Meaning in the landscape is a concept that is receiving attention from many landscape architects asking the questions: how is meaning found in the landscape, or what makes a landscape meaningful? While there are many design processes that incorporate meaning into the design, it is the art of storytelling that the thesis investigates. The research for the thesis and a comparison analysis is performed on three texts, which explore meaning in the landscape. The three texts are Marc Treib's "Must Landscapes Mean?"; Matthew Potteiger and Jamie Purinton's Landscape Narratives, and Mark Francis and Randolph T. Hester, Jr.'s The Meaning of Gardens: Idea, Place, and Action. Applying these approaches to case studies has resulted in the finding of common ideas between the three texts. The commonalities led to my position that storytelling can be used as an approach to design, and that landscapes designed as a story narrative can be meaningful. The design project investigated the strength of the position on a site in the West Potomac Park in Washington DC. The story for the project is a Japanese folktale that communicates the culture of Japan. The project is a case study that explores if the set of design principles within the storytelling approach can invest meaning into a landscape. / Master of Landscape Architecture

The purpose of this study was to investigate and report the perceptions of principals of high schools built prior to 1999 and high school principals of high schools built in the past five years as well as the perceptions of architects who build and design schools on the physical design elements that support a safe school environment. Qualitative methods of survey research were utilized to collect, analyze and interpret the data regarding the perceptions of principals and architects on the design elements that influence safety in select old and new high schools in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Data collection consisted of recorded and transcribed interviews from a select group of questions tailored for each group of participants. The data were analyzed and emergent themes were generated from the results of the transcribed interviews. The analyzed data found consistency in all three groups in their response to the interview questions. Common themes from all three groups focused on wide open spaces that increase visibility and hallways wide enough to support the smooth flow of students. All three groups mentioned controlling access to the building by the use of security vestibules and the use of cameras to record and provide surveillance as design elements that support a safe school environment. The location of the school office was cited by all three groups as paramount to school safety. The ability of staff to see who enters the school building and the ability to funnel visitors to the main office and not allow access to other parts of the school building was cited as crucial to a safe environment. All three groups spoke of doors and windows and the ability to secure the large number of doors as problematic. This study also determined the need for doctoral and principal preparation programs to include specific coursework or training that involves principals in the design phase of constructing schools. Principals need to be involved in the planning and design process to insure new and renovated school buildings have the needed safety features they believe will help them in their work of educating students and providing for the safety of faculty and students. The principal should know and understand the workings of a school building and how a school organization operates. The result of such training would allow the principal to anticipate the effectiveness and consequences of certain designs in regards to the movement of students, program demands and requirements. / Ed. D.

Capacity remuneration mechanisms (CRMs) are “climbing” regulatory agendas in all liberalised power sectors, especially in the European Union. CRMs are introduced to improve system reliability and to minimise power shortages to an economically efficient extent. These schemes will have a central role in future power systems. This PhD thesis provides an in-depth review of CRM design elements and recommendations to increase their efficiency and effectiveness, particularly in view of the challenges that these mechanisms have to confront in the current power sector environment, characterised by the pursuit of decarbonisation. The attention is focused here on the interaction with regional market integration, the need for properly-designed performance incentives, and the interaction with renewable technologies. The research is based on empirical evidence collected from international experiences, which is complemented, where applicable, by a model-based analysis to examine specific design elements. The outcomes of this PhD thesis can be summarised as follows. The participation of cross-border resources in national CRMs must be guaranteed in order to fully seize the benefits of regional market integration. However, this participation requires a strong commitment from power systems (and governments) in the regional market and the implementation of network codes and market rules that deter system operators from blocking exports when the latter are the outcome of an efficient market clearing. Where short-term markets are coordinated through market coupling, the algorithm must include a conditional nomination rule that ensures that, during regional scarcity conditions, available resources are assigned to those consumers that paid for them in the CRM market. CRMs must rely on robust performance incentives that foster the actual delivery of the committed capacity. High penalty rates may increase the cost of the capacity market, but the overall cost of electricity supply may decrease. Renewable technologies should be allowed to participate in CRMs and should be exposed to the market signals provided by these mechanisms. If renewable and conventional technologies must compete in the same markets, they should do it subject to the same rules. Obviously this participation must be coordinated with renewable support schemes, discounting CRM revenues. / <p>QC 20160411</p>

abstract: The research presented explores traditional Chinese visual design elements with a goal of incorporating them into contemporary design. It seeks to provide insight into how Chinese and non-Chinese designers and non-designers recognize common visual design elements as being associated with Chinese design. As a result, the research explores three characteristics: a) handicraft; b) naturalism; and c) design with meaning, which can be key points in understanding traditional Chinese design. Furthermore, the research explores two sets of design criteria that can guide designers to apply these representative design elements into contemporary design in order to express Chinese culture. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.S.D. Design 2013

