User centred design and Co-designed products

User centred design and co-design are closely related, though distinct, approaches to
increasing the involvement of users in the product creation process. Definitions of each do
not always concur, (see for example Vredenburg et al, 2002 and Black, 2006), however
the purpose of this classification is to determine the degree of user involvement in the
design of products, rather than the methods employed, and in this the literature is in
general agreement: user centred design involves observation, whereas co-design involves
participation (Sanders and Stappers, 2008; Binder, Brandt and Gregory, 2008; Press,
2011: p.519). User centred design products therefore refer to products whose definition
and/or specification occur only with indirect individual consumer input - users are
observed in context and may even be invited to give opinions on product concepts, but
are unable to contribute directly to the creation of a product. Co-design products, in
contrast, are those whose definition and/or specification and/or design occur with direct
consumer input, by working with professional designers in a collaborative effort.

Crowdsourced products
Crowdsourcing refers to products whose definition and/or specification and/or design
occur with multiple direct consumer inputs. Crucially, it involves an open call to any
interested consumers to submit designs or help solve a problem (Howe, 2006a); potential
solutions are then discussed, vetted and (in some cases) voted on by the crowd with the
purpose of arriving at a popular solution which then moves forward to production (Howe,
2006b). It is particularly important to stress that crowdsourcing is not the same as either
open source or open design (defined below), since although solutions will have been
generated openly, the intellectual property (IP) of crowdsourced products will be owned by
the company or entity which first initiated the call for solutions (Brabham, 2008). Kleeman,
Vo and Rieder (2008) identify seven types of crowdsourcing, of which the first two participation of consumers in product development and configuration, and product design
- are relevant to this research.

Open design products

Open Design is an approach, closely related to Open Source, "characterised by the free
revealing of information on a new design with the intention of collaborative development of
a single design or a limited number of related designs for market or nonmarket
exploitation'" (Raasch, Herstatt and Balka, 2009). Katz (2011: p. 63) characterises Open
Design as:
"bear[ing] four freedoms. One: The freedom to use the design, including making
items based on it, for any purpose. Two: The freedom to study how the design
works, and change it to make it do what you wish. Three: The freedom to
redistribute copies of the design so you can help your neighbour. Four: The freedom
to distribute copies of your modified versions of the design to others so the whole
community can benefit from your changes. Access to the design documents is a
precondition for these freedoms."

1586

Within this classification therefore, open design products are those whose IP rights have
been relaxed by the owner such that their conception and/or specification and/or design
and/or manufacture may be changed with direct consumer input. Subsequent IP rights
accrue to the consumer, though a condition of some open source licences is that
subsequent works must be offered under the same terms (see for example the
Attribution-Share-Alike licence from Creative Commons).

Opened design products

Conception

Specification

Design

Manufacture

Despite the general acceptance of Katz's definition of open design (see also, for instance,
Avital, 2011: p. 55), the strict conditions of the definition means that products which allow
modification but which restrict distribution (for example) cannot be classed as open design.
For this reason a new term, 'Opened Design', has been conceived to describe products
whose IP rights have been relaxed by the owner, but not to the same degree as with open
design. Opened design products are therefore those whose original specification and/or
design may be changed with direct consumer input. Subsequent IP rights may accrue to
either the consumer or the original owner, depending on the terms of the license. Opened
design as a recognisable genre of products can first be identified amongst PC games,
where increasing internet access amongst gamers saw the rise of fan-based websites and
the sharing of knowledge needed to change a games code to introduce new rules,
characters, scenarios, etc. (Postigo, 2003). Rather than attempt to stamp out this IPinfringing activity, games companies recognised the value it brought in terms of increasing
the longevity of sales, bug fixing, market research and prototyping of new concepts, all of
which were carried out, for free, by dedicated hobbyists. Nowadays such activity is often
encouraged through the free distribution of software development kits (SDKs).

Conventional Products

No

No

No

No

Bespoke Products

No

Yes

Yes

No

Customised Products

No

Yes

Yes

Yes

Mass Customised Products

No

Yes

Yes

No

User Centred Design Products

No

No

No

No

Co-Design Products

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Crowd-Sourced Products

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Opened Design Products

No

Yes

Yes

No

Open Design Products

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Figure 2: Summary of direct consumer involvement in NPD.

1587

A Classification of Consumer Involvement in NPD

Customised
Products

Co-Design
Products
Bespoke
Products

Crowd Sourced
Products

Consumer has limited,

indirect influence over
the products form

Mass Customised
Products

User-Centred
Design
Products

Consumer has no
influence over
the products form

Consumer Involvement in Design

Opened Design
Products

Conventional
Products

Designer acts as an interpreter of the consumers needs

and attempts to address these in the products design

Consumer has limited,

direct influence over
the products form

Open Design
Products

Consumer has direct,

deliberate influence
over the products form

Figure 3. shows a classification of the types of consumer involvement in industrial design

defined above, mapped against two axes: the degree of consumer involvement and the
degree of the designers commitment to that involvement. A number of issues are raised
by this classification, and are examined below.

Designers Commitment to
Consumer Involvement

Designer acts as a facilitator to allow the consumer to

attempt to address his/her needs in the products design

Figure 3. A classification of consumer involvement in New Product Development

The Consumer's Involvement

The extent of consumer involvement in NPD is based on two factors. Firstly, the more
phases (Conception, Specification, Design and Manufacture) that a consumer is able to
influence, the higher the degree of overall involvement; thus open design products
represent a high degree of involvement because the consumer has the possibility to exert
influence in all four phases. Conversely a conventional product, which offers the
consumer no possibility of influencing a products development at any phase, represents a
low degree of involvement. Secondly, consumer involvement is also measured by the
effectiveness of the consumers influence, i.e. the extent to which their needs and
opinions affect the creation of the product. Bespoke products, for example, allow the
customer to influence only two phases: specification and design. Many bespoke products
reflect this limitation and are only slight variations of a standard product, perhaps made in
a unique colour or material, or incorporating an engraved logo. On the other hand
bespoke offerings also allow for the creation of highly individualised products, a
handmade shoe or bicycle for example, tailored to the unique measurements of the

1588

customer. Thus the bespoke category spans an area ranging from a relatively low to a
relatively high degree of consumer involvement.
The types of NPD with which this research is concerned mean that both the degree and
the effectiveness of consumer involvement are manifested in the three dimensional form
of a tangible object. It is therefore possible to subdivide the vertical axis of consumer
involvement into four regions corresponding to an increasing influence over the products
form. At the lowest level of involvement the consumer has no influence over a products
shape. This is the region in which most conventional products appear, offering consumers
no possibility of influencing the products design. Many mass customised items, despite
giving consumers opportunities to decide the configuration or performance of their
products, also appear in this category, since the type of customisation offered has no
consequence for the products external form.
At the second level of consumer involvement the consumer is able to exercise limited,
indirect influence over product form. Such influence can take two directions; in the first,
particularly with regard to user-centred design products, it is exerted through interactions
with the products designer, whose expertise determines the extent to which those
interactions modify the objects design. Whilst the theoretical possibility exists for the
consumer to significantly influence a products form in a user-centred design process, any
such influence is mediated through the designer and therefore always applied indirectly.
The second method of influence applies particularly to mass customised products, and
occurs when a products form (usually its size) can be changed to accommodate a certain
fit. Thus a consumer involved in mass customising a shoe (for example) can only
influence its form in a way which is both limited (to the size of the customers foot) and
indirect (if a particular size is not offered then no further opportunity for involvement is
possible).
It is at the third level of involvement that the consumer begins to exert direct (albeit still
limited) influence over product form. In the majority of cases this influence will occur
through the consumers selection of parts, components or modules which, when
assembled, modify or dictate the products shape. The ability of selections to modify a
products shape may be relatively minor (for example choosing to add a sunroof or rear
spoiler to a new car) or they may extend to control of the whole of the products form (for
example when determining a kitchens layout using standardised cabinets and appliances).
In both cases however, the opportunity to influence form is limited to the number and type
of components available; in that sense the form is always expected, even if it cannot be
precisely predicted.
Only at the fourth level of consumer involvement do opportunities for true consumer
design arise. In this region of the classification, influence over the products 3D form is
both direct and deliberate, i.e. the consumer can define form without the need for the
designers approval and without the limitations of predetermined modules or components.
This is not to say that no constraints exist - clearly the consumer-designed object will need
to take account of the realities of production and operation in the same way that any
professionally-designed object would. However the key determining factor for a product to
appear at this level in the classification is whether its form can be freely manipulated
within the constraints necessary for its manufacture, and more importantly, whether the
results of this manipulation can be manufactured without the designer's explicit consent.

1589

The Designer's Commitment

The commercial realities of the design and mass manufacture of products are such that
the designer involved in NPD is rarely at liberty to act as a free agent. That said, at the
point at which a product brief is conceptualised through to the point where a final design is
agreed, the designer must act as arbiter of these influences. This paper therefore refers to
the designers commitment, whilst acknowledging that the designer may not have direct
responsibility for all of the decisions s/he is required to implement.
The designers commitment to consumer involvement in product creation is partly a
measure of how much autonomy the consumer has in making decisions, but also of how
much autonomy the designer consciously hands over to the consumer. Customised
products allow the user considerable freedom in decision making about a products
functionality, its appearance and the tools and methods used to customise it. Nonetheless,
such decisions are taken in spite of the designers vision, rather than as a result of his/her
intent. Thus customised products exhibit a high degree of consumer involvement, but a
very low degree of designers commitment. This can be contrasted with opened design
products, where the designer must make a deliberate decision, not only to allow the
consumer to change the product, but to help the user to do so, either by providing the
tools or by supplying the product in an easy-to-modify format.
In moving along the horizontal axis from left to right, increasing the consumers
opportunity to affect decisions about a products creation, it becomes clear that not only
the nature of the designers relationship with the consumer changes, but also the nature of
the designers own work. On the left of the diagram, the designer acts as an interpreter of
consumer needs and wishes. Whether these are understood by acting on intuition, or
reading research reports, or even talking directly to the consumer, the power to make
decisions about the products creation, its form and its ultimate usage lie with the designer
and the designers clients. This executive approach (Oudshoorn and Pinch, 2003: p.7)
assumes a specific type of power relations in which designers are represented as
powerful and users as disempowered relative to the experts. Perhaps understandably,
this is a situation which designers are often keen to see perpetuated. Krippendorff (op. cit:
p. 268), for example, writes that
"medicine could be a good model for design... [they both] are practical professions
that fix things: in the case of medicine, restoring biological normalcy and in the case
of design, proposing something better... Medical discourse enjoys an enormous
respect by nonpractitioners. Patients are in awe of its vocabulary, and know just
enough to find a doctor and pay the bills for treatment often beyond their
comprehension... design discourse can acquire a comparable understanding if it
adopts an easily recognizable and productive boundary."
The undisguised insinuation in such a statement is that those with no formal training
should not be allowed to practice design, any more than those with no training should be
permitted to conduct surgery. The consumers role is simply to pay for design without
understanding how it is conducted. Similar sentiments are often expressed by
practitioners; Marc Newson, for example, has stated that he "lack[s] faith in consumers
ability to know what they want," and that "democratisation ultimately pollutes design,"
(quoted in Pacey, 2009).

1590

However, as the different design methods presented above demonstrate, some design
professionals have begun to challenge this perspective. In moving along the horizontal
axis at a certain point the traditionally unchallenged power relationships between designer
and consumer changes: having passed this point, the designer no longer acts as an
interpreter of needs, but instead as a facilitator (Siu, 2003) to allow the consumer to
address his/her own requirements. Such a designer will have given up a significant
degree of control over the way in which the product manifests itself, and will have entered
the realm of what Tonkinwise (2005) describes as the design of things that are not
finished. Increasingly developments in manufacturing technologies which allow low
volume or one-off production have been recognised as offering such potential (Campbell
et al, 2003).

Consumer Design
The realisation that some consumers are both interested and skilled enough to design and
manufacture their own products has provoked considerable debate amongst practicing
designers, including an IDSA conference dedicated to the subject in Summer 2010 3 .
Nonetheless the scope of consumer design, and the extent to which consumers are able
to act as designers of products, remains widely contested.
The top strata of consumer involvement shown in Figure 3, in which the consumer has
direct, deliberate influence over a product's form, is the area in which consumer design is
manifested. The primary criteria for a product or process to be considered an example of
consumer design is that the design activity is undertaken by a non-professional: this may
be the work of a lead user as conceived by von Hippel (1986), a so-called pro-am
(professional-amateur) as described by Leadbeater and Miller (2004), or a relatively
unskilled consumer who has been provided with easy-to-use tools. Within the definition of
consumer design a number of sub-sections exist as shown in Figure 4. These broadly
relate to the level of freedom given to the consumer as the designers commitment to
consumer design increases, and are considered further below.

Appropriated Consumer Design (ACD)

Appropriated consumer design refers to design activities which the owner of the products
IP rights has not sanctioned. One manifestation of ACD is the previously mentioned
modification of cars to create hot rods, computer modding (upgrading components, overclocking processors, fabricating individual cases, etc) is a more recent manifestation of
the same activity. ACD also emerges in situations where consumers are unable to
purchase goods to satisfy their needs and are forced to recycle or reuse products in
creative ways; examples include tools fabricated by prisoners as documented by
Temporary Services (2003) and products fashioned from waste by residents of the former
Soviet Union (Arkhiov, 2006).

3. See http://idsa.org/category/tags/diy-coverage

1591

Constrained
Consumer Design (CCD)

Free
Consumer Design (FCD)

Consumer has no
influence over
the products form

Consumer has limited,

indirect influence over
the products form

Consumer Involvement in Design

Consumer has limited,

direct influence over
the products form

Appropriated
Consumer Design (ACD)

Enabled
Consumer Design (ECD)

Consumer has direct,

deliberate influence
over the products form

Variational
Consumer Design (VCD)

Designer acts as an interpreter of the consumers needs

and attempts to address these in the products design

Designers Commitment to
Consumer Involvement

Designer acts as a facilitator to allow the consumer to

attempt to address his/her needs in the products design

Figure 4. Types of Consumer Design

Whilst the examples above rely on the skills of an expert amateur to craft a new product
form, it is also possible to envisage a future where additive manufacturing technologies
and the sharing of 3D CAD models make ACD much easier for the unskilled consumer.
The Apple Collection 4, for example, is a website where fans upload designs of new Apple
products. Were these fans to create CAD models rather than just images, it would be
relatively simple for someone with no CAD modelling skills to nonetheless download the
file and 3D print a new casing for their iPod. On the fringes of legality, such designs might
be sold or made freely available. They would have none of the assurances (of safety or
functionality) afforded by an established brand, but at the same time would likely explore
design directions which no established brand would countenance.

Constrained Consumer Design (CCD)

One way in which brands might counter the rise of a "Pirate Bay of products" (Scott, 2009)
would be to provide their customers with opportunities to engage in constrained consumer
design. CCD refers to the use of systems and tools, often software based, which simplify
design and manufacturing tasks whilst at the same time setting limits on what such tasks
can achieve. CCD systems are therefore subject to many of the same conditions and
limitations as mass customisation systems, but differ by providing the opportunity for
freeform manipulation of a products shape. The advantage to brands of CCD over ACD is
obvious: it allows the retention of a degree of control over the forms, materials, colours,
etc (and thus the design language) which the consumer designer is able to work with.
4. See http://www.theapplecollection.com/design/macdesign/index.html

1592

CCD also offers significant advantages to the consumer: any product resulting from a
commercialised CCD system would have the brands promise that it would function safely,
that it complied with trade standards and consumer law, that it fitted and worked with other
products if required to do so, and (possibly) that it came with a manufacturers warranty.
The Lego Digital Designer is an example of a system which offers exactly these
reassurances, giving customers the opportunity to create unique products within the
constraints imposed by the use of standard Lego bricks.

Variational Consumer Design (VCD)

Variational consumer design is a largely conceptual category which refers to a scenario in
which the consumer subjects a 3D CAD model to software algorithms which generate new
design variations. One example is that of the Tuber system by Lionel Theodore Dean
(Atkinson, 2008), in which a computer script continually morphs the design of a lamp, and
the consumer is able to 'freeze' the design at any point. A trial involving consumer
designers in the VCD of a USB memory stick is also described in Sinclair and Campbell
(2009).
VCD sits between ACD and CCD in the classification since it is able to work with either
authorised or unauthorised CAD models, however in practice it is more likely to appeal to
proponents of CCD due to its inherent ability to constrain (within its algorithms) the limits
of variation. VCD is unlikely to interest consumer designers who wish to exercise their
personal creativity, however it may appeal to those who would prefer simply to choose
from a library of possibilities.

Enabled Consumer Design (ECD)

Enabled consumer design refers to scenarios in which the consumer is given access by
the owner of a products IP rights to the drawings or CAD files which describe its design;
at the same time the consumer is given permission to modify the design using any tools or
techniques available to him/her. One of the earliest examples of ECD was that created
within the Ponoko manufacturing system on occasions where a products original designer
makes the plans available, either for free or for a fee. ECD, with its requirement for
expertise with certain design tools, clearly holds attractions to expert amateur designers
rather than less skilled consumers; it also places considerable responsibility on the
consumer by offering no assurances as to the safety or functionality of the resultant
product. ECD thus allows greater design freedom than CCD, but also entails greater risk.

Free Consumer Design (FCD)

Free consumer design is very similar to ECD in that the consumer is given access to a
products plans as well as permission to modify them. Crucially however, ECD only allows
the consumer to manufacture products for their own use. With FCD, all IP rights are given
up by the original designer, allowing the consumer to then offer a modified design to
others, either for sale or for free. Few examples of FCD exist, though one notable
example is the Openmoko FreeRunner 5, a mobile phone whose designers made available
the original CAD files (in Pro Engineer and .stp formats) such that anyone could modify,
improve or redesign the product.

5. See http://wiki.openmoko.org/wiki/Introduction

1593

Conclusion

Consumer Involvement in Design

This paper has developed a graphical classification of design methods within NPD. By
mapping these approaches against two axes - the level of consumer involvement and the
level of designer commitment - it has been possible to demonstrate the power
relationships between consumer and designer (i.e. the relative importance of the
consumers opinions and skills) in each method.

f
eo

o
nt

Co

Co

ive

lG

o
ntr

me

u
ns

gr

De

De

gr

ee

of

Co

ntr

ol

Ta
k

en

by

Co

ns

um

er

Designers Commitment to
Consumer Involvement

Figure 5. Degrees of control in the designer-consumer relationship

These power relationships have important implications for both practicing designers and
the manufacturers and brands which employ them. Figure 5 shows a rising line, from
conventional products through to open source products, representing the degree of
control given to consumers. The converse of this is a falling line representing the degree
of control taken by consumers, often without the sanction of those who own the products
IP rights. In an age of mass manufacture, where access to the means of production was
largely restricted to professional designers and engineers, the opportunity for consumers
to design and manufacture their own products was limited. Direct digital manufacturing
(technologies such as 3D printing and laser cutting), with no requirement for expensive
tooling, will continue to make it increasingly easy for consumers to gain access to the
means of production, through services such as Ponoko and Shapeways. Cheap or free
CAD modelling software such as Autodesk 123D or 3Dvia (as well as pirated versions of
more sophisticated packages) will allow consumer designers to create 3D models in the
same formats as their professional counterparts. For those less skilled, libraries such as
TurboSquid, Thingiverse and Googles 3D Warehouse will give access to ready-made
CAD models. At such a point, designers may find the need to answer a decisive question:
should they facilitate the growing demands and skills of consumers, and help to make the

1594

consumer design of products easier, or should they continue to believe in their own
abilities to design the best products to answer consumers needs?
An obvious question which arises from the classification is whether it also applies to
disciplines other than industrial design, and indeed whether it is possible to create a
general classification which applies to all disciplines. One issue is that the approaches to
design identified in this paper have different degrees of prominence in other fields. Within
fashion design for example, bespoke (or couture) design is significantly more important
than within industrial design, whilst co-design receives little attention. The size of each
process within the classification is not a measure of its importance, but instead signifies
the diversity of possible consumer involvement, thus it may be that the classification
remains valid, even where the population of each area changes. However, determining
the extent to which a general classification is valid requires further research.

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An Investigation of Interactive
Environment Design Constraints
Mengting Zhang, Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Abstract
Creating interactive environment for public is a complex task, as designers have to
manually adhere to various considerations, especially with involvement of
stakeholders from divers background. In real world, the quality of a design result is
generally determined by the degree to which compliance constraints have been
reached. In contrast to most research about design constraints on technic application,
user interface, or architecture, scanty study has been conducted on the constraints of
environment design that synchronize interactive experience from comprehensive
perspectives. As technology evolves at tremendous speed and interaction design has
intertwines with environment experience more and more, it is necessary to discuss
the constraints of Interactive Environment Design (IED). In this work, we present an
integrated framework to create desirable IED for public use considering both internal
parties and external stakeholders. Specifically, we analyze three types of constraints
related to IED including management constraints, input constraints and system
constraints. The proposed framework is investigated through the case study of Shek
Kip Mei IED project for public use in Hong Kong. It could be used as a reference for
academic research and industry practice in the future.

Keywords
Interactive environment design, Constraints, Variables

Introduction
In this paper, constraints are firstly explained and defined based on existing literature.
It is followed by reasoning argument of the use of constraints in process of interaction
design, and environment design. This provides foundation upon which the framework
of IED constraints is established. The framework could be utilized to describe and
analyze constraints systematically. The essential components of the framework like
internal and external parties, three categorization of constraints in IED and the fixed
and free variables are discussed. After that, it was applied in the case of Shek Kip Mei
IED project, which was tracked during whole process from briefing to the opening. The
findings of the case of constraints are analyzed finally.

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1.1 Definition of Design Constraints

Design constraint is a prerequisite as it explicitly define the boundary of expert
knowledge to be included in the design flow (Jerke & Lienig, 2009). It is a rule that
influence form through design process and a target that must be met for the design to
be successful (Ralph & Wand, 2009) Establishing constraints that based on the
exploration of alternative solutions are very important when designers attend to solve
formal problems (Wojtowicz, 1986). Although experienced designers know well the
boundary that limits design problem, others may feel manually accounting for such
heterogeneous a challenge if the design process is not accurately managed. This may
be the consequence of disregard of regulation, misunderstanding between team
members, or ignorance of routine. Therefore, in different disciplines of design,
scholars and practitioners investigate how design constraints attribute to solution
through design process. As a bound on an acceptable solution, constraints could be
summarized into two kinds according to Suh Nam (1990). One is the input constraints
with design specifications, while the other is system constraints that imposed by the
system in which the design solution must function.

1.2 Constraints of Environment Design

Architecture, interior, and environment design could be categorized in the input
constraints (Eggink, 2000Arvin & House, 2002; Marson & Musse, 2010; Merrell et
al., 2011). Vitruvius (2008) characterizes three manageable specifications of
environment design, like commodity, firmness and delight. Robert Venturi (1966) and
Christopher Alexander (1964) stated as technology and modern methods advances,
the practice and approach of environment design must be changed. Nuanced
problems individually with sub-parameters needed to be embraced in the complex
and contradictory natures of environment design (Venturi, 1966). Alexander (1964)
went one step further by recommending a method of breaking apart a design problem
into manageable parameters as a way to best insure that the demands a context has
upon the form set within it is met. The origins of parameters may come from a variety
of sources like given by a client as a program, an aesthetic preference, safety codes,
material properties and so forth.

1.3 Constraints of Interaction Design

Constraints in interaction design are more viewed as system constraints in literature
(Randell, 2000; Jackson, 2001; Chittaro, 2010). The design parameters defined in
system constraints could be key variables (parameters) that characterize the physical
entity created by the design process to fulfill the functional requirements (Freuer et al.,
2008). The key variables could be a set of either free or fixed parameters, which
compose the system in different levels. A relation between independent variables
represents a simple constraint. Relations between dependent variables that mapped
into combinations of simple constraints represent complex constraint (Eggink, 2000).

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The variables could be the requirement of systems form, fit or function, technology to
be used, materials to be incorporated, time taken to develop the system, overall
budget, and so on.
Although input constraints and system constrains may vary in one way or another,
they share similarity that both of them are cumulated by parameters (variables) and
sub-parameters. The IED collaborates both input constraints and system constraints
as it concerns design and functional specifications in the flow.

2.1 Constraints of Interactive Environment Design

IED prevails in recent years as technology develops at certain extend that enables the
user-environment interaction embedded in real environment. Microsoft sets up its
interactive Briefing Center in Switzerland to launch its new product. A
business-to-business trade show, the Gum Faade enables visitors to experience
products by interactive wall. Center for Childrens Literature holds an educational
project with the theme of Balders Funeral Pyre to encourage engagement between
children and environment through corridor of flame and other scenarios. Silence and
Whispers in Suomenlinna, a UNESCO world heritage site in Helsinki uses
place-specific storytelling technology by audio fragments distributed in cave. The
project of Aarhus by Light in a concert hall and public park applies media faade to
facilitate playful and social interaction.
Because of the highly applicable and collaborative nature, interactive environment is
difficult to study from a singular perspective. Even given the complexity of IED, the
range of viable solutions to a design problem remains wide. The use of constraints
can be a method of way-finding in the design process. This could be accomplished
previously by forcing designers to explicitly state a problem in checklist. However, the
design process involves experts from more than one discipline. Thus, it is necessary
to delimit the constraints of IED from a systematic manner.
Possible design parameter composed of IED constraints could be uniformly
represented in an abstract form agreed by internal and external parties. This act
allows design alternatives to be generated and evaluated fast by demonstration of the
attributes to the solution for criticize and revision (Eggink, 2000). The fail of doing so
will be a hindrance to a cost-effective, user-centered and functional-excellent
environment. Under this circumstance, a framework for IED with a set of free or fixed
parameters, which facilitate to focus the scope of design by narrowing the range
forms and the relationship.

2.2 Framework of Interactive Environment Design Constraints

Complications may arise during the design process mainly due to two points: different
decisions from different parties, externally and internally; categories of constraints
such as the management constraints from client and inspector, input constraints of
environment design, the system constraints of interaction design. The following

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session will discuss the details of these two points under the framework of IED
constraints.
2.2.1 External Parties & Internal Parties
In the Fig.1 below, the four circles represent four involved parties in the framework.
The arrows represent constraints that exert on each other. The external parties of
client and inspector include government, media, scholars, social organizations, and
relevant professionals. In regard of the nature of IED for public, most of these projects
are initiated and inspected by government in Hong Kong, reported by media,
suggested by scholars and supported by social organizations. Relevant professionals
serve as consultants for these projects. For example, the knowledge of architecture,
construction, and engineering experts from Arup and Ronald Lu & Partners provided
consulting service to the interactive museum of Hong Kong Zero Carbon Building. As
IED has been studied based on user specified requirements, target user like general
public, citizens, especially children, young and elder who usually are main visitors
could be considered as external parties. Their ideas, requests, interests and behavior
could be valued to study and apply in design.

Interaction Team
Project manager
Researcher
Interaction designer
Graphic designer
Programmer
Production

Client & Inspector

Government
Media
Scholars
Social organizations
Relevant professional

Constraints

Target Audience
General public
Educators
Students
Elders
Children

Environment Team
Project manager
Environment designer
Graphic designer
Constructer

External Parties

Internal Parties

Fig 1. Internal and External Parties of IED for public (by author)

It is important to negotiate with internal party to maintain integrity in design, because

IED requires seamless collaboration to create consistent user experience. The team
members are people from various disciplines and backgrounds, including human
factors, IT, graphic design, multi-media design, interaction design, environment
design, research, documentation, and project management. While team members
bring different areas of expertise to the project, they may have distinct agendas,
opinions, or argument to the same questions. For example, if environment design
team didnt consider the technological limitations of interaction technology, such as

1602

projector performs less satisfactory in strong lighting area. They may accidently locate
the projector where expose to daylight.
It is very hard for internal and external members always reach a consensus, and work
towards a shared vision. For example, there could be this situation that government
officers are too persistent to their own preference and neglect experts suggestions.
Or designers aim to sell lofty design in regardless of the practical constraints like
budget and time. Misunderstanding, miscommunication, and misinterpretation may
impede concepts to be generated into solutions in initial stage and solutions to be
implemented in further progress. This could happen in each stage. So whenever
internal and external parties encounter with disagreement, they should resolve clearly,
and enforce their decisions in order to reduce implementation error and costly
revisions. Based on the two parties, three separate categories of constraints in the
framework are established and explained in the following session.
2.2.2 Categories of Constraints in IED
Constraints could happen between design variables on different abstraction levels
internally and externally (Freuer et al., 2008). All of these variables exert by or on
internal and external parties are important to include in the framework in order to
comprise the entire design process.
2.2.2. 1 Management Constraints
Debra Herschmann (1995) stated that in management constraints, theme, budget,
time, government codes, regulations would be fixed variables that didnt changed so
much. Because accuracy estimating and explaining these information at the early
stage of project will help design teams to understand what goal is expected to
accomplish. Government and project managers need to accurately predict and
estimate the problem to implement it. They need to define the best implementable
solution, prepare with alternatives, and pursue primary estimation. Besides variables
mentioned above, the constraints like sustainability, environmental impact, acoustic
calculation, low maintenance cost, reliable and durable, positive influence could also
be raised in tender, briefing session or meeting discussion.
When the project progress, continual revision of the project happened based on
changing budgets and re-estimations. According to the revision, schedules may be
adjusted to coordinate with internal teams and external parties. Way to collaborate
may change in different stages internally and externally. For example, at initiate stage,
researcher may take the lead of studying, gathering and synthesizing solid
information from observation, interview, and focus group, while in later stage
environment designers may plan the function and theme of different areas together
with interaction designer.

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Management Constraints
Fixed Variables
Theme
Scope
Target Users
Budget
Time of project
Government codes
Regulations
low maintenance cost
Reliable and Durable
Positive Influence
...

Client & Inspector

Government
Media
Scholars
Social organizations
Relevant Professional

Target Audience
General public
Educators
Students
Elders
Children

External Parties

Interaction Team
Project Manager
Researcher
Interaction Designer
Graphic Designer
Programmer
Production

Free Variables
Schedule
Collaborating ways
Way to access
...

Input Constraints

System Constraints

(Environment Design)

(Interaction Design)

Fixed Variables
Size of area
Entrance
Windows
Lighting
Floors
Ceilings
Walls
Operations manual
...

Free Variables
Technical Installations
Lighting
Space design/allocation
Furniture/inventory
Visitor Flow
Info Graphics
Effect & Mood
Aesthetics
Materials
Color
...

Fixed Variables
Aesthetics
Usability
User Experience
Interaction Technology
Technical Installations
Interaction Time
Interaction Flow
Audio Equipment
Visual Equipment
...

Free Variables
Function
Style of User Interface
Way of performing
interaction
Ease of use
Audio & Visual Effect
Atmosphere & Mood
Contents of each flow
Levels of Processing
Emotion and feeling
Design tools
Programme language
...

Environment Team
Project Manager
Environment Designer
Graphic Designer
Constructer

Internal Parties

Figure 2. Constraints of IED contributed by Internal and External Parties (by author)

2.2.2.2 Input Constraints

With regard to the input constraints, Berman and Evans (1995) and Turley and
Milliman (2000)s theory are taken as foundation for the framework. The variables
included in their works demonstrate a user-oriented perspective, in the sense that
many of the fixed variables are typically out of designers control, such as size of
space, entrance direction, location of windows, materials of floor, height of ceiling and
walls. Bounded by these restrictions, designers could work according to their own
agenda. Compared with fixed variables, free parameters allow designers more
freedom. They can select how to install technical equipment, rearrange the light,
segment space, fulfill it with new meaning, select furniture; design the visitor flow;
integrate information graphics on the wall and floor; create effect and mood to the
space; enhance aesthetics and style; select materials and color of interior.
The IED for public is usually designed in this sequence: segment the area into several
zones according to the constraints of contents and design scope. For example, the
scope is to design a leisure interactive environment with 500 square meters for public
to relax and enjoy art pieces. At the beginning of the design process, designers define
the fixed variables like the size of space of 500 square meters; the scope is to design
a leisure environment; the target user is public. After several meetings with different
parties, they collaborate internally and externally to decide a certain type of planning
and designing, like how many themes to be included, where should they be, how to
segment the space according to the themes, how to manifest these themes in design,
what interior style should take, what kind of interaction experience could the space
facilitate, and so on. Further more, the interaction design should correspond with the
atmosphere created by the environment design.
2.2.2.3 System Constraints

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In regard of system constraints, early studies of Kurasu and Kashimura (1995) offered
intriguing findings regarding positive roles of aesthetics and usability on system
design. Further studies by Thuring and Mahlke (2007) demonstrated that other
variables like the technology selected, time and flow of interaction also meditate the
attitude and emotions of users towards the system. In a recent survey of the user
experience (UX) literature, Bargas-Avila and Hornbaek (2011) found that emotions,
enjoyment and aesthetics are the most frequently assessed dimensions of UX. These
variables are fixed ones in the way that they could not be compromised even given
the management constraints. The system could not be displayed obnoxiously, difficult
to access, emotional disgusting, too long or too confused to play, which may lead to
horrible experience and failure of the project.
Based on these fixed variables, designers could articulate the concept of UX with
various free choices. According to the fixed theme, psychology and behavior of target
visitors, designers can define how the interaction system operate, what functions it
carries out. Functionality that is not critical or can easily be incorporated in later
release could be eliminated. Alternative recommends, less costly functions need to be
estimated in knowledge base if the original one didnt work. Besides, designers must
frequently remind themselves of usability and affordability when collaborate with
expert programmers, because programmers awareness will result in more
user-friendly and stable system with less bugs and cost per feature. Other free
variables are also needed to be considered like different way of performing interaction;
what language is used to write the programme; what tools to design the user interface;
what contents of each flow are; what audio & visual effects are, what kind of
atmosphere & mood the space creates; what emotion and feeling the users get; how
to facilitate users to interact with system; how many levels of processing, and so on.
The framework investigated composes of management constraints, input constraints
and system constraints. Although the variables listed could not represent all the
possibilities, they demonstrate how the framework operates and what kind of
variables could be included. This framework is further elaborated by the project of
Shek Kip Mei Interactive Environment Design Project designed and constructed in
Hong Kong in the following session. Management constraints, input constraints, and
system constraints were all took into account in order to investigate they correspond
with each other in a dynamic design process.

