This research considers the possibility of a locally-centric design education curricula in Amman, Jordan by investigating the philosophies, theories, practices and models of curriculum and pedagogy most appropriate for design education. It describes perceptions of design and examines the possibilities for shifting these perceptions to move towards transforming design education. Jordan is a neopatriarchal society, and education re-enacts the dominant structures of the state within curriculum and pedagogy centred on the authority of the educator. This thesis argues for a decolonised design education based on a student-centred pedagogy drawn from the process and praxis curriculum models - a design education and design otherwise. Working with a range of designers, students and educators, it investigates the potential of these actors to contribute to the development of a pedagogy for design education in Jordan that is relevant to the milieu and locality. It poses the following questions: What philosophies, theories, practices, models of curriculum, and pedagogy are appropriate?; What potential shifts could this require and create?; How do we shift perceptions? This qualitative research uses interviews, focus groups, and design charrettes for data collection. Through participation and engagement with people that have most at stake in design education - designers, design educators and design students - I argue for an emancipatory design education that reflects on design beyond its traditional service-provider definition. Drawing on scholarship from design and education studies, and literature from fields such as history, decolonial studies, architecture and urbanism, political science, economics and philosophy, I argue for a curriculum model and student-centred pedagogy that considers design's role in society. Literature on Arab higher education is preoccupied with reforms to help the Arab region build a knowledge-society without considering the role of curriculum models and pedagogy nor addressing power structures. In addition, within design, little literature exists on the Arab region or Jordan, leaving its design culture(s) largely undocumented. My thesis investigates design education in higher education in Jordan by concentrating on models of pedagogy and curriculum and provides an overview of Jordan's contemporary design culture.

This research set out to understand the role of design in Virtual Reality (VR) interfaces. The hypothesis was that: Virtual Reality is an emerging medium and does not currently fulfil its full design potential as a medium for communication. Existing research and practice in VR is dominated by Human-Computer Interface (HCI) developers and typically lacks a design approach. The result of this is that many VR projects are developed to mirror reality (mimesis) without considering the potential for the medium to portray ideas in novel or user-led ways. Many designers working in this field take an empirical approach without reference to guidelines or theory, relying on previous experience with other media. The proposition of this research was that there may be more value in a theoretical and holistic approach that combines knowledge from different disciplines to reveal new insights. The research therefore used a qualitative approach to understand the contribution designers, and the design process, could make to this subject. Information was gathered through a two stage series of case studies and semi-structured expert interviews. This research documented in detail a design approach to the development of VR undertaken at BT and in design consultancy. In particular, the investigation looked at the design characteristics of state-of-the-art Virtual Reality projects, highlighting the different attributes (virtues and constraints) of the Virtual Reality medium. These virtues were found to be: interactive, fun and intuitive, illustrates relationships, spatial arrangement of data, navigation and landmarks, use of scale, multiple viewpoints and visualisation of complex information. The constraints were found particularly to affect representational issues (choice of sign) and technological determinism. Although technological determinism was not found to play a significant role, it did impact on the presentation of ideas due to inconsistent interfaces and poorly designed VR software tools. However, the research concluded that.until sufficient examples of practice broaden the subject matter, the generalisation of virtues and constraints of VR offers limited insight beyond the immediate context. In order to improve the practice of VR design, a strategic approach was felt to be necessary to align VR projects to users' communication needs. The primary output of this research has been the mapping of the relationship between the more widely employed iconic (mimetic) interface and the symbolic (abstract) interface in relation to different dimensionality (2D/3D/VR). This matrix was formulated from issues identified in the literature review and refined through expert panels relating to communication theories. The framework demonstrates different representations, virtues and constraints, as well as the relationship between different media types. The benefit of this framework is that it links communication theory with the pragmatics of the designer, thereby integrating broader communication concepts through a visual mapping process. This integration of theory and practice was critical to testing the model with real examples, as well as to presenting the findings to design practitioners. Additionally, this matrix provides a framework to identify future design opportunities. A further output of the research has been the development of two models to illustrate alternative approaches to the design of VR environments by understanding the process of deconstruction and construction of signs. One outcome of the case studies was the discovery that the design approach undertaken at BT allowed the development of representations which were not merely transposed to VR but rather designed for the purpose and for users. It was recommended that for the design of Virtual Environments, signs be deconstructed and transformed to enable creative solutions to be developed.