Context: Technology in the field of health care has taken a step forward for making easy health maintenance on a daily basis. With gradual increase in the elderly population, it is important to provide this them, the facilities gained with the use of technology. But it is observed that the elderly show reluctance to the use of new technology like the mobile applications. In the thesis, an effort is made to overcome this barrier with the study of both user experience of elderly and user interface design of a m-health application and analyzing a relation among them.Objectives. In this thesis, user interface design responsible for an increase in the user experience of elderly is focused, to create a base for mobile application developers to design m-health applications that improve the usability of the application.Methods. Quasi-Experiment is conducted to measure user experience with the selected sample from the elderly population. By conducting interviews with the selected sample, data is collected for the experiment./Results. The user experience of the elderly people is analyzed with the original glucosio application and with the prototype of glucosio application. Comparison is made between the user experience in both the cases and conclusion about the relation between the user experience and user interface design of Objectives: In this thesis, user interface design responsible for an increase in the user experience of elderly is focused, to create a base for mobile application developers to design m-health applications that improve the usability of the application.Methods. Quasi-Experiment is conducted to measure user experience with the selected sample from the elderly population. By conducting interviews with the selected sample, data is collected for the experiment./Results. The user experience of the elderly people is analyzed with the original glucosio application and with the prototype of glucosio application.  Methods: Quasi-Experiment is conducted to measure user experience with the selected sample from the elderly population. By conducting interviews with the selected sample, data is collected for the experiment.Results. The user experience of the elderly people is analyzed with the original glucosio application and with the prototype of glucosio application.  Results: The user experience of the elderly people is analyzed with the original glucosio application and with the prototype of glucosio application. Comparison is made between the user experience in both the cases and conclusion about the relation between the user experience and user interface design of the m-health application is made.Conclusions. With the analysis, we can conclude that the combined user interface design of Conclusions: With the analysis, we can conclude that the combined user interface design of m-health application, when designed as per the interest of elderly people can increase the user experience of the elderly while using the application. Besides, it increases the usability of the application resulting in the elderly population gets benefited with the advanced mobile technologies for their health promotion.

This thesis investigates how the interior of the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center of Dallas accommodates the three groups which use the space: the patron, the musicians, and the administration. Following the Draft Brief of 1981 prepared by the Dallas Symphony Association's Concert Hall Building Committee, each area is discussed as to what was actually built and what concerns were met. The primary data were the symphony center and interviews with I.M. Pei, architect; Russell Johnson, acoustician of the concert hall; Charles Young, associate of Pei, Cobb, Freed & Associates, interior architect of the concert hall; Carolyn Miller, Trisha Wilson & Associates, designer of the Green Room, Richard Trimble, designer of the musicians' areas, and Joe Pereira, designer of the Administrative area.

Auction systems have been around for a long time now, and they are proving to be a good support instrument to promote renewable energy technologies in most parts of the world. The key feature of an auction is its design flexibility, real price discovery through competition, transparency and greater certainty for investors and policymakers to achieve high-level targets.  This thesis uses specific design elements and assessment criteria for auction systems, set out in the literature, to perform a comparative analysis of the design elements of offshore wind auctions in the UK and the Netherlands to identify best practices in auctions that promote the development of offshore wind and provide recommendations to policymakers based on previous experiences in both countries.  The analyses show that strict selection criteria and penalties help improve effectiveness and static efficiency. Seal-bid auctions with multiple rounds and fixed schedules help to reduce uncertainty for investors. Financial prequalification in the form of seabed leases ensures that developers are serious about the project and improves realization rates. Physical prequalification should be set focusing on improving the supply chain in the region, socio-political feasibility, actor diversity, etc. However, it is advisable to exclude the EIA and grid connection from the scope of the developer as it helps reduce planning risks. It is important to have ceiling prices in offshore wind auctions, but a detailed study of the technological development and market condition needs to be assessed to set the right value and have it undisclosed for better competition. Separate budgets can be set for offshore wind auctions rather than have it based on capacity or electricity generation. This helps with better planning for the auctions. Support mechanisms should be designed to ensure that generators and consumers are benefited from them. Finally, a realization period should be set for projects to ensure they are aligned with national policy targets.