3. Case Study of Skek Kip Mei Interactive Environment Design Project

The Housing Authority (HA) of Hong Kong initiated to build a public space in Mei Ho
House. This project was named the Shek Kip Mei Interactive Environment Design
(SKMIED). The project was meaningful and memorable as Mei Ho House belonged to
the first public housing programme launched in 1953 and also the last remaining
example of the Mark II single-block configuration in Hong Kong (Choi, 1975).
However, as 50 years passed by, young people gradually moved out of this district
leaving only old generations behind. The district is facing the destiny of reconstruction.
As Mei Ho House served as an historic landmark symbolizing the history of Hong

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Kong, HA proposed to transform it into a city hostel and set up an educational and
memorial interactive space for public.

3.2 External and Internal Parties for SKMIED

External parties for SKMIED included officers of HA, scholars of Hong Kong history
and architecture, social organizations of arts and exhibition, inhabitants of Shek Kip
Mei, general public in Hong Kong and so on. The main target users were elders, youth,
children and travelers. The design team consisted of a core of designers with a range
of environment, user interface and programme design experience. One project leader
was responsible for resource management, scheduling and negotiation internally and
externally. A design researcher, a graphic designer, a programmer, a space designer,
and a team of constructers comprised the other positions of internal parties. This
multidisciplinary approach encouraged discussion and allowed diversified
perspectives and expertise to be incorporated into the SKMIED project.

3.3 Management Constraints of SKMIED

The whole project lasted for three years, while the interactive environment design
project lasted for about one year from the first briefing to the openness. However, the
original schedule for SKMIED was half year, as the rebuilding construction was
postponed, it could not meet the expected deadline, which led to the delay of the
SKMIED project. In this way the fixed variables of time and budget changed to free
variables. And free variable of schedule was revised accordingly. Other fixed
variables like the scope, government codes, regulations, low maintenance cost,
reliable and durable, positive influence remained the same. For example, at the
beginning of the project, the design team had attended the major meeting that
between officers of HA and the rebuilding constructors. All of the regulations such as
the Redevelopment of Shek Kip Mei Estate Phase II and Phase V and building
specifications were understood and followed. Thus the design and implementation of
this project were under boundaries of management constraints.
3.4 Input and System Constraints of SKMIED
The area totaled around 500 square meters with two floors, each 250 square meters.
It had six entrances on the ground floor and ten entrances on the first floor accessing
to the main area. On these two floors, twenty-four fixed existing structural walls were
used to segment different apartment for living in the old time. The area enjoyed half
daylight and half lighting system hung from the ceilings. After construction, the floor
was covered with dust proof hardener and paved with mosaic tile and heavy dust
anti-static carpet tile. These fixed variables built the foundation upon which
environment designer was required to adhere to.
Before the environment and interaction design, research was conducted to gather
historical evidence like books, photos, documentaries, which generate contents of
SKMIED including information, knowledge, data and facts. Based on the structure of
contents, the area was divided into several categories, however the condition of site

1606

was quite a different story (Fig 3). As the existing walls circulated fourteen zones
naturally, designers needed to compromise between the intended plan, the site
condition as well as the user experience. After the fierce discussion between external
and internal parties, agreement was reached and the area was divided into nineteen
zones with different themes and functions of each one. The zones as free variables
decided in the input constraints were later applied as fixed variables in system
constraints. Although the fixed wall supporting building structure could not be moved
or demolished, twenty-eight new lightweight block walls were designed as partition in
both floors. The free variables of whole interactive environment experience, visitor
flow, location of interactive technology, aesthetics standards like style, color, materials
and mood were considered by interaction designer and environment designer
together and set as fixed variables for later stages.

Fig 3. Part of photo documentation of Shek Kip Mei Estate

Base on the consensus achieved in previous stage which turned into fixed variables
for interaction design, designers and programmer collaborated under these
boundaries to simulate the scenario of user experience with selected interactive
facilities for SKMIED. At the same time, designers imbedded the interaction scenario,
into environment design including the storyline of the contents, style, mood, reference
examples in a presentable way for better discussion among parties. For example, one
of the zone was called My Life in Shek Kip Mei. It employed characters of the
inhabitants in the Mei Ho House in old times, like little girl, grandma, friends of
neighborhood, father and mother, police officer and firefighter. The interaction system
played the daily life they lived and encouraged visitors to interact with them by gesture
control system (Photo 1). This proposal served as the first prototype of the overall
design synthesizing IED.

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Photo 1. Interaction system in the zone of My Life in Shek Kip Mei

Besides the proposal, the technical list specification included wall projection, floor
projection, and 360-degree projection with or without gesture control, touch screen,
display screen, and augmented reality technology was proposed for discussion.
Internal and external parties negotiated based on management constraints of cost,
budget, time required, performance, capability, durability, and energy consumption.
When the interaction facilities were selected, designers and programmers revised the
scenario abandoned or added features required. This stage could be back and forth
for several times, until both parties reached balance. When the outline of user
experience was confirmed, the detailed design of each facility like time, flow, contents,
interface, functions, language, audio and visual effects were designed and reviewed.
Although the environment design and interaction design were operated separately as
two domains, in the SKMIED case, two teams endeavor to synchronize the paves as if
it was developed by a single people, not by a variety of designers and programmers
with varying skill level and design styles.

Discussion
When the framework was applied in SKMIED project, an interesting phenomenon was
raised that variables could transform from fixed to free or vice versa. Two conditions
appeared with the consequence of transformation. One was that free variables in
primary stage changed into fixed in later stage. For example, the location of technical
facility was a free variable in the process of environment design at first. But after
confirmation, it became fixed variable in the process of interaction design. This
change related to which stage was sequentially and strategically superior to other
stages, even if the sequence might vary in different projects. In perfect status, all

1608

decisions were rigorously considered and irreversibly enforced. However, in real

world, there is this chance that fixed variables determined in previous stage could
change back to free variables later. This is a chance that the project may exceed the
management constraints of time and budget after several revisions. Or alternative
plan was required to replace the original. It was common that the final achievement
was generated from continuous breakup and reconstruct process until agreement was
approached among different parties.
The advantage of the framework is that it provides different parties a platform upon
which to discuss and collaborate. It reminds participants to check all the linkage
between internal and external efforts to assure the positive progress of the project. As
the project requires continuous adjustment, if the variables in the framework werent
changed accordingly, it could start a chain of negative reaction or even lead to
financial disaster or failure of the project. It might jeopardize all the efforts that internal
and external parties made. The dynamic view of the variables to decide which could
be revised and which could not to be requires management experience, judgment and
negotiation skills. As the regulation, routines, and management styles in different
regions and countries are different, the framework needs to be included and excluded
certain variables in order to be localized for specific needs.

Conclusion
The IED design process is essentially a continual evolving process involves
coordination of internal and external parties. It consists of a great range of indistinct
and context-dependent constraints in the fields of management, input and constraints
with fix and free variables. Considering the factors above, the paper presents a
framework about the constraints of IED, which was applied in the case of SKMIED
project. Through the project, we discovered that the characteristic of variables might
alter in different stages naturally or artificially, given the stages of different project may
differ. This phenomenon might exert an important influence on the result of the project.
Further studies will be conducted to evaluate the framework by other cases.

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Making and perceiving Exploring the degrees of engagement with the aesthetic
process
Priska Falin, Aalto University, School of Arts, Design and Architecture, Helsinki
Petra Falin, University of Lapland, Rovaniemi

Abstract
Artistic practice and education build on a long tradition of aesthetic critique and problem
solving. This tradition has later on influenced also practice-led and practice-based research
approaches centering on the artistic process. Although these research approaches depend
on the processes and objects that essentially have not only cognitive but aesthetic qualities,
the role of the aesthetics in these research processes still lacks an analytical discussion in
this context. In this article we explore the process aesthetics in the context of artistic,
practice-led research. Namely, we examine the potential of the concept of aesthetic
engagement as a framework for understanding and analyzing the involvement with the
artistic process. The results of this investigation are the two complimenting degrees of
involvement with the artistic process through making and perceiving, and the relations that
activate these different ways of engagement. To illustrate and concretize the subject, we
employ an example of video material capturing moments of experimentation with ceramic
art.

Keywords
Aesthetic engagement; aesthetic experience; process aesthetics; practice-led research;
video works
The practice-led or practice-based research has spread across the fields of art and design,
but the discussions have begun to diverge between artistic and design practices. The design
based approaches emphasize the meaning of knowledge in practice driven research and the
problematics of acceptable knowledge (Niedderer 2007) or describe the construction of new
things driven through research (Koskinen, Zimmerman, Binder, Redstrm, Wensveen 2011,
6). The arts based research has closer connections to the discussions of aesthetics (Leavy
2009, 17; Sullivan 2010). In fact, the arguments for the aesthetic education and the view of
arts as a unique way of knowing draw from the same aesthetic tradition in arts (Sullivan
2010, 42). For instance Jongeward (2009, 250) claims that to access the tacit dimension of
the researchers and their participants experiences, the visual image-making offers a unique
way of bringing to view and transforming meanings embedded in experiences. In this paper
we thus frame the discussion through artistic driven practice -led research.
In practice-led research, the aesthetics of making or the process aesthetics has received
relatively little interest considering the importance of the making process both for the
educational and artistic practices. In this article we attempt to put forward some ideas

1612

concerning process aesthetics by exploring the engagement with this process through
making and perceiving. Although the practice-led research tradition emphasizes the
subjective knowledge of the maker, the role of the perceiver has been acknowledged
important as well: If Art or design offers things or processes that are fundamentally
incomplete... a recipients involvement is a necessary requirement for the work to exist or
function. (Mkel & ORiley 2012, 11).
This study draws from the practice of ceramic art. The focus is on the artistic practice and
related material research that is directed by the aesthetic perspective. To reveal material
aesthetics, the focus turns to subjective practice where the knowledge of the material is
gained. In ceramic practice the making of is so vital to a ceramic artist that often it becomes
a way of life (Leppnen 2000, 29). The artists relation to the artwork is based on the
engagement with the ceramic material through the generative process. The peculiarity of the
ceramics with its diverse range of possibilities (Cooper 2009, 6) makes it a field of practice,
which offers understanding of making processes that can be shared with different artistic
domains ranging from design to contemporary arts. Focusing on one practice can thus
increase understanding across various fields from different perspectives.
Through the experience of making, that is in this paper enlarged with the notion of process
aesthetics, the material knowledge is visualized here with video recordings (Figures 1., 2.,
and 3. which are linked to the external video clips). Thus in this article we use three videos to
illustrate and communicate the knowledge through making - and eventually facilitate the
engagement with the aesthetic process through perceiving. These two different ways of
engagement: making and perceiving are analyzed from the perspective of the aesthetic
engagement. The three video works that aim to capture part of the process that holds
information about the aesthetics of the material, can be understood also as extended
concept of knowledge introduced by Pirkko Anttila (2012, 120) saying that an expression of
knowledge does not have to be merely verbal.
The three cases of videos that represent the discussed process aesthetics can also be seen
as a method for collecting and preserving information and understanding (Mkel 2007).
These artworks have been produced under the goals of practice-led research where the
research questions are answered by the means of practice (Mkel & Routarinne 2006, 13).
Here it means that the studio experience is considered a form of intellectual inquiry where
research can be undertaken (Elkins 2009, 78). The discussed practice in this paper is an
artistic practice that focuses on happenings in a studio like setting and aims for artistic work.
The studio work in itself is argued as a degree of aesthetic engagement for it is a unique
place and activity for understanding art experience (Elkins 2009, 81).

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Figure 1. Screenshot from the video of crackling flux on a hot plate, 16.5.2013. Artwork:
Priska Falin, video: Barbara Rebolledo. https://vimeo.com/75388981.

Figure 2. Screenshot from a video of ink absorption on a hot ceramic plate, 15.5.2013.
Artwork: Priska Falin, video: Barbara Rebolledo https://vimeo.com/75388983.

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Figure 3. Screenshot from a video of ink boiling on a hot ceramic surface, 15.5.2013.
Artwork: Priska Falin, video: Barbara Rebolledo https://vimeo.com/75388984.

Background
In the ongoing discussions in the practice-led research the focus has been in the generative
processes holding knowledge and the makers subjective standpoint on revealing and
opening the areas that through the means of practice can be brought forward. The
foundation of this discussion is in the view that art is a unique way of engaging with the world
in a way that reaches beyond scientific knowledge. Art understood as an experience that
exists in the perception of an individual has the power of inducing other kinds of knowing
than text. In the field of practice-based research in the arts, both the research and artistic
methods are tied together in the creation of artistic statements and powerful aesthetic
experiences (Sullivan 2010, 99). The aesthetic experience can reach the consciousness in a
revealing manner. Against this backdrop, it is surprising, that the notion of process
aesthetics has lacked discussion in practice-led research so far.

Aesthetic experience in the context of art practice

The ceramics is traditionally understood as an art of making, but the field has widened and
the material opportunities provide a fruitful ground from contemporary arts to industrial
breakthroughs. From the rich orientation to the process of making, the ceramic field is a
valuable source for artistic research where the focus is on the knowledge generating
processes of the artist. Looking at the creation of a ceramic object it consists of many
different processes that require the knowledge of the maker. The construction of a ceramic
object is a complex process, including various different dimensions, such as material and
raw material understanding, mastering different techniques, relations with the form and
surface and firing techniques and the backward processing (reverse engineering). Although
these processes are elemental for the makers aesthetic appreciation of the resulting objects

1615

(see Yanagi 1989, 192), the perceiver is typically evaluating the aesthetics of the ceramics
based only on the final artifact.
Instead of focusing on ceramic artifacts, we utilize here video material (Figures 1., 2. and 3.)
unfolding a way both to the knowledge making processes of an artist and the aesthetic
experiences during the processes of making. The complex relations of previous work with
embodied understanding of the material and the full engagement of the artists work
becomes tacit (Polanyi 1974). The knowledge becomes personal through the individuality of
a person and it can be called a skill. Makers experiential tacit knowledge is concentrated on
making and its outcomes. Carolyn Jongeward (2009, 241) writes about her own experience
and the meaning of tacit knowledge in visual art and its research, describing it as a process
that: probes below the level of the rational mind and reveals what cannot be known from
that perspective alone. She identifies that these tacit processes reveal unanticipated
connections (Jongeward 2009, 241) creating new forms of wholeness from combinations
of diverse elements.
As long as these processes of creation are left tacit and concretized only in the resulting
objects, the aesthetic and research processes remain hidden from the perceiver. In this
study we open the process of ceramic art practice for the perceiver with the notion of
process aesthetics.

The process aesthetics

The concept of process aesthetics is new to the discussions on practice-led research, but it
has appeared in a few contexts previously. For instance Barrett, Farina and Barrett (2009)
utilize the concept in their discussion of the aesthetic landscapes and their changes. Another
example comes from Weggeman, Lammers & Akkermans (2007) who have used the term
process aesthetics for opening up the discussion on the role of aesthetics in organizational
design. With this concept among others, they tie the idea of organizational aesthetics
together with organizational performance. Although our aims and interests here are quite far
from theirs, our basic understanding of the process aesthetics is at least partly the same.
Weggeman, Lammers & Akkermans (2007, 350) define the concept of process aesthetics as
the experiences of beauty someone goes through while he or she is actually participating in
the origination process of the artifact and they claim a connection between the process
aesthetics and the notion of flow (Csikszentmihalyi 1996). However, as Weggeman,
Lammers & Akkermans (2007) focus only on the process of making, they ignore the
possibility of exploring a perceivers perspective in relation to the aesthetic process.
For the purposes of this paper we limit our view on the process aesthetics to the
performance and appreciation of artistic practices in the field of ceramics. In this paper we
are particularly interested in the process aesthetics ability to engage the maker or the
perceiver in a way that can reveal and convey practical knowledge. The purpose of the video
data is to represent moments of the artistic process in a way that leads to an aesthetic
experience. The ceramic practice consists of many ongoing and undergoing processes that
in many cases are impossible to retrace from an artifact. Through the process aesthetics a
part of the practice can be opened from the perspective of making to understand the
meaning of the aesthetic experience in the context of artistic practice.

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The process aesthetics as engagement

To explore and conceptualize the process aesthetics in ceramic art, we utilize here the
concept of aesthetic engagement by Berleant (1991), which emphasizes the role of the
active participation in the aesthetic experience encompassing both the artists and the
perceivers. Most important for us as creators and appreciators of art is the contribution we
ourselves make, a contribution that is active and constitutive. That is why I call this an
aesthetics of engagement, a participatory aesthetics. (Berleant 1991, 4)
Berleant (1991) explores the idea of aesthetic engagement in the fields of painting, dance,
music, literature and architecture focusing on a single aspect at a time. The dimensions of
aesthetic engagement that he exhibits by these examples are: appreciative, object-oriented,
cultural, linguistic, creative and performative. In this article we examine the qualities of the
aesthetic engagement in the field of ceramic arts and particularly the dimensions which
enable the different ways of involvement in the creative, artistic process.
In addition to Berleants (1991) exploration of the concept in relation to works of art, the idea
of the aesthetic engagement has been previously associated particularly with spaces,
places, landscapes and environments (Carlson & Berleant 2004; Berleant & Carlson 2007;
Unt 2012). Although these discussions represent a conception of aesthetics as a process
over a subject-object relation, the idea of aesthetic engagement has still not been utilized for
the exploration of the creative, artistic processes as such. The closest example in the field of
arts research comes probably from Unt (2012) who utilizes the concept for researching
theatre performances in the landscape. Based on Berleant, Unt (2012, 136-140) defines the
aesthetic engagement as a multisensory, immediate and embodied involvement containing
an element of the aesthetic, which can differ in intensity. We translate these conceptual
backbones here for the investigation of the aesthetic engagement with the ceramic materials
through a creative process, identifying two potentially different but complimenting ways of
involvement with the aesthetic process as an artist and a perceiver. We understand the
process aesthetics similarly to Berleant (1991, 26): ...the active participation of the
appreciator in completing the artistic process is essential to the aesthetic effect.
These different ways of involvement through making and perceiving we call the degrees of
engagement that carry aesthetic quality. The idea of degrees of engagement refers here to
the different ways of involvement with the artistic process as a maker and perceiver which
are essentially dependent on a plurality of factors, such as the previous experiences,
situational and personal variations (Unt 2012, 137). Berleant (1991, 26) notes that the
aesthetic experience thus becomes rather an emphasis on intrinsic qualities and lived
experience than a shift in attitude. These degrees of engagement have the ability to also
activate perception differently. Here we not only look at the characteristics of the aesthetic
engagement with ceramic art, but focus on the attributes of the engagement that enable us
to participate in the aesthetic process through making and perceiving.

The video works representing process aesthetics

To address and illustrate these degrees of engagement we utilize video data from ceramic
material research. The three video works (Figures 1., 2. and 3.) that are discussed here as

1617

data have been made in the context of artistic research. The first goal of these recordings
was to focus on the aesthetics of the materials. The researcher with a background in
ceramics (first author) focused firstly on an aesthetic element familiar from the ceramic
practice but absent from the final objects: the sound of crackling. The first video (Figure 1.)
represents flux that is a ceramic raw material, crackling on a ceramic plate. The object was
taken out of the kiln while it was still approximately 400 degrees Celsius hot. The video has
been taken when the object is hot in order to enhance the reaction of rapid cooling that
makes the flux crackle and produce characteristic sounds. These similar sounds are familiar
in the context of making when glazes crack on a ceramic surface. The resulting appearance
can be used as an effect to the object but for a ceramist it is also a sign of tension between
the glaze and the ceramic that causes crackling. The ceramist knows that in order to avoid
crackling the materials have to be modified to work better together. In functional objects such
as plates and cups the crackling of a glaze is not a good quality as the liquid that the vessel
is designed to hold can absorb through the cracks. There are techniques that use this quality
as a foundation of certain material aesthetic i.e. Raku firing. The cracks are familiar in
ceramic techniques but the use of the sounds they produce is part of the process aesthetics
that is not common material in ceramic art.
The second video work (Figure 2.) represents the effect of a crackling glaze that absorbs
liquid through the cracks. In the video different colors of ink are dropped on a hot glazed
plate. In the right temperature the absorption of the ink can be seen and the cracks become
visible. In a different temperature the ink burns or boils on the surface (Figure 3.). When the
surface is too hot it cant absorb the ink. When the ink touches the surface it boils and burns
on to it and leaves different patterns on the object although the materials are the same.
These processes indicate the influence of the temperature to the liquid absorption. The
moment of absorption is aesthetical and transfers the knowledge obtained through making.

Making and perceiving as degrees of engagement in the

aesthetic process
When utilizing video data from the artistic process, the video as the medium necessarily puts
the observer in the position of a viewer regardless of the relation of the observer with the
data. From the viewers perspective the medium of the video disappears when looking at the
exemplary artwork here. The observer is immersed in the process appearing on the video.
...Film can order the pure dimensions of experience directly and without any apparent
physical intermediary to create a convincing and absorbing reality of its own (Berleant 1991,
175). The object of the aesthetic engagement in question seems to be the content of the
videos - the processes that are happening in the ceramic materials. The aesthetic
engagement is the perceivers aesthetic engagement with this material process, not with the
video work, although the perceived aesthetic qualities of the process are evidently
dependent on the decisions made about the composition of the video, such as the lighting,
cut, and framing. However, from the viewpoint of the process aesthetics, the aesthetic
qualities conveyed by this material are not connected with the technical attributes of the
video, but with the personal differences between the perceivers. A critical difference of the
stances is the degree of the material knowledge in making and perceiving, which we discuss
in the following chapter.

1618

The aesthetic experience and the material knowledge

Looking at the first video (Figure 1.) one quickly realizes that the crackling of the glaze-like
surface of the plate is a short take of a longer process of a material reaction. For a lay
person - a non-ceramist - the crackling in itself is an event that invites the appreciation of its
beauty. The cracks seem to appear in a way that is similar to ice on lakes, but something
hints that it is not the freezing of the material in question here. However, without any ceramic
material knowledge the observation of this process does not really imply anything from the
previous phases or what might happen afterwards, nor does the crackling effect carry any
meaning as such beyond its aesthetic qualities.
Opposed to a lay persons simple observation of the crackling surface, the video may carry a
lot of information for a ceramist. From the perspective of observing the material with
ceramists experience and expertise, the three videos discussed here indicate certain
material qualities that are common in the use of ceramic practice. The first video captures
the qualities of flux material used solely for the purpose of crackling. Thick layer of flux with a
low melting point compared to ceramic plate under it appears on to it as a glass producing
material. A slight shining can be noticed on the edges of the ceramic plate, indicating that
the flux material has strongly vaporized during the firing and left the ceramic surface as it
would have been glazed. The flux has completely melted into what looks like a clear puddle
of liquid. From the emerging cracks the thickness of the flux can be noticed. The tension is
slowly discharging and the sound of them indicates the amount of tension there is. The
behavior of the flux material can be understood as part of glaze materials and what is its
nature in the use of glazes.
For an experienced maker as an observer, the recorded video material presents a scale of
possibilities depending on the desired aesthetic outcomes. It can be interpreted that the
material suggests, or stimulates future actions for the experienced eye. In other terms, this
quality can be termed also the affordance of the ceramic material. Affordance, introduced
by James J. Gibson in 1986, refers to the perception of natures possibilities or opportunities
that have been relatively constant throughout the evolution of animal life (Gibson 1986, 1819). An affordance points two ways, to the environment and to the observer (Ibid, 141).
However, these potential directions based on the inherent qualities of the ceramic materials
can be only noticed by a ceramist with prior knowledge of the materials behavior and its
meaning. Part of the material affordance can be understood through the video. Affordance of
flux gives the idea of the material behavior as part of the glaze where it works as lowering
the melting point and a producer of glass substance.
In the second and third videos the vapor reveals the heat of the ceramic surface quickly
even for an inexperienced observer. Through these two different processes the impact of the
heat is evident. In the second video the glazed surface absorbs the ink and reveals the glaze
that has crackled. For a layperson, a large part of the aesthetic experience associated with
this videos, is tied to the unexpected behavior of the inks on the ceramic surfaces. According
to Forss (2007) Berleant emphasizes the aesthetic experience as situational and cultural.
For Berleant sociality is always present in aesthetic experience (Forss 2007, 54).
Understanding the engagement through artists practice the environment plays a big part of it
but not only as Berleant suggest as a part of the cultural environment but through the studio
where the artist works. For a practitioner the environment is a setting and framework in

1619

which the experiences happen. The place generates engagement as it is. Artist enters into a
space where the mind is focused on the practice. The working environment enables the
artist realize her practice into the work of arts. The physical space generates mental space
where the focus is on the practice. The artwork is an outcome of different aesthetic
experiences that reflects as process aesthetics through the work.

Performativity as a means for engaging the perceiver in the artistic

process
A particular aesthetic dimension that can be equally appreciated by both the ceramist and
the layperson is the sound of crackling. Even seeing the cracks appear without the sound
triggers a presentiment of the sound - or a memory of them in the other case. It can be
described that the performative quality of the video constructs the idea of the sound enabling
that the particular sound can be imagined or recalled through a memory. Berleant illustrates
the performativity of art through the examples of particularly performative arts such as dance
and music. He states that art needs an activator or an activating agent that are intelligent
perceptions. The viewer performs the artwork in the process of perception (Berleant 1991,
153). The performativity of the artwork is an essential quality, a prerequisite for the perceiver
to engage in the process aesthetics.
The meanings attached to sound as an atypical aesthetic element in relation to ceramics are
however different by the maker and a perceiver. For the maker the connections of previous
knowledge of the process are present in the video, whereas the viewer remains distanced
from the process even when hearing the crackling sound. However, through imagination
based on the visual perception, the perceiver becomes engaged in the creative process and
enters in the realm of imagination, to take on the possible, as well as the plausible, and
probable (Sullivan 2010, 121) in a similar manner like the artist in her research process.
Berleant describes this engagement with art and its requirements: Creative actualization
carries the aesthetic event to realization in painting, sculpture, and literature as much as it
does in any other art. The appreciation of painting requires a provoking eye - more than an
eye, a searching sensibility that makes its own contribution to the movement of line, the
interplay of hues, the shaping of space, the grasping of volumes, and the ordering of all its
visual features into compositional integrity. (Berleant 1991, 153).
In the second video the perceiver is drawn to engage with the aesthetic process where from
one point the ink travels through the cracks and disappears from the surface. Only the slight
vaporizing indicates that the surface is hot or warm. The small spatters stays in the surface
while the bigger ones are able to absorb into the cracks. Through the experimentations on
pouring ink on a hot surface the ceramist knows that this happens only through a certain
temperature and a certain amount of ink that absorption can be obtained. In the third video
the reaction of the ink suddenly boiling on the surface is surprising. The boiling burns the ink
on to the surface and in some occasions stops the ink running down. There is a little color
trace that indicates for the ceramist the absorption in the glaze surface, but lets know that
the main reaction happens between the ink and the hot surface.
In the context of ceramic art, the aesthetics of making draws the focus on the ceramic

1620

materials. For the maker, the parts of the previous processes that build up the understanding
of the materials points to the direction of aesthetic qualities. From the context of making the
sound of the materials is familiar but usually part of the knowledge than the material of art.
Sound is present when the glaze on a ceramic object reacts to cooling and indicates that the
glaze and the ceramic materials have a tension that manifests as crackling in the glaze
surface. The point of experiencing the sound from a freshly fired object still warm from the
firing process and crackling is an aesthetic experience to the maker. There is no difference
of the maker and the viewer in this point. The maker is the viewer. The engagement of this
experience makes the difference of its qualities. Enhancing the experience of a maker turns
it the outcome of artistic practice. The sound of ceramic material can now be seen as
material for artistic goals (Figure 1.). The process aesthetics are engaged with the maker by
the possibilities of being part of the outcomes. What is revealed in the process can be used
as a part of the outcomes of the process.
By reflecting on making and perceiving as complimenting ways of engagement in the
aesthetic process we found affordance and performativity as the central relations of the
maker and the perceiver to the process aesthetics (Figure 4.)

Figure 4. Making and perceiving as degrees of engagement with the process aesthetics

1621

Conclusions
The starting point of this exploration was an interest towards the process aesthetics in
ceramic art. We framed our discussion with artistic practice-led research and its background
in the aesthetic tradition.
Utilizing a video data we reflected on the aesthetic engagement and conceptualized two
complimenting ways of involvement: making and perceiving, to describe the different
degrees of engagement with the aesthetic process. When exploring the video works by
differentiating between the degrees of engagement with the process through making and
perceiving, we identified the qualities of affordance and performativity as the central relations
with the process aesthetics.
The three videos discussed here, preserve and convey information and understanding
(Mkel 2007) from the artistic process particularly from the aesthetic viewpoint. When
considering that in the practice-led research the questions are answered by the means of
practice (Mkel & Routarinne 2006, 13) we can ask what kind of questions can be
answered with this kind of data? When considering the video material and its ability to
preserve and convey understanding of the artistic practice, it can be interpreted that in fact
these clips do not carry much explicit information but they still have a power to aesthetically
engage also the laypersons imagination in the artistic process. In the context of making and
perceiving the process aesthetics appears similarly to Berleants description of the aesthetic
engagement. The process aesthetics requires an active engagement both from the artist and
the perceiver in order to realize. Only through the active engagement with the process the
aesthetic experience can realize.
This investigation adds to the previous understandings of the positions of the maker and the
perceiver in practice-led research turning the focus towards the aesthetic process. In
practice-led research the artifact has been argued as an object of knowledge with somewhat
varying results. In this study we change the focus from the outcomes of the process into the
process itself through the process aesthetics. Exploring the practice through process
aesthetics opens the meaning of an engagement to the perception and to the knowledge of
it. Through the concept of engagement art becomes participatory. The aesthetic
engagement with the process means entering the process, becoming part of it (see Unt
2012, 39; Berleant 1991).
Concentrating on the ceramic practice through process aesthetics gives the understanding
of the construction of knowledge in the process of making. Focusing on one process at a
time and enhancing it gives the opportunity to look what connections it has to the knowledge
gained through practice.
The perspective of process aesthetics in practice-led research gives the possibility to open
the art practice from the perspective of making that cannot be reached with the outcomes of
the process. Complicated practices, like the ceramics, cannot be understood only by objects
alone unless the outside viewer has knowledge about the generative processes. The
performative nature of the videos engages the perceiver with the process aesthetics. The
degree of engagement influences the perception. In the context of making there is no
separation between the maker and the perceiver, but the perception is defined only through

1622

the degrees of engagement.

Engagement with the material is a crucial part of the makers aesthetic experience that is
constructed in relation to previous knowledge (skill), to the place / environment (studio) and
to the expected outcomes (object) of the process. The material affordance that can be
understood focusing on the process aesthetics engages the maker. The practice of ceramic
art consists of many different processes where the process aesthetics works through
different degrees of engagement. The concept of process aesthetics needs further research
in order to be proven, but this study indicates that through the aesthetic engagement the
experiential knowledge is gained through process aesthetics that is argued to engage not
only through the perspective of making but also through perceiving.

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Unt, L. (2012). Landscape as Playground: The environmental experience of landscape as
fictional and real in a performance. Doctoral dissertation. Helsinki: Aalto University
Publications series.
https://www.taik.fi/kirjakauppa/images/01b050f6652315c59e46032ca2fcf06c.pdf Retrieved
October 23, 2013.
Yanagi, S. (1989). The Unknown Craftsman: A Japanese Insight into Beauty. Tokyo:
Kodansha International Ltd.
Weggeman, M., Lammers, I. & Akkermans, H. (2007). Aesthetics from a design perspective.
Journal of Organizational Change Management, 20(3), 346-358.
doi:10.1108/09534810710740173, Retrieved October 14, 2013.

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Priska Falin: is a doctoral candidate working in the Aalto University, School of Arts,
Design and Architecture, Department of Design, Helsinki Finland. As an artist-researcher
Falin conducts practice-led research that concentrates on ceramics and its processes. Her
approach is directed from the aesthetics and the act of making.

Petra Falin: is a postdoctoral researcher in the University of Lapland with a background in

the field of design research. Her research has previously addressed mainly issues related
with design processes and practices, such as design expertise, learning, knowledge and
professional identity.

