Design idea generation is a significant part of a designer’s work and most frequently associated with creative problem solving. However, an outstanding challenge in design is translating empirical findings into ideas or knowledge that inform design, also known as generating implications for design. Though great efforts have been made to bridge this gap, there is still no overall consensus on how best to incorporate fieldwork data into the design idea generation process. The generation of design ideas is a process that is rooted in individual knowledge and is often considered a precedent-based type of reasoning, where knowledge is continuously transformed to produce new knowledge and this creative leap across the divide is very difficult. And it is believed that designers could potentially benefit from external stimuli that would provide a starting point or trigger and make the ideas generation more efficient. Most researchers have examined when and what type of stimuli designers used to support design idea generation. Nevertheless, it is still not clear how the different types of stimuli are retrieved and transformed during idea generation phases, and the knowledge transformation during this phases need to be clarified. In order to resolve this issue I conduct an open-ended semi-structured qualitative interview to learn about student and professional designers’ knowledge on how they select stimuli and transform it into design ideas, then compare with professor’s opinions. The interview would be conducted in terms of one-on-one face to face or online interview depending on the availability and accessibility of the interview respondents which would be audio recorded. Knowing more about how different designers, especially professional designers, to retrieve and transform preferred stimuli into ideas, and the design thinking involved in the process, is a significant step towards investigating the influence of stimuli during idea generation. Ultimately, I intend to build a general mechanism for designers to conduct an appropriate selection of functionally useful stimuli to transfer empirical findings to knowledge that inform design. The results try to help professional designers get more scientific structure, give student designers Visual Knowledge Media more practical guidance, but also help design education refine design idea generation methods and improve resulting techniques to discover a dynamic balance among theory and practice.

Generativ AI är ett fenomen som har blivit populärt under de senaste åren vilket har medfört utvecklingen av AI-verktyg. Dessa verktyg kan lösa specifika lösningar inom olika fält inklusive inom UX-design. Där en ny aspekt av Mänsklig-Dator-Interaktion (MDI) har utvecklats mot Människa-AI-Interaktion (MAII). Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka UX-designers användning av AI-verktyg inom skissandet. Studien genomfördes med sju semistrukturerade intervjuer och en tematisk analys. Resultatet presenterar respondenternas perspektiv och tankar kring tillämpningen av de AI-verktyg som används idag. Alla respondenter är överens om att användningen av AI-verktyg gjorde att arbetet blev mer effektivt. Begränsningarna alternativt utmaningarna var att företag bör överväga att införa en tydlig AI-policy för att säkerställa att AI-verktyg används säkert och ansvarsfullt. Studien avslutas med att en stor vikt läggs på mänsklig kreativitet och förståelse för användarens behov är en viktig del gällande användning av AI-verktyg. / Generative AI is a phenomenon that has become popular in recent years, leading to the development of AI tools. These tools can solve specific problems in various fields, including UX design. This has led to the development of a new aspect of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) towards Human-AI Interaction (HAII). The purpose of this study is to investigate UX designers' use of AI tools in sketching. The study was conducted with seven semi-structured interviews and a thematic analysis. The results present the respondents' perspectives and thoughts on the application of the AI tools used today. All respondents agree that using AI tools made their work more efficient. Limitations or challenges were that companies should consider implementing a clear AI policy to ensure that AI tools are used safely and responsibly. The study concludes that a great deal of emphasis is placed on human creativity and understanding the needs of the user is an important part of using AI tools.

