In today’s world music streaming is the most dominant form of music consumption. Introducing platform capitalism to music streaming has changed the music commodity and its effects serve as a motivation for this thesis. The role of emotions in music listening is explored and design research is conducted to find unmet latent needs of users in respect to the emotional side of music.  Semi-structured user interviews are used to understand how users relate music to their emotional lives. Co-design workshops are conducted to identify unmet user needs and feelings. The data is analysed inductively and results treated through the theoretical lenses of emotional design (Norman D. (2003)) and psychological ownership theory (Pierce J.L., Kostova T., & Dirks K. Y., (2003)). The main themes generated by the research show that users want -- to know their music and their music service to know them; new ways to feel music, relive the “first time”; to connect music to their emotional and personal lives; to control music more easily. These findings motivate and inform the design of a conceptual artefact.

This work starts with a simple question of ; Why not to draw the garment directly on the body since this is the way it will inevitably be worn? Working through steps; wrapping into a fabric and drawing the garment on the body to reveal lines for constructing that is directly based on the body, this work shows an alternative way of constructing a garment; the result that is presented can be seen as a base for further development within the field this method has explored. Further, the work challenges the current norms in archetypical garments with the intention to redefine their expression, where the methods aim is to broaden the field of garment construction, investigating the gap between construction lines and material expectations. The method Write Drunk/ Edit Sober is both discovering the fundamentals of garment construction and questioning the systematic interpretations we place on a garments connection to materials.

The design of smart, interactive, computational, and electronic textiles involves working with unknown variables that expand the tangible dimensions of textiles. Non-visual concepts such as electromagnetic fields, electrical current, computational code, and the temporal attributes of materials that exhibit dynamic qualities require that textile designers be able to perceive and manipulate domains of the textile that extend beyond its conventional forms of expression. Through these qualities, the textile becomes an interface to otherwise imperceptible phenomena of electromagnetism and thereby opens up to new textile design expressions. However, to do so requires a shift in the understanding of how fundamental textile concepts such as material, form, and expression interrelate to affect the expressive domain of the textile itself. This research aims to describe the material attributes, characteristics, and expressions of electromagnetic phenomena as explored through experimental research methods and suggests ways in which electromagnetic phenomena can be worked with as a design material for smart textiles. Further, it seeks to expand upon conventional design variables of textiles to include its electromagnetic domain. The experiments presented in this thesis suggest a framework for working with magnetic, dielectric, and conductive materials through textile techniques of weaving and knitting. The experiments point to the interrelationship between the textile material, structure, and form, identifying this triad as the key influencers that determine how textile expressions can embrace electromagnetic phenomena. The results of the experimental work are methods that show accessible ways for textile designers to visualize and perceive electromagnetic fields in textiles, such as sensing the impressions of textile structures on the magnetic field using a method of scanned-surface imaging; perceiving electromagnetic fields using textile antennas and spatial exploration, resulting in sonic expression; and kinetic textile behaviours at the yarn level through magnetic interactions. Furthermore, the design possibilities of the materials, methods and tools suggested in this thesis are demonstrated through examples of interactive artefacts, e.g., in the form of ambient energy harvesting forest mobiles and radio-frequency (RF) body extensions. The results suggest the variety of electromagnetic textile expressions that can be created when methods and tools to perceive and manipulate electromagnetic phenomena in textiles are consciously utilized.

<p>A key aspect of color change is altering perceived value or intensity. This dissertation presents a methodology to achieve value change through mechanical means via the deflection of bistable structures. We create the Mechxel, two methods of mechanical pixel-based, reversible color change using 3D printed switchable multistability and bistable switch panels that augment the projected area a viewer perceives which enables the creation of image and character tessellation.</p> <p>Switchable multistability (SMS) arises from the combination of pre-strain and shape memory, allowing us to access multiple elastically programmed shapes at elevated temperatures with fast morphing and low actuation forces, while retaining high stiffness at room temperature. We design and manufacture SMS Mechxels using fused deposition modeling (FDM) 3D printing on the Ultimaker 3D printer in a bilayer layup of polylactic acid (PLA) with a [90/0] print direction while iteratively miniaturizing the physical size to enhance the resolution while also reducing the size of the overall tessellated display. Leveraging SMS properties programmed into each Mechxel, the projected area to a viewer will vary between the unit’s stable states, creating a difference in perceived value of coloration due to changes in area. To ease the tessellation process, we also introduce a tessellation user interface that maps images to their tessellated equivalent to reduce tessellation trial and error. This interface also calculates the number of Mechxels required in their respective states and the final physical size of the display. We then carry out image processing to justify this change in value between stable states and run preliminary optical character recognition.</p> <p>Inspired by mechanical bistable mechanisms, the bistable switch Mechxels utilize changes in a surface’s projected area to a viewer via changes in the angle of a bistable tile using a 5-by-5 grid for character replication and display. Comprising of three main components – two bistable switches, a colored tile and a base, design considerations were made to create an easy to assemble and replaceable 3D printed grid system that could be interacted with by audiences or easily electromechanically actuated. Using pixel-by-pixel comparisons and Sorensen-Dice coefficient, characters using the typeface Silkscreen were documented on these tiled grids yielding high similarity and low error when compared to their digital reference images in various positions and orientations. We also experiment with transitional waves as a promising means of actuation to change the Mechxel between their stable states.</p> <p>The Mechxels considered in this research introduce a new means of purely mechanical color change, character, and image display either leveraging the elastic properties of shape memory polymers (SMPs) or bistable mechanisms. With potential applications in passive morphing architecture, adaptive camouflage, and interactive aesthetic, Mechxels opens the door to limitless design possibilities through a new perspective into color change.</p>