1625

How to Introduce Experiential User Data: The Use of

Information in Architects' Design Process
Margo Annemans, KU Leuven, Dept. of Architecture, Research[x]Design & osar
architecten
Chantal Van Audenhove, KU Leuven, LUCAS
Hilde Vermolen, osar architecten
Ann Heylighen, KU Leuven, Dept. of Architecture, Research[x]Design

Abstract
As architecture influences peoples daily life considerably, architects need in-depth
insights in peoples spatial perception, needs, and desires. To be able to provide them
with sufficient and suitable information on these matters we aim to investigate how
architects currently use information in design, and how experiential user data could
change their thinking about their projects and way of working. We conducted two focus
group interviews with architects (designing healthcare buildings), each covering two parts.
First, we discussed information use and knowledge generation during design. This
resulted in a better understanding of a design process iterative nature with shifts in
information content, type, and use. Several nuances were identified, e.g. between using
general legal information and information focused on the buildings actual situation, and
between obligatory and inspiring sources. Second, we presented different forms of
research data, and probed participants' interest in and possible use of these. This
provided insights in what information qualities architects look for while designing,
identifying strengths and weaknesses. Also ideas for disseminating research results
amongst architects were collected. We conclude by pointing out opportunities of using
experiential user data to initiate and support changes in design practice that improve
users wellbeing, especially in healthcare buildings.

Keywords
Architecture; Design Process; Evidence; Focus group Interviews; Use of Information
Swiss architect Peter Zumthor describes architecture as "the background for life" (2010, p.
12). What architects design influences peoples daily experience considerably. Therefore,
architects need sufficient information on peoples spatial perception, needs, and desires.
Since "information" is a very broad term, questions rise as to which (type of) information is
needed in different phases of the design process and how this is used. Designers cannot
collect all the needed information by themselves. However, when researchers provide
data, designers' expectations regarding these data and how they can be effectively
communicated should also be explored. Therefore we addressed a twofold research
question: how do architects currently use information in design, and how could
experiential user data change their thinking about their projects and current way of
working? In two focus group interviews we sounded out how information content, type,
and use differs in different design phases, and based on these insights we tried to identify
opportunities to penetrate such information more appropriately into architectural design
practice. This double aim was reflected in the organisation of the interviews: a first part
addressed the use of information during the design process in general, in a second part
specific examples of research data were presented followed by questions on their usability
and degree of fascination. The interviews were analysed based on themes found in
literature, after which the generated findings were discussed against these same themes.

1626

This provided us with a more nuanced understanding of what information is desired in

what phase and how architects would like to gain access to it. These insights could inform
research projects, to better match the content and type of research data with architects
needs during design and thus bring research and practice closer to each other.

(User) Informed Design in Literature

Since design tasks are ill-defined or wicked in nature (Rittel & Webber, 1973), the
information necessary to solve them cannot be readily available (Cross, 1982). As the
information needed to understand the problem depends upon the designer's idea for
solving it, collecting information and designing is a continuous iterative process. Donald
Schn (1983) argues that even if designers have a virtuous ability to string out design
webs of great complexity, they still cannot handle an indefinitely expanding web. At some
point during the process, (they have to come to an intermediate decision which can then
become the basis for further exploration, new problem statements and new (partial)
solutions. Designers continually reflect-in-action (Schn, 1983). This sort of design is
described as 'knowledge-rich', meaning that the design requires designers to have a
considerable amount of knowledge beyond what is provided in the problem description
(Lawson, 1994). Designers have to derive knowledge from the available information the
design process needs to be fed with continually. Since each phase in the design process
has a different purpose and focus (Cuff, 1989), the question arises whether and how the
content, type, and use of information needed in different phases differs too.
Each designer brings his/her own concerns into the process (Lawson, 1994). Sometimes
these are clearly articulated; sometimes they are based on tacit knowledge architects
gained through personal or professional experience. Due to some great architects fame,
we sometimes mistakenly assume their work to be entirely personal (Lawson, 1994). In
reality the coming-into-being of a building is teamwork, among architects from one or
more firms, between architects and other building professionals, and between architects
and clients. Bryan Lawson (1994) also points out: "It is quite likely today that those who
commission buildings are not actually going to use the buildings themselves. Architects
therefore must try to consider the feelings of their 'users' as opposed to their 'clients'."
Especially in the health care context, it is important that buildings meet the social,
psychological, and developmental needs of those using them. Since the gap between
decision makers and users is often too wide to be overcome by designers using only a
personal perspective (Zeisel, 2006), experiential user data collected by researchers can
play an important role when incorporated into the design process. Which data meet
designer requirements, and how they can be communicated effectively are interesting
research questions (McGinley & Dong, 2011).
Compared to other professionals, designers are quite specific in terms of their approach to
information. They are very much attracted to information presented with maximum use of
graphics and limited text. If text is presented it should be short and easily digestible
(Lofthouse, 2006). Moreover, designers often feel mistrust towards data that have already
been through a process of interpretation (Restrepo, 2004). This may explain why they
prefer raw data in a format that is condensed to be design-relevant, allowing them to
quickly pick up both overarching themes and discover depth relevant to a specific project
(McGinley & Dong, 2009). Therefore, it should not come as a surprise that, to inspire
designers, images made by users (i.e., photographs, drawings, or handwriting) are more
effective than words (Lee, Harada, & Stappers, 2000). There is indeed a need to bring
information on real human experiences to life based on actual situations, not through dry
representations, but through presenting experiential user data as fuller stories (McGinley
& Dong, 2011). However, apart from visual sources (whether or not directly derived from
users), other, it would be interesting to explore more narrative techniques to surpass
designers' visual focus.

1627

Researching Architects Information Use: Methodology

Focus Group Interviews: Aim and Set-Up
Since design is both a personal and collective process, we looked for a technique that
addressed participants' own experience but also left room for interaction. As focus group
interviews are well suited to diagnose problems and to gain insights in people's way of
looking at a certain theme (Stewart, 2007), we opted for this technique. To improve the
chances of success we wanted the respondents to be able to communicate on the same
level and being comfortable with each other (Mortelmans, 2007). Therefore we chose to
organise two focus groups with a slightly different accent. The first group consisted of five
architects from different firms (Table 1). Within each firm, we invited those architects who
were most involved in care building projects and in collecting information for the design.
This group could provide us with a broad range of approaches towards information. Each
firm indeed takes a different stance as to the importance they attach to external
information and how it is collected. The second group featured seven architects, each
fulfilling a different role within the same architecture firm (Table 2). Since the members of
this group knew each other in advance and had sometimes even been working on the
same project, they shed a more nuanced light on interaction between (people working on)
the different phases of the design process. Both groups of architects were working in the
(health)care sector. This selection was made based on the focus of our own research in
this field (Annemans, et al., 2011, 2012a, 2012b).

Profile

Gender

Years of experience

Company V

10-20

Company W

> 20

Company X

10-20

Company Y

10-20

Company Z

5-10

Table 1: Participants of the focus group with architects from different firms

Profile

Gender

Years of experience

Trainee 1

<5

Trainee 2

<5

Responsible concept phase

5-10

Responsible building phase

10-20

Hospital architect

10-20

Care architect

5-10

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Partner at the firm

10-20

Table 2: Participants of the focus group at one firm

Data Collection and Analysis

Both interviews covered a general part and one specifically focussing on experiential user
data, collected in the context of a study on hospital patients spatial experience. Although
the interviews main outline remained the same, some shifts in emphasis occurred
between both. The interview with the group of one firm started by inventorying the
different phases in the design process and what information was used in each phase.
Only after a consensus was reached, more general questions were asked on which
information was missing, and the reliability and management of the collected information.
The group involving architects from different firms was asked to describe the importance
and use of evidence in their firm. While preparing this interview architects from different
firms, we decided to use the term evidence rather than information, staying closer to the,
for architects, maybe more familiar concept of evidence-based design (EBD)1. However,
the connotation associated with this term did not improve the communication. Therefore
we gave some additional explanation and soon shifted towards the term information.
After a short break, both focus groups were presented various kinds of data on patients
spatial experience collected through ethnographic research (Annemans, et al., 2012a).
We were mainly interested in the importance architects attached to each information type
and which strengths and weaknesses they identified. These data were diverse in nature:
photographs and drawings made by patients, and video recordings of hospital trajectories,
capturing the experience of movement were shown and accompanied of some
explanation.

Figure 1: Narrative of photographs and a drawing made by a patient, January 2011,

Photograph by participant (undisclosed name for anonymity reasons)

Using information, or evidence, to inform the design process, is often referred to as

Evidence Based Design (EBD). This concept found its origin in the analogy with other
evidence-based approaches to research and practice. Parallel with evidence-based
medicine, EBD studies want to provide evidence for the healing outcome of building
aspects (Ulrich et al., 2004). Architects frequently misunderstand the term. Many fear EBD
to be overly prescriptive rather than informative, moreover they do not fully grasp how to
assess its strength or weakness, and in what context it could be valid (Brandt, e.a, 2010).
However, as clients increasingly expect architects to base design decisions on an explicit
chain of knowledge that can be directly linked to facts, research data, or own field
observations and also share this information with them (Hamilton, 2009), architects cannot
stay behind.

1629

Figure 2: Video recording of hospital trajectory, July 2012, Recorded by Margo Annemans
All of these were presented as raw data (videos shown without any post processing) and
accompanied by quotes from participating patients. To extend the possible ways of
informing the design process, we added a biographical text from a cancer patient, Maggie
Keswick and the translation of this text into a rather atypical architectural brief (written for
architects designing a Maggie's Cancer Caring Centre) (see Annemans et al., 2012b).
Subsequently participants were asked to comment on the different information types, what
they found interesting, whether and how it could inspire them, and what they thought was
missing in or could be complementing the presented data.
The audiorecordings of both interviews were transcribed verbatim. The transcripts were
analysed through coding. To establish a list of representative codes, we started by open
coding followed by axial coding (Mortelmans, 2007). Throughout this process previously
established topics grounded in literature (Creswell, 2003) were kept in mind. As the focus
group interviews were mainly explorative in nature, the results will be used as a basis to
set up further ethnographic research in hospitals (aiming to collect the type of data
architects are longing for) and to be able to come to selective coding of follow up
interviews with architects on the use and communication of information in the design
process.
In what follows, the material shown to the architects, combined with other material
regarding spatial experience in care settings, will be referred to as (research) data. These
can become part of the large amount of sources architects consult while design, all of
which we address as information. Finally, just collecting this information will not be enough
for architects to actually work with it. It will need to infiltrate their daily practice to a point
that if forms part of both their tacit and explicit knowledge.

1630

Architects on Experiential User Data: Findings

Information in the Design Process
When asked about which information they used, architects from both groups mentioned
the site, design brief, cooperation with engineers or other support services, client,
architectural examples (mostly called "references") and feedback from former projects.
However, the group consisting of one firm paid considerably more attention to how client
and user could differ and how they could find entries into users' experience, e.g., by
participating in daily activities taking place in an existing building with a similar program as
the one considered, testimonies in online movies or texts, workshops, or exhibitions. Still,
although sporadically these efforts were already made, the partner at the firm mentioned
that real user involvement was still lacking in the workshops they organise: "[ the people
who take part are not people from our field] a psychiatrist, or a doctor, or a geriatric, a
user we should involve more, but well, maybe not someone with dementia, but maybe
relatives of someone with dementia." Additionally, the focus on separate phases seemed
to generate a shift in importance towards more practically oriented sources of information
like constructors, building material producers or quality labels and certificate providers.
In the first interview, the presence of different firms coloured the discussion. One
participant explained: "What do we look at as evidence? We have an internal library with
reference projects, both our own and star projects. Sometimes we also organize visits to
other projects with the client and things like that. [] We also have a database with
evaluations of our clients, but also inside the firm, square metres, prices, ratios between
programs." This firm clearly invests in post occupancy evaluations of their projects,
focussing on both quantitative and qualitatively insights, thus working on a feedback loop
and lifting those projects to the level of reference for future design projects.
Despite a different view on which information to use during design and how to collect it,
both groups pointed at how collecting, processing, and evaluating information is an
iterative process. This does not mean that the same information is used during each cycle,
however. While refining a design from concept to actual building, architects oscillate
between information content. On one hand this occurs between generally available
information and information on the same topic specifically focused on the buildings actual
situation at its construction site, taking into account all other preconditions. General legal
information such as building regulations or information on subsidies is often readily
available on the internet, yet once you have an outline of an actual design, it is highly
recommendable to engage in a dialogue with the particular (local) government to discuss
the specific project. An example of a combination of clear rules and local decisions is fire
regulation, as an architect explains: "For example the law on fire regulation is a document
that you find on the internet, that you almost have on your desktop." Another one
continues: "the law is one side, but you also have to talk with the government. It is not one
against the other [] you will always have to visit you fire department so they can give
advice. Therefore a conversation with the local department is very useful, whether or not
they dare to divert from the norm." In the other interview, the risk of simply following
regulations was addressed too. As someone put it: "Actually it is funny that we build
norms, we build norms in stone."
On the other hand nuances are found between obligatory and inspiring information. One
architect working on a large hospital project mentioned that a part of the building that is
now used as a geriatric ward, was originally intended as a day hospital and designed
according to the corresponding building regulation. Due to the original requirements the
space is now way too big for the six patients residing there, therefore extra furniture was
ordered and installed to fill up the space and create a more intimate atmosphere as
intended in the concept for such a program. Still, this may not strictly be according to the
regulations.

1631

The participating architects almost unanimously pointed out that much information derived
from research is far too abstract to be used while designing: "It is mostly at the beginning
that we, at our firm look for information that other architects might not look for. What we
are missing is a link between architecture and [] how the building really operates." Later
on in the interview this quote was further exemplified: "[] it is about how design
decisions that have an influence on the maintenance, exploitation cost, and the operating
cost. And the latter is very difficult to find, exploitation is easier." One of the architects
gives another example: "Running lines are very important in the health care sector
because the cost of personnel is one of the biggest for the client. But those models that
are the best concerning running lines, to find those in structured way to work with [is very
difficult]. Of course, there are some logical starting points that everyone knows, a simple
layout, but basic models to work with that I did not find yet." As illustrated, the mutual
influence of user perception, organisational structure, and cost implications is not explicit
enough. This lack of explicitness combined with the nuances mentioned above, creates a
considerable burden to find the desired information. Evidence from real, realized buildings
could fill this gap. However, due to the time lapse between the design and use of many
health care buildings, feedback loops risk to lack accuracy. Although most participants are
convinced that research on specific topics or programs could be highly interesting during
the design process, both groups pointed out that an important reason to make the effort of
searching for it is to convince the client. It almost sounded as if the architects need the
results only to convince others what they already know. Quotes like: "that is also what you
want to legitimate your choice with respect to the client" were very common.
Finding the right information at the right time seems a challenge. The participants use the
sources that are most ready-to-hand, like the internet or magazines. However, the choice
of where to find information may also be generational: "The way your find you information,
I think, is also very generational. [] The three of us, we belong to For us it may be a
book or something like that, whereas with those youngsters, they find everything on the
internet. They are faster, much faster, that is a real difference. And that is also why it is a
good thing to be able to use different sources." The reliability of these sources is not
always easy to trace. Generally speaking, participants seem to find it hard to evaluate
what makes a source reliable or not. As mentioned: "I find it hard to judge on the internet
[] whether it is really someone's experience or just an opinion. That is also hard to
derive from literature; you always have to interpret it. The best is to meet someone, who
can say this are the advantages, this are the disadvantages." This someone then should
have enough experience and authority, yet who is valued as an authority is not always
clear. One stated: "When you dub it with a voice from a documentary, it seems to increase
the scientific value." Sometimes surprising elements seem to provide an architect with a
(false) feeling of reliability.

Introducing and Using Experiential User Data

After various data on patients spatial experience were presented, strengths and
weaknesses were brought forward. For both a distinction can be made between those
relating to the datas content, type and use. Content wise the main advantage is found in
the informations layered structure. An image that, at first sight, may just seem to show
what a patient sees, can tell the spectator something about a different sensory experience
or point at a relational malfunctioning when the underlying story is added (Annemans et al.,
2012a). One trainee formulated it as follows: "Yes, I see the pictures and I especially hear
the stories. Than actually how the subjective way of how the user sees it makes it
interesting." A more experienced architect on the other hand states: "The information of
the story of that person is always at least as interesting as the conclusion connected to it."
How the information was communicated to the architects was largely appreciated. Directly
communicating with raw data, avoiding (too much) analysis by researchers, allows
architects to pick up aspects that are relevant to their specific design or situation. For

1632

some, additional structuring would be welcome. The trainee continued: " maybe you can
come to a matrix, that offers a structure to all the material, for example when you have a
picture, objective [physical parameters], subjective, what the user says what is positive
and negative." The additional video material reflected more closely the visual information
architects would consult spontaneously. An architect said: "If tomorrow there was a
website with forty videos at different locations of someone who is wheeled through the
hospital, I would definitely click on ten of them, and then maybe also the next ten, that
would depend. But a way of documenting it in an a-typical way, that seems very
interesting to me."
For the architects information in the design process in general, and experiential user data
specifically, could mainly be used to convince clients. The participants claimed they
currently have hard times convincing clients of the importance of experience related
design decisions. Interventions aiming at an improved wellbeing of users in general, and
patients in particular, now often have to lay thumbs against aspects that are easier to
"prove" or easier to calculate. A partner at an architecture firm literally said: "The biggest
disadvantage of this kind of information is that it is very hard to calculate." They hope that
the presented data could possibly provide a counter argument.
The above-cited strengths relate directly to the mentioned weaknesses. Some form their
counterpart. A major threat to the layered structure of the data is the possible loss of part
of the richness. Although some participants call the data subjective or too anecdotal,
others consider the enormous amount of diverse testimonies as ideal to increase
sensitivity without standardising or steering too much. Indeed, the architect who sincerely
appreciated the videos later continued: "[] if we got something too concrete, we curse
it." However, when not communicated well, e.g., showing only images without the
accompanying narratives, a lot of information gets lost, and misinterpretation lies in wait.

Discussion and Critical Remarks

The presented study was triggered by two research questions: (how) does the content,
type, and use of information needed in different phases differ, and which (kind of)
research results meet architects requirements and how can they be communicated
effectively? As to the former, the results of the focus group interviews suggest that each
phase has its own specificities and corresponding information needs. Therefore, architects
consult external advisors in each phase, besides those taking part in the entire design
process. Although designing is an iterative process wherein questions concerning the
same, more or less specific topics are addressed each round, the content, type, and use
of the required information shifts. Whereas for some, often more technical topics,
designers base their decisions in the first phases on generally available information and
later enter into a dialogue with those doing calculations or formulating legal advice, for
more experience- or user-related topics, the nuanced and particular is highly appreciated
as an inspirational source from the start. In a very early phase participants mention
engaging in real-life settings, reading blogs or watching movies with testimonies as a
basis for their design. In later phases, this experiential user information becomes a frame
of reference to check more punctual decisions. For example, the desire to design a
homelike environment can serve as a framework to assess the choice of materials at a
later moment.
Additionally, we examined to what extent and why the presented data match architects'
informational requirements. As Chris McGinley and Hua Dong (2011, p.193) point out,
"There is a need to move away from the dry representations [] and to bring human
information to life through presenting user insights as fuller stories, conveying liveliness
through visual material, and giving scope for the design audience to complete the
interpretations, allowing a level of co-ownership." The insights from the focus group
interviews seem to address this need. As architects often feel mistrust towards data that
already underwent a process of interpretation (Restrepo, 2004), our research provides the

1633

opportunity to pass data directly from patients to architects (Annemans et al., 2012a),
offering the analysis as an addition rather than a result. Architects already working with
experiential user information are looking for the stories underlying peoples experience. By
engaging, or reading or watching testimonies, they try to relate directly to particular users
personal stories. Although some criticize this approach as subjective and overly anecdotal,
others value its richness. As the complementary of the layers was highly appreciated by
the participating architects, a major part of the challenge will lay in finding a way of
accessibly communicating the data without losing the layered content. A simple and
reliable structure with an original viewpoint, presented through a channel architects are
familiar with, like the internet, would be ideal.
Finally, we would like to make some critical remarks. As Nigel Cross (1982) points out,
scientist almost unanimously conclude their analysis by stating that further research is
needed. This is exactly what architects do not want to hear. They need hands-on
information they can start working with. Endless refinements do not help to come to a
physical result. As designers work in a solution oriented way (Cross, 1982; Rittel &
Webber, 1973), they make a decision based on the best possible information available at
a certain point. If that information is later refined or even contradicted, the proposed
solution can be adapted depending on the phase or, if this is not possibly anymore, the
knowledge gained could be transposed to a future project. Although one participant
argued that the long time laps between projects makes learning from one for another hard,
others indicated to still consider what they learn in one project valuable for the next.
A gap seems to exist between what architects expect from research and what research
can provide. The participating architects want research data that provide them with
concrete experiential user information, but also with a measurable outcome of
implementing these data. However, as each problem is "essentially unique", despite a
long list of similarities between a current and a previous problem, there might always be
an additional distinguishing property that is of overriding importance (Rittel & Webber,
1973). Therefore, no research can ever provide architects with exact numbers on the
outcome of a design solution and as such redeem the expectations.
While all participating architects expressed a need for (experiential user) information when
designing, a significant difference was found between both focus groups. In the one
conducted at one firm, a general agreement seemed to exist on the need for architects to
support their clients with as much information as possible, even to the extent of taking
over the entire reasoning underlying organisational decisions to support a client unable to
take care of it him/herself. The other focus group raised the question how much
information should come from architects. Many architects in the latter group seemed to
consider a fruitful design one where the client takes the responsibility to provide
information on the healthcare organisation and approach, whereas they as architects
added spatial and technical knowledge to the process. Each party could then profile itself
as an outsider in the knowledge field of the other and, from this position, question the
other's assumptions in an unprejudiced way. A permanent dialogue between both parties
would then shape the design process.

Conclusion
Both focus group interviews aimed to find out how architects currently use information in
design, and how experiential user data could change their thinking about their projects
and current way of working. Especially in the specific context of healthcare projects, which
we focused on in our research, we noticed that architects are already aware of the
importance of peoples experience of the built environment. As people are often
confronted with these buildings at a very vulnerable moment in their life, the societal
relevance is never far away. A general consensus exists that these buildings design can
add to an evolution in the connotation that is assigned to them by the general public.
Some architects believe their design can be a trigger to change entire organisations;

1634

others only aim at improving patients' experience through punctual interventions or

making their direct environment more convenient. Although the degree to which their
responsibility stretches seems to differ across the participating architects, all feel,
somehow, responsible for the outcome of their design. Despite different approaches to the
design process, all seemed to value the presented data highly, as an introduction to an
unknown experiential world, as a way to expand their horizon, or as means to convince
their clients of the critical importance of aspects that are often difficult to prove.
Although architects may not appreciate the statement, more research is needed to gain
profound insight in the use of these experiential data. In the presented study we were
gauging for designers' interest in this kind of information and their preferences concerning
type and accessibility. An interesting next step would be to observe whether and how the
presented data are used in an actual design process. Do the participating architects
practice what they preach? Only by following the coming into being of a building, starting
from the conceptual phase and ending with a post occupancy evaluation, can we trace
when and why which information is introduced, used, worked with, and finally also
recognized or appreciated for its added value by the final user. Despite practical and time
related burdens, such study would be worth investing in. Only by consciously collecting
and structuring precise insights on the impact of experiential user information, will we, in
the end, be able to shift architects' but also clients' focus to peoples spatial experience.

Acknowledgements
Margo Annemans' research is funded by a PhD grant of the Baekeland program of the
Agency for the Promotion of Innovation through Science and Technology in Flanders
(IWT-Vlaanderen), which gives researchers the opportunity to complete a PhD in close
collaboration with industry, in this case osar architects nv. Ann Heylighen received support
from the European Research Council under the European Community's Seventh
Framework Program (FP7/2007-2013)/ERC grant agreements n 201673 and n335002.
The authors thank the participating architects, for sharing their time and insights. Also
thanks to our AIDA collegues for their comments on an earlier version of this paper.

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Creswell, J. (2003). Research design: qualitative, quantitative, and mixed method
approaches (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks Calif.: Sage Publications.
Cross, N. (1982). Designerly ways of knowing. Design Studies, 3, 221227.
Cuff, D. (1989). The social art of design at the office and the academy. The Journal of
Architectural and Planning Research, 6(3), 186203.

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Hamilton, D. K. (2009). Evidence-based design for multiple building types. Hoboken, N.J:
John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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Universal Access in HCI (Vol. Part I, pp. 116125). Heidelberg: Springer Berlin.
McGinley, C., & Dong, H. (2011). Designing with Information and Empathy: Delivering
Human Information to Designers. The Design Journal, 4(2), 187206.
Mortelmans, D. (2007). Handboek kwalitatieve onderzoeksmethoden (1e dr.). Leuven;
Voorburg: Acco.
Restrepo, J. (2004). Information Processing in Design. Delft, The Netherlands: Delft
University Press.
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Policy Sciences, 4(2), 155169.
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Kansei. In Proceedings of the Pleasure-Based Human Factors Seminar. Copenhagen.
Schn, D. A. (1983). The Reflective Practitioner. New York: Basic Books.
Stewart, D. W. (2007). Focusgroups: theory and practice (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks:
SAGE Publications.
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physical environment in the hospital of the 21st century: a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Martinez Calif.: The Center for Health Design.
Zeisel, J. (2006). Inquiry by design: environment/behavior/neuroscience in architecture,
interiors, landscape, and planning (Rev. ed.). New York: W.W. Norton & Company.
Zumthor, P. (2010). Thinking architecture (3rd, expanded ed.). Basel: Birkhuser.

Margo Annemans, MSc, studied architecture/engineering at the University of Leuven

(KU Leuven, Belgium). While doing her internship as an architect she studied
anthropology at KU Leuven. Currently she is doing a PhD on the spatial experience of
patients lying in a hospital bed and the use of this kind of insights in the architectural
design process. As her PhD is funded by a PhD grant of the Baekeland program of the
Agency for the Promotion of Innovation through Science and Technology in Flanders
(IWT-Vlaanderen), her research takes place in close collaboration with industry, in this
case osar architects nv. She is part of the AiDA research team of the Research[x]Design
group at the Department of Architecture.

Chantal Van Audenhove is professor at the KU Leuven, Academic Centre for

General Practice (ACGP), Department of Public Health. As a clinical psychologist, she is
teaching courses in the field of psychology and applied communication for medical
students and dentists. As director of LUCAS, the Interfaculty Centre for Care Research
and Consultancy of the KU Leuven, she is involved in research on the mental health
reforms in Belgium and in the field of prevention of depression and suicide and stigma.
The center is also specialised in implementation and evaluation of evidence based
practices and in the development of specialised training en education programmes to
support current innovations in mental health services. Since January 2007 she is the
promotor coordinator of the Policy Research Centre for Health, Social Welfare and Family
of the Flemish Government. This network of research centres supports the Flemish
minister with policy oriented research programmes.

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Hilde Vermolen is a partner at osar architects nv since 1999. She is responsible for
large scale projects in the health care sector, mainly hospitals. Hilde studied architecture
at the Luca, School of Arts, Brussels (Belgium), followed by an additional master of
Monuments and Landscape Architecture.

Ann Heylighen is research professor in the Research[x]Design group of the

Department of Architecture at KU Leuven (Belgium). She leads the multidisciplinary AIDA
team, which studies design processes in architecture and related design domains, and
explores how disabled peoples spatial experience may expand prevailing ways of
understanding and designing space. Ann studied architecture/engineering at KU Leuven
and ETH Zrich. After obtaining her PhD in Leuven, she was a Postdoctoral Fellow at KU
Leuven, Harvard University and UC Berkeley. She was awarded several fellowships and
grants, e.g. by the Research Foundation Flanders and the European Research Council.

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Tactile augmentation: Reaching for tacit knowledge

Author 1 Camilla Groth, Aalto University, School of Arts, Design and Architecture.
Department of Design.
Author 2 Maarit Mkel, Aalto University, School of Arts, Design and Architecture.
Department of Design.
Author 3 Pirita Seitamaa-Hakkarainen, Helsinki University, Department of Teacher
Education.
Author 4 Krista Kosonen, Aalto University, School of Arts, Design and Architecture.
Department of Design.

Abstract
The experiential knowledge of a practice lives within the practitioner and is out of reach for
an outsider researcher. Only when practitioners have intrinsic motivation in researching
their practice, can experiential knowledge reach an outside audience. The present case
study is an attempt to access some of the issues forming the embodied knowledge in the
act of throwing clay on a potters wheel. One of the researchers attempts to augment her
tactile sensitivity and awareness by throwing porcelain clay blindfolded for five days. Her
experience is documented and reflected upon through diaries, a contextual activity
sampling system (CASS) and videos that includes thinking aloud accounts. The tentative
findings reveal that the researcher was able to articulate her tactile experiences and share
her experiential knowledge to a great degree. Patterns in the making, such as dividing
hands into categories of active and perceiving, and metaphorical language use was
identified that may be of value in an educational setting. Feelings were acknowledged as
major contributors to risk assessment and decision-making in the material problem solving
process.

Keywords:
Tactile augmentation; Clay; Experiential knowledge; Practice-led research, Embodiment.
It is in the interest of design research to gain access to the practice of skilled practitioners
and to articulate in-depth knowledge from within the field. The embodiment of skills and
materials is evident in professionals, and the theoretical and conceptual work on the issue
of embodiment is sophisticated (Varela et al.1991; Merleau-Ponty 2002; Johnson 1987;
Lakoff & Johnson 1999), but there is still little empirical research applying the work to
documented design practices (Seitamaa-Hakkarainen et al., 2013). Ways of studying the
making from the makers point of view has been discussed in the relatively young tradition
of practice-led research (Frayling, 1993; Candy, 2006; Niedderer, 2007; Mkel &
Routarinne, 2006; Pedgely, 2007; Niedderer & Reilly 2010; Nimkulrat, 2012). Method such
as diaries and thinking aloud accounts are now supplemented by event sampling methods
(ESM) (Seitamaa-Hakkarainen et al., 2013.)
The use of practice-led research methods has become increasingly common among
practitioners in art, craft and design who wish to document, reflect and research on their
own practice (for examples see AHRB 2007). The discussion on how to research in art

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and design is still vibrant (Mkel et al, 2011; Candy, 2006). One major contribution in the
field of experiential knowledge in practice-led research, is made by Kristina Niederrer
(Niederrer, 2009; Niedderer & Reilly, 2010.) In this paper, we use a practice-led approach
as a setting where the process of making, rather than the artefact, is in focus (Candy,
2006).
Practice-led research emphasises the reflection of experiential knowledge that the
practitioner embodies. In his book, The reflective practitioner, Schn (1991 76)
encourages the practitioner to reflect in action in order to get access to this knowledge.
Nigel Cross (1982 5) supports this idea in his claim that there is a particular designerly
way of knowing that is inherent in the designer, the process and the products themselves,
and that can be gained through reflecting on ones activity. Owain Pedgely (2007) admits
that the multiple roles of the researcher and the respondent are complicated and that the
results might be biased when having a subjective research setting. Therefore he argues
for the importance of multiple data collection methods in order to triangulate data and
results.
In our research, both qualitative and quantitative data, introspection and visual
documentation, is collected and triangulated as supported by Norman Denzin and Yvonna
Lincoln (2008, 5) in their handbook on qualitative research, where such a multimethod is
seen as an attempt to secure an in-depth understanding about the phenomena. According
to Pedgely, a practice-led research setting provides a suitable platform for investigating
areas of interest that the conventional research methods may not be able to access (
2007). As practitioners and researchers, we are able to do autoethnographic research
about our own practice, and in this way we are able to articulate intrinsic knowledge from
inside the field of design. This is also the position from which we argue throughout this
paper - even though from this point onwards, we will call ourselves purely researchers.
In this present case, one of the researchers challenged herself with a demanding task
related to her field of expertise. She used the act of throwing clay on a wheel as a tool for
a tactual interface with the material and as a way of creating an event where making takes
place. In addition, to augment the tactual experience, the visual modality was omitted
through blindfolding. The main issue for the task was the challenge and control of the
throwing process and the awareness of, or ability to judge the shape and form of the piece
solely with her hands. Through this exercise, we aimed to collect data and analyse the
embodied experiences of the researcher.
The researcher documented and analysed her own activity, experiences and emotions
through the combination of three methods: 1) a diary method for qualitative data, 2) a
contextual activity sample system (CASS) query for contextual and quantitative data, and
3) video recordings for visual data and thinking aloud accounts. In this case study tactual
augmentation by blindfolding was used to enhance tactual awareness and making tactile
sensory experiences more explicit. In the following, we will introduce the research setting.
Then we explain the methodological framework and present the case. Finally, we discuss
the interim analysis process and the tentative results.