Influencée par la complexité des projets de design, la pratique du designer change. Cette dernière a évolué d’une approche plutôt intuitive, à une production industrialisée, jusqu’à des pratiques très sociales, notamment participatives, favorisant la prise de décisions démocratiques et l’engagement actif de non-experts. Dans ce contexte, le designer prend de nouveaux rôles et crée de nouvelles méthodes en vue d’impliquer des acteurs variés dans les projets. Or, dans cet exercice, la mobilisation de non-experts soulève divers enjeux relatifs à leur encadrement et participation. Ainsi, malgré l’expertise que l’on reconnaît au designer pour aborder des situations mal définies, faciliter la collaboration et co-construire des solutions, l’implication des non-experts doit être faite de façon réfléchie. Cette problématique nous incite à interroger de quelles manières le designer conduit-il le projet de design lorsque celui-ci est abordé selon une approche participative ? En posant cette question, nous espérons amener les praticiens à s’intéresser à leur rôle, au moment même où leur pratique se construit. Pour atteindre cet objectif, nous avons défini l’approche participative avec ses principes guides et fondements théoriques. Ensuite, nous avons mobilisé le modèle de l’Éclipse de l’objet (Findeli et Bousbaci, 2005) pour définir la pratique du projet de design. L’étude du modèle a permis de mieux saisir qui sont les acteurs du projet de design et les expériences qu’ils tirent de ce contexte. Une collecte de données organisée autour d’une revue intensive de la littérature a permis de brosser le portrait de la pratique participative du designer. Pour interpréter les données tirées de cette revue, le modèle de l’éclipse de l’objet a été mobilisé. Ainsi, des thèmes dominants concernant les acteurs experts et non-experts des approches participatives ont pu être extraits. Leur analyse a permis de formuler des constats quant aux rôles, aux postures et aux responsabilités des différents acteurs ainsi qu’à leurs dynamiques sociales et aux bagages de chacun. L’ensemble de la recherche nous fournit une meilleure compréhension des manières avec lesquelles le designer développe le projet de design selon une approche participative. / Influenced by the growing complexity of design projects, the designer’s practice is evolving. What used to be a more intuitive approach has progressed to industrialized production, and highly social practices, including participatory approaches, which favour democratic decision making and active involvement from non-experts. In that context, designers are taking on new roles and developing novel methods to engage various players. Involving non-experts, however, is bringing forward a range of issues surrounding their supervision and participation. Notwithstanding a designer’s recognized expertise addressing wicked situations, facilitating collaboration and building solutions with others, involving non-experts must be done thoughtfully. This issue prompts the question: in what ways does a designer navigate a design project when a participatory approach is taken? In examining this, the goal is to encourage practitioners to consider their role as they are building their practice. Achieving this has involved establishing what constitutes a participatory approach and defining its guiding principles and theoretical foundations, as well as leveraging the Eclipse of the object (Findeli & Bousbaci, 2005) model to define design project practice. Study of this model has allowed for a better understanding of the actors involved in a design project and of the experience they gain from contributing. Data collection organized around a scoping review has also helped provide an overview of a designer’s participatory practice, using the Eclipse of the object model to interpret the information gathered and extract overarching themes related to participatory approach experts and non-experts. Analysis of this data has helped draw conclusions regarding the role, position, responsibilities, social dynamics, and experiences of various actors. This research, as a whole, unlocks a deeper understanding of the ways in which a designer develops a design project using a participatory approach.

Direct drive Permanent Magnet Linear Generators (PMLGs) are used in energy converters for energy harvesting from marine waves. Greater reliability and simplicity can be achieved for Wave Energy Converters (WECs), by using direct drive machines linked to the power take-off device, in comparison with WECs using rotational generators combined with hydraulic or mechanical interfaces to convert linear to rotational torque. However, owing to the relatively low velocities of marine waves and the desire for significant energy harvesting by each individual unit, direct drive PMLGs share large permanent magnet volumes and hence, high magnetic forces. Such forces can generate vibrations and reduce the lifetime of the bearings significantly, which is leading to an increase in maintenance costs of WECs. Additionally, a power electronics converter is required to integrate the generator‘s electrical output to meet the requirements for connection to the national grid. This thesis is concerned mainly with the fundamental investigation into the use PMLGs for direct drive WECs. Attention is focused on developing several new designs based on tubular long stator windings topologies and optimisation for flat PMLGs. The designs are simulated as air- and iron-cored machines by means of Finite Element Analysis (FEA). Furthermore, a new power electronics control system is proposed to convert the electrical output of the long stator generators. Various wave energy-harvesting technologies have been reviewed and it has been found that permanent magnet linear machines demonstrate great potential for integration in WECs. The main reason is the strong exaltation flux provided by the high number of permanent magnets. Such flux, combined with design simplicity, can deliver high induced voltage as well as structural integrity. In the thesis, a flat single and double structured iron-cored PMLG is studied and optimised. Several magnetic force mitigation techniques are investigated and an optimisation is conducted. The optimisation is concerned mainly with increasing electrical output power and reducing the magnetic forces in the generators. As a result, an optimal design introducing the idea of separated magnetic cores has been proposed. The FEA simulations reveal that magnetic separation in the yoke can increase significantly the energy-harvesting capability of PMLGs. Furthermore, the concept of the design of long stator windings for tubular PMLGs is studied. Two long stator generators having different magnetisation topologies and similar sizes to existing machine are modelled and compared to the existing machine. The similar-sized existing and proposed PMLGs are simulated by FEA. In this way, settings such as different boundary conditions, symmetry boundaries and material properties are used to gain confidence in the simulated results of the proposed machines. Moreover, the simulated results for the existing PMLG are verified against previously performed numerical simulations and practical tests delivered and published as part of other research. The outcome for the proposed PMLGs reveals several advantages for the long stator design, such as lower cogging forces and higher energy harvesting and a lower price of the raw structural materials. Additionally, the thesis proposes and simulates a new design for an air-cored PMLG. To boost the output power, the proposed design is based on a long stator topology adopting two sets of permanent magnet rings sandwiching copper windings in a tubular structure. The design is compared with a current machine in FEA and the results show significant reduction in radial forces and an increase in energy harvesting. Finally, a novel power electronics control system, bypassing inactive coils is suggested and simulated as part of the grid integration system for the long stator PMLGs. The new system achieves a reduction in the thermal losses in the power electronics switches in comparison with existing systems. The power electronics system and the generator have been simulated in Matlab coupled externally with FEA (JMAG Designer).

