This thesis aims to explore the potential impact of Computer Aided Architectural Design (CAAD) as a conceptual design tool on the design methodology of final year students. Many design studies have focused on sketching and its relationship with creative thinking to validate CAAD programs as a design tool. On the contrary, this study argues that the continued primacy of traditional tools as the predominant conceptual tools needs more evidence in the contemporary design practices. That is to say, the relative importance of CAAD alongside other media, such as sketching, model making and verbalisation must be recognised before the forthcoming leap in CAAD programs development. To illustrate these ideas, the Scott Sutherland School of Architecture and Built Environment was used as a case study to explore CAAD’s role in the educational context, the studio in general and the final year studio in particular. A mixed methods approach was employed to carry out two studies: a case study and a protocol study. A case study approach was utilised to understand the modern context whereby CAAD is used by the students despite CAAD not being an integrated part of the project model. The case study was also used to document the reasons behind students’ tendency of using CAAD at the conceptual phases of the design process. Mixed methods were used to collect data at three different intervals of the two semesters; before starting the studio project, while working on the project and after submitting the final project. The methods used include a questionnaire survey, structured reflection interviews, and a focus group. A protocol study was conducted to understand the impact of CAAD on selfcommunication using the think aloud method under the same experimental conditions using CAAD program(s) as the only external representation. The case study findings clarified the effects of the traditional context of the studio and the project model on CAAD’s utility within students’ design processes and identified the lack of CAAD professional skills, and the integration of CAAD as a knowledge base. The protocol study findings provided a greater understanding of the cognitive processes in designing and design performance while using CAAD, as well as acknowledging the possibility of a cyclic conceptual process. The potential impact of CAAD on the design process was further categorised. The empirical exploration provides CAAD research with new insights, instigating more useful ways of teaching and learning by an appropriate integration of CAAD programs and design methods in a situated manner where students can enhance their design processes creatively. It is proposed that a more measured and disinterested approach is now required to investigate CAAD and their implications for education.

The role of visual communication design continues to increase in importance around the world. In Bahrain, organisations are increasingly considering visual communication design as a means of accomplishing organisational goals. The research aims to understand the process by which design managers in organisations in Bahrain manage and evaluate visual communication designs to gain strategic advantage. Even though the management of visual communication design has not yet been recognised as a separate category of design management in Bahrain, its processes and approaches may differ from other management applications. This research opens with a contextual overview of the visual communication design management field, before presenting an understanding of how visual communication design can be utilised as an innovative approach to the strategic structuring organisational thinking. Methods have been developed for investigating how Bahraini client design managers manage visual communication design projects. Observational studies and interviews with client design managers and creative directors have been conducted to obtain an understanding of the visual communication design process, together with evaluation procedures in the Bahraini context. These empirical investigations have led to the development of a conceptual framework that describes the visual communication design management process and the evaluation procedure that is carried out by client design managers in Bahrain. The remainder of this thesis explains the outcomes of each phase of the research. The unique contributions of this study are embodied in a discussion of the findings together with reflections and recommendations for those involved and interested in design management in Bahrain.

The purpose of this research was to investigate the application of design processes to the development of novel self-use molecular diagnostic devices for sexually transmitted infections. The argument proposed in this thesis is that the application of design methods at the earliest research stages into miniaturised, low cost, molecular diagnostic technologies will accelerate and improve the process of translating proof of concept diagnostic technologies into usable devices. Concept development requirements and potential issues and barriers to development were identified through interviews with expert stakeholders. These requirements were further refined through a survey of a multidisciplinary diagnostic medical device research group. An action research method was applied to develop a proof of concept prototype to the preclinical trial stage. Through these research studies, a design process model was formulated for use in a research environment. The application of design methods to the proof of concept prototype described in the thesis have resulted in a preclinical trial prototype that exhibits the necessary features for development into a self-use molecular diagnostic device. Issues and barriers were identified and discussed, design guidelines for further development beyond preclinical trial were defined and a generalised design process model for self-use molecular diagnostic devices for sexually transmitted infections was proposed. This research highlights the need for design methods to be applied at the earliest possible stages of the development of novel molecular diagnostic devices.