Research in a studio setting

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One of the researchers spent five days working blindfolded in her studio recording one
clay-throwing event daily. Each event consisted of throwing 12 kg and later 24 kg of
porcelain clay on a potters wheel and lasted 1 1/2 2 hours. All the events were video
recorded, which also enabled thinking aloud accounts made by the researcher while
working. In addition to video and related thinking aloud accounts, the researcher made a
diary entry just before and just after each of the throwing sessions. The CASS query was
also entered in connection to the event and consisted of 12 questions to answer before
the event and 10 questions to answer after the event.
Using thinking aloud accounts (Ericsson & Simon, 1993) we are able to track the cognitive
processes of an individual during an activity, as the method provides content-rich
information about, for example, solving a design task (Akin, 1986; Goel, 1995 217;
Seitamaa-Hakkarainen & Hakkarainen, 2001). In our case, thinking aloud accounts were
combined with video documentation as the researcher spoke to the video camera while
performing her task. In this research setting the method also enabled capturing various
aspects of the tactual activity and later to analytically reflecting on tactual experiences.
Especially critical incidents (Flanagan 1954) were actively reflected on in the talking aloud
accounts. To enable triangulation, the data was supplemented with the diary and the
Contextual Activity Sampling System (CASS) query.
The diary method is a well-established way of collecting autoethnographical data (Bolger
et al., 2003; Chang, 2003). The value of the method has also been recognised in the art
and design field, especially when the practice-led research approach is applied. It allows
the maker-researcher to document features related to her creative process and in
addition, it provides a medium for analytically reflecting on her process (Mkel &
Nimkulrat 2011). The diary has been used in diverse ways (Pedgley, 2007; Mkel, 2003,
2003; Turpeinen, 2005; Nimkulrat 2009; Mkel, 2011; Kosonen & Mkel, 2012).
Usually, the diary is entered regularly along side the working and thinking process
documenting the whole creative process from initial thoughts to the final outcome including drawings, images and text, test results, personal experiences, or feelings. In our
case, we utilise the method in a more formal way as the researcher entered the diary
before and after the events of throwing, answering a set of questions. The questions
before the event encouraged describing the challenges faced and the emotions related to
the upcoming event. The questions after the event encouraged describing the success or
failure of the event and elaborating on the critical incidents that facilitated or hindered the
process and related emotions. In the analysis skill emerged as the dominant theme of the
diary text, second was challenge followed by material and emotions. Evaluation of the
process, critical incidents and problem solving constituted the bulk of the text with some
room for environment and conditions.
The third method used was the Contextual Activity Sampling System (CASS)
(Muukkonen, et al. 2008). CASS is a research instrument under development that uses
3G mobile phones for sampling various aspects of learning, designing or making in their
actual context of occurrence. Event sampling is a generic term, which refers to the
research strategy for studying on-going daily experiences as they occur in everyday life
(Reis & Gable, 2000). The richness of the data collection captures occurring events,
experiences, emotions or social activities at specified time intervals depending on the

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focus of the study. The event sampling method is new in the study of design practices
(Seitamaa-Hakkarainen et al. 2013). For our case, we developed a specific set of
questions that were answered during the actual event through entering the CASS query
sent twice daily to the researchers mobile phone.

Figure 1. CASS application query on mobile phone, 08.04.2013. Photo by Camilla Groth.
The query consisted of 22 Likert type structured questions, which called for ratings
according to a seven-step scale as well as open questions and instructions for taking
photos (Figure 1). The questions 1, 3, 4 and 21 related to the query of the context of
physical space. The researcher was requested to respond to questions concerning the
place she was working in, to evaluate how well the place supported her work and to
photograph the space. Questions 2, 5, and 6, were related to physical tools and
instruments as well as used materials i.e. tool and material space. For the mental space
questions 7-14 and 20, we utilized part of Jackson and Marshs (1996) Flow state scale
as we were interested in the mental states that the researcher passed between during the
events. Questions (15-19) were related to the particular interest of this research i.e. the
ability to control the material and to augment the tactile ability. Question 22 enquired about
the collaboration the researcher had, with whom she was interacting and how or if it
supported her work (i.e., social space). The entire query was designed to be completed in
5-10 minutes. The CASS data captures occurring experiences and emotions at specified
time intervals - in this case - the ability to control the material and to augment the tactile
ability. CASS query data is quantitative data and can be presented in flow charts;
however, due to the small sample size we were here not able to perform any larger
statistical analysis. Feelings were being elaborated on also in the diary but presented in a
flow chart through the CASS data, as will be presented later in the paper.

Throwing clay blindfolded

Although the researcher is a proficient thrower, throwing blindfolded was a new
experience for her. Except for the pilot study related to this case (Groth et. al, 2013), the
researcher had not tried to throw blindfolded and the event was on the limits of her skills.

1641

The main challenge of throwing a large amount of porcelain on a wheel in general is the
fact that porcelain is not very plastic and therefore difficult to throw. The researcher had
chosen porcelain as her material for this experiment in order to yet enhance the tactual
experience. For judging the result of the event the researcher aimed at throwing a straight
cylinder that would meet the aesthetic and technical criteria used commonly within the
community of potters (Dormer, 1994 18). In this section, we give an account on how the
chosen exercise proceeded. It is based on the data collection as explained in the previous
section. By triangulation of the collected data, we aim to reveal the embodied knowledge
of a craft process in this case throwing clay. We seek to articulate some of the tacit
knowledge involved in the making process and we explore tactile augmentation and its
benefits in connection to knowledge making. We will start with excerpts from the diary.

Figure 2. The researcher throwing blindfolded. Screenshot from the video.

Insights from the diary

On the first day, before starting her first throwing task, the researcher reports her feelings
in the diary before the event:
I must admit Im a bit nervous. I dont really want to fail in throwing a 12-kilo
porcelain cylinder on my potters wheel, which is my task today and every day of
this week.' (First day morning diary. Monday, April 8, at 10.15)
Over the period of five days, the events went smoothly, with some disruptions in the
process. All events were successfully documented with the three data collection methods.
On the first day, the requirements of the task were not met, and the result was a failure.

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Figure 3. First day, 08.04.2013. Photo by Camilla Groth.

As the researcher reflected on her activity in the diary she was able to give quite an exact
account of what had happened with the clay even though she had been blindfolded during
the whole activity. Mistakes were analysed and problem solving occurred both in the
making and in the reflection on the making. The tactual memory (see Nicholas 2010 13)
became a tool in the attempt to see through the hands. It was important to remember the
felt sensation of the shape in order to judge how to act in the next movement. There was
also a new sensation in the way that her hands conveyed a false size of the piece to her
mind. Before starting her second day task, she notes in the diary:
Im ready for todays challenge and am determined to concentrate better and to
respect the material and the centrifugal power. I will strive for to see the piece
better through my hands, try to sharpen my tactile memory if possible. (Second
day morning diary, Tuesday, April 9, at 10.00)
Already the second day the researcher found herself more comfortable with the situation
of not seeing what she was doing while working on the wheel. There was still a gap
between her understanding about the shape and the real shape when taking off her
blindfold. The thinking aloud accounts, taken during the video recording of the event, give
a description of what the researcher is doing and what she is thinking at the different
points of making. Although at first it was a step out of the researchers comfort zone to
start talking out into the empty studio:
About talking to the camera while working, it feels much more natural now than
yesterday. I feel that it is useful because I would otherwise never remember
exactly afterwards what I was thinking while I was working. It also keeps my mind
with me as I am aware of what I am doing all the time. (Second day afternoon
diary, Tuesday, April 9, at 12.30)
After succeeding with her task on the third day, there is a clear increase in confidence and
positive spirit. The researcher is redefining her goals, as she feels confident that she can
master an additional challenge, and decides to double the amount of clay for the next day.
On the fourth day, the added challenge affects the researchers feelings and adds an equal
amount of nervousness and slight uncomfort. Now that the challenge was to throw an
even larger amount of clay, the additional challenge of keeping aesthetic preferences on a

1643

high level seemed overwhelming. But for the motivation it was still essential, as the
researcher would not be content with just meeting technical criteria. In her fourth day
diary, she refers to the aesthetic criteria in the context of good craftsmanship:
I managed what I set out to do, to centre and to throw an amount of clay weighing
24kg into a shape that I felt was aesthetically pleasing and was meeting technical
requirements of skill. But the shape was not the intended cylinder. (Fourth day
afternoon diary, Thursday, April 11, at 13.15)

Figure 4. Fourth day, 11.04.2013. Photo by Camilla Groth.

The event was hindered by several critical incidents that followed on each other and
complicated the successful end of the event. But the feeling of being able to handle the
material blindfolded is still reflected on in a positive manner.
The challenges for the fifth and last day of the case study are laid out in the morning diary:
Im excited but fear that I am not feeling concentrated enough at this point. But
taking it bit-by-bit, concentration may build up later through the centring process. I
just have to remember to keep feeling actively with my hands and fingers and
keeping the overall memory of the piece present in my tactual understanding. And
enjoy. (Fifth day morning diary, Saturday, April 13, at 11.00)

Figure 5. Fifth day 13.04.2013. Photo by Camilla Groth.

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Although the aesthetic criterion of throwing a straight cylinder was not achieved during the
last day, the technical criterion was met, and although there were critical incidents, these
did not hinder the outcome of the event. Feelings were caught up with through the process
of making and confidence grew during the unfolding of the event. The reflections in the
diary did not reveal much detail of particular actions and even less about the sensory
experiences, but highlighted the emotional aspects. The challenges and the decisionmaking and problem solving were at the forefront in the diary. So were the emotions that
initiated motivations for adjusting the actions and behaviour in a more beneficial direction.
The CASS query was also a good tool for capturing feelings and moods along the events.

Capturing the mental space

Two CASS questionnaires, ten in total, were answered each day. Some of the results of
the mental space section of the afternoon queries are displayed in figure 1, showing for
example positive and negative feelings, comfort in working blindfolded and feelings of
clumsiness, over the five days of events.

Cass chart over mental space result

during 9ive day pilot tactile augmentation

1 = not at all - 7 = very much

7
Level of enjoyment

Comfort in working
blindfolded

5
4

Orientation/@inding tools

3
Feeling of clumsiness

2
1

Ability to feel the shape

0
day 1

day 2

day 3

day 4

day 5

Figure 1. CASS data: Mental space section of the afternoon queries.

As the result of the first days throwing session was a failure, this was reflected in the low
mood of the afternoon CASS query. Despite this, orientation and the ability to find tools
around the throwing wheel were experienced as surprisingly positive. The feeling of
clumsiness, gaining low scores means that there was less feeling of clumsiness as the
question is posed in a negative way. On the fourth day, the added challenge of doubling
the amount of clay is shown in a dip of spirits. Otherwise there is an over all synchrony in
the curves over the five days with a tendency towards more positive experiences in the
end of the time period. The feeling of clumsiness is higher as the challenge grows and
demands are higher but still the ability to feel the shape is on a high level on the last day.

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Reflections on the analysis process

As we collected reflections in action and reflections on action together with diary notes
after the event, the analysis is partly situated within the knowledge production process.
Analysis is often an evolving process starting in the mind of the researcher already in the
midst of collecting the data, as the researcher starts to see patterns of knowledge forming.
Especially in the case where the researcher is already an expert in the practice she is
researching, it is impossible to exclude the embodied knowledge of the subject of
research. In this research this is an asset as we aimed at exposing exactly this insiders
knowledge. The video recordings of the events serve as a living memory from which the
researcher may reactivate also sensory experiences and embodied knowing about the
time of collecting the data. It may be hard to differentiate the real memory of that particular
event with countless other memories from similar experiences. On the other hand, the
embodiment of a skill is depending on this bulk of information processed through the body
countless times (Sennett 2008 38) and as a video of one event can make the researcher
recall the sensory experiences she usually has in a similar situation these reflections may
also be of interest.
For the purpose of creating rigorous research also from autoethnographic and self-analytic
processes it was still important to find a suitable analytical frame that includes the
messiness of self-reflection, the particulars of sensory experience and at the same time
facilitating a credible and systematic analysis. Therefore in addition to the reflective
analysis of the researcher that allowed for the sensory data to speak its voice, we used
the qualitative analysis program Atlas Ti for the diary data. The thinking aloud accounts
are partly analysed through protocol analysis i.e. we analysed the first and last video and
related thinking aloud accounts by transcribing the accounts and making notes on the
actions and sensory experiences connected to the spoken accounts.
Thinking aloud accounts have been criticised for affecting the performance of the subject,
and that the accounts would be incomplete or irrelevant (Cross et al. 1996 2). Through this
case, we found that these verbal accounts, situated within the making process, were
valuable in capturing in particular the emotions that were not seen in the actions of the
video. The accounts gave detailed explanations on what the researcher was thinking and
doing and why it was necessary to make those actions. Together with the CASS data and
the diaries, our research included multiple types of data that shed light on the studied
activity from many directions. The resulting artefacts are documents of the events and as
such part of the research data. (figure 6).

Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Figure 6. Finished pieces each day. 8-13.04.13. Photos by Camilla Groth.

Day 5

While transcribing the thinking aloud accounts that were expected to consist mostly of
references to the actions made, accumulating text material describing sensory

1646

experiences started to emerge. While the verbal account had not yet even started, the
reflection on actions and particularly on sensory experiences were already filling the
transcript page. Since the researcher herself had acted in the situation, her experiential
knowledge was intact in her body. When she looked at the video recorded data, she could
detect her breathing rhythm in connection with muscle straining in the actions. While the
thinking aloud accounts only states Mmmmmph at the same time the following sensory
experience account emerged:
Pushing the clay hard from the sides with both hands, arms stretched unsupported
in the air, straining belly and upper back. Keeping the breath until the release of
the pressure. (Sensory experience account 18:38 minutes into throwing on the
fifth day.)
Consequently the transcribing process elicited the need to make a third column that
consisted of the researcher's reflection on action. The third column deepened the
transcript process to include more specific sensory experiences, such as orientation,
temperature, sounds, wetness, stickiness of the clay surface and muscle pressure that
would not be known to any other researcher than the maker herself (see figure 7).

Figure 7. Screenshot of the video transcript process. 10.10.2013.

The researcher experienced that she knew more than she could say, at the time of
making. The protocol analysis gave a possibility to reflect on the events in slowmotion,
following each second of the video and writing out all that the information she felt she had
about that instance, without having to control the material in a making situation
simultaneously. As the video transcript advanced, the researcher discovered a pattern in
relation to her way of using her hands. She named her left hand the looking hand as she
used it for keeping track of where the clay was on the board and seldom let go of the clay
to use for other purposes. She named the right hand the acting hand, as it would be the

1647

one used for taking more water, using tools like the sponge or the needle, reaching for
new clay or adjusting the speed of the throwing wheel. Also other metaphors for how the
clay felt and how the clay should be treated emerged:
(The clay)feels like a pregnant belly that should not be pressed too hard
(Transcript of thinking aloud account 06:35 minutes into throwing on the fifth day.)
These insights may be developed into an account for teaching through metaphors and
visual language in an educational setting. The ability to see with the hands grew in only
five days. A verbal account from the first day video transcript reveals some of the sensory
experience of throwing clay blindfolded at the beginning of the event:
I know what the shape feels like but I have no idea what it looks like. I cannot see
with my hands. Its a different world. Its a differentI dont knowperception. Just
feeling. I guess the feeling does only exist in the feeling world, or something, and
the visual world is now not here. But I know what it should feel like when its done.
(Transcript of talking aloud account 20:43 minutes into throwing on the first day.)
On the last day the diary account reveals a different attitude:
I felt almost full control of what I was doing, only sometimes I really felt like taking
the scarf off my eyes to do a reality check. But then my hands convinced me I had
sufficient information to continue blindfolded. (Fifth day afternoon diary, Saturday,
April 13, at 14.15)

Tactile knowing
Blind touch has been a topic of interest in many different professions, not the least in
philosophy (Merleau-Ponty, 2002 267) but also in anthropology (Ingold, 2004). In
architecture blind touch and the awareness of the space and atmosphere may be helped
by the knowledge of blind that take the tactile experience into consideration in a more
concrete manner (Vermeersch, 2011; Pallasmaa, 2005 20). Also in this case we seek to
understand that special skill of accumulated sensuous awareness in the making process
of a clay vessel thrown on a wheel. Are we able to reach, and do we benefit from a
heightened tactile awareness? Surely through the accumulation on skill in normal
conditions the sensory awareness needed for that skill is accumulated naturally. Here we
try to add an extra sensory awareness of the much taken for granted tactile sense. In
addition to this, the challenge of throwing an unusually large amount of clay on the wheel
is pursued in the hopes of enhancing the tactile experiences and to point out more clearly
the special events and critical incidents occurring.
In the process of working with the material, from centring the clay on the wheel and
towards pulling up the sides of the cylinder the researcher experienced that there were not
many choices to be made. The concept of affordances, based on Gibsons (1979)
ecological psychology, involves possible actions in the environment and the situation that
the actor may recognize as opportunities. The affordance of the throwing situation guided
the explorative progression of the events in a manner that left only a small space for other

1648

opportunities. From previous encounters, the researcher knew what was at stake in each
situation and she performed according to the best of her skills, concentrating to the fullest
on the contact point of the fingertips and the soft and wet, moving and constantly
changing, clay surface. Many times there was only one action possible at that specific
time, any other action would have been risking the successful continuation of the process.
By writing these actions out and looking at the process in detail even on the sensory
experience level, and in slow motion, the analysis helped in gaining a clearer
understanding about these choices that were made and why they were inevitable. In the
process of transcribing the sensory experiences of the throwing sessions a pattern of
anticipating the next stage was eminent. A few second before a verbal statement of a
critical incident or change of direction in the process, the same reflection had already been
made in the sensory experience section of the transcript. The thinking aloud accounts
were in the end only the top of an iceberg when it came to describing the meaning of the
actions involved in the process. The sensory experience given as reflections on actions
gave the real dimension of the events:
The sponge puts something in between the skin and the clay, but as it numbs the
fingers sensitivity it also gives protection and a tool for handling the situation with a
new means. (Reflection on sensory experience 09:31 minutes into throwing on the
fifth day.)
A subjective standpoint has traditionally been looked down on in the field of research as
impossibility, especially subjective self-analysis on ones own activities (Cross, 1996 2;
Pedgely, 2007). In the field of practice-led research however, it has been noted that the
combined profession of the researcher and the maker gives an access to the inside
knowledge of a practice (Pedgely, 2007). This intrinsic motivation to reveal the particulars
of the actions and to visualise and articulate them has an advantage over interviewing
experts as an outsider of that practice. In this exploration, experiential knowledge plays a
large role. The previous experiences gathered through working with clay - the tactile
memory collected over time in the researchers body and particular muscles and sensors,
situations encountering this particular material countless times, the feeling of a change in
a situation before it is understood cognitively (explicitly) all play a part in the decision
making process that carries the event towards its successful or unsuccessful result.

Decision-making
When throwing clay walls, the only part that touches the clay surface is the tip of the
fingers. Through them, the maker receives enough information on the orientation of the
work, the temperature, the resistance of the material, the wetness or softness. These
haptic experiences directly give a feel or a feeling of the working conditions and the
possibilities available in working the material. These conditions and affordances may
change within seconds, so an update of the conditions at hand is continuously made
through the sensory points of the fingertips.
When conditions start getting unfavourable, for example the clay is getting too wet and
soft, this is experienced as a negative feeling, the maker knows that the available choice
for action is cut down and decisions have to be made whether or not to pursue certain
actions or if these can be considered too risky. The feelings gathered by the sensory

1649

experiences thus instantly affect risk assessment and decision making for the next steps.
Making in a material can be seen as a continuous risk assessment including constant
decision making and problem solving, thus feelings play a key role in the assessment of
risk. As a result of this research, we think that feelings need to be further investigated in
connection with decision making in material problem solving.

Conclusion
In this case study, we experimented with ways to enhance the sensory experience with in
a practice-led research framework. Although pursuing an autoethnographical research we
acknowledged the difficulty in researching makers' activities through spoken accounts
only. For overcoming this dilemma, we included sensory experiences in the data collection
and this allowed us to investigate the experiential knowledge involved in the research
event. We found that sensory experiences are in a key position in the formation of
knowledge in a making process. They affect emotions and initiate decision-making
processes.
For revisiting the sensory experiences, we utilised video that gave access to the embodied
experience of the event, and enabled a slow motion analysis and reflection in detail. We
propose that this method can be utilized in cases where maker-researchers are recording
an event to gain detailed and articulated information on the embodied tactile knowledge
they possess. Our results revealed unexpected patterns of behaviour and language used
when describing sensory experiences. These may be developed to account for teaching
through metaphors and visual language in an educational setting. Finally, we propose that
exclusion of the visual modality might help to make meaningful insights about sensory
experiences and reveal embodied knowledge in a making context. Although this research
setting was conducted within the ceramic practice we believe that the research design can
be transferred to many other fields where practice-led research is taking place.

Acknowledgements:
This research is funded by the Academy of Finland, Handling Mind Project. The project
numbers are 265922 and 266125.

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Together.

Camilla Groth
Doctoral Candidate in the Department of Design. She was trained as a potters apprentice
for 3 years before conducting a Ba in ceramics and glass at the Aalto University and an
Ma at the Royal College of Art. Her main interests lie in haptic experiences and embodied
cognition in design practice.

Maarit Mkel
Associate Professor of Practice-Led Design Research. She also works as an artist in the
junction of ceramics and fine art. She is interested in creative processes and in particular,
how reflective diaries and visual documentation can be utilized for capturing the authors
personal process.

Pirita Seitamaa Hakkarainen

Professor of Craft Studies. She has built her research program on the development and
application of cognitive theories of design processes. Her main interest is to analyse
expertise in design, the nature of the design process and the role of the external
representations such as drawings.

Krista Kosonen
Doctoral Candidate in the Department of Design. Her main interests relate to designers'

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experiences and narrative identity. She aims to build methods and approaches that
facilitate the discovery of own personal voice and artistry in design.

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Matrix Method: Looking as Generator for Creativity

Thierry Lagrange, Faculty of Architecture, KU Leuven

Abstract
The central theme of the research project presented in this paper is the act of looking at
the way a person is looking. An essential part of this investigation concerns the
development of a creative method; the Matrix Method. This method makes use of
matrices as tools to generate experiences and creative ideas by using the look as a
layered way of acting. With this method we develop tools for collaboration, so that people
can solve the types of problems that are characteristic of their domain or discipline. This
might be architectural design, but we have also tackled communication, acting and
organization development.
The research project explores how looking is related to this technique. This relation is a
central theme during the fieldwork and in the ensuing discussion. C. Otto Scharmers
Theory U, the phenomenon of indistinctness, the Self, the relation with other creative
techniques and forms of intuition are important themes in this reflection and are part of
this paper.

Keywords
Matrix; Method; The Act of Looking; Analogous Spaces; Creativity
The central theme of the present research project Look Here Now, Mapping Design
Trajectories (Lagrange, 2013) is the act of looking (as an event in physical and social
space) at the way a person is looking. The context in which this theme was developed
was set out in a series of maps, drawn by an alter ego: the cartographer. These maps are
representations of each of the stages in the present research trajectory. Above all, these
maps represent one very specific aspect of this research project: the fact that it is a
landscape, to be discovered step by step. The idea of a cartographer drafting maps of the
research project as if it was a landscape is based on Jean-Marc Besses theory (Besse,
2001).
My professional background as an architect, a photographer and a teacher is an essential
part of the context in which this artistic based research project was developed. My
research trajectory starts off in the field of architecture and has subsequently extended its
scope to include photography.
The project was measured against several theories (Cross, 2007; Zeisel, 1981; Christofol
& Findeli, 1994; British Design Council, 2011), in particular C. Otto Scharmers Theory U
(2009). This important theory with regard to the self features prominently in this research
project, as does the Self, our deepest source of knowledge and inspiration. Theory U has
examined the self from a sociological point of view and created a theoretical framework
that also serves to clarify certain elements of the present research project. Scharmers
Theory U and his concept of presencing, a blending of sensing and presence, will help us
to understand how, at a certain point, the event of looking transforms from downloading (a
one-dimensional way of connecting) to seeing (a way of connecting with an open mind) to
sensing (an empathic way of connecting) and to presencing, situated on a U-curve.
Presencing is a moment in which a person is connected to the deepest source, from
which the field of the future begins to arise.

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Figure 1: Scheme of Theory U, all stages are situated on a U-curve

Scharmer proposes a specific way of connecting with the world (with our self, with others,
in an organization). Let us see whether looking can be an act of connecting. If so, it
might be possible to apply Scharmers ideas to the very elementary way of looking.
Scharmers Theory U features a broad range of ways of connecting on several scales
(micro, meso, macro, mundo). Looking is, in many cases, implicitly included as one
potential way of connecting. But Scharmer doesnt particularly focus on the event of
looking. Given the fact that the examples illustrating his thoughts and experiences are
derived from every possible discipline, it is quite evident that from his perspective looking
is not the most important stage in the act of connecting with the world. Is there any way to
explicitate the way we look? To look in such a way that looking essentially becomes action,
a crucial activity, which would make the event of looking relevant in the context of Theory
U?
The research project was initiated and developed along two tracks. The active track is
characterized by a practical attitude, requiring action and a willingness to try out
possibilities, while the reflective track is characterized by study and reflection. This second
track focuses on thought and reflection generated by the study and interpretation of the
results from the first track. In the course of this research project, a convergence of both
tracks will manifest itself. In other words: the process of becoming consciously aware of
various perspectives such as the theoretical frame and the look, becomes increasingly
enmeshed with the first track, where things are being put to trial in practice. To get back to
the point where we were looking candidly at the landscape: it is as if both aspects,
exploring a landscape (acting) and observing (reflecting on) a landscape, were reinforcing
each other. Gradually, this landscape became clearly visible, in more detail. At this point,
a blend of both punctual overview of and sinuous peregrinations through the landscape
results in the representation of a first level of the methodology on a map. A second level
becomes apparent during the discussion following on the fieldwork. In other words: the
core of the methodology is imbedded in action as well as in reflection and discussion. By
alternating intuition and consistency, oscillating from action to reflection and back, a clear
focus on certain aspects will present itself and lead to a relevant form and output, which
then becomes a subject of discussion.
The landscape that opens up, allowing us to see the underlying ideas and concepts, in
such a way as to enable us to progress, to seek new trajectories and thence gain new
insights, is an essential part of this theory of Besse. It can be a means to extend the
scope and depth of the field of design and architecture, while at the same time
establishing interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary connections with other fields. The

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mechanism of abductive thinking has proved to be crucial in this context. This paper
condenses the various results obtained during the research project.

Fieldwork
In an initial reflection, the idea of analogous space was developed (Lagrange, 2008).
Engravings by, for instance, Filarete, Francesco di Giorgio Martini, Vincenzo Scamozzi
and Giovanni Battista Piranesi (Kruft, 2004) - but also works by some contemporary artists
(such as Dogville of Lars Von Trier) - can be experienced as analogous spaces. By
making use of several representational techniques (projection, perspective, etc.), in one
and the same image, each of these visualizes a space that cannot be a real existing
space. Yet whoever looked at their images was prepared to immerse himself in these
spaces and experience these spaces mentally, if not physically.

Figure 2: Francesco di Giorgio Martini. Trino, Cod. Saluzziano 148 fol. 3. Pianta di citt
con figura umana inscritta
This mechanism was investigated (Lagrange, 2009), using the model of a mathematical
matrix to create an analogous space. Imagine a mathematical matrix. What we see are
two brackets containing content. In the mathematical theory of matrices, a matrix mxn is
quantified by a number of rows and columns (m, n). Depending on the circumstances, m
and n are variable and adaptable. Matrices are constructed with well-chosen dimensions
of rows and columns and calculations (addition, subtraction, multiplication). The usual
content of such a matrix was replaced by some hard-to-define data or data which have a
layered structure or which have a subjective connotation or a combination of all of these.

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Figure 3: Mathematical matrix

In a first stage, which is not the subject of this paper (Lagrange, 2011), these research
activities gave rise to a series of selfreflective actions, by using personal creations such
as architectural projects and a photo-archive and offsetting them against a series of key
notions that were significant to me in the course of my creative activities. What started in
an intuitive explorative mode with a series of sketches and drawings ended up as a first
application of the matrix as a tool to generate experiences and creative ideas. The
matrices became analogous spaces, experienced as real spaces in which specific data
were situated. This process resulted in a first version of a script intended to provide ways
to use matrices in order to gain insights.
These experiences were communicated to outsiders. The initial script became the starting
point for developments, in conditions that were different from a specific self-reflective
context, yet similar as to the experience. The challenge was to create the right
circumstances to find out whether the group experience might also lead to new creative
ideas. This paper summarizes the most important cases. In the first few cases, Master
students of architecture and other participants worked with a previously prepared script
that did indeed spark off a chain of actions, resulting in several types of creative output.
Records were kept of all cases in the form of diaries, participants feedback, output
material etc. (Lagrange, 2013) A number of critical reflections on the processes were
formulated, which have resulted in a fine-tuning of the matrix technique in such
constellations. The game context, the playful mindset of the participants, the nature of the
coach-participant relation and the need for a layered look at the subject all surfaced as
important aspects of these processes. The coachs awareness of the connection between
the stages defined by Theory U and the way participants look at their subject during these
processes has become a vital part of the way she or he conducts the matrix process.

Figure 4: Students creating matrices.

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Figure 5: Example of a matrix.

In the next stage an analogous space was established within an actual physical space,
thus shifting the boundaries and transcending the limitations encountered during previous
actions. Students were asked to interact with these matrices in an actual space. This
resulted in a more spatial approach wherein the matrices became real spatial humanscaled situations.

Figure 6: Students creating matrices in physical space.

In a final stage all techniques were further developed in two separate directions. A
process involving actors was developed that has led to a clearer insight into the
correlation between analogous spaces, the use of matrices and various ways of looking.
Actors were asked to generate, during a series of improvisations, these matrices first in
space and then as mental constructions. The purpose was to deepen themes for
improvisation thereby using the matrices as generators for intensifying and sharpening
their playfulness. At the end actors were able to construct these matrices as mental
constructions while they were playing individually and together. This process led to a
deepen of the insights on the act of looking, beyond our conventional and instrumental
look, beyond an empathical way of looking. Looking became a way of (self)reflection. The
images were not anymore physical in space but they became mental and introspective.
From their reactions we can infer that playfulness gradually increases as the actors
embody these spaces more. At the start they felt uncomfortable because they were faced
with an unfamiliar constellation. To them, the idea of using a matrix had been a strange
proposal, almost from another world, but after only a little while it turned into an exciting

1659

challenge. It was as if they saw a door through which they could enter that kind of a space.
It was also gratifying to read that to their minds, the whole process became a playful one,
from which originated their concentration on the indistinctness that counts, creating the
zone, the flow that goes with playing. This seems like an important element: the blend of
play and uncertainty leading to creative acts. Their exploration was also an exploration of
their own bodies and minds. More than in previous workshops, trust turned out to be an
important factor. Thanks to the mutual trust built up during these sessions we could go on
to effectuate a very thorough introspection, a raising of awareness, so the actors knew
implicitly what each of them was doing with his body and in his mind in relation to each
other.

Figure 7: Actors using matrices during an improvisation.

Finally a series of workshops was set up in which the use of matrices was applied to other
disciplines as an integrated part of organizational development techniques, in particular
appreciative inquiry (AI) (Cooperrider, 2005), worldwide used to enrich and optimize
organizations not by solving problems but by appreciating the good stories. This method is
established for the most part in four stages, the so-called 4-D Cycle of AI; discovery,
dream, design and destiny. The third step in this trajectory emphasizes the idea of
designing - referring to an attitude relating to, for instance, a designer or an architect. He,
too, is faced with a context that seems to lead to a design through creative thinking. Is it
imaginable that the Design step in AI can be approached by means of creative thinking?
Is this kind of attitude making the actions more effective and original? If so, this might
mean that phenomena such as leaping moments (Cross, 2007), respiratory models
(Christofol & Findeli, 1994) etc. are also relevant in this context. What about the use of the
look? Can it be instrumental in evoking, provoking insights? Can it help someone in his or
her attempts to tap their creativity - a necessity if he or she needs to design dreams?
Several workshops were organized to permit people to develop this design stage by using
matrices. The participants had various backgrounds. Handling and using images in their
professional context was not their first concern. This made this part of the process
important. It appeared to be possible to engage these people in creative processes
stimulated by using matrices and thus using all kinds of image constellations. They came
up with positive and constructive contributions toward a 4-D Cycle.

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Figure 8: Work session on Appreciative Inquiry (World Appreciative Inquiry Conference

2012).
During the fieldwork colleagues were informed about my experiences and ideas in such a
way that they could conduct these workshops as well. They worked together with students
in several sessions. These were the first attempts to transfer the technique to others.
These experiences and others led to a first kind of summary of the toolbox of the matrix.
The content (words, images, sculptures), the shape, form of the matrix, going from sheets
of paper till online Wikipedia look alikes, till real sculptures and the kind of actions and
manipulations on matrices became defined for the first time. The following actions were
used during these sessions:
Juxtaposition:
This is a basic technique, applied to effectuate a variety of manipulations. It starts from the
idea that two or more elements of matrices can be brought together, eventually ones with
different characteristics (for instance an image with a word). The imaginary clash between
these elements leads to new experiences.
Filter:
Using one matrix as a filter for the others is a technique that has sprouted from the
elementary technique of juxtaposition. Using a matrix as a filter, allows more adequate
use of this technique. Let me illustrate this with an example. We have two matrices, A and
B. A is a filter. There are four major possibilities:
- Every element in A is juxtaposed to every element in B.
- Every element in A is juxtaposed to some elements in B.
- Some elements in A are juxtaposed to every element in B.
- Some elements in A are juxtaposed to some elements in B.
This demonstrates that juxtaposition can be managed rather transparently.
Chess-board:
By defining rows and columns or by attributing characteristics to them, a matrix is loaded
with circumstances. The juxtaposition of row m with column n results in a cell (m,n) that is
a juxtaposition of an insight m and an insight n. This becomes then the starting point for a
new step, which may entail seeking an expression for that cell, or to select material that
can either be positioned in that cell or not.
Travelling:
Once a matrix has been created, anybody can be invited to travel in this analogous space.
In other words, it is imaginable for any participant to walk into that space looking at a
variety of cells with content. This can lead to a series of experiences and hence also
insights.
Shuffling:
In several variants it is possible to shuffle content in an orchestrated way (in other words:
the coach can influence the proceedings by strategically deciding whether or not to do a
shuffle of one or more matrices). This normally leads to an adventurous experience, as
participants are facing a series of unknown constellations.
Intensifying:

1661

Sometimes a matrix is composed in a well-balanced way that leads to new opportunities

and insights in a more sustainable way.

