In Taiwan, even though we have sets of desks and chairs in different sizes for school children, due to the inconsistency of purchases and the number of students in the year, many students did not have the opportunity to use desks and chairs that fit their height. In such an environment, students have incorrect postures, cannot concentrate in class, and begin to neglect or even destroy the tables and chairs they use. In this project, I designed the furniture to be adjustable in height. It solves the inconvenience of school procurement and provides students with a more comfortable learning environment. Besides, I also introduced the concept of "Wood education" to cultivate students' understanding of Taiwan's native natural resources and develop the feeling of cherishing the furniture that students use from assembling their wooden furniture.

The digital world is constantly growing. This contributes to increasing expectations and demands in the technical aspect. Digitization is powerful, but it further contributes to a number of challenges, such as the coordination of physical and digital stores. During the corona pandemic, the digital transformation has accelerated for companies to adapt to customers. Therefore, the purpose of the research is to understand how swedish retailers can manage technological touchpoints in customer journeys in the furniture sector. Further the purpose is to investigate how retailers can use technological touchpoints to change the quality and customer engagement in the customer journey.  To be able to answer the empirical findings, six semi-structured interviews were obtained through a multiple case study. The theory from previous research and the empirical results were then discussed in the analysis. The conclusion of the thesis resulted in the management of digital touchpoints is different depending on whether it concerns companies using physical stores or e-commerce. This thesis has identified that retailers in the furniture sector manage technological touchpoints to create a seamless customer experience, increase customer satisfaction, more easily engage customers and to be able to integrate with customers in several ways. Digital touchpoints have made it easier for companies to measure results and to be able to improve the customer journey. One identification was that customer engagement has increased in relation to the increased digitalization, but also that the researched companies believe that digitization is vital for increasing customer engagement. Due to the technology, opportunities are created to be able to develop the quality of the customer journey. Further, by being able to measure the customer journey, the companies gain an insight into what should be constantly improved.

This survey-based study aimed to find out how to reduce speaking anxiety amongst second-language students attending two different upper secondary schools in Halmstad, Sweden. The survey participants were in their first and second years of upper secondary school and attending English 5 and 6 courses. The survey participants were asked to complete two online-surveys. The first survey dealt with measuring if the participants felt anxious while speaking English in class and what they considered was the most conducive way to alleviate anxiety when working with communicative exercises. After compiling the data from the first survey, it was found that the survey participants thought that working in groups would alleviate speaking anxiety the most. Following this, lessons were created where the classroom furniture was rearranged in order to promote group discussions. Subsequently, the survey participants completed the second survey, the purpose of which was to measure how they felt the group discussions went, and if they thought it helped them reduce their speaking anxiety. The results showed that the majority of the survey participants felt that group discussions made them less apprehensive about how their peers would perceive their speaking abilities. Interestingly, the results also showed that even though most of the survey participants felt that they had good English skills, they were still concerned about not being able to perform communicative tasks without inhibition. The results demonstrated that when the furniture was rearranged to suit classroom group-work, students were less worried about how they were being perceived as English speakers, leading them to feel more secure. Additionally, they became more motivated to speak English.

In today's dynamic business landscape, companies are constantly exposed to a multitude of challenges and uncertainties that can significantly impact their operations and performance. Inflation, a worldwide pandemic, supply chain disruptions, and rising costs are just a few of the disruptive events that have occurred during the last few years. This thesis investigates the effects of inflation and uncertainties on companies operating in the furniture industry. This thesis adopts a qualitative research approach as its methodological foundation. A comprehensive review of relevant literature and studies pertaining to the subject matter is conducted. To supplement the theoretical insights, empirical data is collected through semi-structured interviews conducted with five company cases. The data collected from these interviews serves as the basis for the development of three key themes: Macroeconomics, export, and crisis management. These themes are consistently woven throughout the thesis, providing a coherent narrative for the reader. This thesis concludes that in times of uncertainties, global furniture export companies have diversified suppliers and markets, managed resources effectively, implemented proactive risk management, and cultivated strong relationships. Prioritizing crisis management, monitoring macroeconomic factors, and optimizing strategic resources have all been key for enhancing resilience and competitiveness in this industry and allows the industry to grow and advance, as in the face of adversity it becomes evident that in the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.