The project Kera-Plast aims to re-loop humans and nature by questioning the current systems and ethics through materiality. Human hair, currently considered as waste, functions as the base for the material exploration fabricated through thermo-compression molding. The flexible, short and opaque keratin-fibers get glued together with heat, pressure and water, acting as a plasticizer during the compression molding process. The results are stiff and remind on plastic due to shine and translucency. Aesthetics and function of the resulting material are controlled and designed by traditional textile techniques as knitting, weaving and non-woven processes. The material samples display the potential of Kera-Plast in the categories of 3D surface structures, patterns, shapeability and the influence of light. The findings also provide information about the parameters for designing with keratin fibers through the thermo-compression process. It can be concluded that despite all ethical and cultural factors, Kera-Plast and its fabrication method has the potential to add a sustainable, functional and aesthetical value to the design field and our future material consumption.

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One method to create and work with personas is to abstract the user data into a character with a background story and a set of goals. This method has been argued against as the method is argued to lead to, for example, stereotyping users and for not exposing User Experience (UX) designers to user data. User data has been argued to be used by UX designers to make design decision. This study examines the possibility for UX designers to empathize with a persona that have additional accessible representations of user data. The results from this study imply that it is possible for UX designers to empathize with a persona while having access to representations of user data. Additionally, the results indicate that the persona design methods used in this study need further development. / En metod för att skapa och jobba med personas är att abstrahera användardatan till en karaktär med en bakgrundshistoria och ett antal mål. Denna metod har argumenterats mot bland annat för att metoden leder till att man skapar stereotypa användare och för att inte exponera User Experience (UX) designers till användardatan. Användardata har argumenterats användas av UX-designers för att göra designrelaterade beslut. Denna studie undersöker möjligheten att empatisera med en persona som har ytterligare representationer av användardata tillgängliga. Resultatet av denna studie indikerar att det är möjligt för UX designers att empatisera med en persona medan representationer av användardata finns att tillgå. Ytterligare indikerar resultaten att designmetoderna för den persona som användes i denna studie är i behov av ytterligare utveckling.

This thesis addresses the design difficulties encountered when designing deployable origami-based arrays. Specific considerations regarding thickness accommodation, deployment, and parameter modifications are discussed. Patterns such as the Miura-ori, flasher, and hexagon are investigated, with emphasis placed on pattern modification from zero-thickness to finite-thickness. Applying origami principles to form engineering solutions is a complicated task. Competing requirements may create confusion around which pattern is most favorable for the space array application. Implementing origami into a finite-thickness, engineered system poses challenges that are not manifest in a zero-thickness model. As such, it is important to understand and address the limitations of the pattern before implementing it into an engineered system. A preliminary set of approaches to address and mitigate design difficulties is provided. This thesis seeks to improve understanding of design parameters, objectives, and trade offs of origami pattern configurations. Emphasis is placed on finite-thickness models suitable for engineering applications. As a result, engineers and designers should be better prepared to integrate origami principles into space system design.

Conversational agents are becoming increasingly common in our day to day lives. We can speak to our phones, our cars and our smart home devices. Despite these advances, the current conversational agents are still far from perfect. The complexities of language as well as the technologies that are used to enable conversational agents pose many challenges to the people designing and developing them. This study aims to bring light to how practitioners design and develop conversational agents that exist out there today. Interviews were conducted with 11 practitioners that have been creating conversational agents for various industries and use cases. The results show that practitioners face a range of challenges when creating conversational agents, including collecting data about the target users during the design process as well as integrating the conversational agent with other systems. The study suggests that practitioners may benefit from involving users early on in the design process. It also advocates for HCI educators to prepare future graduates for designing conversational agents, through training them in human conversation and communication. This study gives insights into how conversational agents are built today, the processes that are followed and the challenges that are faced by the people creating them. / Konverserande system blir allt vanligare i våra dagliga liv. Vi kan prata med våra telefoner, våra bilar och våra smarta hem enheter. Trots dessa framsteg är de nuvarande konverserande systemen fortfarande långt ifrån perfekta. Språkets komplexitet och de teknologier som används, ställer många utmaningar för de människor som designar och utvecklar dem. Denna studie syftar till att belysa hur yrkesarbetare designar och utvecklar konverserande system. Intervjuer genomfördes med 11 yrkesarbetare som har skapat konverserande system för olika branscher och användningsområden. Resultaten visar att yrkesarbetarna står inför en rad utmaningar när de skapar dessa system, bland annat att samla in data om användarna under designprocessen och att integrera konverserande system med andra system. Studien tyder på att utövare kan ha nytta av att involvera användare tidigt i designprocessen. Studien förespråkar också att utbildare inom människa-datorinteraktion bör förbereda studenter för att utforma konverserande system, genom att utbilda dem i mänsklig konversation och kommunikation. Denna studie ger insikter i hur konverserande system är uppbyggda idag, de processer som följs och de utmaningar som människorna som skapar dem står inför.

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