Discussions
Let us overview the issues most relevant in the context of this paper; Theory U as a way
of connecting, situating indistinctness, the self, strengthening the tool/matrix and situating
intuition in a design context. Other aspects, not discussed in this context, are the relation
with architecture, the use of abduction in a research context and a map visualising the
event of looking.
The parallel that becomes apparent between the characteristics experienced in the Ucurve and the process of this research project obviously reveals clear connections
between Theory U and the processes initiated by the use of matrices. On the one hand
Theory U optimizes the principle of coaching with the use of matrices, of understanding
what the relevance of the use of the matrix can be. On the other hand using matrices
demonstrates how they can help to optimize a trip up the U-curve.
In every case we witnessed various changes of the look, similar to the characteristics
experienced in the U-curve. The stage of presencing was only reached a few times. The
stage of seeing and sensing appeared often. A central element forms the medium used
during these processes, the matrices. Thanks to these constellations of images it was
possible to describe this concurrence, a togetherness of the two perspectives (changing
the look and the stages in Theory U). Matrices create places in which all the stages of the
U-curve can take place and that provide an interesting environment for these stages to
take place. Indeed, the use of matrices during group sessions leads to co-creation and
moments of awareness of certain fundamental aspects of the subject matter. When
applied in a more introspective way, visiting a matrix can become a kind of meditation, as
seen in the case with acting students. By extension, the practice can become what
Scharmer calls a collective cultivation practice (2009, p. 188) - or a mixture of these
elements, as was the case where students visited various forms of matrices or during the
last sessions with the acting students. In these cases, surely the following comment by
Scharmer is more than apt: A collective presencing practice is different from an individual
one in that the various sensing and presencing experiences of the individuals are used as
gateways to connecting with and entering the deeper source of collective creativity and
knowing (2009, p. 189). In all cases featuring group sessions, such a collective practice is
already being formalised. Looking in a layered way, supported by the use of matrices, can
interfere with the stages of Theory U and may thus ideally aid in the implementation and
interpretation of the latter.
The occurrence of indistinctness as a source for creativity and the way to deal with this
ambiguity is the next topic for discussion. We sometimes noticed how facing indistinctness
induced a feeling of uncertainty, an uncomfortable feeling. Take for instance the moments
when my students were forced to face clashes of several contents of matrices,
combinations that looked odd, absurd, weird, and unclear at first sight. When in the right
mood, they subsequently looked in a more precise, more conscious way and managed to
take new strides in their thought processes. When the acting students were facing this
uncomfortable feeling, ultimately it helped them to reach new ideas, gestures, reflexive
responses that allowed them to improvise on a higher level. All this was initiated by the act
of looking that pushed the process from an uneasy situation to various forms of
playfulness and productivity. Without generalizing - in other words: without excluding other
constellations or processes we may state that this is indeed a fruitful correlation. All my
observations on the subject of this process point to the conclusion that creativity relates to
facing the indistinctness. Also, I noticed how the feeling of unease appeared right at the
start, only to fade away and remain somewhere in the background once creative action

1662

started taking place. In many cases I provoked this uncomfortable feeling by introducing a
period of indistinctness into the process by using images. In several workshops artificial
stages of unease at certain judiciously chosen instants were created, in order to stimulate
the creative process. If at such moments the participants, myself included, observed the
setup with the look of someone who is in a stage of downloading, this would not work. For
this manipulation to yield results, participants need to have an open mind, ready to
capture whatever elements present themselves. They should be prepared to look with the
eye of a poet and see beyond the surface, transcending these moments of indistinctness.
That is when other aspects are revealed, which are new, or at least not that close to
existing stereotypes. In this sense, coping with indistinctness may result in a broad
spectrum of variations, consolidation, insights and actions that takes us a step further in
that creative process.
A discussion on the self is not just about me, but equally about others who are involved as
well. The self was transformed in the course of these actions, by these actions.
Sometimes gently, sometimes in a flash, provocatively or profoundly and irreversibly
Griffith describes a series of circumstances (uniqueness, process-based, relationships,
time and place dependence, embodiment, social and political dependence) that contribute
to the creation of the self (2012). The impact of the use of matrices on these aspects can
be observed. It is striking to see how in all cases developed during this research project
each of these aspects became influenced by the use of matrices. We can gain a better
understanding of the self by using matrices. We see how our look, our way of connecting
evolves from downloading to sensing and even presencing. Through this self-reflective
action an individual can engage in a dialogue with the way he is looking. He can observe
it and generate his own map. A series of matrices function as a map of his own way of
looking. This map will mirror several aspects of the Self.
The use of matrices was benchmarked against other techniques. On the one hand there
was an extensive list of techniques (Martin, 2000). On the other hand there were what we
could call a series of design actions, the IDEO cards. Both were used to sharpen the use
of matrices as a method and the use of matrices was positioned next to these techniques
with the goal to implement them. When linked up with existing techniques, the use of
matrices leads to potential transformations of these techniques (Lagrange, 2013). This
exercise may open a debate on the propitiousness of inserting this system into a great
variety of techniques and methods, applied in a great variety of constellations.
Intuition is instrumental in all the creative processes we have observed during the stages
of this research trajectory. With various types of intuition in mind, as described by Claxton
(expertise, implicit learning, judgment, sensitivity, creativity and rumination) (2001), the
actions undertaken by the participants were examined more closely. The purpose was to
look at it and try to understand those aspects of the event of looking that are related to
intuition. Intuition seemed to be an essential factor, a requirement to initiate and
accomplish these transformations. The matrices and the manipulated matrices are spaces
in which intuition becomes more explicit. The material that will be put into the matrices is
not what we see, it is what we wanted to see in that framework: my photography (selfreflection), words that express a persons fascination, all kind of images, phenomena
somebody is intrigued with, etc. These spaces are, in this sense, fitting objects to connect
with the occurrence of intuition. Moreover, the process of evaluation of the hypotheses
arising in the course of a creative trajectory is facilitated and enhanced by connecting
them. More than once have I witnessed this aspect. Participants explain how they use the
matrices and formulate their hypotheses. The quality of these propositions, including any
embedded conflicts, was lying there naked on the table, illustrating the pedagogical quality
of the use of matrices.

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The use of matrices enriches this process. Claxtons remarks, on the optimisation of the
conditions in which intuition should appear, match very well with the conditions in which
matrices should be used. Seeking a conducive environment (in many cases this means
quiet and solitariness), daring to wait and making attempts at playfulness, are some of the
elements mentioned here. Let me match this briefly with our matrices. To start with: a
characteristic that manifested itself in many of the cases was the fact that the matrix starts
out as an empty analogous space. This space mostly provides participants with the space
they will need. Secondly, the fact that there is never an immediate solution, that they have
to start looking for content, that the spaces have to be filled, creates a physical barrier to
immediate action and decision. This delay forces participants to wait. And finally, it
transpires from all cases how playfulness was introduced and acted as the generator of a
chain of thought. The spaces and the way they are built lead participants to reach some
insights. This is yet more evidence of its pedagogical qualities.

Conclusions
The project has resulted in both an artistic output and a research output. The artistic
output comprises video works (ZOOM, Old Masters and Landscapes #) (Lagrange, 2013)
and a book entitled The Matrix Project (Lagrange, 2013). Also, some architectural projects
were designed and have been realized during this research project.
The research output is situated on a personal level and on a general level. On a personal
level, this has been a self-reflective trajectory leading to the development of a set of
techniques that helped me to understand a series of notions that have proved to be
essential to my practice as architect and photographer. On a general level, it has
produced views on the development of analogous spaces and the development of a
creative technique called the matrix method. Analogous spaces are correlated with the
amount of attention a community will pay to this phenomenon. If a community is willing to
establish these challenging spaces, they will come and go. They will be part of a dynamic
development, though we are certainly aware of its lightness - a mere sigh and it could be
all over - we know that at this moment these public spaces are still optional. There is no
necessity to build them. Yet once people are engaged in a process and trust the
procedure, the strength of the particular genesis of these spaces comes to the fore.
Sharing experiences and preferences, generating a strong commitment among
participants and visitors, ensuring that everyone is listened to carefully: these are
essential aspects of Theory U. These are vital for the construction of a space with a
specific mental dimension leading to an ever-growing determination to find answers to
questions that entice us to draw on our creativity.
Taking a closer look at the analogous spaces, we notice how these spaces become real
by means of the matrices. These matrices embrace many different elements: space and
game, travel and play, looking and acting. Matrices became an explicit visual tool leading
to experiences and a transformation of experiences. Looking, in particular the playful
variation of the activity, which appeared mostly in a social context, lay at the base. It is this
layered looking, in accordance with Scharmers ideas, which makes it a successful
operation. A coach, participant or researcher, who sees to it that all conditions are fulfilled,
will reach this stage and tighten and improve the process for all. This research trajectory
has led to a specific use of matrices. Discussion of the fieldwork has led to a kind of
roadmap being drawn up, which makes it possible to use matrices accurately and
precisely in various constellations. We use matrices as means to interact with other
people, to stimulate and subsequently order and structure their experiences, in order to
apply them towards practical applications. Most of the time, this happens when it is done
with a creative attitude. In other words, with this method we develop tools for collaboration,
so that people can solve the types of problems that are characteristic of their domain or

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discipline. As mentioned before, all these problems require creative insights, action,
reaction, vision, and reflection.
The use of matrices has given rise to a view on looking - as an event in space and time at the way a person is looking, which occasionally leads to some creative insights. What
started as an investigation into the nature of a certain way of looking has turned into an
undertaking that has led to a series of transformations. Hundreds of people have during
these workshops changed the way they are looking at issues linked with creativity. The
concept of what a helpful tool may consist of has gradually transformed from just a simple
sketch to a rather more complex set of matrices. In parallel with this evolution, the role of
the architect has changed from being a designer to being a designer of transformative
experiences. Finally, our view of what exactly might be at the core of this research project
has become more focused: transformation as an event that makes a persons thinking,
seeing, being more relevant. Which was the objective of this practice-based research
trajectory.

References
Besse, J-M. (2001). Cartographier, construire, inventer. Notes pour une pistmologie de
la dmarche de projet. Les Carnets du paysage, automne, 7,126-45.
British Design Council. (2011). What design is and why it matters, retrieved September 1,
2011, from http://www.designcouncil.org.uk/about-design/what-design-is-and-why-itmatters/.
Christofol, H, & Findeli, A. (1994). Couleur et produit, Organisation de la definition
chromatique dun produit au cours de son processus de conception. Design Recherche 5,
31-50.
Cross, N. (2007). Designerly Ways of Knowing. Basel Boston Berlin: Birkhauser.
Claxton, G. (2001). The anatomy of intuition. in T Atkinson & G Claxton (eds.), The
Intuitive Practitioner. Buckingham: Open University Press. 32-52.
Cooperrider, DL, D, Whitney & JM Stavros. (2005). Appreciative Inquiry Handbook. Ohio,
San Francisco: Crown Custom Publishing & Berrett-Koehler Publishers.
Griffiths, M. (2012). Research and the Self in M Biggs, H Karlsson (eds.), The Routledge
Companion to Research in the Arts. Abingdon: Routledge, Abingdon, 167-185.
Kruft, H-W. (2004). Storia delle teorie architettoniche. Rome: Editori Laterza.
Lagrange, T. (2008). Mental spaces, a design tool seen in historical perspective, A few
considerations. Proceedings of Conference Analogous Spaces (CD ROM) Ghent:
University Ghent.
Lagrange, T. (2009). Self-reflexivity as a tool for a more relevant design-process. Mapping
strategies and creative outputs by using matrices. Proceedings of Conference Rigor and
relevance in design [CD ROM] Seoul: International Association of Societies of Design
Research.
Lagrange, T. (2011). A Matrix as an Analogous Space, Designing a mental tool as a
generator of new insight. Oase, 85, 60-71.
Lagrange, T. (2013). Look Here Now, Mapping Design Trajectories. Heverlee: KULeuven.
Martin, J. (2000). Technique Library. Hampshire: The Open University.
Scharmer, CO. (2009). Theory U, Leading from the Future as It Emerges. San Francisco:
Berrett-Koehler Publishers.
Zeisel, J. (1981). Inquiry by Design, Tools for environmental behavior research.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Thierry Lagrange
Thierry Lagrange is an engineer architect. He runs the office ALT (www.altarchitectuur.be). He is researcher and lecturer at the Faculty of Architecture KULeuven.
He is active as a photographer and video artist. Both, architecture and photography were
central elements in the PhD project Look Here Now, Mapping Design Trajectories (2013).

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For the moment he runs the research group on Analogous Spaces

(www.sintlucas.analogousspaces.be).
www.thierrylagrange.com

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Aspects of Research through Design

Danny Godin, Universit du Qubec en Abitibi-Tmiscamingue (UQAT)
Mithra Zahedi, Universit de Montral

Abstract
Research through design is, by nature, embedded in the design process. In other words, while
its main concern is to inform a research question, it also must be concerned with the end
product of the design. As such, designers/researchers become concerned with the same type
of wicked problems the professional designers are, especially when using research through
design. Moreover, they also add a new layer of complexity that is inherent to research. Since
the approach is quickly gaining in popularity, it is necessary to develop a base of knowledge
about it. Thus, this papers aim is to present a review of texts about research through design to
demystify this approach and provide a deeper understanding for future work in the field. The
gathered views on the subject are then classified into one of five sets of aspects: ontological
aspects, epistemological aspects, expected contributions, methodological aspects, and limits.

Keywords
Research through design, methodology, design
Research through design (RtD) is an approach to scientific inquiry that takes advantage of the
unique insights gained through design practice to provide a better understanding of complex
and future-oriented issues in the design field. RtD is not a new approach. The term itself is two
decades old (Frayling, 1993). In recent years, it has mainly been used and discussed in the
human-computer interaction field (HCI), where it helped scientists and engineers to accept that
design research approaches can provide novel, valid, and relevant input within the field of HCI.
Today, RtD is an increasingly recognized approach to research in any design discipline. The
approach acknowledges and embraces professional practices contributions to knowledge
making it especially attractive in disciplines where designers/researchers are still practicing.
This paper will voluntarily explore publication from different disciplines and aimed at audiences
in an attempt to reconciliate, albeit at a higher level, the basis of RtD across the design fields.
Before going any further, we believe it necessary to situate research through design within the
academic discussion of research and design. In other words, understanding how RtD relates to
other types of design research.

Context of the present paper

From Frayling Onwards
Sir Christopher John Frayling is an important figure of art and design education of our time. He
was mainly interested in film studies and held important positions in more than one British
College dedicated to art and design.
Amongst his influential writings, Frayling introduced, in the Royal College of Art Research
Papers (1993), the idea of three different forms of interactions between research and design or
art: research for art and design, research into art and design, research through art and design.

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Spawned from his reflections, the many different combinations of research and design have
been discussed by many different authors. Amongst them, Alain Findeli, then professor at
Universit de Montral, redefined the three forms of design research as follows (2004):
Research for design aims at helping, guiding and developing design practice. Those
researches document the processes and concerns of professional designers and treat
designers and their practice as the object of their study.
Research into design is mainly found in universities and research centres contributing
to a scientific discipline studying design. It documents objects, phenomena and history of
design.
Research through design is the closest to the actual design practice, recasting the
design aspect of creation as research. Designer/researchers who use RtD actually
create new products, experimenting with new materials, processes, etc.
Findelis proposition was significant because it formalized the academic merit of RtD. This
definition is often cited in literature and is the foundation for much work in the field.
Consequently, it is adopted for the purposes of this research paper.

The Problem with RtD

Where research for design and research into design rely strongly on the research traditions
of other disciplines and, as such, promptly create consensus, research through design is still
debated and discussed since no agreed upon research model existed for [] designers to
make research contributions other than the development and evaluation of new design
methods (Zimmerman, Forlizzi, & Evenson, 2007, p. 493). This situation makes it harder for
designers/researchers to thoroughly understand the current state of the approach through the
ramification of publications. Therefore, an aggregation of the different views is needed.

The Many Faces of Research through Design

Some authors (amongst others: Chow, 2010; Koskinen, Zimmerman, Binder, Redstrom, &
Wensveen, 2011) wrote papers or books introducing new approaches or comparing RtD with
other similar types of research, namely: constructive design research, practice-led research and
project-grounded research. Although the authors make good points in distinguishing them, they
share their most basic considerations and views towards practice and knowledge.
Even within those papers using the term research through design, there is a lack of
consensus on how it should be discussed and what issues need to be explored. For example,
the works of Wolfgang Jonas on Research through DESIGN through research (2006, 2007b)
addresses issues, approaches and audiences that have little to do with the work discussed by
Zimmerman (2007, 2010), Bowers (2012) or Koskinen et al. (2011). In fact one might notice that
Jonas does not cite publications from these other authors (and vice versa). Nevertheless, Jonas
talks of a generic structure of learning / designing, which has been derived from practice
(2006, p. 7) while Koskinen et al. write about research in which construction [] takes center
place and becomes the key means in constructing knowledge (2011, p. 5). Bowers goes by
Fraylings claim that the artefacts embody the design thinking (although he remarks that this
thinking is typically of a very varied, multi-faceted, heterogeneous sort (2012, p. 70). As for
Zimmerman, he described RtD as the process of iteratively designing artifacts as a creative
way of investigating what a potential future might be (2010, p. 312).
In their own ways, these authors are all concerned with an underlying shared goal: establishing
aspects of research done through the design process and its resulting product. In fact, we
found, as it will be discussed in this paper, no vital contradiction between the authors claims.
Since our goal here is to federate views and conclusions on all fundamental aspects of RtD, it is
natural to consider all these publications together and on levelled grounds.

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Hence, all these slightly different approaches will be used under one and the same appellation
in this paper: research through design.

Methodology
To fulfil this objective, a literature review was done.
First, a general research was conducted through publication databases searches. Then, the
articles and books were analysed to extract information about different aspects of RtD.

Initial selection of articles and books

A series of databases were used to gather publications discussing RtD.
Table 1 shows the keywords entered and the databases used; the number of returned articles
and books appears at their intersection of the line and column, and the number of articles and
books kept for the current research appears at the bottom of the column.
The keywords used are both English and French and were searched as part of the title,
subject and keyword. The use of hyphens did not change the results of the searches; for
example, a search for research through design returned the same array of publications as a
search for research-through-design.
The publications were then filtered by three inclusion criteria:
The publication must discuss RtD (or any of its other name) as their main subject,
excluding a lot of publications on research using RtD;
The publication must be concerned with design;
The publication must be in French or English.
It should also be noted that the French keywords brought up many publications that were
rejected. This can be attributed to the relative prevalence of each of the words used. For
example, recherche projet brings up many results that were research projects, in the broadest
sense of the term.
After the filter and removal of duplicates, we added other readings to complement the content of
each publication kept, either taking from their references or from the discussed subject (such as
epistemological criteria of action research and grounded theory).
Table 1: Databases, keywords and results
Databases

Business Source
Premier
(EBSCO)
CPI.Q (Gale)
Current Contents
Connect (ISI)
Erudit
FRANCIS
(ProQuest)
Primo Central
(Ex Libris)
Web of Science
(ISI)
TOTAL KEPT

Research
through
design
0

Constructive
design
research
0

Practice-led
research

Research
by design

Recherche
par projet

Rechercheprojet

Projectgrounded
research
0

650

0
8

1
0

4
14

0
0

2536
6

0
0

713
0

1
0

0
0

0
1

2
0

484
0

0
0

247
5

316

10

271

247

109

24

20

21

10

11

Extraction of information
The analysis of the selected publications led to information on different aspects of RtD. The
following particular subjects were present in the literature and were selected as pertinent
categories for organizing and providing a framework for the literature review.
Ontological aspects: what is the nature of reality (Creswell, 2003, p. 21)? What reality
can be perceived using RtD?

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Epistemological aspect: what makes an observation valid? How we know what we

know (Creswell, 2003, p. 21)?
Expected contributions: what type of results can be expected from RtD? What kind of
help can RtD contribute to knowledge, practice or other disciplines?
Methodological aspect: what process of research (Creswell, 2003, p. 21) is
associated with RtD?
Limits: what issues commonly come up in RtD and what cant it do?

Aspects of Research through Design

This literature review examined a relatively low number of articles and books. Hence, certain
authors appear frequently in this text. Their contributions have however been distributed in the
different aspects to provide a clear overview of RtD from each angle.

Ontological Aspects
Every research approach has its specific strengths and weaknesses (Creswell, 2003). These
strength and weaknesses are often derived from the ontological standpoint of the approach, in
other words: what is the nature of reality that can be perceived through this approach.
In this section we will discuss the reality observed through the construction of designed
artefacts.

Adaptation: towards a concern of the real

Research in design is not concerned with the true, but with the real. Wolfgang Jonas (2006)
proposed a model of knowing in design inquiry that provides insights on how designers actually
transition their focus from the true to the real. In the model, Jonas sets three steps:
1. Analysis: how things are currently (the truth);
2. Projection: how things could be (the ideal); and
3. Synthesis: how things will be (the real).
Where design could be perceived as following the processual steps of evolution (variation
selection re-stabilization), the theory of autopoiesis proposes that a transformation is the
result of internally generated change (Jonas, 2007b, p. 1366). Adaptation and selection are not
triggered by outside forces but by the co-evolution of independent systems (Jonas, 2007b, p.
1367). The co-existence and interaction of the independent systems better define the role of
each of them (Morgan, 1986, cited by Jonas, 2007b). This facilitates change towards a more
significant and/or efficient accomplishment of the role. In other words, the adaptation, created
by the design, is a change of states, towards a preferred one in which the role of the designed
artefact will be more significantly or efficiently fulfilled.
This statement applies to other levels of reflection as well:
First, contributions of RtD, as design theories, should, in themselves, spawn from the coevolution of design practice and design research and lead towards a better fulfilment of
their respective roles.
Then, the design-research relationship set in place by the RtD approach must also be
understood from the above statement. In the case of RtD, research is guided through
design process logic and design is supported/driven by phases of scientific research and
inquiry (Jonas, 2007b, p. 1378).

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The Real that Will Be

Knowing that design provides adaptation to individual systems, we can better understand that
changing existing situations into preferred ones (Simon, 1996, p. 111) or improving quality of
life (Jonas, 2007b, p. 1363) is intrinsic to both the research objectives and the design goals of
RtD.
Consequently, it provides an opportunity for the research community to engage in discourse on
what the preferred state might be (Zimmerman, Stolterman, & Forlizzi, 2010, p. 310), bringing
the ethical consideration of creation and design to the forefront. This is a fundamental aspect of
the critical design approach that produces, often by using RtD, artefacts that encourage
complex and meaningful reflection on inhabitation of a ubiquitous, dematerializing, and
intelligent environment (Dunne, 2006, p. 147, cited by Bardzell et al., 2012, p. 288).
The real by which RtD is concerned therefore transcends inquiries to describe how something
is and focuses on how it will be as well as what this future preferred state should be.

Epistemological Aspects
Building on our clearer understanding of the reality perceptible to RtD, we can now establish
what we can learn from this reality and how.
Jonas (2007a) suggests that we turn to grounded theory and action research for inspiration on
the epistemological aspects of design through research.
The following paragraphs will cover literature concerned with the learning and validity aspects
of RtD.

How Do We Learn in RtD?

Using Schn and Wilkes works, Wolfgang Jonas writes:
Design through research assumes that exclusively scientific research is unable fully to
recognise the implications of acting in a space of imagination and projection. The knowledge
base position needs to be complemented by the unknowledge base position or by the
competencies to deal with not-knowing (2007a, p. 202).
This competency resides in the design process which provides unequalled insight into the
future: the real that will be.
This is why the RtD approach requires the researcher to also be a practitioner; because
knowledge of design allows the interpretation of research information in context (Hanington,
2003, p. 17).
To do this, RtD favours a constant realignment of the construction of artefacts, based on trial
and error, to better tackle complex design problems (Toeters, ten Bhmer, Bottenberg, Tomico,
& Brinks, 2013).
The advantages of researching, or learning, through construction is also discussed in
education. Constructionism, an instructional method promoted by Seymour Papert (1983), sets
the learner (in Paperts discussion: a child) in a dialog with its environment and with the
construction. Papert goes as far as calling this, very appropriately, learning by design (Papert,
1983, cited by Lebrun, 2002, p. 28). This perspective on learning is also applicable to RtD; in
which researchers learn about the object of their inquiry through the constant evolution of the
artefact, i.e. it allows for creating a dialog with the material (Toeters et al., 2013, p. 116).
This dialog and constant realignment, however, generates issues in insuring validity in its
results. A proper structuration of the trial and error process, possibly based on the traditional
scientific method (Gauch, 2003), using hypothesis, prediction ,controlled experiments and

1671

analysis cycle, could help solve this issue. This idea is, however, not supported by any literature
found at the moment.
Besteliu and Doevendans (2001) also support this position, writing that knowledge is produced
in the construction and, also, through the use of the product as the knowledge generated
through the design process itself and as knowledge codified in the designed product as it is built
and used over time (p. 45). This suggests that the research does not have to be confined to
the construction of the product but can be expanded, and perhaps validated, by the study of the
designed products users.

Validation Insights from Action Research

Action research and research through design are sometimes compared because of their
fundamental similarities (Papas, O'Keefe, & Seltsikas, 2012). Much like for action research,
validity in RtD cannot be evaluated by the reproducibility of the results since [t]here can be no
expectations that two designers given the same problem, or even given the same problem
framing, will produce identical or even similar artefacts (Zimmerman et al., 2007, p. 499).
Action research has its own validity criterion to make-up for replicability: recoverability. This
means that the designer/researcher must make sure that the process is recoverable by anyone
interested in subjecting the research to critical scrutiny (McNiff, 2013, p. 18).
In a compatible mindset, Michael A. R. Biggs and Daniela Bchler propose that rigor in
research is the strength of the chain of reasoning, and that has to be judged in the context of
the question and the answer (2007, p. 69). Therefore, if one would recover the RtD process
and judge its chain of reasoning strong, then the process would be considered rigorous.
Now, rigor and validity may not be the same, but they are directly linked. Indeed, argue Biggs
and Btchler, [w]e say the process was rigorous, and therefore validates the claims of the
outcome (2007, p. 67). This would mean that a rigorous process leads to valid outcomes and
therefore recovering the process and establishing its rigor would lead to granting validity to the
outcomes of the research.
Owain Pedgley (2007) provides a list of best practice that could help ensure recoverability of
the project. These best practices should then be used in RtD (all from Pedgley, 2007, p. 473).
Chronology: Describe work in the same sequence that it occurred, ideally as bulletpoints;
Clarity: Keep entries intelligible, insightful and honest;
Focus: Keep entries succinct: they should not be a crafted essay;
Record images: Record still and moving images of developing and completed
physical models;
Out of hours: Account for instances of out of hours designing in the next days
diary;
Diary admin: Ensure that all diary sheets are numbered and dated;
Modelling admin: Ensure that all modelling outputs are numbered and dated to aid
cross-referencing (e.g. LB1:22 refers to log book 1, page 22).

Validation Insights from Grounded Theory

Contrarily to action research that puts the burden of validity on anyone who would challenge it,
grounded theory prefers to keep the responsibility of demonstrating validity on the researcher.
Although grounded theory was developed to provide a basis for predicting cause and effect
relationships within the postpositivist paradigm (Hall & Callery, 2001, p. 257), Bryants
repositioned grounded theory, which is ontologically similar to research though design in that it
considers reality as multiple and subject to redefinition, states that a rendering of an experiment

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is a representation of experience, not a replication of it (2007, p. 51, emphasis from original

text).
The weight of validity, then, falls back onto the researchers ability to use what is being
observed: theoretical sensitivity.
Theoretical sensitivity is defined as the investigators ability to use personal and professional
experiences and the literature to see the research situation and data in new ways and exploit
the potential of the data for developing theory (Strauss & Corbin, 1990, cited by Hall & Callery,
2001, p. 263) and should be demonstrated in a RtD publication or report.

Validation Insights from Design

Finally, Findeli suggest the simplest yet most elegant validity criterion of RtD: the
designer/researcher is using the project as her or his field for data collection and the validity of
the choice of this field comes with the success of the design project (Findeli, 2003 cited by
Cournoyer, 2011). Simply put: in accord with Biggs and Btchlers proposition that the rigor of
the process validates the outcome (2007), if the project works and the artefact produced is
acceptable, then knowledge produced through the process is also valid.

Expected Contributions
Having established that RtD deal with the reality that will be and that we learn from it through
the dialog and constant realignment of the project, the designer/researcher must now determine
what exactly she or he wants to know by the means of her or his specific RtD.
Nigel Cross (1999, p. 6) proposed that design research falls into one of three main categories:
Design epistemology study of designerly ways of knowing
Design praxiology study of the practices and processes of design
Design phenomenology study of the form and configuration of artefacts
Although Cross does not discuss which of these categories is possible through each of the
types of design research as described by Findeli (2004), design praxiology is the most
discussed in RtD literature.
Floet (2001) also argues that [l]earning to design has two components: practicing the
techniques of design on the one hand and the development of an attitude to designing on the
other hand (p. 360), effectively suggesting that knowledge gained through practice can be of
both technical and affective natures.

Reflexive Practice, a Design Praxiology Framework

As suggested by a number of authors (amongst others: Nimkulrat, 2012; Zimmerman et al.,
2007), Schns works on reflexive practice (Schn, 1983) can improve design methodology.
According to Schn, there are many different contributions that can spawn from reflexive
practices professional knowledge constants (described below, as synthesised by Chiapello
(2012, p. 73)). Here is a list of these possible contributions, arranged by constants:
Means: Tools that can be used by the practitioner to articulate his thoughts;
Language: Means of communications (oral or not) and terms used by a professional
community;
Repertoire: Inspirational solutions and experiments that were either performed by the
practitioner or that are known to her or him;
Appreciative system: System of values or criteria by which the practitioner judges a
solution or work accomplished;
Global theories: Theory that can guide the practitioner in her or his actions, reflection or
understanding of a situation;

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Role: The role a practitioner sees herself or himself as occupying in a project and which
has an influence on the type of solutions or scope of action she or he is allowed to take.
Reflexive action can also occur in two different timeframes (Schn, 1983). Reflection-in-action
happens during practice, for example, when a decision or an action is made and relies more
heavily on tacit (non-explicit) knowledge. Reflection-on-action happens later, as the practitioner
thinks about what she or he has done or decided.

Evaluating Contributions
Discussing interaction design specifically, Zimmerman and his collaborators, propose a set of
four criteria to evaluate the contribution of a research (2007, pp. 499-500):
Process: The research contributes to the rigor applied to the methods and the rationale
for the selection of specific methods;
Invention: The research situates its contributions in the current state of knowledge and
provides significant advancement;
Relevance: The research contributions lead to, or support, a preferred state of the
world. Also, the research must explain why the state is preferred.
Extensibility: The research contribution must be usable as a basis for new research, i.e.
it must be described and documented in a way that the community can leverage the
knowledge derived from the work.

Methodological Aspects
The next logical step to having established what the designer/researcher wants to know is to
establish how she or he will gather the necessary data to extract that knowledge from.
In their critique of research through design, John Zimmerman and his collaborators mention that
there is a need for serious development of RtD into a proper research methodology that can
produce relevant and rigorous theory (2010, p. 316).
As described in this section, the methodological aspect of RtD has however been discussed
from different angles that are coherent with the approachs ontological and epistemological
position described earlier.
The methodological aspects covered in this section cover the expected steps of the research all
the way down to tools suggestions for data collection.

Flow of the Research through Design

Ditte Amund Basballe and Kim Halskov distinguish three dynamics that appear in sequence
during a RtD project (2012):
Coupling: The initial step that unites research and design interests (Basballe &
Halskov, 2012, p. 65). During coupling, the basic frame and constraints of the project to
serve both level of interests.
Interweaving: At this point research interests and design interests influence each other
and the project as processes, methods and validation are established.
Decoupling: Decoupling appears at later points of the project when the
designer/researcher must focus on one of the interest set (design or research). For
example, decoupling appears during the production phase since it focuses on the design
process, but is also appears during the final evaluation and inquiry when the research
interests become the focus of the work.

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From One to the Many

Having understood how the workflow will progress through the project, we must now establish
what should be observed. Although we know that RtD takes place within a design project, we
will discuss the different types of projects that could be tackled in RtD.
Bowers promotes the use of many artefacts of the same studio or designer for a RtD. This
series of linked designs, once combined, constitutes what he calls a portfolio, which presents a
set of seven interwoven features (constitution, relationship, communication, perspective, mutual
informing, shaping and materiality) that can be used for analysis or any other form of research
inquiry, making the portfolio an annotated portfolio (Bowers, 2012, pp. 71-72).
In a somewhat opposed trail of thought, Alex Wilkie and his collaborators (2010) propose that
the creation of one artefact (or maybe of a portfolio, the authors do not discuss the issue) might
not need to be jealously developed far from sight. They suggest that RtD project have two
underlying dimensions of looseness and openness (Wilkie et al., 2010, p. 99).
Looseness refers to the number of outcomes targeted or allowed by the project and the
designers/researchers. Openness, on the other hand, relates to how secret the project is. An
opened project can allow public participation, media attention, etc.
A loose project could accommodate interdisciplinary teams working on a single project, which
effectively transforms the designed artefact into a boundary object (Star & Griesemer, 1989).