Incorporating consideration for safety issues while designing solvent processes has become crucial in light of the chemical process incidents involving solvents that have taken place in recent years. The implementation of inherently safer design concepts is considered beneficial to avoid hazards during early stages of design. The application of existing process design and modeling techniques that aid the concepts of ‘substitution’, ‘intensification’ and ‘attenuation’ has been shown in this work. For ‘substitution’, computer aided molecular design (CAMD) technique has been applied to select inherently safer solvents for a solvent operation. For ‘intensification’ and ‘attenuation’, consequence models and regulatory guidance from EPA RMP have been integrated into process simulation. Combining existing techniques provides a design team with a higher level of information to make decisions based on process safety. CAMD is a methodology used for designing compounds with desired target properties. An important aspect of this methodology concerns the prediction of properties given the structure of the molecule. This work also investigates the applicability of Quantitative Structure Property Relationship (QSPR) and topological indices to CAMD. The evaluation was based on models developed to predict flash point properties of different classes of solvents. Multiple linear regression and neural network analysis were used to develop QSPR models, but there are certain limitations associated with using QSPR in CAMD which have been discussed and need further work. Practical application of molecular design and process design techniques have been demonstrated in a case study on liquid-liquid extraction of acetic acid-water mixture. Suitable inherently safer solvents were identified using ICAS-ProCAMD, and consequence models were integrated into Aspen Plus simulator using a calculator sheet. Upon integrating flammable and toxic hazard modeling, solvents such as 5-nonanone, 2-nonanone and 5-methyl-2-hexanone provide inherently safer options, while conventionally-used solvent, ethyl acetate, provides higher degree of separation capability. A conclusive decision regarding feasible solvents and operating conditions would depend on design requirements, regulatory guidance, and safety criteria specified for the process. Inherent safety has always been an important consideration to be implemented during early design steps, and this research presents a methodology to incorporate the principles and obtain inherently safer alternatives.

The motive of the present thesis has been the realization of lack of cultural impact and meaningful representation within public open urban spaces that fall in between areas of urban planning and construction in the GCC cities. In pursuit of aiding towards the reclamation of meaningful spaces, this study demonstrates methods of providing a framework of cultural context design during the conceptual phase of the urban planning process. In doing so, the emphasis falls both on public users’ and professionals’ opinions and perception regarding cultural elements, physical experience and design processes that take place within the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) cities. The understanding and framework of levels of comprehension and awareness of cultural implementation derives from the theory of the Circuit of Culture, resulting both in an epistemological contemplation of the existing situation and the inter-relationship between culture and design. Meanwhile, the study of the elements that define the Circuit of Culture starts to form a strong cultural reference point for the future amelioration of definition of strong identity in-between spaces, within the urban context. The elements of this theory are based on the five aspects of Production, Identity, Regulation, Consumption and Representation. The implementation of these cultural elements are drawn in reference to the Double Diamond design model, considering its four aspects of discovery, definition, development and delivery, where the first two stages make up the conceptual phase, and the latter two stages make up the implementation phase of design. Therefore, while the thesis stresses the problem of cultural identity of in-between and vacuum spaces of the GCC cities, it suggests the Circuit of Culture as a method for reinforcing a thorough cultural consideration within the conceptual phase of design (discovery and definition). The thesis seeks to develop the process of design integration through an evolving methodological approach for studying the cultural development and cultural concern of urban spaces that fall in-between well planned schemes. In this work, cultural identity and cultural representation are of fundamental importance.

Understanding Design Impact: A new framework for understanding the potential of design and enhancing future professional practice. Design is widely recognised as an important driver for economic performance. However, the value of design has proved resistant to quantification despite research attention since the early 1980s. Correlation between design investment and impact has been demonstrated, but not causation. There is considerable interest from policy and professional bodies in what is described here as ‘Design Impact’. Impact can be measured, for example, by return on investment, increases in profitability or cost reductions. However this only crudely captures the economic impact of a design ingredient. Increasingly, social and environmental impacts are also of interest. The design profession sees the potential for better articulation of design impact as a means to increase their influence. The context has been explored through a series of descriptive and prescriptive studies including analysis of 45 DBA Design Effectiveness Award case studies, 304 undergraduate design projects from two institutions over a three year period together with interviews and workshops with senior design professionals and design academics. A new Understanding Design Impact framework is the overall outcome and contribution to knowledge from the work. This bridges between theory and practice and is a powerful basis for placing consideration of design impact at the heart of design activity. A design impact ontology has been developed as a robust foundation to the framework which resolves issues with underlying concepts. An initial version of this ontology is published in The Design Journal and is claimed as a supporting contribution to new knowledge. So too are new ontological classifications of factors which have considerable influence on design impact: Design Influences and Authority and Motivation and Path. These provide fresh perspectives and are worthy of further research consideration. A number of routes are identified for the further development and dissemination of the framework.