One of the enduring objects used to represent the technological future is the robot. This legacy means that its promise has the ability to evolve in accordance with our societal and cultural dreams and aspirations. It can reflect the current state of technological development, our hopes for that technology and also our fears; fundamentally though, after almost a century of media depictions and corporate promises, the robot is yet to enter our homes and lives in any meaningful way. This thesis begins by asking the question: how does an emerging technology (such as robotic) become a domestic product? In addressing this issue I draw from the theory of domestication and the method of speculative design to describe three possible technological journeys: how technology does not, does and could become a domestic product: 1. Technology does not make the transition from laboratory to domestic life. Robots have made countless departures from the habitat of the research laboratory, apparently headed towards the domestic habitat, but the vast majority never arrive. This observation leads to the identification of a third habitat and the current destination for the majority of proposed domestic robots – robot-related imaginaries. _6 In this theatre-like environment, robots exist as either promises or warnings of a potential technological future. The habitat includes technology fairs, laboratory open houses, news articles and the films and novels of science fiction. I conclude by suggesting reasons why these visions of the future so often fail to become domestic products. 2. Technology does make the transition from laboratory to domestic life. Borrowing from the science of ecology and biological concepts of evolution and domestication, I make an analogy between the shift of habitats that occurs when an organism successfully goes through the process of artificial selection (natural to domestic) and the transition an emerging technology makes in order to become a suitable product for domestic use (laboratory to domestic). 3. How technology could make the transition from laboratory to domestic life. This section makes up the core of the thesis as I describe speculative design and how it can be used to present more plausible depictions of near-future technological applications. By stepping out of the normative relationship that ties technological development to commercial markets, speculative design opens a space for alternative perspectives, critical reflection and an examination of contemporary and near-future technological application. Throughout the thesis these theoretical investigations run parallel to the practice-based element, allowing for interplay between the two. This resulted in three projects that exemplify the speculative design approach applied to robots, inviting dialogue and contemplation on what a preferable robotic future might be.

This research explores the intersection between the design industry and the ubiquitous media and events industry, focusing on the context of design characterized by limited editions and one-off artefacts. The increasingly growing manifestation of this type of design in the media and the media in design – has an impact on the way certain designers conceive and practice their profession, and on the design industry as a whole. The aim of this PhD is to provide an understanding of such impact. In doing so, this thesis answers the main question: What commodities (intended as the ensemble of goods, values, competencies and services) are traded in the contemporary design industry and by whom? As a result, this research expands the notion of the design process beyond the artefact, highlighting the role that its representation in the media and events has in the process. Furthermore, this study provides new understanding on the media profile within the design industry. The designers' media profile entails popularity and prestige. It indicates the extent of the audience and the level of status; it is quantity and quality at the same time. To express this with the terminology used in this thesis, a well constructed media profile infers reputation besides visibility. In fact, reputation and visibility emerge as central commodities for trade. As visibility and reputation are the fuel that feeds the contemporary design industry, then the power of the media has proven crucial, allowing a fluidity of roles in the design industry. The research witnesses the way actors conventionally belonging to the media industry are now able to commission new content to feature in their publications and events and monetize from this. The thesis concludes with the observation that some designers are also starting to monetize from their presence in exhibitions, by demanding loan and participation fees. Conclusively, this thesis critically highlights the need to reconsider the roles of each actor involved in the design industry according to the trade of such immaterial commodities.

The PhD work aligns technological opportunities with self-selecting motivated participants, investigating their desire to monitor wildlife within their custody. It used an ethnographic and user- centred design approach with amateur beekeepers. The work built reciprocal interest in data which users could gather from self-assembled monitoring tools. This PhD explores the relationship between Open Design and Citizen Science, testing it ‘in-the-wild’ through the Bee Lab kit. The development of the kit and territory research was carried out in close collaboration with a local beekeeping community based in the South East of England. The work engaged with the British Beekeepers Association (BBKA), a Citizen Science stakeholder and technology provider Technology Will Save Us (TWSU), informing the project at each stage. The PhD territory was highlighted in scoping design workshops with the public (Phillips. R, Baurley. S, Silve. S) and developed into: cultural probes deployed nationally investigating beekeepers’ ‘making’ activities (Phillips. R, Baurley. S, Silve. S 2013b), ethnographic studies identifying beekeepers’ product creations and re-appropriations for beekeeping praxis, participatory design workshops establishing lay users’ ‘technologically enabled conversations with bees’ (Phillips. R, Ford. Y, Sadler. K, Silve. S, Baurley. S 2013), technology kit assembly workshops testing kit design and competence of lay users (Phillips, Blum et al. 2014), and mental models of creating instructional content (Phillips, Robert., Lockton, Dan., Baurley, Sharon & Silve, Sarah 2013). The Bee Lab Kit: activities engaging motivated lay users in the use of open technologies for CS activities Page 2 of 265 The creation of a repeatable Open Design/Citizen Science model based upon the live testing from the Bee Lab project appendix (O) Open Design Standards (paper pending publication) appendix (K) The project worked with Citizen Science Vendors, Sussex Wildlife Trust and Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, ascertaining the framing of Open Design/Citizen Science projects through a design toolkit. The design toolkit invention and testing was carried out with conservation organisations (Phillips, R & Baurley, S 2014) and technology kit deployment ‘in-the-wild’ with end users (Phillips, R., Blum, J., Brown, M. & Baurley, S 2014). Finally, the work identified the motivations of the individual stakeholders within the project.

