Design juries are one of the assessment practices that enable evaluation and criticism of students&rsquo / projects in studio based courses. This study explores the aims and attributes of design juries from students&rsquo / and jurors&rsquo / perspectives. The thesis is constructed upon a field study which consists of an observational study on design juries, a focus group study with students and interviews with the jurors of METU Department of Industrial Design. The findings of the field study indicate that design juries in their current form exhibit several issues to discuss / delivery of comments to students, duration of discussions, organization of the jury and assessment criteria are important factors to consider in design juries.

Abstract Many software-intensive products and systems on the market today reveal a poor level of usability despite the availability of knowledge about how to develop good usability, namely user-centred design. Improving the status of user-centred design has proved to be a challenge in product development. An effective step to start out on the road to such improvements is to carry out a current state analysis. Our research problem was to learn how to perform an effective current state analysis, i.e. an assessment, of user-centred design processes to provide a basis for improvement action. As the main part of our research, we carried out five experimental assessments in industrial settings during the years 2000 and 2001. The main result of the research is a novel assessment approach. The objective of the approach is to provide a basis for improvement of the performance of user-centred design in individual product development projects. The particular features of the approach are a new user-centred design process model, a three-dimensional process performance model and implementation of the assessment in the form of a workshop with extensive participation by the project members. The user-centred design process model is method-independent, and consists of six processes that are defined through outcomes. The performance of processes is assessed from the viewpoints of quantity, quality, and integration. Our theoretical examinations show that different assessment categories can be identified depending on the different foci and purposes of an assessment. Moreover, it may even be appropriate to have different assessment approaches for different categories. In the category of our focus and purpose, i.e. 'assessment of user-centred design processes for performance improvement', the focus of an assessment should be in the substance rather than in the management of UCD processes. An assessment approach should be regarded as an artefact and it should be subject to ongoing refinement. An assessment should be an intervention that provides both an effective training session and a meaningful experience to the participants. Clarity in both the concepts and the results seems to take precedence over having standard reference models. In addition, we created a preliminary theory of usability capability. It identifies three dimensions of usability capability: user-centred design infrastructure, performance of user-centred design in product development projects and usability in business strategy. We also propose some new assessment artefacts for other assessment categories and contrast our research experience with established research frameworks.

This diploma thesis focuses on the analysis of the information system of a selected company, its assessment and design of a new alternative system based on the company’s strategy. The thesis first summarizes the theoretical background, key to its processing. A survey of the current state of the company is also carried out, on the basis of which the requirements for the information system are developed. Part of the thesis is the selection of an information system based on requirements, its implementation and evaluation of expected benefits.

The issue of design quality in construction projects has long been a major concern for designprofessionals (Gann et al. 2003). The emphasis on improvement of processes in constructionin order to manage or reduce “cost, time and waste” in projects, at times has led to concernsthat the design of a building could become a matter of less importance due to such processimproving measures (Gann et al. 2003, p.319) “Design Quality” in architecture andconstruction is an ambiguous and “dynamic concept” in relation to its context, continuouslygoing through changes (Rönn 2010, p.48; Slaughter 2004).Quality itself is related to value and multiple definitions of it (Rönn 2010). It is often possiblefor both people and professionals to feel and experience design quality in buildings ratherintuitively, but to frame it in a recognizable manner has always proved challenging (Rönn2010). Essentially, human behavior apart from being influenced by the physical environmentis also influenced by the social context existing within the physical environment (Vischer2008).These challenges further extend to judgement, assessment and measurement of design quality,and setting out the relevant criteria for them (Rönn 2010, Slaughter 2004). Therefore, it’sdifficult for building designers, to structure design solutions that could guarantee theachievement of such ambiguous concept (Rönn 2010). / Frågan om designkvalitet i byggprojekt har länge varit ett stort bekymmer för designers (Gannet al. 2003). Betoningen på förbättring av processer inom konstruktion för att hantera ellerminska ”kostnad, tid och slöseri” i projekt har ibland lett till en oro för att utformning ochdesign av en byggnad kan bli av mindre betydelse på grund av sådana processförbättrandeåtgärder (Gann et al. 2003, p.319) ”Designkvalité” i arkitektur och konstruktion är ett tvetydigtoch ”dynamiskt koncept” i förhållande till sitt sammanhang, som ständigt genomgårförändringar (Rönn 2010, s.48; Slaughter 2004).Kvalité i sig är relaterad till värde och flera definitioner av det (Rönn 2010). Det är ofta möjligtför både människor och yrkesverksamma att känna och uppleva designkvalité i byggnaderganska intuitivt, men att rama in den på ett igenkännbart sätt har visat sig utmanande (Rönn2010). I huvudsak påverkas det mänskliga beteendet utöver den fysiska miljön även av densociala kontexten som finns inom den fysiska miljön (Vischer 2008).Dessa utmaningar sträcker sig vidare till bedömning, värdering och mätning av designkvalitéeroch fastställande av relevanta kriterier för dem (Rönn 2010, Slaughter 2004). Därför är detsvårt för byggnadsdesigners att konstruera designlösningar som garanterat kan uppnå ett sådanttvetydigt koncept (Rönn 2010).

Off-label use of traditional Oropharyngeal Airway (OPA) as a bite-block, and the subsequential procedure of force exertion of the device by physician has caused many cases of patient’s teeth damage and monetary loss, as the patient’s incisors were damaged while clenching on the OPA during an adverse scenario called “Emergency Clenching”. To remedy this harmful situation, Bardo OPA was developed by Dr. Theodore Burdumy. The Bardo airway has unique design to transfer the clenching force from incisor to the molar. However, the Bardo OPA is one-sized, and cannot fit most of the patients like the commonly-used OPAs, such as the Berman and Gudel OPA, which have a spectrum of sizes to ensure fit. In this project, a Computer Assisted Design (CAD) simulation platform was developed to simulate the scenario where OPA is placed in a patient’s oral cavity. CAD – related technique and tools, such as 3D scanner (ScanStudio HD), RapidWorks, SolidWorks and Mimics were utilized to create the models used to construct the platform. The purpose of this platform is to generate data to support the development of additional sizes and other modification to improve the current design of the Bardo OPA. MRI sets of nine (9) patients were obtained and converted into STL mesh models. Berman and Guedel OPA were used as the standard for comparison against the Bardo OPA. It was found that the Bardo OPA was able to fit into all sample patients’ models, while these models were fitted with Berman and Guedel OPA of 70-90mm (Small to medium adult) sizes. It can only be concluded that the Bardo is compatible with these OPA sizes and there was not enough evidence to show the need for additional sizes. Nevertheless, some functional features of the Bardo OPA were found potentially harmful to the patients or ineffective. Three approaches were suggested to improve the design of the Bardo to achieve better safety and efficacy.

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This thesis deals with the assessment of reinforced concrete elements using a fully probabilistic approach and its comparison with the method of partial reliability factors. This method of ultimate limit state design will be applied to determine the ultimate limit state of reinforced concrete column loaded by a combination of "N + M", the normal force and bending moment. Specifically, I will solve a circular reinforced concrete column with and without the effect of wrapping unidirectional carbon fiber fabrics and comparing the theoretically determined values with the values determined by experiment, which is carried out at the Institute of Concrete and Masonry Structures Faculty of Civil Engineering of the Technical University in Brno.