The DRM
Blessing and Chakrabartis (2009) Design Research Methodology (abbreviated DRM) provides
a comprehensive 4-stage plan to use design practice in research.
1. Research clarification: In this stage, the researcher finds other researches or
publication to clarify both the investigation to perform as well as the criteria to measure
the success of the design.
2. Descriptive study I: The first descriptive study aims at better understanding the
situation as it appears in standard design practice and the problematization of the
current situation.
3. Prescriptive study: This study is the fully-documented, knowledge-based design
project (or, more often, projects). Based on the information found in the previous stages
and the established criteria of success and validity, the researcher plans and conducts
the projects. The objective of this study is to gather data on the research subject.
4. Descriptive study II: The final stage of the DRM involves a thorough investigation of
the impacts of the methodology used in the prescriptive study. The main objects of this
phase are (1) the evaluation design methodologies investigated in the prescriptive study
are, from a design practice applicability standpoint and (2) the evaluation of the results
of the prescriptive studys project, using the measurable success criteria established
earlier.
Note that the DRM also distinguishes between seven types of research, based on the current
state of knowledge and their goals, that uses the above phases differently and sometimes uses
only the 2 or 3 first phases. It is also important to note that this approach to methodology is
intended to support studies with clearly measurable outcomes, which can prove to be a problem
with less empirically-based investigations.

Documentation and the Process Reflection Tool

One of the main RtD methodology concerns resides in a more rigorous documentation of
progress and evolution of RtD projects (Zimmerman et al., 2010, p. 316). This section does not

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provide a prescriptive method of documentation, but proposes some of the methods discussed
in the literature.
Owain Pedgley (2007) provided key elements of a good documentation methodology:
Solo effort: Since the designer/researcher will undoubtly be alone at certain part of
the project, a good method will take into consideration that documentation might be a
solo effort;
Endurance: documentation must be able to account for months if not years of
design/research work;
Subject delimitation: As not all aspects of a project can be accounted for, a focused
area of data must be established as the subject to prevent data overflow;
Mobility: Because the design process does not necessarily stop when the
designer/researcher leaves the studio, the documentation method must be mobile.
In an attempt to minimize this type of issue, Peter Dalsgaard and Kim Halskov (2012)
introduced the Process Reflection Tool (PRT), a web-based system designed specifically for
documenting the design process of a project.
The tool allows designers/researchers to enter details about any event (and sub-event) in the
process or take informal notes on conversation, decision or other significant step of the project.
Those events and notes are organised according to their timestamp to visually show the
evolution of the project.
There are some important challenges to the use of the PRT, such as the immediate capture of
information, the perceived importance of entering data by the designers and some difficulty on
determining what and how to document events. The authors argue, however, that the use of the
tool supports better cooperation between actor of a project, invite discussions on the research
agenda and help keep better records of events in long-term projects (Dalsgaard & Halskov,
2012, pp. 434-436).
In line with the looseness dimension described above, Mithra Zahedis doctoral thesis
discusses the use of multidisciplinary cooperation on RtD projects (2011). She promotes the
use of triangulation in data collection (as per Van der Maren, 1996), joining observation of the
designers work and interviews with them.

Limits of RtD
Even the most informed and prepared designer/researcher cannot exceed the limits or ignore
the challenges of RtD. This section is probably the least internally coherent since the limits are
not necessarily linked to one another. It does, however, provide a list of possible issues that
should always be kept in mind while planning and executing a RtD.

The Knowledge, Not the Product

Frayling (1993) made a point to distinguish RtD from researched art or design, advocating that,
in the case of researched art or design, the goal here is art rather than the knowledge and
understanding (Frayling, 1993, p. 5).
Research through designs goal should be the knowledge and understanding, but this
knowledge and this understanding result from the making of an artefact that, as stated earlier, is
embodied in the artefact created or designed.

Timeframe
It has been argued that a comprehensive understanding of design decision making cannot be
formed solely from time-restricted studies and the un-naturalistic interactions that they involve

1676

(Dorst, 1995, cited by Pedgley, 2007, p. 467). The timeframe of the study is especially
important to RtD since smaller timeframes tend to lead to less leveragability in the results. To
provide useful results, then, the research project must allow for the natural unwrapping of
design project to take place.

Conclusion
The aggregated views on RtD draws a coherent research philosophy ranging across many
years of articles and books about the design discipline.
The reality described by RtD is the one that will be, the preferred state. It is one that comes
naturally out of the interaction of the current state with its environment.
RtD implies creating an artefact that cannot be wholly described and that enables the
designer/researcher to dialog with the situation and learn from it.
Research contributions can range across many aspects of design (including the designer, the
process and the artefact itself) but design practice seems to be the main concern of
designers/researchers using this approach. Reflexive practice (Schn, 1983) seems to be the
most complete framework to categorise potential contributions.
RtD is very similar, in appearance, to a regular design project. Its goals, however, are different
and the influence of the research inquiry is present at most steps of the project. Documentation
of the process is a key concern for designers/researchers using this approach.
Finally, RtD can easily be defined by what it is not. First, the artefact is not the goal of RtD;
knowledge and understanding is. Second, RtD is not able to provide predictability. Finally, it is
riddled with issues that come with its heavy reliance on design.

Further Research
Possible further research should critically validate the portrait of RtD proposed in this paper
against actual publications on performed RtD.
We also noticed that the rigor aspect of RtD is not thoroughly discussed. Questions like could
we enhance the rigor of RtD and how? remain to be answered.

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lutilisateur : le designer en tant que mdiateur. Ph.D. Amnagement, Universit de Montral,
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Danny Godin
Danny Godin is a professor of game design at Universit du Qubec-en Abitibi-Tmiscamingue
(UQAT) where he teaches both game design and video game development. He is also
responsible for UQATs Montreal centre and 3D creation programs. His previous teaching
experiences range from pre-university to post-graduate education. Danny has completed a
master in Instructional design in video games and is currently conducting a doctoral research
on the influence of game mechanics on game dynamics. Prior to teaching, Danny has worked
as a professional game designer at Gameloft, designing and producing mobile and Nintendo
Wii games. He also organizes local discussion groups for game researchers, developer and
enthusiasts in Montreal. His research interests include system and instructional design for all
types of games, design education, strong immersion technology as well as the motivations and
perceptions of women in games.

Mithra Zahedi
Mithra Zahedi is a professor of design and a researcher at the Universit de Montral, Canada.
Her academic background is in Product design and Educational technology, followed by her
PhD, which focused on Interface design and user-centered approach. Her research interests
include collaborative design among interdisciplinary team, with particular interest in the impact
of teams implication in early stage of design process of user-centered design. She favors
research-through-design approach and acts as a designer/researcher. She has presented and
published papers in International design conferences, and has run design workshops in the
context of professional projects as well as in conferences. Prior to being fully employed at the
university, Mithra worked as a design practitioner in the area of Product design, Graphic design
and Interaction design for more than 18 years, and has developed an expertise in design and
ergonomics of HCI. In this role, she worked with a verity of industries and with educational
institutions in Canada and USA. Mithra worked as a Web designer and strategist with Princeton
University and more recently she worked with the same institution as consultant and
researcher.

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Can a Light Switch Be Beautiful?

Aesthetic Appreciation of Products as Means
Odette da Silva, Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering, Delft University of Technology,
The Netherlands
Nathan Crilly, Engineering Design Centre, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom
Paul Hekkert, Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering, Delft University of Technology,
The Netherlands

Abstract
Research in design aesthetics usually focuses on how products are experienced as they
appear to the senses. The everyday experience of products is not an experience of
appearance only, though. It can be shaped by knowledge of designers intentions gained
through sources such as press releases, marketing campaigns, critical reviews, and
guesswork. In this paper, we explore the aesthetic appreciation of products in relation to
perceived designers intentions, as an assessment of means by which designers try to
achieve certain aims. We report on an interview study in which participants reflected on a
series of products in these terms. The participants reflections indicate that the
appreciation of a product depends on a perceived set of alternatives assumed for both the
product and the aim. Determinants of aesthetic pleasure such as novelty are based on
these assumed alternatives, rather than on mere product appearance. Ultimately, we find
that a product can be perceived to be beautiful not only because of how it looks, but also
because of how it works as a means to achieve a given aim.

Keywords
Aesthetic experience; Aesthetic pleasure; Design aesthetics; Product experience; User
experience
Light switches are not usually thought to be beautiful because they are not particularly
good-looking. However, the aesthetics of designed products can transcend appearance.
Take for instance the Aware Puzzle Switch (Figure 1). Seen as an object on the wall, it
might not seem very beautiful. But what if it were perceived in relation to its designers
intention of encouraging people to save energy? This switch has been designed in such a
way that its visual pattern is broken when the light is on, so that people are driven by their
innate need for order to restore the pattern and thus turn the light off (Broms, 2011). The
switch can be perceived to be very beautiful when seen as a means to attain its designers
aim. Often, yet inadvertently, designed products are seen in this way. Press releases,
marketing campaigns, critical reviews and guesswork, among other mechanisms, promote
a perception of products that involves reflecting on designers intentions.

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Figure 1: Aware Puzzle Switch designed by Loove Broms and Karin Ehrnberger as part of
the Aware project of the Interactive Institute in Sweden.
In this paper, we explore the aesthetic appreciation of products in relation to perceived
designers intentions, as an assessment of means by which designers try to achieve
certain aims. Our exploration is grounded in the idea that the experience of products is not
merely shaped by product properties, but by designers intentions that can be either
known explicitly or inferred (Crilly, 2011). It is also grounded in an understanding of
products as artifacts in the sense of being defined by intentions (Bloom, 1996; Dipert,
1993; Hilpinen, 1992), not only because they result from the intentional actions taken
during the design process (Galle, 1999), but also because they are intended to fulfill the
aims that designers set during that process to influence the world around them (Hekkert &
Van Dijk, 2011). In this conceptual framework, the aesthetic assessment of products can
be addressed as an assessment of means to achieve certain aims.
As is the case for literature dealing with the aesthetics of artifacts broadly considered, not
just as physical objects, but as certain types of intentional events (e.g. utterances and
performances) (Dipert, 1993, p.11) including science experiments (Crease, 2004), logical
argumentations (Walsh, 1979), mathematical demonstrations (Hardy, 1967), and chess
moves (Margulies, 1977), literature in design suggests that products can be aesthetically
assessed as means, particularly through the principle of maximum-effect-for-minimummeans. This principle, which is implied in references to economy (Zelanski & Fisher,
1984), efficiency (Macnab, 2012), and Occams razor (Lidwell, Holden, & Butler, 2010), is
considered to be a core principle of design aesthetics (Hekkert, 2006; Hekkert & Leder,
2008). Therefore, it does not only indicate that products can be assessed as means, but
that this assessment of products is an aesthetic assessment.
In order to explore the aesthetic appreciation of products in this sense, we conducted an
interview study in which participants were asked to reflect on a series of products as the
means to achieve the original designers aims. Thinking about design intentions and being
articulate about them is not necessarily an easy task for people, as it requires a certain
level of design literacy. To sample from a design literate population, we selected design
students as participants, a group that is aware of the process from which products emerge
and the intentions guiding that process. Thus, our study benefits from the participants
capacity to reflect on products as means to achieve certain aims. For the same reason,
our findings do not reflect lay peoples assessment of products directly, but rather unveil a
perceived set of alternatives that influences the appreciation of products when the
products are experienced in relation to perceived designers intentions, regardless of
whether people are aware of this influence or not. In this sense, this paper provides an
insight into what seems to be a frequent, yet unnoticed, experience of products, as well as
into an unexplored, yet potentially central, area of design aesthetics.

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The Study
Our study took the form of a series of one-to-one semi-structured interviews with thirtythree students from the Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering at Delft University of
Technology, who received academic credits in return for their participation. During the
interviews, the participants were provided with pictures of three products (printed in full
color and measuring 20 by 15 centimeters) and texts (consistent in structure and
comprising between 14 and 20 words) explaining the original designers aims. For
simplicity, these materials (Figure 2) will be referred to as the aim(s) and the product(s)
from now on. Each interview lasted an average of 27 minutes, focusing on the
appreciation of products as means to achieve given aims, but also on the appreciation of
products as affected by knowledge of designers intentions. This paper focuses on the
former topic, with the other topic to be reported elsewhere.
a

It was designed with the

aim of making inhabitants
of The Netherlands aware
of their similarities instead
of their differences.

It was designed with the

aim of enabling people to
be generous towards
strangers.

It was designed with the

aim of helping people
appreciate the comfortable
predictability of daily
household tasks.

Figure 2: Stimulus materials: (a) Cross-Cultural Memory Game by Sara Emami, (b) De
Goedzak by Simon Akkaya, and (c) Patroon by Asako Takahashi.
The interviews were conducted in a private well-lit meeting room of the Faculty of Design
Engineering at Delft University of Technology. After being taken through a standard
procedure to establish their informed consent, the participants were asked two guiding
questions about each of the products in relation to the corresponding aim: What do you
think of this product as the means to achieve this (aim)? and Do you think this product is
a beautiful means to achieve this (aim)? The stimulus materials were presented in three
different sequences to avoid order effects.
The interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed. During the interviews, the
participants made gestures towards the stimuli and used pronouns such as it, this and
that to refer to them. These partial utterances left an incomplete audio record and
transcript. We addressed this issue by substituting the relevant gestures and pronouns
with (the) product and (the) aim according to the meaning intended by the participants
in the statements quoted throughout this paper. These and other editorial substitutions
appear within square brackets.
The participants statements were coded with a combination of a number and a letter as
they were transcribed: numbers from 1 to 33 were used to identify the participants
speaking, while letters a, b, c were used (as in Figure 2) to identify the stimulus
materials to which they referred in each of their statements. These codes are provided

1683

within parentheses at the end of each statement quoted in this paper. For instance, (33b)
identifies an utterance by participant 33 about stimulus materials b.
The transcripts were reviewed iteratively and analyzed following an inductive approach.
This led to a series of findings, which involved: firstly, distinguishing the assessment of the
product as a means from other possible assessments of the stimuli; secondly and most
importantly, discovering that this assessment is based on a perceived set of alternatives
assumed for both the product and the aim; and thirdly, exploring the qualities that lead the
product to be aesthetically appreciated as a means.

Findings
Assessing the product as a means
The participants assessed the stimuli in three distinct ways. Firstly, they assessed the aim
considered independently of the product in statements such as this is a lovely goal (14a),
and I dont like this aim actually (19c). Secondly, they assessed the product considered
independently of the aim, as a mere object, in assertions such as [the product] is a nice
object to have in your kitchen (5c), and Im not very much attracted to the object itself
(26b). Thirdly, they assessed the product in relation to the aim. Our focus is on this latter
assessment, which must be distinguished from the other two.
The assessment of the product in relation to the aim was identified in statements such as
the following, in which the participants referred to a fit, link or connection between the
product and the aim: as a designer, when I think about the product, I like it because it fits
the purpose (30a); I like the link between the design [product] and the idea [aim] (31c);
I am a designer myself or want to be a designer myself, so I look at [the product] with a
different perspective, like: what would be the process behind coming up with [it],
connecting it to this certain goal or aim? (28c). We interpret such assessments as
revealing an appreciation of the product-as-means.
The appreciation of the product-as-means was found to be independent of both the
appreciation of the aim-in-itself and that of the product-as-object. One participant
declared: I like the product, but not especially the goal of the product [however] I think its
a good way of doing it (4c). Although she did not particularly like the aim, she could still
appreciate the product as a way of pursuing it, which indicates that the appreciation of the
product-as-means is independent of the appreciation of the aim-in-itself. Another
participant stated: the goal is quite a nice goal, but Im not sure if the product itself can
achieve this goal [still] as an object, it is nice (8b). He responded positively to the aim and
the product objectively considered, but not to the product as a way of achieving the aim,
which indicates that the appreciation of the product-as-means is not only independent of
the appreciation of the aim-in-itself, but also of that of the product-as-object.
The findings presented in the following sections concern the appreciation of the productas-means only. In a tacit manner, we refer to it exclusively from now on. It is important to
keep in mind, nonetheless, that this appreciation on which we focus is different from the
appreciation of the aim-in-itself and that of the product-as-object. It involves neither an
assessment of the aim considered independently of the product, nor of the product
considered independently of the aim, but an assessment of the product in relation to the
aim, i.e., as a means (Figure 3).

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Figure 3: The appreciation of the product-as-means involves neither an assessment of the

aim-in-itself (A) nor of the product-as-object (P), but an assessment of the product in
relation to the aim, a relation represented by the continuous line in this figure.

Assuming a set of alternatives

The appreciation of the product on which we focus in this paper is relative by definition
because it involves an assessment of the product in relation to the aim. Through our study,
however, we discovered that this appreciation is relative in two other additional senses.
On the one hand, the participants assessed the product in relation to alternative products
by which the same aim could be achieved. On the other hand, they assessed the product
in relation to alternative aims that could be achieved by means of it. We consider these to
be the two main findings of our study.
1. The product is assessed in relation to alternative products. When asked what they
thought of the product as the means to achieve the aim, the participants offered answers
like: I think there are multiple ways to do that, this [product] is one of them (20b); there
must be a better way (2c); this [product] is trying to solve an actual problem and in the
way that [it] is doing it, I dont really like it (24a); this is a nice topic [aim], but I would
implement it in a different way (17c); I think there are better ways to achieve this [aim]
(15b). They assessed the product in relation to other existing or imagined products that
they perceived as leading to the same aim. This indicates that the appreciation of the
product is based on the assumption that many alternative products can be related to a
single aim (Figure 4).

Figure 4: The appreciation of the product is based on the assumption that many
alternative products (P1, P2) can be related to a single aim (A).
2. The product is assessed in relation to alternative aims. Although De Goedzak (Figure 2,
b) is not an ordinary trash bag, one of the participants categorized it as such and thought
of an aim relevant to products of that category, i.e., recycling, which can be contrasted
with the original designers aim, i.e., altruism. He reflected:

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I would imagine that this [product] would cost more [than an ordinary trash bag]
because it doesnt use the regular kind of ink for coloring trash bags, or trash bags
arent colored at all sometimes. I would imagine that this would be more eco-unfriendly
and I think that the big aim or the big thing you aim for with trash bags [is] that you
recycle as good as possible [] For the goal as a trash bag, [the product] doesnt
correspond, or at least [to] my purposeful aim for a trash bag, [the product] doesnt fit
(15b).
This participant assessed the product in relation to an alternative aim that he assumed
that could (or should) be satisfied by means of it. This indicates that the appreciation of
the product is based on the assumption that a single product can be related to many
alternative aims (Figure 5).

Figure 5: The appreciation of the product is based on the assumption that a single product
(P) can be related to many alternative aims (A1, A2).
From our two main findings, it is possible to deduce that the appreciation of the product is
based on the assumptions that many alternative products can be related to a single aim,
on the one hand (Figure 4), and that a single product can be related to many alternative
aims, on the other (Figure 5). Hence, the appreciation of the product depends on a
perceived set of alternatives assumed for both the product and the aim (Figure 6). This
appreciation involves the assessment of a given product in relation to alternative products
related to the same aim, as well as the assessment of a given aim in relation to alternative
aims related to the same product. Most importantly, it involves the assessment of a given
product-aim relationship in relation to alternative product-aim relationships.

Figure 6: The appreciation of the product depends on a perceived set of alternatives

assumed for both the product (P1, P2) and the aim (A1, A2).
Although the diagrams provided throughout this paper roughly represent product-aim
relationships as being equally distant (notice that the lines connecting P1 and P2 to either
A1 or A2 in Figure 6 are similar in length), the participants of the study suggested that the

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product could be related to the aim in a more or less distant manner. For instance, one of
them said: to me, [the aim] sounds like something you can say about every product in
your kitchen [] or in your household (22c). In this case, the relationship between the
product and the aim is relatively distant, i.e., distant in relation to other possible productaim relationships, because a large number of alternative products (all household products)
can be related to the same aim. In contrast, the relationship between the product and the
aim would be relatively close if only small number of alternative products, or even no
alternative products, could be related to the same aim.
The issue of how distantly the product relates to the aim can be understood, as we just
outlined, in terms of how specific the aim is with respect to the product, but also in terms
of how achievable the aim is by means of the product. One of the participants made clear
that even though designers can aim very high, products might be limited or insufficient
means to achieve certain aims. He said: I don't think you can achieve those kinds of
goals with design, you've got it too high in your head if you think that you can make a
change in this world as a designer (28c). Thus, the product can be related to the aim in a
relatively distant manner not simply because the aim is general, but because it is difficult
to attain or even unattainable by means of the product. Conversely, the product can be
related to the aim in a relatively close manner if the aim is easily attainable by means of
the product.
In the previous paragraphs, we have qualified the aim as being specific or general,
attainable or unachievable. It is important to clarify that these qualities are not absolute,
but relative in the sense that they are ascribed to the aim in relation to other aims that can
be related to the same product; for example, an aim is perceived to be specific only in
relation to another aim that is perceived to be less specific or more general. Similarly, the
qualities that can be appreciated in the product are relative in the sense that they are
ascribed to the product in relation to other products that can be related to the same aim.
The rest of our findings shed light on some of the qualities that can be aesthetically
appreciated in the product in this relative sense.

What makes the product a beautiful means?

The participants predominantly assessed the product on coerciveness, explicitness and
novelty. In terms of coerciveness, they made assertions like [the product] forces you (1c),
and [the product] is not really forced upon people (27b); in terms of explicitness, they
made assertions such as [the product] is very obvious (24b), as well as if the product
cannot explain what it wants, what it is for, then it's not good; you should see immediately
what it's for (2c). With regards to novelty, they considered the product to be creative or
modern (29c), novel (14a), and innovative (32a). Due to our special interest in
aesthetics, we will not discuss coerciveness and explicitness, but instead focus on novelty,
which is known to be a determinant of aesthetic pleasure.
One of the participants perceived the product as a modern and new and young way to
recycle (6b) in tacit comparison with other ways of recycling. This suggests that the
product is not novel in absolute terms, but in relation to other products that are perceived
to be less novel or more familiar means to reach the same aim. It further implies that the
product is judged to be more or less aesthetically pleasing (insofar as it is judged to be
more or less novel) in relation to other products, rather than according to its mere
objective properties.
Another participant, who reported to like the product, described it as a sort of
embodiment or a visualization of a new, fresh, funny way of dealing with a known problem
(24b). This suggests that the product is not only novel with respect to alternative products

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or ways that are relatively familiar, but with respect to the aim posed by a known
problem and thus also relatively familiar. In this case, aesthetic pleasure seems to be
attained from perceiving a relatively novel product in relation to a relatively familiar aim
(Figure 7). Instead of the aesthetic appreciation of this particular relationship, we want to
emphasize that the appreciation of novelty in the product is based on the perceived set of
alternatives that we have been discussing. Other determinants of aesthetic pleasure could
also be based on these assumed alternatives, rather than on mere product appearance.

Figure 7: For one participant, aesthetic pleasure seems to be attained from perceiving a
relatively novel product (P2 nov) in relation to a relatively familiar aim (A1 fam).
Although determinants of aesthetic pleasure can be based on these assumed alternatives,
the participants did not report an appreciation of the product in conventional aesthetic
terms. When asked if they thought the product was a beautiful means to achieve the aim,
most of them refused to use this adjective. One explained: I wouldnt use any kind of
aesthetic-related words; I wouldnt use something like beautiful because I associate it
more with something that has a form [] a specific harmony, elements or colors (17a).
Another reflected on the connotation that the word aesthetics usually has in the design
field: I think in design most of the times [aesthetics refers] to the visual qualities of the
object (23a).
Most participants established a strict distinction between aesthetics and functionality. One
of them stated: I differentiate the aesthetic values from the functional values, so judging
[the product] as a means is mostly on the functional area [] I wouldnt say that the
function is beautiful (12a). Accordingly, instead of the suggested adjective, they used the
term good to describe the product. One of them explained: I would be using good; its
saying more about the functionality of the product [than beautiful] (26b). In addition, they
often mentioned the capacity of the product to work in assertions such as: I think [the
product] works really well (3c), this [product] works (7b), I think [the product] can work,
this [product] wont really work (28b), and [the product] will never work (13c).
In terms of the distinction that we made when introducing our findings, most of the
participants saw the assessment of the product-as-means as an assessment of function,
rather than as an aesthetic assessment, which in turn they saw as an assessment of the
product-as-object. Some participants, however, suggested that the product could be
aesthetically appreciated because (of how) it works as a means to achieve the aim. One
of them said: for me [the product] would be attractive if it works [] I really, really like
function, so as long as it works, I dont care that much [about] how it looks (22b). Another
two stated: efficiency can be beautiful [] an efficient use of material is aesthetically
pleasing in the [sense that] you're sure that [the product] is optimized (15b); I think
efficiency can be beautiful [] I think that the function of a product can make a product
less ugly or more beautiful because it gives you a certain feeling of satisfaction (33b).

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The last two declarations indicate that there is an aesthetically pleasing way in which the
product can work as a means to achieve the aim, i.e., efficiently. They suggest that one of
the principles describing the aesthetic appreciation of the product is maximum-effect-forminimum-means. This principle implies that aesthetic pleasure is attained from perceiving
the product (means) that is judged to be the minimum among a number of perceived
alternative products (means), in relation to the aim (effect) that is judged to be the
maximum among a number of perceived alternative aims (effects) (Figure 8). What the
terms minimum and maximum mean for design aesthetics is still to be examined.

Figure 8: According to the principle of maximum-effect-for-minimum-means, aesthetic

pleasure is attained from perceiving a relatively minimum product (P1 min) in relation to a
relatively maximum aim (A2 max).

Discussion
The everyday experience of products can be shaped by knowledge of designers
intentions gained in a variety of ways. In this paper, we have explored the aesthetic
appreciation of products in relation to perceived designers intentions, as an assessment
of means by which designers try to achieve certain aims. Through an interview study in
which participants were asked to reflect on a series of products in these terms, this kind of
appreciation was found to be dependent on a perceived set of alternatives assumed for
both the product and the aim. The participants statements suggested that determinants of
aesthetic pleasure such as novelty are based on these assumed alternatives, rather than
on mere product appearance. Furthermore, they indicated that a product can be perceived
to be beautiful not only because of how it looks, but also because of how it works as a
means to achieve a given aim.
Our findings have an important implication for research in design aesthetics, but also an
undeniable limitation. Let us address this limitation first. As mentioned in the introduction,
design students were chosen as participants for our study because of an expected
minimum level of design literacy and capacity to comment on the intentions guiding the
design process. Therefore, our findings do not reflect lay peoples assessment of products
directly. Instead, they unveil a perceived set of alternatives that influences the
appreciation of products when they are experienced in relation to perceived designers
intentions, regardless of whether people are aware of this influence or not. In order to
overcome the limitation of our study, future research could make use of alternative ways
of sampling for design literacy. For example, people with no formal background in design
could be pretested on their capacity to infer designers intentions directly from products.
As for the aforementioned implication, let us bear in mind that research in design
aesthetics usually focuses on how products are experienced as they appear to the senses.
Nonetheless, our findings suggest that aesthetic pleasure can be attained not just from
perceiving product properties such as shape and color, but also from perceiving products

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in relation to designers intentions, as means to achieve given aims. Research in design

aesthetics could therefore broaden its scope by questioning the strict boundary that is
repeatedly traced between aesthetics and functionality (for a review of taxonomies of
product experience tracing this boundary, see Crilly, Moultrie, & Clarkson, 2004; 2009),
taking into account the ancient notion of beauty as aptitude (about this notion, see for
instance Tatarkiewicz, 1980), and examining the principle of maximum-effect-forminimum-means in depth.
This paper provides a basis for such an examination insofar as it identifies a perceived set
of alternatives underlying the aesthetic appreciation of products. In conducting a
conceptual study of what maximum-effect-for-minimum-means implies for design, this set
of alternative products and aims could be addressed and further explored as a set of
alternative means and effects. As represented in our diagrams, the set of alternatives
could also guide the design of experimental studies; for example, Figure 8 suggests how
to select stimuli for experimentally testing the aesthetic preference for a minimummaximum product-aim (means-effect) relationship. Both products and aims (means and
effects) used as stimuli in these studies could be manipulated according to a number of
determinants of aesthetic pleasure not just minimum and maximum so as to ultimately
manipulate the product-aim (means-effect) relationship aesthetically. By conducting
studies such as these, research in design aesthetics will finally be able to explain how can
beauty be perceived in products regardless of their appearance, even in a light switch.

Acknowledgments
The Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) supported Paul Hekkert with
the MAGW VICI grant number 453-10-004.

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Forms and Principles in Design (pp. 3566). Berkeley: New Riders.
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Tatarkiewicz, W. (1980). Beauty: History of the Concept. In C. Kasparek (Trans.), A
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Odette da Silva
Odette da Silva is a doctoral researcher in design aesthetics at Delft University of
Technology, and a contributor to the international research project UMA (www.projectuma.com). She studies how products are aesthetically judged in connection with
perceived designers intentions following an interdisciplinary approach. Odette has a
background in philosophy and art, subjects she has lectured at the Central University of
Venezuela and bo Akademi in Finland. She has also written two books of poems in
Spanish: Escandinavia y otros destinos (2006), and Contra el viento del norte (2011).

Nathan Crilly
Dr Nathan Crilly is a Lecturer in Engineering Design at the University of Cambridge. His
research interests are in the areas of design, technology and communication. He employs
an interdisciplinary approach to studying how artifacts (e.g. products, systems or services)
are developed, the properties they exhibit and the ways in which people respond to them.
Nathan is a Fellow in Engineering at Clare College, Cambridge. He is a member of the
Design Research Society and The Design Society. He also serves on the International
Editorial Board of Design Studies.

Paul Hekkert
Dr Paul Hekkert is full professor of form theory, and head of the Department of Industrial
Design at Delft University of Technology. Paul conducts research on the ways products
impact human experience and behavior, and leads the international project UMA, i.e.,
Unified Model of Aesthetics (www.project-uma.com). Paul has published articles dealing

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with product experience and aesthetics in major international journals, and is co-editor of
Product Experience (2008). He also published Vision in Design: A Guidebook for
Innovators (2011), a book describing an approach to design and innovation. Paul is cofounder and chairman of the Design and Emotion Society (www.designandemotion.org),
and chairman of the executive board of CRISP (www.crispplatform.nl), a national
collaborative research initiative for and with the Dutch creative industries.

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A shift of perspective in design inquiries: from individual

boundaries to common needs
Daniela Rothkegel
Institute of Design, Ume University

Abstract
This paper extends design and systems literature by evaluating issues in methodology
and practice that maintain learning on an individual context and doesnt allow an
improvement of the whole system.
The problem that has initiated this research is that it seems difficult for those engaged in a
design process to reflect upon their own point of view in relation to other participants
perspectives to identify the whole situations meaning.
The idea of this research is to critically examine, from a practical design perspective, the
framework of Critical-Systems-Heuristics (CSH) W. Ulrich, by taking previous critiques
carried out and practical aspects derived from a case study under consideration.
The purpose of this study is to identify issues of the current CSH-framework and to
propose practical aspects to improve the same for civil engagement.
In order to fulfill this purpose, strengths and weaknesses of the current framework have
been evaluated in terms of what is currently possible through the framework and what are
the consequences of that for practical engagement.
This research identifies the need of methodological tools for designers that allow and
support them to overcome individual boundaries in order to be able to engage into
common needs of a system holistic.

Keywords
Critical-Systems-Heuristics; Ulrich; rational; empirical; normative
When inquiring into a design situation, designers see a situation from each of their
personal point of views. The designers subjective perspective allows focusing on a
certain need and discover certain related problem aspects within the design situation. But
can designers be sure that the need they see is that what people need in their situation?
How do designers get to know other points of views during the inquiry? What are the
possibilities of each of the designers to convey their point of view and understand other
points of views within a design-team? With design-team I mean collaboration between
people with different backgrounds and affiliations in practice and research. So, do system
design methodologies create opportunities to discover unknown needs and problem
aspects during an inquiry between different kinds of stakeholders and worldviews? The
problem that has initiated this research is that it seems difficult for those engaged in a
design process to reflect upon their own point of view in relation to other participants
perspectives to identify the whole situations meaning.
A challenge within this endeavor is to identify what the participants ideas applied to
particular contexts mean, what their interest is and to identify new aspects within the
holistic situation that are reasons for the problem aspects in particular contexts. The aim

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of this paper is to provide practical tools that enable a reflective and critical practice for
inquiries into complex situations.
The framework of Critical-Systems-Heuristics, (CSH) by W. Ulrich (1983) offers to support
a critical reflective practice between various stakeholders when evaluating complex
situations. Though, there seem to be several aspects that need to be changed in order to
make the model practically applicable for design inquiries. The idea is to critically examine
the CSH-framework from a design perspective to identify strengths and weaknesses of
the current framework. The purpose of this study is to identify issues of the current CSHframework and to propose practical aspects to improve the same for civil engagement.
The overarching goal is to propose a new agenda that states a shift of current critical
systems thinking and practice to enable interaction between various sources with different
approaches and their proposals how to improve a situation in everyday work practices.
This paper is structured in the following way. First, the current CSH-framework is
presented from a design perspective with a focus on methodology and practice. Second,
an overview about other critiques carried out by previous research is provided.
Furthermore practical aspects derived from a case study are presented. To fulfill this
purpose of this study, strengths and weaknesses of the current framework have been
evaluated under practical matters in terms of what is currently possible through the
framework and what are the consequences of that for practical engagement. This has
been set into relation to other critiques and the practical aspects identified in the case
study. I then propose a new agenda to make a shift of perspective in design inquiries
explicit. Finally I conclude about the findings of this research and propose questions to
look into.