It was noted by the researcher that living and working in Puerto Rico, in what are politically and socio-economically difficult and sometimes threatening conditions, at the time of this programme of research, there was something to be learnt from those designers who exhibited resilience to stressful events. Therefore, the specific purpose of this practice-led programme of research was to understand designers’ decision-making processes when under political and socio-economic stressors and question how they can make strategically successful decisions that enable them to thrive. The first objective was to identify and define resilient strategic thinking. To do this, the researcher reflected upon her own thinking and practices as an art director and design educator suffering the adversities of political and socio-economic disintegration in her own context. This self-reflective process revealed her use of a number of coping tools, which became the set of Real-Time Response Planning (RTRP) tools for managing adversity. The second tool’s objective was to explore the possibility of teaching strategic application of the RTRP tools to other designers who were also experiencing their own stressors. In review of designers’ engagement with these tools, the third objective was to develop an effective graphic articulation of the RTRP toolbox. This enabled the fourth objective, which was to measure the effectiveness of the RTRP toolbox in guiding designers towards radical resilience, towards bouncing forward as a more adaptive response to adverse conditions. The research was begun using the Reflective Practice and Action Research approach; however, critical review of its appropriateness within this social-political context of design practice moved the researcher to apply the Systematization of Experience method. A Systematization workshop was conducted applying Participatory Action Research and Participatory Design to the creation of the RTRP toolbox paper prototype, as a vehicle for observing the application of the RTRP tools during design practices. This programme of research found that the RTRP tools were able to positively support thriving and resilience as defined by the Resilience Theory. The toolbox successfully supported the teaching of resilience behaviours at a personal and local level, enabling the development of positive coping strategies in real-time, and informed the planning of longer-term strategies for similar adversities in the future. The current global economic crisis has left many designers with insecure futures, yet there is an expectation that they will carry on efficiently to maintain their livelihoods and lifestyles in the face of daily adversity. These RTRP tools offer designers a means of managing these experiences and help them see oportunities.

This thesis explores how designers might approach human behaviour as a material to be worked on. Unlike politicians, economists, lawyers, philosophers, psychiatrists and many others, designers have few disciplinary resources to draw on in this space. Indeed, it is barely discussed at all. Contemporary designers are, we are told, supposed to treat people and things differently, and ensure that the latter are subservient to the agendas of the former - calls that become all the more insistent when designers are looking for ways to incorporate the design of services and organisations into their practice, a project that summons the prospect of breaking this taboo. But what would a form of design that took human behaviour as its object actually be like? This thesis takes up this question as an issue in the philosophy of design, through investigating a long and rich history of suspicions about designers - namely, suspicions that they might extend their material palette from dead materials to living human beings. This exploration uncovers the emergence in the Industrial Revolution of today’s fears that designers might ‘treat people like things’; but it also uncovers an older, almost lost history of ideas about design, which understood its applicability to human beings in a way that, today, is strikingly unfamiliar. Here we find the almost forgotten but still-lingering link between craft and being crafty, encapsulated well by the lost ancient Greek concept of mêtis, 'cunning intelligence'. Mêtis isolates that aspect of design at work when extraordinary effects are elicited from unpromising materials, connecting design to political intrigues, daring military stratagems, the operations of impresarios and salesmen, and other instances wherein, through ingenious means, the weak prevail over the strong. By uncovering and developing these ideas, the thesis provides a view of design that connects it to human behaviour not through domination but through clever manipulation, a morally complex but undoubtedly potent approach that informs an alternative conception of how human behaviour might be understood as the object of design. The principle contribution of this thesis is, therefore, to provide a novel examination of human behaviour as the object of design; its main achievement is to provide the design disciplines with, on the one hand, an exposition of the implicit associations this project has at present; and on the other, the disinterment of mêtis and related ideas as a promising counter-perspective.