Designers are challenged to manage customer, technology, and socio-economic uncertainty causing dynamic, unquenchable demands on limited resources. In this context, increased concept flexibility, referring to a designer s ability to generate concepts, is crucial. Concept flexibility can be significantly increased through the integrated design of product and material concepts. Hence, the challenge is to leverage knowledge of material structure-property relations that significantly affect system concepts for function-based, systematic design of product and materials concepts in an integrated fashion. However, having selected an integrated product and material system concept, managing complexity in embodiment design-processes is important. Facing a complex network of decisions and evolving analysis models a designer needs the flexibility to systematically generate and evaluate embodiment design-process alternatives. In order to address these challenges and respond to the primary research question of how to increase a designer s concept and design-process flexibility to enhance product creation in the conceptual and early embodiment design phases, the primary hypothesis in this dissertation is embodied as a systematic approach for integrated product, materials and design-process design. The systematic approach consists of two components i) a function-based, systematic approach to the integrated design of product and material concepts from a systems perspective, and ii) a systematic strategy to design-process generation and selection based on a decision-centric perspective and a value-of-information-based Process Performance Indicator. The systematic approach is validated using the validation-square approach that consists of theoretical and empirical validation. Empirical validation of the framework is carried out using various examples including: i) design of a reactive material containment system, and ii) design of an optoelectronic communication system.

This statement gives an overall summary of the aims and achievements of the research work and scholarship carried out by the author during her time at The University of Manchester (and UMIST - now part of The University of Manchester) for which the publications presented give evidence. The research has been about exploring the design process, the activities and issues, and elements involved - from both an industry and student point of view. The publications explore design pedagogy, the skills required by designers and how these might fit into a curriculum for design today.In three parts it summarises the publications presented, reviews the main aspects of design and the current state of knowledge and research in design and summarises the core aspects as distilled from over 36 years practice, research and scholarship.The driver for much of the research undertaken has been to gain a better understanding of the core aspects of design - what key knowledge and skills are required by designers to allow the consistent design of better products and services which enhance the experiences of users. The work presented investigates design and design methods: the activities and processes and the elements involved. It considers responses to designs, the emotional aspect of design - why some designs are preferred over others, why some colour combinations are more desirable, and why repetition is so important to the human psyche. Underpinning the work presented are three research questions. • Are design rules and processes generic for whatever is being designed? • Can a better understanding of design theory and the emotional response to designs ensure a more effective process and thus lead to stronger designs? • Can students be educated to be better design thinkers and ultimately better designers? It concludes that: • 'design' is a process; • design is a problem-solving process and problem-solving is a design process; • for the most effective outcomes a creative and structured approach is required; • this process is based on generic rules and principles which are applicable across all discipline areas; • collaborative/cross disciplinary elements reinforce the concept that there are processes involved that are not unique to individuals or discipline specific; • a greater understanding of the process is of benefit to all individuals and organisations; • any design/problem solving activity will normally result in more than one solution option. The results of the research have informed the author's teaching practice and have been disseminated through publications to benefit the wider education arena. The work presented aims to inform students and design education practitioners.