CSH framework
CSH, critical systems heuristics had been established in order to make systems thinking
practically applicable. W. Ulrich followed with this enterprise the footsteps of C.W.
Churchman to provide a framework for reflective practice based on practical philosophy
and systems thinking. The framework of CSH is meant to educate professionals and
citizens in problem solving for planning situations to acquire a critical competence that is
not depending on theoretical knowledge as a basis for cogent critical argumentation.
Practical reason had been, according to Ulrich, a fundamentally missing factor of the
systems approach and his main argument to develop the framework of CSH. The
originator of CSH builds on Kant (1788) that practical reason must be founded in a
critically reflected, normative interest, where criticism has a practical role that determines
norms, the way we should think and act. To be critical is then to become self-reflective
about prior judgments that are influencing current ones. Interest within a normative
context, related to by Ulrich, is where reason becomes practical, the cause is determining
the will and by that action. A practical reason to use the system is not presupposed within
the idea, as we cannot know the whole system.
Systems thinking is, according to P. Checkland (1997) a set of elements joined together
that make a complex whole, the whole is seen as having properties, which make more
than the sum of the parts.
Ulrichs methodological goal of CSH with the boundary critique (2000) was to achieve
awareness of professionals involved in planning situations about the consequences of
their claims on affected citizens that are not involved into the planning process. Therefore,
Ulrich (2000, 2012) wanted to involve affected citizens into this process to increase their
critical competence in order to challenge rational claims of the decision-makers.
The primarily concern of Ulrich was to provide critical heuristic support with the framework
of CSH, which is presented in the next chapter.

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CSH methodology and practice

Ulrichs idea with the methodology of boundary critique was to make the selectivity of
individual evaluations through boundary judgments transparent, and to provide a
systematic way in handling different assumptions regarding problematic situations. A
report with a theoretical content of professional findings about a problematic situation
provides the basis for an evaluation in a critical reflective debate among professionals and
citizens. When inquiring into a design situation, value assumptions play a key role in
contextual selectivity as they shape the perception of a situation. Therefore was Ulrichs
intention with the method of boundary judgments to support the discovery and evaluation
of relevant problem aspects, assumptions and questions in a report about a problematic
situation. Problem aspects are selected proposals, claims or suggestions in a report
regarding various stakeholders. Ulrichs attempt with CSH practice was to provide the
basis for problem solving of complex situations by making the meaningfulness and
justifiability of a claim transparent. Ulrich relates to the systemic concept of improvement,
that is to make the underlying principle, which is presupposed in the design transparent,
the measure of performance. Proposals for improvement are depending on prior
judgments about a relevant whole system. Improvement occurs only in respect to the
entire relevant system.
Boundary judgments are to surface underlying value assumptions to practical judgments
of claims in reports that are observations of fact and judgments of value, Ulrich (2000) see
fig.1. Empirical and normative evaluations of problem aspects that count as relevant by
the participants of the planning group, determine the meaning of the selected assumption
in the real world. What a problem aspect means, what concerns and consequences are
taken into consideration, defines the context referred to with the evaluation, the part of the
real world that is important.
The context referred to, by a person of a planning group determines the boundaries of the
reference system that is in everyday language a relevant context. The context intuitively
referred to defines the context to which a proposal relates and to which it is valid. The
individual meaning and validity of a selected problem aspect determines by that the
boundaries of the existing system. The empirical selectivity creates the basis to propose
ideas of how a situation ought to be that is according to Ulrich the normative selectivity in
the real world for different stakeholders.

Figure 1: The eternal triangle of boundary judgments

(Source: Ulrich 2000, p.252)
Ulrichs aim was therefore with the methodology of boundary critique to clarify different
concerns regarding various stakeholders among the participants of a planning group,
when evaluating problem situations. This is done in practice with the help of 12 boundary
categories Ulrich (2000), see fig. 2 that represent sources of the system, related to those,
12 boundary questions Ulrich (1987), see fig. 3 are meant to understand the basis for
action of each of the stakeholders and to assign boundary judgments for critical reflection.

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Findings and proposals evaluated can be recorded systematically to each category, in a

table of content for boundary critique, the classification of 12 categories consist of a
division in an is and ought mode.

Figure 2: Table of boundary categories (Source: Ulrich, W. 1983, p.258;)

Figure 3: Checklist of boundary questions (Source: Ulrich, w. 1987, p.279f)

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Practice of boundary critique is then in a critical reflective debate to examining the

difference between what the boundaries of the existing system are and what they ought to
be. Boundary critique is done, by changing perspective between facts and values that are
evaluated conditions on basis of a report and what the participants think that ideally ought
to be involved in a proposal regarding each category. The difference examined is to make
the difference explicit that a proposal would make in practice in order to identify the
beneficial and affected of the systems designs implications.
In CSH a critical reflective debate starts with a professional of a planning-group proposing
his boundary judgment of a proposal, identified in a report, to the planning group. The
validity of a particular evaluation, boundary judgment, is furthermore examined between
different concerns of professionals and citizens involved in a planning-group through an
argumentative process. The legitimacy of a particular claim, made with an individual
evaluation, is constituted by the planning-group under consideration of the consequences
for other citizens affected by the implication. The argumentative process about various
possible implications of the systems design takes place in a systemic triangulation through
the eternal triangle. This is done by taking one corner under consideration of the others
in their interrelation into consideration, and vice versa. This process can be actively
reconsidered according to CSH by extending the boundaries of the reference system by
assuming new facts that get involved. When reconsidering the boundaries, the
triangulated discussion aims to take consequences of their ideas on other people into
consideration.

CSH practical example and summary

Ulrich gives the following example to make the practical implication of the methodology
tangible. The case is given in ecosystem management to improve land use in an
underprivileged region. The plan is to change agricultural practices by introducing new
crops. The changes planned might bring some advantages for some while it imposes
disadvantages for others. People whose concerns are not addressed properly might want
to challenge the plan by pointing its normative selectivity out. Instead of arguing against
the plan like knowing better, they voice their concern by raising consequences that the
practical implication of the plan from their point of view would have for a specific group.
The inquirers concerns are regarding means and skills that the affected people do not
have.
Ulrichs aim was to provide an approach that informs for creating the basis for rational
discussion under everyday conditions. However, there is the need seen by Ulrich himself
as well as other several systems thinkers and practitioners to develop the CSH-framework
further. Critiques of CSH carried out by previous research will be presented next.

Critiques of CSH
Still, Ulrichs CSH framework provides the only systems methodology to support critical
reflection on boundary judgments, though several problematic aspects of the framework
have been lifted earlier.
Jackson (1985c) raised his critique on Ulrichs framework in three main points.
Firstly, the scope of what Ulrichs framework is able to address as it is neglecting
instrumental reason. Instrumental reason has an important role in the dependency of
rational social action on what is possible to do by efficient choice of means.
Secondly, the applicability of Ulrichs CSH in terms of the possibility to critique and
reflect upon material conditions that give raise to ideas that built a social system design
and lead to the domination of certain ideas.
Thirdly, the depth of Ulrichs framework to tackle structural aspects and
development of social system means in terms of the possibility to provide examination and
explanation of the nature of the material conditions.

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Ulrichs framework becomes subject of a more detailed critique a decade later, as part of
a discussion around the development of knowledge-constitutive-interest theory (KCI),
Habermas (1972). Midgley (1996) reviews and critiques three commitments of CSH,
methodological pluralism, emancipation and critical awareness in what is this thing called
CST with the attempt to clarify CSHs role in Critical-Systems-Thinking (CST). He
challenges by this the main interest categories postulated by KCI. Midgleys critique
regards the role of critical awareness to challenge current approaches of methodological
pluralism. He reviews and critiques first Flood and Jackson, (1991a) approach, to then
draw on earlier approaches of Churchman (1968a, b, 1971, 1979) and Ulrich (1983).
According to Midgley critical awareness is necessary to liberate knowledge by alternative
views of the situation and to choose between them in practice, which is not translated into
methodology. Midgley critiques that CSH is not sufficient to enact critical awareness
because it does not provide a method for critiquing other methodologies in an application
for non-coercive situations.
Coercive situations become one of the issues between Jacksons and Ulrichs exchange
of viewpoints in 2003 about a relevant use of CSH. There are different definitions of
coercive situations among the authors, which also draw different consequences from that.
Midgley (1996) reviews Floods and Jacksons proposition to use different methodological
approaches related to different interests through a complementary fashion in practice,
because different assumptions are made through different methodologies.
Their meta-methodology has KCIs notion that work and interaction are fundamental to
the human condition that gives rise to our interests. Methodological pluralism,
complementarism, becomes the main issue in Jacksons and Ulrichs (2003a), (2003b),
(2003c) discussion. Ulrich emphasizes CSHs adoption of Kantian deep complementarism
in terms of its critical relevance for critical inquiry and practice. Ulrichs perspective is that
conceptions of complementarism rely on a positivistic concept of methodological choice,
which subordinates reflective practice to the choice of the intervention purpose.
Midgley (1996) constitutes that the principle of boundary critique is possible to translate
into methodology for a whole systems inquiry by applying the 12 boundary questions as
an integral part of the whole systems inquiry. That is according to him to operationalize
critical awareness by methodologically identifying what effects are referred to with
boundary judgments.
In another exchange of viewpoints between Midgley and Reynolds (2002a), (2002b),
(2002c), (2002d), points Reynolds good argumentation skills as a form of best practice
out. Reynolds demands to unveil incidences of coercion and better means to redress
affected by forces of coercion in order to enable a methodological pluralism for a total
systems intervention. Other critiques of CSH have been raised by Romm,(1995a) and
Ivanov, (1991) and lately Strijbos, (2010).
To summarize, the debate around CSH did not lead to identify sources of problems and to
provide practical tools for total systems intervention.
The main issue seems to provide a methodology as point of departure that enables
understanding between various stakeholders and their ideas for improvement in a
comprehensive situation. A crucial point is to identify sources of interests that rule
relationships between humans and technology that get embedded in object-properties
planned. Therefore, I want to present in the next chapter practical aspects that derived
from a case study.

Practical aspects of design inquiry

A multidisciplinary workshop between Design, Natural-Science and Industry, as part of a
wider development project, has been studied in action and evaluated within our Phdproject, Rothkegel D. (in review). The study evaluated the structuring of a design-situation
with 20 design-students involved in a mapping for improving traffic safety, set up in 13
categories. The problem that initiated this research was that solutions often do not solve

1698

problems. The aim of the study was to identify factors that influence the exploration and
evaluation of a design-situation in conceiving a solution.
The purpose of the authors inquiry was to identify to what kinds of problems designstudents relate to while inquiring. In order to fulfill this purpose, information proposed on
intermediary objects by the participants has been synthesized and analyzed by the author
in several steps.
The case showed that the perspective taken by the participants determined unintentionally
conditions for each of them through their proposed relationship of humans and
technology. The objective undertaken by the design-students was to control their context
for having the value of power over a situation. Each of their evaluations was driven
through the belief in technical systems by a mechanistic functionalistic approach. The
study identified intertwined norms that made the two-step reflective process Schn (1987)
ineffective and led to choose similar means. The difficulty was for each of the participants
to get out of their own context and to create through their performance the basis to
perceive other than own needs in the situation explored and evaluated.
The participants practice did not allow conveying their proposals meaning coherently
among them in a comprehensive situation during the inquiry. The function of the proposed
for humans was not possible to test in its practical implication, the purpose of the
proposed remained unclear. The participants could therefore not understand each of their
needs seen in the situation to formulate and evaluate related problems at the same time.
The practice did not give a reason to interact between various stakeholders to clarify
issues that caused different interests and conditioned the holistic situation. Instead the
participants referred with the same approach to prior judgments without questioning their
meaning relating to available information accordingly to their beliefs.
The main issue was that the conditions for the participants decision-making where not
made transparent for evaluation among them - that was their reasoning to make claims, to
create the basis for common understanding about the idea of the theme.
Issues within the proposed relationship between humans and technology where not
tangible to emancipate from the current governance conditions.
It was therefore not possible for the participants to get to know new facts that would have
involved learning related to a different kind of knowledge than already related.
The practical implications of the claims made were shown to affect each of the designers
own conditions with an effect on a systems level. The source of the problem remained
undiscovered that was the participants own perspective, which put each of them into the
role of an object ruled by technology.
Next I would like to highlight issues I identified within the current CSH-framework under
consideration of other critiques carried out and the practical aspects derived from the case
study presented. I also want to propose practical aspects to improve the current CSHframework.

Current CSH issues & proposals for improvement

Ulrichs CSH is a framework for inquiring into design situations where there is consensus
about what the problematic situation is. But it is not sufficient enough to take new
perspectives about a problem into consideration and to identify other problems than
already known when inquiring into a situation. New perspectives are alternative ways of
approaching different kinds of needs.
I have been structuring this section in the following manner. I will first summarize strength
and weakness of the current framework. Then I will discuss 3 important aspects that are:
A comprehensive situation
Redefining the purpose of the systems design

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Justify practice

To each of those aspects I will present what is possible to do with the current CSHframework then issues and consequences deriving from that are presented. Furthermore I
will propose practical aspects that should enable to do what is not possible to do with the
current framework.
The strength of Ulrichs framework is the methodology to frame the context of problem
aspects within the theoretical content of reported complex situations and to evaluate that
content regarding various stakeholders between an empirical and normative mode
systematically.
The weakness of Ulrichs CSH-methodology is that it is not possible to overcome
individual boundaries, a coercive situation, and relate to other contexts to refer to
knowledge that has not been available, in order to do what is currently not possible to do.

A comprehensive situation
Possible with current CSH:
To frame a context through problem aspects, which are effects of a systems
design, with the interest in practical judgments of proposals in a report. Theoretical
facts and existing values are the basis to make suggestions of how to solve the
situation for others by referring to a context in the real world.
Issue in current CSH:
The practice does not create a comprehensive picture of a situation from different
perspectives to understand why people are relating to different kinds of problems
and what has caused their behavior.
The methodology does therefore not enable to understand the purpose of actual
practice that is the practical reason why someone is doing what he is doing within
the whole situation.
Practical aspects I propose:
Heuristics: is first to inform about an individual perspective of a situation for
creating a comprehensive situation between different perspectives of various
stakeholders. This is done, by visualizing individual perspectives in relation to the
need seen related to a category in order to identify what proposals mean regarding
the interest. Heuristics is then to be able to get aware of different interests at the
same time and to discover issues that caused human-machine relations within the
same category and between them.
Reflective: is to reflect upon the own reasoning regarding various sources in
relation to other interests within a comprehensive situation, that is the belief of how
to solve a situation. This is to identify the purpose of the interest related to through
the individual methodology applied in order to identify the source of the problem
aspects referred to. The reflective-practice is to change perspective from the need
seen through an individual perspective to what is needed within the
comprehensive situation created.
Critical: is to propose alternative ideas to the existing idea of a theme through
identifying and evaluating roles and rules created by the methodology applied.
This is to redefine the purpose of actual practice and by that to redefine future
agentclient relations.

Redefining the purpose of the systems design

Possible with current CSH:
A critical evaluation is done, by changing perspective between theoretical facts
together with current value-propositions and normative constitutions, regarding

1700

different stakeholders through debate; this is to identify the difference a proposal

would make for each of the stakeholders in practice.
The debate conducted among the participants regards concerns about the
consequences of the systems design on affected citizens. Concerns regard means
and skills, which people do not have currently and are therefore not able to handle
the implications of the design.
Issue in current CSH:
It is not possible to simultaneously understand different interests and various
methodologies deriving from those, within a comprehensive situation at the same
time.
It is not possible to identify different needs in the contexts applied through the
practical implications of the methodologies and furthermore not possible to know
which conditions to create that enable common learning and new value.
Therefore determines and maintains the current framework the context for which
actions are valid, that is to predetermine goals and does not allow to selfdetermine means to engage.
Practical aspects I propose:
Boundary judgments: are to identify common needs within the comprehensive
situation through issues between different interests, which are power-relations of
the proposals practical implications. That is to identify conflicts between different
interests referred to, see fig.4.

Figure 4: Proposal for changes in boundary judgments

Boundary critique: is to identify from the context referred to, the context that is
valid in order to learn what is not possible to do so far. This is to enable a transition
of current knowledge, to the knowledge to be acquired in order to liberate an
individual coercive situation. This interaction changes roles and rules of the
proposed organization and redefines the purpose of the inquiry, see fig. 5, new
boundary categories
Validity: interactions between different contexts enables to evaluate the
requirements for a new ideal situation that combines different kind of objectives
that are interrelated and allows choosing means for learning throughout the whole
system.
Legitimate: is to achieve the common need practically without disconnecting
interactions between different contexts intentionally.

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Figure 5: Table of new boundary categories

Improvement: is to create transparency about the intended situation in relation to

what works practically out in a holistic perspective by redefining the purpose of the
intervention, which changes the measure of performance while inquiring.
Discontinuous: approach is needed in order to correct unintended effects of an
inquiry instead of enhancing them.

Justifying practice
Possible to do with current CSH:
In current CSH methodology new facts are taken into consideration by choosing
an ideal context of validity for a proposal by the same means, derived from the
same interest of practical judgments.
Proposals are made independently from current individual needs without knowing
if the solution can be of any practical use for the actual individual situation.
Issue in current CSH:
Conflicts cannot be resolved between different interests at the same time within
the same situation the methodologies deriving apply to different contexts where
value gets applied particularly without interactions within the comprehensive
situation. No emancipation from current power-relations gets achieved for future
practices.
A logical derivation of the proposals validity for an intended whole situation is not
possible, it is therefore not possible to plan.
Practical aspects I propose:
To identify interrelations between the methodologies deriving from different
interests in order to identify connections between different needs in different
contexts, that is a common need of the whole situation. This is to justify current
work practice through logical connections between interactions for a common
interest.
A debate on the basis of visualizations of human-machine relations planned,
which is a reflective-practice on the basis of tangible object-properties and their
effects that are created during an inquiry.
A coherent argumentation about issues between different contexts applied through
the practical implication of the proposals, to relate interactions among various

1702

stakeholders to each other for making connections between different approaches

and contexts referred to.
A shift of perspective from observing to identifying responsibilities among sources
and different interests by asking active boundary questions between them; the
purpose is to agree upon trade offs between different interests and to define
actions for a common need see, fig. 6 on example of four boundary categories.
To identify approaches and responsibilities, which are not involved into the inquiry.

Figure 6: Identifying responsibilities between boundary categories

Next I want to propose a new agenda for design inquiries on the basis of issues and
proposals evolved through the critical examination of the current CSH-framework.
This is to make the shift of perspective for design inquiries explicit.

A new agenda for design inquiries

There is an enormous gap between the emancipatory, informing and ethically correct
attempt of the current CSH-framework for problem-solving and the everyday practice of
design inquiries. As pointed out by Churchman, C. W. (1979), Be your enemy. If you are
your enemy, you can begin to learn what you your self are like; that is in many ways more
challenging than being concerned about others in a specific matter.
We need to rethink the role of the system in enabling interactions between various
sources and different approaches in everyday work practices of people regarding their
ideas to improve a situation. The challenge is to provide a methodology that gives
cornerstones to relate to in order to express and connect individual needs, claims and
proposals to a comprehensive situation.
An objective visualization containing subjective perspectives of power-relations is
necessary as a basis to identify peoples reasoning in order to make the underlying
principle of the design situation tangible and possible to change intentionally.
The reason to propose a radical change in civil practices is an identified interrelation of
value-rational and purposive-rational reasoning in peoples behavior that doesnt serve
common purposes to solve true societal problems. Our proposals are meant to enable
and dedicate interactions for correcting unintended effects of actions planned in the same
role as designer and citizen. The intended interaction model is meant to enable a
transition from current individual contexts to an improved common situation by proposing
a model that is based on self-responsibility and directed towards interactions with the
environment outside the existing system related to.
To this end, I propose such an alternative agenda, which focuses on the design of an
information system for engaging citizens to contribute with their perspectives, needs and
ideas about particular situations. The information system aimed for connects particular
perspectives to provide a broader basis of information and argumentation. It argues for a
significant shift from decision-making for people to proactive people; where informationdesign enables understanding among people regarding coherence of own perspectives
and claims to identify own responsibilities. The information system is meant to enable
people taking action together with partners that identify similar issues, reasons, in the big

1703

picture provided through a diversity of approaches for solving problems. Instead of

presupposing objectives and ways how to achieve them it provides possibilities to convey
and get to know individual points of views; different objectives can be identified and
combined to achieve coherent ways of composing particular solutions for dedicated
purposes. Furthermore it argues that people rather than machines and systems take
action, compose and be creative, ultimately in control of their interactions with the world,
in novel and effective ways.
Practical reason and by that the practicability of systems thinking will be underpinned by
combining past, and future activities in actual practices. That extends what people
currently do and with whom and how they interact through space and time in actual and
particular interconnected situations. Ultimately, research and development should be
driven by relations between parts rather than the parts them self.

Conclusion
Design methodologies need to provide tools that allow Designers to overcome each of
their boundaries through their practice in order to see other needs than their own. That is
to overcome a coercive situation and to liberate knowledge. Therefore I propose a shift
from finding solutions for needs of others to change perspective to what each of us can do
in own responsibility and wants to learn in order to improve a situation holistic.
In pursuit of this idea it is necessary to be clear about the following questions:
What is individual - common?
What is private - public?
What is the real world?
What is the purpose of designing?

References
Checkland, P. (1997). Entry "Systems" in: International Encyclopedia of Business &
Management, London: Thompson Business Press, pp.667-673.
Churchman, C.W. (1968a). Challenge to reason. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Churchman, C.W. (1971). The design of inquiring systems. New York: Basis Books.
Churchman, C.W. (1979). The systems approach and its enemies. New York: Basis
Books.
Flood, R.L., & Jacksson, M.C. (1991a). Critical systems thinking: Directed readings. New
York: Wiley.
Habermas, J. (1972). Knowledge and human interests. London: Heineman
Ivanov, K. (1991). Critical systems thinking and information technology. Journal of applied
Systems analysis, 18, 39-55

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Jackson, M.C. (1985) Systems Thinking in Action. The Journal of the Operational
Research Society, Vol. 36, No. 9, Conference at Henly. April 1985, pp. 878-881
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Journal of the Operational Research Society, Vol. 54, No. 11 (Nov., 2003), pp. 1225-1226
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Critical Systems Thinking: Current Research and Practice (pp. 11-24). New York: Plenum
Press
Midgley, G. (2002b). Renewing the Critique of the Theory of Knowledge-Constitutive
Interests: A Reply to Martin Reynolds. The Journal of the Operational Research Society,
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Programming (Oct., 2002), pp. 1165-1168
Midgley, G. (2002d). Final Reply to Reynolds-Towards an Enhanced OR for
Environmental Management The Journal of the Operational Research Society, Vol. 53,
No. 10, Special Issue: Applications and Developments in Mathematical Programming
(Oct., 2002), pp. 1171-1173
Reynolds, M. (2002a). In Defence of Knowledge Constitutive Interests. A Comment on
'What Is This Thing Called CST?' (Midgley, 1996). The Journal of the Operational
Research Society, Vol. 53, No. 10, Special Issue: Applications and Developments in
Mathematical Programming (Oct., 2002), pp. 1162-1165
Reynolds, M. (2002c). Response to Midgley-Renewing Critique or Renewing Fears? The
Journal of the Operational Research Society, Vol. 53, No. 10, Special Issue: Applications
and Developments in Mathematical Programming (Oct., 2002), pp. 1169-1171
Romm, N.R.A. (1995a). Some anomalies in Ulrichs critical inquiry and problem-solving
approach. In K. Ellis, A. Gregory, B. Mears-Young, &G Ragsell (Eds.), Critical issues in
systems theory and practice. New York: Plenum Press.
Rothkegel, D. V. (in review) How to step out of a situation to solve it from inside.
Schn, D.A. (1990). Educating the Reflective Practitioner. (4th ed.) San Francisco: Jossey
Bass Publishers.
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B. Holbrook The oxford handbook of interdisciplinarity (pp. 453-470). New York: Oxford
University Press
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Operational Research, 31, No. 3, 276-283.
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1:2, 247-268

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Ulrich, W. (2002b). Boundary critique. In H.G. Daellenbach and R.L. Flood (eds), The
Informed Student Guide to Management Science, London: Thomson, 41f.
Ulrich, W. (2003a). Beyond methodology choice: critical systems thinking as critically
systemic discourse. The Journal of the Operational Research Society, Vol. 54, No. 4
(Apr., 2003), pp. 325- 342
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Research Society, Vol. 54, No. 11 (Nov., 2003), pp. 1226-1229
Ulrich. W. (2012) Operational research and critical systems thinking-an integrated
perspective, Part1: OR as applied systems thinking. The Journal of the Operational
Research Society, 63, 12281247

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Design effectiveness: Building customer satisfaction and

loyalty through design
Ki Woong Nam, University of Leeds, United Kingdom
Dr. Bruce W. Carnie, University of Leeds, United Kingdom

Abstract
The contribution of design is regarded as one of the most crucial factors in business.
However, there remains ambiguity about how design affects the building of customer
satisfaction and loyalty. Furthermore, in terms of any business situation, the output of design
efforts and investment should arguably be greater than management expect in order to be
recognised as a worthy investment. This paper presents a novel combined conceptual
framework of the design audit and value typology. By employing design embedded business
theories, design value can be both assessed. Taking Freemans stakeholder theory and
conflating this with Holbrooks typology of value, a novel and more inclusive theory emerges
upon which to clearly identify the scope of perspectives of value across all stakeholders
within a business. Empirical findings through customer survey verify the suitability of the
proposed measuring matrix used in this study. Furthermore, this empirical finding from
customers can be the corner stone of determining the effectiveness of design in the food and
beverage service industry by embedding design perceptions in a business theory of practice.

Key words
Design effectiveness; Design value; Design audit; Service-profit chain; Value typology

Introduction
Goods and services are no longer enough, as Pine and Gilmore (1999) state, the leverage
of experience in business has emerged. Positively recognised experience arguably triggers
repeat consumption of goods or services within the same brand. As the emergence of postFordism business models, mass customisation, by emphasising the customer-company
relationship which stems from customers hedonic experiences, had became a major stream
of marketing research (Addis and Holbrook, 2001). In addition, customers are willing to
share their experience with others in various ways. Information technology, which has
developed dramatically in the last few years, boosts the impact of this sharing of experience
significantly through social media. The experience of one person may not be confined to one
person or small groups; it proliferates to other people or groups with preconceived value.
Among the significant influencers of perceiving value, the recognition of design is regarded

1707

as the most significant impact upon the customers perception of a given brand (Baker et al.
1994; Smith and Colgate 2007). However, due to the ambiguity of assessing, the
contribution of design cannot stand alone. It is critical to dissociate the design contribution
from the overall marketing outcomes in order to identify the effectiveness of investing design,
therefore, a business can analyse the outcome of design clearly and encourages its
continuous design efforts.

Conceptual Framework
In order to investigate whether design efforts can contribute to a successful business, it is
necessary to contemplate two key definitions of its value creation network; what makes a
brand preferable and who create the value for the scope of stakeholders? When value is
considered in a business context, it is often regarded as a customer surplus (Bowman and
Ambrosini, 2000) and superior customer value has become a key competitive advantage for
business (Ravald and Grnroos, 1996). By defining the customer as a decision maker who is
keen to maximise the economic effort invested, Holbrook (2006, p.715) proposes that
customer value is an interactive relativistic preference experience. In addition, the created
value is described as the subtraction of opportunity cost from customers willingness to pay
(Brandenburger and Stuart, 1996). Payne and Holt (2001, p.159) classify the value from
customer perspective into three categories; creating and delivering customer value,
customer-perceived value, and value of the customer. Thus, it is reasonable to divide the
value related activity of a company into creating, delivering, and perceiving.
When a business is addressing customer perception value, the business needs to consider
whether the customer perception value will claim future consumption. Future consumption
can be derived from potential or existing customers. Penetrating and developing a new
market through a potential customer may increase total volume of sales while it may not be
beneficial, considering mostly saturated market condition and additional marketing cost. As a
result, customer retention has obtained leverage and a significant role in value creation
(Payne and Frow, 2005). In other words, appropriately created values are the impetus to
recall valuable experience (customers additional needs) which facilitates a business
sustainability. Hence, it is important to know how customers perceive value and how a
company transfers value to companys profitable activities. To associate perceived value
activity with created values activity, it is also necessary to investigate the mediator (need)
which is triggered by perceived value and triggers created values. Thus, a value chain for
sustainable business is suggested to include emergence or reconstitution of needs, created
values, delivered value, and perceived value.

1708

Stakeholders
Freeman (1984) introduces the original broad groups within stakeholder theory; shareowners,
employees, customers, suppliers, lenders and society, with the definition of stakeholder as
groups of economic units who critically support an organisations survival. Defining
stakeholders who are involved in a business, in terms of their influences, is an ongoing
debate. Two main streams of determining stakeholders are Value maximisation and
Stakeholder theory. The former argues that aiming one specific stakeholders profit could
achieve the maximised outcome of a business. By considering the cost of maintaining
market share, Jensen (2001) argues, from value maximisation viewpoint, that there is an
optimum point where a business can be most profitable and it can be achieved by focusing
one stakeholder value. However, Jensen (2001) also emphasises that missing one of the
key stakeholders benefits by unfair distribution of benefits could lead to an unsuccessful
business in the long term. In terms of the sustainable growth and profitability, a business
needs to consider the contemporary and protean environment. In order to be an agile
business in this situation, the strategy should be flexible as it is argued in the Stakeholder
theory. In addition, Freeman (2003) also emphasises his arguments by proposing that the
application of stakeholder theory can be flexible, considering the characteristics of industries.
The conceptual framework which is introduced later in this research considers every
possible stakeholder and clusters them as groups of customer, employee, investor, and
others.
Although the framework is being considered to be adopted practically, having flexibility in
classifying stakeholders is critical as argued by Freeman (2003), some may argue that
blurring the other stakeholders group could make it ambiguous and hard to apply practically.
However, in order to explain todays large range of industry sectors and different
characteristics of individual firms even in the same sector, a flexibly transforming framework
can be used to explain and analyse better. Other stakeholder groups may share
constituencies with environmental factors. Once a constituency is considered as a minor
stakeholder, it could be involved in environmental factors, which may affect the cycle of a
value chain, but not prominently other in other stakeholder groups. In addition, each
stakeholder group should be considered as an integrated group of individuals, not one
constituency with the same interests (Sundaram and Inkpen, 2004). Even though one
individual joins one of the primary stakeholder groups, expected value and standard from the
organisation are likely to vary. Regev et al. (2006, p.90) define flexibility in business as the
ability to yield to change without disappearing, losing identity. In other words, the flexibility
of one group which has its various range of constituencies in contemporary business
circumstance could allow the framework to encompass different cases in a specific group,

1709

e.g. social responsibility of a large firm in the same industry could be considered more
significantly than one of a small firm, in terms of its more crucial economical and
environmental influence in the society. Hence, local society and government could be taken
into account more seriously in larger firms. In short, in the sense that the contemporary
business situation is unpredictable and transforms rapidly, it is critical to consider Freemans
stakeholder theory prior to building the conceptual framework for establishing flexibility in
response to the dynamic character of a competitive market place.
However, at this stage of research, confirming the conceptual framework and suggested
measuring method from the customer perception is crucial. First, the designed questions are
based on the SERVQUAL (Zeithaml et al., 1990) which is designed for measuring customer
perception on service quality. Secondly, although other stakeholder groups can impact on a
business critically, the customer is still the most significantly influencing group (Woodruff,
1997; Holbrook, 1999; Ulaga and Chacour, 2001; Verhoef and Lemon, 2013). Hence,
investigating the proposed measuring method later in this study and conceptual framework
from the customer perception can underpin the expandability of current findings to other
stakeholder groups.

Conceptual framework of value network in a sustainable business

The framework for value network in a sustainable business is proposed as presented below
(Figure 1). The framework divides the process into four major steps; emergence of Needs,
Created values, Delivered value, and Perceived value and its surroundings (Environmental
Factors). Need is the antecedent of this framework, derived from customers, employees,
investors, and other stakeholders.