With the continuous development in computer and communications technology the use of computer aided design in design processes is becoming more commonplace. A wide range of virtual prototyping technologies are currently in development, some of which are commercially viable for use within a product design process. These virtual prototyping technologies range from graphics tablets to haptic devices. With the compression of design cycles the feasibility of using these technologies for product evaluation is becoming an ever more important consideration. This thesis begins by presenting the findings of a comprehensive literature review defining product design with a focus on product evaluation and a discussion of current virtual prototyping technologies. From the literature review it was clear that user involvement in the product evaluation process is critical. The literature review was followed by a series of interconnected studies starting with an investigation into design consultancies' access and use of prototyping technologies and their evaluation methods. Although design consultancies are already using photo-realistic renderings, animations and sometimes 3600 view CAD models for their virtual product evaluations, current virtual prototyping hardware and software is often unsatisfactory for their needs. Some emergent technologies such as haptic interfaces are currently not commonly used in industry. This study was followed by an investigation into users' psychological acceptance and physiological discomfort when using a variety of virtual prototyping tools for product evaluation compared with using physical prototypes, ranging from on-screen photo-realistic renderings to 3D 3600 view models developed using a range of design software. The third study then went on to explore the feasibility of using these virtual prototyping tools and the effect on product preference when compared to using physical prototypes. The forth study looked at the designer's requirements for current and future virtual prototyping tools, design tools and evaluation methods. In the final chapters of the thesis the relative strengths and weaknesses of these technologies were re-evaluated and a definitive set of user requirements based on the documentary evidence of the previous studies was produced. This was followed by the development of a speculative series of scenarios for the next generation of virtual prototyping technologies ranging from improvements to existing technologies through to blue sky concepts. These scenarios were then evaluated by designers and consumers to produce documentary evidence and recommendations for preferred and suitable combinations of virtual prototyping technologies. Such hardware and software will require a user interface that is intuitive, simple, easy to use and suitable for both the designers who create the virtual prototypes and the consumers who evaluate them.

<p>The subject of the present thesis is theoretical first principles electronic structure calculations on designer hard materials such as the transition metal carbides and oxides. The theoretical investigations have been made in close collaboration with experimental research and have addressed both bulk electronic properties and surface electronic properties of the materials.</p><p>Among the bulk studies are investigations on the effects of substoichiometry on the relative phase stabilities and the electronic structure of several phases of MoC and the nature of the resulting vacancy peaks. The changes in phase stabilities and homo-geneity ranges in the group IV to VI transition metal carbides have been studied and explained, from calculations of the T=0 energies of formation and cohesive energies. The anomalous volume behavior and phase stabilities in substoichiometric TiC was studied including effects of local relaxations around the vacancy sites. The vacancy ordering problem in this compound was also studied by a combination of electronic structure calculations and statistical physics.</p><p>The studies of the surface electronic properties include research on the surface energies and work functions of the transition metal carbides and an investigation on the segregation of transition metal impurities on the TiC (100) surface.</p><p>Theoretical studies with the aim to facilitate the realization of novel designer hard materials were made, among these a survey of means of stabilizing potentially super-hard cubic RuO₂, studying the effects of alloying, substoichiometry and lattice strains. A mechanism for enhancing hardness in the industrially important hard transition metal carbides and nitrides, from the discovery of multi-phase/polytypic alloys, has also been predicted from theoretical calculations.</p>