E-commerce has become popular over the years with millions of people using this way of shopping. However e-commerce has also brought forth issues of fraud with consumers getting their identities stolen or being tricked into spending their money on products they don’t look the same in real life as on their mobile devices. There are current methods to try and prevent e- commerce fraud however the problem is still present. Consumers need to be able to identify credible websites. Studies have brought forward that there is a connection between the visuals of a website and it’s credibility. The purpose of this study is to discover how the visuals of a website affect consumers assessment of credibility. It is also the purpose to use this discovery to strengthen the credibility of e-commerce websites. A qualitative method, focus group interview, has been used to interview four females corresponding the e-commerce market’s current majority consumer. During the interview the visual content of four websites were navigated through and analysed. The results showed that for there to be credibility trust between the consumer and e-commerce website needs to be established. This is done by visually prioritizing consumer’s needs as consumers.

A safe school is defined as a physically and emotionally safe environment where faculty and staff, members of the community, and students perceive that they are safe. School safety is an important topic for both school administrators and architects who design schools. Previous research into the physical environment of a school has explored its impact on student achievement and, to a lesser extent, school climate and school safety. Overall, research into the relationship between a physical environment of a school and its influence on the perception of safety is inadequate. The study sought to determine what were the design elements that principals and architects believed promoted a safe elementary school. The main research question for the study was, "What are the design elements that principals and architects believe influence a safe elementary school?" The study replicated the methodology of Walton's study (2011) called Physical Design for Safe Schools. Walton focused on perceptions of high school principals and architects who were involved in designing and building schools. Walton's study concluded that safety was an important issue to principals and architects. Specifically, each group identified supervision, technology and cameras, and controlling access to school buildings as important to school safety. The groups also identified restrooms and locker rooms as the two most problematic areas of a school building due to inability to supervise. Data for the study were gathered through qualitative methods and utilized a phenomenological approach to exploring data. Principals from elementary schools built before 1999, principals from elementary schools built since 2011, and architects with experience designing elementary schools were included as participants in the study. Participants were asked five to nine semi-structured and open-ended questions relevant to the design elements and physical features associated with school buildings. Results of the study found that the physical design of a school building was viewed as having an influence on safety in schools. The two common themes from all three groups were access control and visibility. Sub-themes were the importance of preparation for emergencies, perceptions of inequality in funding for school safety measures, the prevalence of technology that has created greater opportunities to keep schools safe, and the need for balance between safety and aesthetics when designing schools. / Ed. D.

Gamification and sustainability are two topics that have gained a lot of attention in the past few years, both from the corporate sector and the academic community. Yet, the connection between the two concepts has seldom been made. This study addresses this research gap, by presenting the novel concept of gamification and connecting it to established theories in the field of organisational change. It then creates a discussion around the question of the potential of gamification as a tool to foster sustainability practices within organisations.To answer this question, this thesis followed a qualitative research design. By performing semi-structured interviews with experts in the field of gamification, the study explored different aspects of gamification, namely its definition, the opportunities and challenges it faces in regards to sustainability, the organisation’s responses towards the concept and the hypotheses for the further development of gamification.The results of this study suggest that gamification has great potential to foster sustainable practices within organisations. With its element of fun, gamification has the power to engage employees in sustainability issues, create a deeper understanding of the topic and relate it directly to the employees’ personal values and decision-making process. By offering different perspectives and helping employees see the bigger picture, gamification can inspire a sense of meaningfulness and contribution to something bigger than oneself. However, this can only happen when the tools are designed and used in the right way. Building an understanding of the user and implementing the fitting game design elements to create an impactful experience for the player is, however, a complex and time-consuming process, and therefore put forth as one of the biggest challenges. Furthermore, gamification should strive to expand beyond the commonly used game design elements of points, badges and leaderboards to tap into the user’s intrinsic rather than extrinsic motivation.