Figure 1 Conceptual framework of value network in a sustainable business

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In order to have the continuous loop (in other words, sustaining a business), each step
should occur by following previous steps. However, there are two relationships between
emergence of Needs and Created value; Delivered value and Perceived value, where the
sequential order may not be applied.
First of all, information
nformation technology development facilitated the leverage of customer influence
in product or service development, which substantiated the
th e emergence of customer
customercompanys co-creating
creating experience era (Prahalad and Ramaswamy,
Ramaswamy 2004). Verganti (2003
(2003,
p.38) classified these interactions between needs and drivers into three models of innovation
(figure 2).
). Verganti defines innovation as the result
result of generation and integration of
knowledge. The purpose of innovation in a company will likely be to deliver products or
services that positively influence the customer for their profit. Hence, Vergantis description
for innovation could be interpreted to the value created by a firm. In short, the first two steps,
customer needs and created values, are closely correlated so that determining the
sequential priority of them might be meaningless. Verganti (2003) instantiated the
Metamorfosi lamp by Artemide to explain that customer needs can be created by the
languages which designers have chosen to create value. In addition, by defining designers
as sociologists, Borja de Mozota (2002) insists that aesthetically created product sociologic
value is not derived
ived from either the customer or the producer domain, it is co
co-created values
from interactions between consumers and the corporation. In short, there is a
complementary relationship between the emergence of customer needs and created values.

Figure 2 Knowledge drivers in different modes of innovation (Verganti 2003, p.38)

Secondly, there
here are two different viewpoints about explaining perceived value; one
emphasises the fact that customers or stakeholders can only perceive the value that they
receive and the other highlights the preference of specific customers and resources that
produce
e the offering (Bowman and Ambrosini,
Ambrosini 2000). In the former context, the relationship
between delivering and perceiving is irreversible since customer perception cannot influence
inversely. However, increasing and emphasising corporate social responsibility and

1711

sustainable growth induces the concept of responsible consumption, e.g. Fairtrade. Mlovics
et al. (2008) emphasise careful actions and responsibilities in the business sector among
those related to ecological environmental worries. In other words, customers are more
concerned about how the goods or services which they purchase are produced responsibly
than at any other time. From the customer perspective in a value chain, how they perceive
the goods or services provided, as a member of society, could affect their choice. Hence, the
perceived value and the delivered value of stakeholders can be mutually related.
Once a cycle of the value created network is completed, it should generate satisfaction
through valuable experiences from products or services offered. Satisfaction is the driving
force of needs, which keeps the value chain circulating. Ranaweera and Prabhu (2003)
prove that satisfaction is the more significant factor than trust to retain customers. The link,
emergence of additional needs to make first value chain cycle loop again, may be described
as figure 3. In order to encompass all stakeholder groups cases (customer, employee,
investor, and other stakeholders), the third step of the process is described as Stakeholder
Retention. In doing so, it is more relevant to explain how other stakeholders needs can be
sought in a value chain, e.g. considering shareholders top priority of investment in a large
firm is their dividends paid, if they are well paid, their satisfaction could possibly effect more
investment in the firm or at least potential investment in the future.

Figure 3 Creating Needs from positive experience

In addition to the four steps in the framework, environmental factors which surround the four
step procedure play a significant role. Environmental factors may include rivalry (both
domestic and international), geographic concentration, and government policy. All these
factors could be included in the other stakeholders group accordingly.

Value theory
From the customers perception, value is defined as the outcome of evaluation (Holbrook,
1999) or trade-offs (Zeithaml, 1988) calculated by the customers. The key to the sustainable
business framework suggested above (figure 1) is to create value continuously. Positively
exceeded value enriches the business environments within a society, stimulating the
expectation of another transaction (Holbrook, 1999).
In order to create the value for customers, a business should have competitive advantages
over other alternative choices. Porter (1990) states that the sustainable competitive
advantage is derived from differentiated sources and continuous improvement. By

1712

emphasising sustainability, Porter also argues that basis of advantage must be broader and
cumulated. Hence, long term relationship with customers (in other words, customer retention
as this study addresses previously) is critical to be successful.
In the long term customer relationship context, three major elements; value creation,
customer satisfaction, and customer loyalty, are proposed by Heskett et al. (1994) as figure
4. This chain is facilitated the embedment of design perspective which will be addressed
later in this study. Three main advantages of maintaining long term customer relationship
were introduced in business to business context research (Flint et al., 1997) as follows;
utilising shared resources, obtaining useful information in advance, and minimising market
penetration cost for new customers. Despite the fact that researchers indicate that, in
business to business contexts, reducing financial risk for new market is relevant to business
to customer situation, especially in saturated market condition.

Figure 4 Service-profit chain (Heskett et al. 1994)

Once stakeholders efforts for creating and enhancing value reach its end-cycle, profit &
growth, the network should encourage stakeholders to reengage with the same
network/brand. In order to generate next needs of customer, a company should attract new
customers or existing customers. By considering relatively higher cost and potential risks of
failing to obtain new customers attention, retaining customers is regarded as more efficient
way to maintain a business (Flint et al., 1997; Kumar et al., 2011; Ranaweera and Prabhu,
2003; Reichheld and Sasser, 1990; Zeithaml et al., 1996). Furthermore, continuous
customer needs are the impetus of the framework proposed above. Reichheld and Sasser
(1990) demonstrate the importance of customer retention by emphasising their findings that
reducing 5% of customer defection rate can impact on the sales profit from 25% to 85%. In
short, the sustainability of creating value can be linked to a business profitability, which
stems from customers multiple purchases.
This raises the question: What triggers these customers to stay? Holbrook (1999) classifies
the triggers (in other words, value) into eight different dimensions, considering three major
conditions (Intrinsic Extrinsic, Self oriented Other oriented, and Active Reactive) as
shown in figure 5. below.

1713

Figure 5 Typology of Consumer value (Holbrook 1999, p. 12)

Despite its complex and ambiguous concept, Holbrooks typology of consumer value is
regarded as a sophisticated typology which explicates modern consumer behaviour (Addis
and Holbrook, 2001; Snchez-Fernndez and Iniesta-Bonillo, 2007). In Holbrooks detail
explanation, extrinsic and intrinsic dimensions divide whether the consumption is the
ultimate goal of customer. Self and other oriented value are classified based on the fact that
the consumption is for themselves or considering reactions of other people. If customers
manipulate products or services either physically or mentally (e.g. driving a rented car physically; solving puzzles mentally), the value belongs to the active dimension. On the
other hand, if customers are manipulated by products or services (e.g. having their feelings
touched while watching a movie), the value belongs to the reactive dimension.

Design audit
The audit provides the objective information about current operation to its management.
Since design becomes a major strategy of a companys operation, managements becomes
interested in whether its design strategies operate effectively and accord with corporate
missions. However, like other audits, it is difficult to define clear boundaries of design audit
elements and principles (Cooper and Press, 1995). Although specific measures of design
audit are rarely mentioned, Cooper and Press (1995) argue that there are three levels to be
considered; the corporate philosophy and strategy, how the company operates, and how
design function communicates. This broad view is extended to explain the hierarchy of
design audit. Cooper and Press argue that there are four hierarchies of design audit;
Physical manifestations of design, Design management, Corporate culture, and
Environmental factors (Cooper and Press 1995, p.214). By employing this view, design
activities within a corporate can be clearly classified, thus, the design audit for functions
within the company can be addressed. However, since the co-created value considers
multiple stakeholders who are involved in the value creating network, it is necessary to

1714

investigate beyond the corporate viewpoints in order to encompass the value of other
stakeholders for the expandability of framework such as customers and suppliers.
Despite its restrictions, what Cooper and Press (1995) argue can be construed as building
the value of employees as well. Leadership, competencies, management, and people are
positively related to the loyalty of employees, which may stem from greater employees value
and satisfaction on their work situation (Martensen and Grnholdt, 2001). These principles
are already embedded in the hierarchy of design audit as shown in figure 6. Hence, the
hierarchy of design audit will be significantly concerned in the classification. Therefore, in
this section, the conceptual framework of value network in a sustainable business (figure 1)
will be reinterpreted for understanding the relationship between stakeholders at the cocreation of design value phase; and design audit elements and principles are disassembled
and classified into clustered value typology.

Figure 6 The levels an organisational design audit might address (Cooper and Press 1995, p. 214)

Design for value typology

There have been many efforts to evaluate a companys design activities. From building a
companys visual identity to a communication tool with customers or the necessity of
corporate marketing strategy, design has broadened its contribution to corporate
management (Van Riel and Balmer, 1997). The concept of design audit for its effectiveness
has been recognised as a key activity of a companys development (Oakley in Oakley et al.,
1990; Kotler and Rath, 1984; Cooper and Press, 1995). Nevertheless, it is difficult to define

1715

the criteria for assessment and boundaries of design audit. In addition, auditing design is
rarely mentioned nor investigated in depth (Cooper and Press, 1995). For these reasons,
design traditionally tends to be investigated and applied separately so that it often cannot be
harmonised with the original goal practically or academically (Lockwood in Cooper et al.,
2011). Hence, the attempt to embed design perspectives or theories into the business field is
worth for being investigated.
However, there are some challenges for combining two concepts (value theory and design
audit). First, the concept of evaluation mainly focuses on business performance (whether the
result influences to a companys tangible or intangible achievement). Determining its value
might be ambiguous. Furthermore, evaluating the value driven by design activities could
make it even more complex. Second, due to the fact that design has strong associations with
aesthetic, many aspects of designs value can converge on one dimension of value theory
(e.g. aesthetic dimension in Holbrooks value typology). Third, what kind of methodology can
demonstrate best for the result from two ambiguous concepts?
The aforementioned conceptual framework can be grouped into two (provider and receiver),
considering their main agents. According to the conceptual framework, two groups influence
each other as shown in figure 7. It can be interpreted that when one stakeholder group is
being considered as receiver, the rest of stakeholder groups can be the provider of the
sustainable value creating network. For example, if a customer who is buying a cup of coffee
from a local independent shop is reckoned with the receiver of sustainable value creating
network, the barista (employee), the owner (investor who decides to invest design elements
for the shop), and the local community surrounding the shop (other stakeholder) can affect
the value for the receiver (customer). Therefore, it can be posited that overall value created
within the network is the output of interrelated value co-creating efforts.

Figure 7 Grouping the conceptual framework

1716

The service-profit chain (Heskett et al., 1994) is employed for verifying whether design
perception from embedded measurement by the customer (through measurement of brand
loyalty for example) can follow the same process as proposed in figure 8. Heskett et al.
(1994) argue that there are two different strands of satisfaction in the entire service-profit
chain; employees and customers. The customer becomes the receiver in the service-profit
chain. Satisfaction and loyalty from the employee perspectives can create higher customer
value and the employee can arguably be the provider as expressed in figure 7. This
underpins the current argument that there is a mutual relationship between provider
(employees) and receiver (customers), thus, it can be proposed that value within a
sustainable business is co-created, not exclusively provided by a company. Therefore, the
co-created design value which can contribute to the satisfaction of design elements and
disciplines now need to be tested.

Figure 8 The links in the Service-profit chain

The interactions in figure 9 between stakeholders under co-created design value stage are
derived from the provider and receiver concept in figure 7 in the sense that if one
stakeholder becomes the receiver, the other three groups cooperate as the provider and
interact with the receiver.

1717

Figure 9 Adopting the service-profit

profit chain into the conceptual framework

Clustering audit elements and principles

principle

Figure 10 Clustered Holbrook's typology of customer value

Despite Holbrooks typology of

o customer value including various aspects of value, some
researchers
rchers argue that there remains ambiguity between active and reactive value in
Holbrooks typology of value (Leclerc and Schmitt in Holbrook,
Holbrook 1999, pp. 29
29-42; Solomon in
Holbrook, 1999, pp. 62-84;
84; Richins in Holbrook,
Holbrook 1999, pp. 85-104).
104). In order to dissipate the
ambiguity between active and reactive value concept, it is proposed that they are combined
as one
ne dimension and named as shown in figure 10. Each dimension represents the role of
value as tool, goal, rank,, and help.
In order to fully interrogate the scope of the value typology a questionnaire needed to be
developed. SERVQUAL (Zeithaml et al.,
al , 1990) was used as a basis for the questionnaire as
a number of these questions would probe the customer perspective of how design impacts
upon the service provision. Additional questions were added to this edited list of questions in
order to more fully address all aspects of the value typology. Thereafter, a questionnaire was

1718

designed by considering the four dimensions (designs value as tool, goal, rank, and help)
and three phases (creating value, satisfaction, and loyalty). By doing so, how customers
perceive offerings according to four dimensions along with the level of their attachment can
be revealed.

Research methodology
In this study, the service industry is selected for testing the suggested framework by
following reasons. First of all, due to the fact that service pertains in every industry (Daniels,
2012), researching service elements in each industry is valuable. Secondly, despite its
importance, the service industry is still struggling with the lack of theoretical and practical
research. Beyers (2012) argues that the need of the service industry research increases
both macro and micro level, emphasising the critical role of service industry for employment.
By comparing other industry sectors, the service industry is recognised as a continuously
growing sector. However, Daniels (2012) insists that the growth of service industry is now
vulnerable. It is also argued that sustainable growth of service industry is now critically
dependent upon efficient management and system (Daniels, 2012). Lastly, the flexibility of
the service industry is construed as an essential. Due to the demand fluctuation and the
application of new service in order to keep up with the contemporary trend (Sheu et al.,
2003), service companies are forced to adopt new practical and theoretical methods.
Therefore, the service industry is suitable for testing the framework which tries to explain
radically changing environment.
The most critical task for this study is to build a tool with relevant questions to measure and
reflect the design value of each stakeholder. Questions will employ a seven-scale likert
along with the SERVQUAL measurement (Zeithaml et al., 1990). The key design audit
elements and disciplines will be transformed into the seven-scale likert in order to be
projected to same scale. The example of plotted result is as shown in figure 11. Once
questionnaires are designed, quantitative data collection will be performed to validate the
equation below.

1719

Figure 11. Example of plotted value

Due to the fact that four dimensions of the Holbrooks typology of value are cumulated for
the co-created value independently, this research posits that there is no negative correlation
between dimensions. Therefore, the design value for customers as the tool, rank, goal, and
help can be expressed and the extent of each caf can represent the cumulated sum of
generated customer design value from each brand. In order to determine the extent that
each of these dimensions (tool, rank, goal and help) is valued by the customer, the above
equation has been devised.
The results of the survey are categorised into two in order to identify any cultural differences
of design impact within the targeted countries. By introducing the glocalization concept,
Robertson argues that the influence of local culture in a business should not be
underestimated (Robertson in Featherstone et al., 1995). In other words, it is crucial to
investigate any differences between the two different cultural groups used for the study prior
to making a generalised claim. Hence, at the current stage of this research, it is critical to
parallelise the results and analyse these as two discrete cases.
A simple random survey was performed in this research for confirming two prerequisites; the
independence of the value dimensions and the applicability of design for the service-profit
chain. A customer survey was undertaken with participants from United Kingdom and South
Korea through an internet-based survey. Targeted companies are selected by their size and
sales. In order to increase the relevance of customer experience, more recent and frequent
experiences were determined to be more relevant for the study. By selecting from top coffee

1720

chains (Mintel report 2012 for the UK and Trend monitor report 2011 for South Korea), this
study aims to obtain the most relevant and recent data from customers. Employing the alpha
level as 0.05, seven-point likert scale, and an acceptable margin of error as 0.03, the sample
size (118 responses) is chosen by the calculation of the simple random questions for
continuous data (Bartlett et al., 2001, p.46). The questionnaire is distributed to 152
participants and its full response rate is 78.9 per cent. 120 responses were returned and
subsequently analysed (36 responses from the United Kingdom and 84 responses from
South Korea).
Firstly, the independence of the value dimensions should be clarified. Since the co-created
design value is measured by its plotted area, if each dimension (design as a Tool, a Goal, a
Rank, and a Help) is correlated, the equation of the co-created design value is dependent
upon each other and, therefore, becomes invalid.

Figure 12 R squared value of multiple regression result for each dimension (Korean coffee shops)

Figure 13 R squared value of multiple regression result for each dimension (UK coffee shops)

Figure 12 and 13 show the outcome of the multiple regression results by setting input Y as
one of the dimension and input X as other three. The aim of this multiple regression is to
investigate if dimensions are correlated and impact upon each other. The low R squared
values represent the less possibility of their correlation. Although there are few noticeable
results in the design loyalty, the overall result suggests that it can be difficult to explain the
correlation between dimensions. Therefore, the aforementioned equation of dimensions can
be relevant to calculate the sum of design value for each phase (co-created design value,
design satisfaction, and design loyalty).

1721

Secondly, it is necessary to confirm if the design perception of customers also follows the
service-profit chain (Heskett et al., 1994). If the co-created design value, design satisfaction,
and design loyalty correspond to what the service-profit chain confirms, it could be argued
that the design efforts and results contribute to profit and growth. Therefore, it becomes
possible to investigate the effectiveness of design in the food and beverage service industry.
It is empirically proven that end-user loyalty, which could lead to repurchase by customers, is
derived from overall satisfaction more significantly than customer value (Spiteri and Dion,
2004). It is clearly indicated in their research that overall satisfaction drives customer loyalty,
focusing on the degree of impact upon loyalty without judging the order between customer
value and satisfaction. This result underpins that co-created value cannot directly affect
stakeholder loyalty. Instead, it could be argued that it is necessary to have a mediating
phase, the design satisfaction of stakeholders.
Therefore, the relationship between phases favours the simple correlation coefficient method.
Since this research accepts the service-profit chain (Heskett et al., 1994), the relationship
between phases needs to be investigated separately as mentioned previously. From the
simple correlation coefficient analysis, the important hypothesis can be confirmed; whether
each phase has positive or negative relationship.

Figure 14 Single regression result of design impact upon each phase

Figure 14 shows the single regression result of the survey. Likewise what Heskett et al.
(1994) suggest, the design perception of customers for each phase is significantly related.

Conclusion & Discussion

This study attempts to suggest a theoretical framework and a model which can synthesise
the design perception of customer to business models and theories. From the result of this
study, it is found that there are intervening roles of design for building higher customer

1722

satisfaction and loyalty and how they can be visualised. By understanding prerequisites of
the profit and growth for a business in the design perspectives, the effectiveness of design
can be more clearly discussed.
For future studies, there are some points of possible improvements for this study. First, it is
necessary to define the notion of the profit and growth in order to determine the
effectiveness. Secondly, since this study includes only the customer perception,
investigating the perspectives from other stakeholders in the value creating network is
necessary to more fully understand the framework applied for this study. Lastly, due to the
fact that this study focuses upon large caf chains in the UK and South Korea, it may be
worthwhile expanding the study to include other businesses in the service industry sector,
considering further geographical locations and business characters such as other restaurant
businesses in multiple countries or financial companies operating internationally.

1723

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Ki Woong Nam
Kiwoong is a PhD student at the University of Leeds, former quality engineer in 3M, and
studied International Design & Business Management (2009-2011) at Aalto University,
Finland serviced by ASSIST (South Korea). Research interests are Design management and
Service industry.
Dr. Bruce W. Carnie
Dr. Bruce Carnie is currently a lecturer in Design Management and Programme leader for
Textile Design at the University of Leeds. Dr. Carnie has a PhD in Design (Design
Management) from the University of New South Wales, Sydney, a Masters or Art (Textiles
and Fashion) from Manchester Metropolitan University and a Graduate Diploma in Art and
Design (Textiles) from Glasgow School of Art. Dr. Carnie is a Fellow of the Royal Society of
Arts (FRSA) for the promotion of Design in Industry. Dr. Carnie has taught in Australia, New
Zealand, Singapore and the UK. Dr. Carnies research interests include; design and mass
customisation (textile related), design as strategy, design and sustainable technology (textile
related), design thinking, design futures, design and identity, design value assessment and
design and communication.

1727

Appendix
Survey question
1. Gender
a. Male
b. Female

2. Age group
a. 18 25
b. 26 35
c. 36 45
d. 46 55
e. 56+

Design as Tool
1. Products and Services from the (
Strongly
Disagree
1
2
3
2. The (
area.
Strongly
Disagree
1
3. The (
Strongly
Disagree
1

) Caf are good value for money.

Strongly
Agree
7

) Caf is located in a favourable place and I like the atmosphere of the surrounding

Strongly
Agree
7

Strongly
Agree
7

Strongly
Agree
7

) Caf company has modern-looking equipment

4. The physical facilities at the (

Strongly
Disagree
1
2

) Caf company are visually appealing

5. Materials associated with the service (such as tables, sofa, and tableware) are visually appealing.
Strongly
Strongly
Disagree
Agree
1
2
3
4
5
6
7

1728

6. Materials associated with the service (such as tables, sofa, and tableware) match well with the
overall atmosphere of the caf.
Strongly
Strongly
Disagree
Agree
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
7. I feel comfortable to staying / hanging around at the caf using the tables, chairs, sofas, tableware
etc.
Strongly
Strongly
Disagree
Agree
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8. I like the way the (
tableware)
Strongly
Disagree
1
2

) Caf decorates the service materials (such as tables, sofa, and

9. I like the logo (or signs) of the (

Strongly
Disagree
1
2
3

Strongly
Agree
7

Strongly
Agree
7

Strongly
Agree
7

) Caf

10. I like the interior of the (

Strongly
Disagree
1
2

) Caf

11. I like the location of the (

Strongly
Disagree
1
2

) Caf, because it fits in well with the surroundings

12. I am willing to introduce the (

design of the (
) Caf.
Strongly
Disagree
1
2
3
13. I am willing to visit the (
Strongly
Disagree
1
2

) Caf to friends, because they will also like the physical

) Caf again to enjoy the mood of the (

Strongly
Agree
7

14. I will keep using the products and services from the (
Because I like the design of the (
) Caf.
Strongly
Disagree
1
2
3
4

1729

Strongly
Agree
7

) Caf offerings
Strongly
Agree
6
7

) Caf, even if the price is increased.

Strongly
Agree
7

Design as Goal
1. Your main purpose of visiting the (
) Caf is,
1
to buy products (foods and drinks) take-away
2
to buy and enjoy products and services with friends or family
3
a business purpose (meeting with customers)
4
to spend time alone (reading books/magazines, studying, enjoying atmosphere)
2. Considering your purpose in question 1, the design of the (
purpose.
Strongly
Disagree
1
2
3
4
5

) Caf helps you achieve this

Strongly
Agree
7

3. I feel comfortable and fulfilled, considering my purpose in question 1 by using the products and
services from the (
) Caf.
Strongly
Strongly
Disagree
Agree
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
4. I am willing to introduce the (
Strongly
Disagree
1
2

) Caf to friends who have the same purpose of visiting.

Strongly
Agree
3
4
5
6
7

5. I will visit the (

) Caf again, because I trust that the (
better products and services than competitors.
Strongly
Disagree
1
2
3
4
5

) Caf will provide similar or

Strongly
Agree
7

Design as Rank
1. The (
) Caf is a trendy place with the most recent design consideration.
Strongly
Disagree
1
2
3
4
5
6

Strongly
Agree
7

2. Other customers in the (

Strongly
Disagree
1
2

Strongly
Agree
7

Strongly
Agree
7

) Caf are similar to me.

3. I feel a sense of belonging in the (

Strongly
Disagree
1
2
3
4. The (

) Caf.

) Cafs atmosphere reflects my characteristic

1730

Strongly
Disagree
1

5. I think other visitors also like the design of the (

Strongly
Disagree
1
2
3
4
6. I am willing to introduce the (
Strongly
Disagree
1
2

Strongly
Agree
7

Strongly
Agree
7

Strongly
Agree
7

) Caf.

) Caf to friends who are similar to me

7. I will visit the (

) Caf again, because I trust that the (
greater products and services
Strongly
Disagree
1
2
3
4
5

) Caf will provide similar or

Design as Help
1. I can find design considerations for people with physical difficulties in the (
access ramp, ergonomic design)
Strongly
Disagree
1
2
3
4
5
6

Strongly
Agree
7

) Caf. (e.g.
Strongly
Agree
7

2. I know that the (

) Caf uses ethically sourced ingredients and products, because of their
display or logos in sign. (e.g. Fairtrade)
Strongly
Strongly
Disagree
Agree
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
3. I believe that cafs should operate in a manner that includes a diversity / range of customers and
use ethically sourced ingredients and products.
Strongly
Strongly
Disagree
Agree
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
4. I can recognise from the design of the (
) Caf that my consumption at the (
) Caf
supports others mentioned in questions 1 and 2.
Strongly
Strongly
Disagree
Agree
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
5. I think others also recognise the design of the caf (design for those who have physical difficulties
and using ethically sourced ingredients) at the (
) Caf easily.

1731

Strongly
Disagree
1

6. I trust the (
considerations
Strongly
Disagree
1

Strongly
Agree
7

) Caf will continue to keep improving or maintaining current design

7. I prefer to consume products and services like the (

have no considerations to their suppliers or consumers.
Strongly
Disagree
1
2
3
4

1732

Strongly
Agree
7

) Caf, rather than other shops which

Strongly
Agree
7

An alternative design strategy to reduce the

environmental impact of products: the durability of
Design Classics as a stimulus for creation.
Joo Martins, University of Aveiro/ Polytechnic Institute of Viana do Castelo
Jos Simes, School of Art and Design of Matosinhos/University of Aveiro
Teresa Franqueira, University of Aveiro

Abstract
In this paper we describe the research work in progress that aims to build an alternative
design strategy to increase product life and reduce the environmental impact that the
planned obsolescence causes. Based on the knowledge and environmental
consequences from excessive consumption and disposal of products, including waste
production and use of resources, the research focused on the mechanisms that enable
the reduction of consumption and the resulting waste prevention. The durability of some
products designated as Designs Classics was the trigger and motivation for the
research. Based on the literature definition of Design Classics, we defined the universe
of products that fall within this classification. Through the analysis of a sample of these
products we obtained a standard model which will allow a strategy to design products
with potential for greater durability than other competing products. The results of the
practical applicability of this strategy should end in the production of artefacts by the
national industry.

1733

Wearable Medical Devices: The rise of the patient as the

consumer
Philip J. Kinsella, Swinburne University of Technology, Faculty of Engineering &
Industrial Sciences
Paul R. Stoddart, Swinburne University of Technology, Faculty of Engineering &
Industrial Sciences
Charlie Ranscombe, Swinburne University of Technology, Faculty of Health, Arts and
Design. School of Design. Melbourne, Australia

Abstract
Advances in technology have seen a reduction in the size of microprocessors and
improved capabilities in medical sensors. This has given rise to a new paradigm of
medical devices (MD), termed wearable medical devices. Such devices allow for
diagnosis and monitoring of health to occur remotely while patient data is transmitted
wirelessly to practitioners. This paper sets out to review the current design practice with
the aim of better understanding the implications of this new device paradigm to future
medical device design practice. From the review it is shown that, previously, medical
devices have been developed with the practitioner as the primary user. It is also seen
that increased intimacy with the product combined with disassociation from practitioner
results in the patient becoming the primary user. Hence, it is shown that the major
implication for the design of new wearable MDs is the heightened requirement to
account for the patients needs in addition to those of the practitioners. This conclusion
suggests the need to further research and develop methods to promote user adoption
and acceptance of wearable MDs through incorporation and balancing of both patient,
and practitioners needs.

1734

Openness in Design Education

Paolo Cardini, Virginia Commonwealth University Qatar

Abstract
From the creation of a sharing culture to the acceptance of a new authorship system,
from the freedom of the net to the boundaries of a proper personal ethic, from the
classroom to the world - these are a few topics explored within this research. The
introduction of the concept of Openness in design education means teaching students
how to move in a global collaborative environment, respecting the rules and being aware
of the risks but, moreover, letting them understand the great potential of project sharing
as key to speed up innovation and progress. Through the analysis of various teaching
and learning case studies the paper sets some guidelines for a better match between
traditional design practice and new open-source based methodologies.

1735

Information Guide Map for Art Museums in Seoul

Ji Won Choi, Seoul National University
Juhyun Eune, Seoul National University

Abstract
The art museum is a place not only for cultural exchanges communicating with people
through various arts, but also for education that makes our lives more valuable and
meaningful. The visual information system of the integrated and systematized art
museum induces users active participation by providing users with easy accessibility,
usefulness, convenience and differentiated sensitivity. The new visualization through
integration of art museum information increases the understanding, which reduces the
amount of unnecessary information dealt by users, and also increases its efficiency.
This study developed the identity combined with contents containing eight types of
information: geographical location, opening time, operating days and hours, size, type of
exhibit art, admission fee, the number of annual audience and public transportation, after
selecting top forty art museums that should be visited in Seoul. Performing the function
of the general icon reflecting the characteristics and the detailed information of the art
museums, it delivers information and knowledge about the art museums easily and
intuitively for better understanding and memory. Consequently, it leads to smooth
communication with users, and also creates efficient interaction. Therefore, it aims to
create valuable experience in art museums as the ultimate goal.

1736

Bodystorming vs Brainstorming: the influence of the

body on co-design processes
Philmonne Jaasma, Department of Industrial Design, Eindhoven University of
Technology
Ambra Trotto, Interactive Institute Swedish ICT and Ume School of Architecture
Caroline Hummels, Department of Industrial Design, Eindhoven University of
Technology

Abstract
What is the effect of skilful coping in multi-stakeholder co-design activities? During a 2
months research-through-design project, we explored the potential and the effect of
bodystorm techniques in comparison with more commonly used brainstorm techniques.
Would bodystorm techniques have the potential to increase peoples level of
engagement or even the quality of the outcome of the co-design process? In two
separate co-design workshops, we invited residents of the neighbourhood Vaartbroek in
Eindhoven, employees from the housing cooperative Woonbedrijf and civil servants from
the Municipality of Eindhoven to generate ideas and initiatives for creating a selfempowered community. Although the presented research is an explorative experiment,
we see a tendency that exploiting bodily skills in the co-design process has a clear
impact on engagement and cooperation, which even seems to influence the quality and
value of the concepts produced. The bodily involvement of participants elicited a direct
engagement and a (pro)active, empathic and responsible attitude, propelled by personal
experiences. Bodily engagement pushed participants away from the abstract towards
concrete ideas. Moreover, the merging of different perspectives resulted in more faceted
proposals. This poster we will explain and exemplify these findings that show the
potential of embodiment in co-design processes.

1737

TouchMe! DiffractMe!
Jeroen Peeters, Interactive Institute Swedish ICT and Department of Informatics, Ume
University
Stoffel Kuenen, Ume Institute of Design
Ambra Trotto, Interactive Institute Swedish ICT and Ume School of Architecture
Nigel Papworth, Swedish ICT Interactive
Caroline Hummels, Department of Industrial Design, Eindhoven University of Technology

Abstract
What is the effect of skillful coping in multi-stakeholder co-design activities? During a 2
months research-through-design project, we explored the potential and the effect of
bodystorm techniques in comparison with more commonly used brainstorm techniques.
Would bodystorm techniques have the potential to increase peoples level of engagement
or even the quality of the outcome of the co-design process? In two separate co-design
workshops, we invited residents of the neighbourhood Vaartbroek in Eindhoven,
employees from the housing cooperative Woonbedrijf and civil servants from the
Municipality of Eindhoven to generate ideas and initiatives for creating a self-empowered
community. Although the presented research is an explorative experiment, we see a
tendency that exploiting bodily skills in the co-design process has a clear impact on
engagement and cooperation, which even seems to influence the quality and value of the
concepts produced. The bodily involvement of participants elicited a direct engagement
and a (pro)active, empathic and responsible attitude, propelled by personal experiences.
Bodily engagement pushed participants away from the abstract towards concrete ideas.
Moreover, the merging of different perspectives resulted in more faceted proposals. This
poster we will explain and exemplify these findings that show the potential of embodiment
in co-design processes.

1738

IMMIB Design Contest 2013: A Case Study to Increase the

Awareness of Industrial Design Students on Inclusive
Design in Turkey
Ilgm Erolu, Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University
Abdsselam Selami ifter, Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University
Merve akr, MMB

Abstract
The awareness of inclusive design is increasing fast in Turkey, although its reflection in
the industrial design education is not that apparent. Due to lack of funding and inflexible
curriculums it is not always possible to incorporate inclusive design into design education
effectively in Turkey. However, complementary activities (such as design contests,
workshops and seminars) organised by various design bodies may help in promoting the
development of inclusive design. This paper presents a case study of a design contest
organised by IMMIB (Istanbul Mineral and Metals Exporters Association) in 2013, in
which the theme was designated as Products for disabled people, elders and children.
Prior to the design contest, IMMIB also organised a number workshops on inclusive
design in the universities providing design education. For the purpose of this research,
semi-structured interviews were conducted with the design contest participants (N=6)
who both participated in the workshop and won one of the awards. All the interviewees
expressed that their experience in the inclusive design workshops had a significant
contribution on their both success in the design contest and understanding of inclusive
design.

1739

The Communicativeness of Visual Preferences in

Design Projects
Anders Haug, University of Southern Denmark

Abstract
In the design literature, communicative challenges in design projects are widely
mentioned. However, this literature does not account for the different reasons behind
such communicative challenges. To address this issue, this paper presents a typology of
the communicativeness of visual preferences. The typology is developed through
interviews with 12 industrial and fashion designers. The relevance of the eight categories
in the typology is demonstrated through empirical examples given by the designers.
Next, the paper justifies the particularity of the proposed typology to visual preferences
as opposed to other types of preferences or knowledge. Finally, the paper discusses
how designers may deal with the different types of communicativeness of visual
preferences. In this context, it is an interesting aspect that for the five most problematic
types of communicativeness, participatory design approaches seem to be particularly
useful. The proposed typology contributes to an improved understanding of design
communication insights that may help designers to deal with communicative
problems. Furthermore, the proposed typology provides a framework to which various
techniques and methods for facilitating design processes may point.

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ISBN 978-91-7601-068-6

DesignResearchSociety
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