The subject of the present thesis is theoretical first principles electronic structure calculations on designer hard materials such as the transition metal carbides and oxides. The theoretical investigations have been made in close collaboration with experimental research and have addressed both bulk electronic properties and surface electronic properties of the materials. Among the bulk studies are investigations on the effects of substoichiometry on the relative phase stabilities and the electronic structure of several phases of MoC and the nature of the resulting vacancy peaks. The changes in phase stabilities and homo-geneity ranges in the group IV to VI transition metal carbides have been studied and explained, from calculations of the T=0 energies of formation and cohesive energies. The anomalous volume behavior and phase stabilities in substoichiometric TiC was studied including effects of local relaxations around the vacancy sites. The vacancy ordering problem in this compound was also studied by a combination of electronic structure calculations and statistical physics. The studies of the surface electronic properties include research on the surface energies and work functions of the transition metal carbides and an investigation on the segregation of transition metal impurities on the TiC (100) surface. Theoretical studies with the aim to facilitate the realization of novel designer hard materials were made, among these a survey of means of stabilizing potentially super-hard cubic RuO2, studying the effects of alloying, substoichiometry and lattice strains. A mechanism for enhancing hardness in the industrially important hard transition metal carbides and nitrides, from the discovery of multi-phase/polytypic alloys, has also been predicted from theoretical calculations.

In this bachelor thesis we have studied how interaction designers describe their profession. The research material is based on nine interviews with interaction designers. Questions cover areas such as interaction design tasks, what abilities they consider important, how they describe their relationship to the users, and cooperation with colleagues. We have analyzed the results using key terms such as habitus, field, and capital, as described by sociologist Pierre Bourdieu. The interviewees express humanistic views, and ask for more cooperation between interaction designers, as well as other people within the field of IT production. We suggest possible solutions, like design patterns, with the goal of sharing knowledge within the IT field.

The thesis aims to observe the industrial design profession and to study the role of industrial designer in Turkish industry. Through an electronic questionnaire investigating the manufacturers&rsquo / and designers&rsquo / opinions about how industrial design practice is perceived and how industrial designers are utilized in Turkey it was possible to examine the current roles of industrial designers and to evaluate the status of industrial design profession. The survey also investigated how the industrial designer or the design team is situated in new product development process, and in the corporate hierarchy, what kind of investments have been made in the last decades by manufacturers in Turkey on industrial design.

This study argues that including aspects of user experience relevant to the user's knowledge of a product's context-of-use in the early stages of product design can enhance the design of product usability. To explore these issues, research was undertaken to respond to three research questions: (i) What aspects of user experience influence people's understanding of product usability? (ii) What is the nature of the differences between users' and designers' understandings of product usability? (iii) How can context-of-use and human experience enhance the design of product usability? Findings from the study have shown that experience, context-of-use and knowledge about a product's usability are interrelated. Conceptual principles and design principles were established based on findings to explain (i) the relationships between aspects of experience and areas of product usability and (ii) differences between designers' and users' concepts of product usability. These principles responded to the first two research questions. Causal relationships found between experience and product usability suggested the need to implement them in an accessible manner for a product design process. A design tool -- named the Experience and Context Enquiry Design Tool (ECEDT) -- was devised to exemplify the implementation of findings. A trial run verified that the type of information that ECEDT brings to designers could assist them to address usability and experience issues during the early stages of the design process. This result responded to the third research question of the study. This study's conceptual principles and design principles contribute new knowledge to design theory and practice. This knowledge contributes to design theory in providing greater detail about the differences between designers and users than that addressed by existing theory; it contributes to design practice as it informs designers about the aspects of human experience that prompt users' understanding of a product's use. In doing so, it can potentially assist in the design of products that embed new technological applications, and support the design of product usability.