Due to the higher potential impact on a product’s sustainability, this research focuses on the early stages of the design process, and the delivery of simplified information to assist and guide designers in their decision-making process. A specific tool (Trophec) was developed with a ‘soft modelling’ approach as its main characteristic, which delivers a holistic perspective of the life cycle of a given product. Evidence was found indicating that around 80% of a product’s environmental impact can be traced back to the early stages of design, when designers work in a very intuitive, rapid and conceptual way. Furthermore, dozens of ‘eco-design’ tools, guides, checklist and working frames were explored. Existing research into some of these ‘eco-design’ tools has found that they were mainly used, or provided assistance to designers, at late stages of product development, when the product has already been conceived and many decisions have been made and subsequent compromises decided upon. These tools do not seem to respond appropriately to the culture and needs of designers in early stages. Moreover, these tools are not being used among other reasons because of their complexity and/or requirement of investing long periods of time and specialised knowledge. A test was developed in order to detect any influence of the tool in the designers’ working processes, in which graduate, undergraduate students and professional designers participated. The protocol consisted of a design task with a ‘think aloud’ method. The task was completed with a semi-structured interview. In parallel to these tests, the web-based tool was open to the public, registering data from more than 400 users from all over the World. These tests showed evidence related to designers not voluntarily incorporating sustainability criteria into their projects, as they perceive this activity as optional and to add later on the process, once the product is defined. Important statements were made in the interviews, in relation to the limited capability of designers to truly influence the outcome of the entire design process, understanding that some issues of it are determined by other departments or professionals within a company, normally management and marketing. All the previous supports findings in the literature review and highlight little change in the last 10 to 15 years. As major contribution of this research, stands the novel method used to capture, analyse and visualise the designers’ working processes, as well as the identification of certain basic conditions for the future testing and analysis of ‘soft modelling’ tools at early stages of new product development.

This research explores and investigates the impact of new design practices within an organisational setting. The research follows a series of design interventions initiated within two for-profit organisations by adopting a participant observation approach and a case study structure. The interventions took the form of design-led workshops, the creation of artefacts, and conversations. Qualitative data as to the impact and the perception of the interventions was gathered over a two-year period, focusing upon examples of existing, introduced and emergent design practices. The data was analysed by applying a framework of ‘communities of design practice’, developed from Wenger’s (1998) theory of communities of practice, and focusing on the themes of engagement, design attitude and alignment to organisational aims. This research establishes that communities of design practice is a valid framework for inquiry into and analysis of organisational design culture. Use of the framework enables understanding of how and why new design practices are impactful and can lead to organisational change. This research also establishes that communities of design practice have a number of key characteristics: creating artefacts is key to engagement; sensemaking, as a design practice, can be engaged in by non-designers; design attitude may extend beyond expert designers; and, aligning design practices to organisational aims may be opportunistic rather than strategic. Further, this research establishes that communities of design practice have additional infrastructure needs: a design vocabulary; design champions; and design space. Finally, this research considers the provocative and critical role played by external designers introducing new design practices through design interventions. This research has multiple contributions to knowledge including: the development of a framework for understanding organisational design culture; an in-depth study of the development of new design practices in organisations other than by expert designers; and a model of practice that may help other researchers and practitioners engaging in design interventions within organisations.

This research explores the technical feasibility of developing a knowledge-based apparel style recommendation system through investigations on apparel communication theory, data construction and machine learning techniques. It intends to improve the poor user experiences of online clothes shopping caused by the unpractical style searching, recommendation and personal styling engines. This study started with building up the theoretical foundation of apparel data and recommendation system. Then, an apparel data coding method and two apparel datasets are developed based on the apparel communication system and semiotics theory. ATTRIBUTE dataset captures natural and design features while MEANING dataset labels communicative meanings on style and body. Thirdly, the technical feasibility is investigated by statistics analytical methods to evaluate data relations and machine-learning methods to learn from the training data and predict apparel MEANINGs. The author found that the proposed data might exist non-linear relations, which restricts statistics analytical methods. Instead, machine-learning based methods are applicable as evidenced by three apparel MEANING prediction models. The three models also prove that the new apparel data coding method and ATTRIBUTE dataset could enhance the learning model since it captures more accurate apparel features. Additionally, the most useful data learning method is identified when it firstly learns ATTRIBUTEs from images via CNN model, and then determines MEANINGs from predicted ATTRIBUTEs by LKF classifier. The conclusion from this research is that it is technically feasible to develop an apparel style recommendation system. This research contributes a new method to the field of apparel recommendation system study. It fills the gap of lacking deep understandings of apparel knowledge. The proposed approach made three improvements: (1) a profound theory of apparel as a foundation, (2) a new apparel dataset construction method capturing design features and connotative meanings, and (3) the image-attribute collaborated data training model, which can effectively recognise in-depth design features and make precise predictions on connotative meanings.