Despite the apparent benefits of IoT systems, designing them is challenging due to many technical aspects that need to be considered and their mutual interference. The aspects of latency, longevity, and interoperability influence the usability of the final product. Such design and implementation processes are even more challenging to those not experienced in the IoT field, such as beginning designers or product managers. Here, the author investigates a decision support tool – the IoT Solution Advisor, which aims to help IoT beginners to create a model of IoT system and help them to match its requirements with a compatible technology stack. This publication describes the IoT Solution Advisor’s design process by gathering insights via interviews and Research through Design approach. Except for the prototype, the outcome from the study is the list of features and characteristics necessary to make the tool utilitarian and learnable. The project was conducted in cooperation with Ericsson company. / Trots de uppenbara fördelarna med IoT-system (Internet of Things) är det svårt att utforma dem på grund av många tekniska aspekter som måste övervägas och deras ömsesidiga interferens. Aspekterna av latens, livslängd och interoperabilitet påverkar slutproduktens användbarhet. Sådana design- och implementeringsprocesser är ännu mer utmanande för dem som inte har erfarenhet av IoT-fältet, till exempel nybörjare eller produktchefer. Denna studie undersöker ett beslutsstödverktyg - IoT Solution Advisor, som syftar till att hjälpa IoT-nybörjare att skapa en modell av IoT-system och hjälpa dem att matcha dess krav med en kompatibel teknikstack. Denna publikation beskriver IoT-lösningsrådgivarens designprocess genom att samla insikter via intervjuer och forskning genom design. Resultatet från studien är en lista över funktioner och egenskaper som är nödvändiga för att göra verktyget nyttigt och lärbart.

Denna rapport återger det arbete som syftat till att ta fram hjälpmedel för att utveckla hållbara förpackningslösningar. Projektet har genomförts som ett examensarbete för högskoleingenjörs- programmet i innovationsteknik och design vid fakulteten för hälsa, natur- och teknikvetenskap på Karlstads universitet. Arbetet har realiserats med stöd från Helén Williams, forskare inom energi- och miljöteknik. I dagsläget saknas metoder och hjälpmedel för att utveckla hållbara livsmedelsförpackningar där matsvinn tas in som en aspekt. Därför har en serie med tre verktyg utvecklats, från befintlig designprocessmetodik för tillämpning vid produktutveckling av hållbara förpackningslösningar, med fokus på reducerat matsvinn och minskad miljöpåverkan. För att få underlag till utvecklingen av verktygen har en förstudie genomförts där designprocess, hållbar utveckling, förpackning och matsvinn studerats. Förstudien har följts av en analys för att kartlägga var i produktutvecklingsprocessen verktyg för hållbar utveckling saknas. Detta för att identifiera faser med behov av fler hjälpmedel och resurser. Vidare har de olika faserna studerats mer ingående och det har lett fram till det slutliga resultatet bestående av verktygsmallar och riktlinjer för funktionsanalys, kvalitetshus och Pugh’s metod för reducerat matsvinn. För att sätta den centrala delen, kvalitetshusmallen, i ett verklighetsperspektiv har ett test utförts. Objektet för testet är tre olika varianter av mjölkförpackningar. Verktygen är ämnade till förpackningsdesigners och förpackningsteknologer för att underlätta deras arbete och vägval mot mer hållbara lösningar genom ett minskat produktsvinn. Att verktygen är enkla och användarvänliga är ett mål och en förutsättning för att de ska komma till användning. / This report covers a process that has aimed to contribute with tools for development of sustainable packaging solutions. The project has been implemented as a Bachelor thesis for the programme in  innovation and design engineering at the faculty of health, science and technology at Karlstad university. The project has been carried out with support from Helén Williams, researcher of  environmental and energy systems. Today there is a lack of methods and tools for developing sustainable packaging solutions, in which food waste is taken in as an aspect. A set of three tools has therefore been elaborated from existing methods. The set can be applied in the designprocess of sustainable packaging solutions to achieve reduced food waste and environmental impact. The feasibility study of the project has aimed to provide information for support and included the keywords: design process, sustainable development, packaging and food waste. After the feasibility study, an analysis has been made. The intention has been to map where tools for sustainable development are missing. This would help to identify the phases of the design process with extra need of methods and tools. The analysis has given an opportunity to study the selected phases more thoroughly. That has led to the final result consisting of templates and guidelines for function analysis, QFD and Pugh’s method for reduced food waste. A test has been performed to put the central part, the QFD-template, into a reality perspective. The objects for the test consists of three types of milk packages. The tools are aimed to be used by package designers and packages technologists to facilitate their work and decisions to more sustainable solutions through reduced product waste. The goal and the prerequisite are that the tools should be easy and user friendly. If not there is a risk that they might not be used.