När någon blir sjuk händer något i kroppen som vi till en början inte kan se. Något främmande börjar växa och det sjuka vill sakta men säkert ta över det friska. I de fall vi inte kan stoppa det sjuka, växer det och tar över tills inget av det friska längre orkar leva kvar. Det här projektet handlar om ett sätt att illustrera ett förlopp av den mänskliga skörheten och hur det kan gå till med en inredningsarkitekt och möbeldesigners verktyg. Möbeln har blivit en metafor för kroppen och det sjuka och det friska symboliseras av två olika material, trä och metall. Bit för bit sker en visuell förändring där det ena materialet stilla ersätter det andra. I projektet har jag som inredningsarkitekt och möbeldesigner undersökt materialmöten, förlopp och hur en serie möbler kan berätta en historia. Jag har använt mig av en metod som jag har utvecklat under arbetets gång, där jag utan att fokusera på resultatet, gång på gång låtit ett material ta över ett annat och utgått ifrån ett objekt för att sedan göra små förskjutningar och förändringar för varje ny möbel jag bygger. Med den här metoden har resultatet inte varit det viktiga utan processen i sig. Att arbeta iterativt genom att gång på gång låta ett material ta över ett annat i en experimentell process har gjort att jag kunnat släppa fokus på resultatet och istället kunnat arbeta fritt i en kreativ process. / When someone gets sick, something happens in the body that we can't see at first. Something foreign starts to grow and the sick wants to slowly but surely take over the healthy. In cases where we cannot stop the sick, it grows and takes over until none of the healthy can survive. This project is about a way to illustrate a course of human frailty and how it can be done with the tools of an interior designer and furniture designer. The furniture has become a metaphor for the body and the sick and the healthy are symbolized by two different materials, wood and metal. Piece by piece, a visual change takes place where one material quietly replaces the other. In the project, as an interior architect and furniture designer, I have investigated material meetings, processes and how a series of furniture can tell a story. I have used a method that I have developed during the work, where without focusing on the result, time and time again I let one material take over another and started from an object and then make small shifts and changes for each new piece of furniture I'm building. With this method, the result has not been the important thing, but the process itself. Working iteratively by repeatedly letting one material take over another in an experimental process has allowed me to let go of the focus on the result and instead work freely in a creative process.

Today there are two main ways of shopping; on a website or in a physical store, and each of them comes with its own benefits and downsides. A prototype for a store in virtual reality (VR) was created to take advantage of the unique aspects of VR, it created a shopping experience that is an improvement over web stores and has some advantages over physical stores too. According to studies done regarding visual search, 3D information such as stereoscopy can make visual search easier. This is something that was taken advantage of when creating the prototype for this work, by implementing a unique navigation and product search system. The furniture are displayed in virtual miniature showrooms, which the user can transport themselves into. By selecting a piece of furniture, alternative furniture are displayed in a grid, which can be selected to swap out the previously selected piece of furniture. This means that the user can inspect each piece of furniture in a realistic setting and scale. The grid also can be used to visualize information depending on two parameters. By taking advantage of the third dimension in VR, the value based on these parameters is visualized by the placement in height of each piece of furniture. The testing compared this VR prototype to the IKEA web store, by having the test subjects do three tasks in both mediums. Data was collected by using a questionnaire and a SAM scale. The VR store had a significantly higher valence compared to the web store, and most test subjects responded that it was likely that they would consider using a VR store over a web store. From this, it can be concluded that the VR store had an enhanced user experience compared to the web store. It was not possible to draw any conclusions regarding visual search when comparing the VR store and the web store, because the results were not conclusive enough. The test subjects found it easier to make decisions in the VR store, especially when using two parameters. This work has shown that a VR store can be created which is preferable to a web store in many ways. It can be more fun and engaging, and enable things that are only possible in VR, like sorting in three dimensions. It can also successfully incorporate some of the best qualities of retail stores, like the physical inspection of products.

This thesis provides insight to the dynamics that come with the emergence of IoT in the furniture and kitchen manufacturing industry. The study is empirically grounded in an explorative case study that involves interviews with six manufacturing companies in the different industry sectors. The purpose has been to shed light on how incumbent companies adapt and implement IoT and the study highlight product features, aspects and challenges that companies are investigating and dealing with as they set out to work with IoT and connected products. The results indicate that companies are viewing IoT as an enabler that better can respond to customer needs and provide users with new experiences. By implementing the concept of IoT companies are currently evaluating how internal knowledge and skillsets correspond to the new technical requirements that the emerging digital setting outlines and by directing internal research they are learning more about IoT and connected products as they proceed. One current major problem is that there are no open protocols that can connect all products regardless of supplier. Nevertheless, implementation of IoT does not solely involve technical aspects and companies are also faced with the dilemma on how to design and develop corresponding commercial processes. To this point early product implementations have arrived on the consumer markets and the future vision is to achieve full integration that imbeds connectivity and interaction among all products in the home.

Syftet med denna forskning är att få en bättre förståelse för de faktorer som påverkar konsumenternas beslutsfattande vid köp av möbler och hur Omni - kanaler och teknologiska innovationer kan bidra till möbelindustrin och hur det påverkar de olika marknadsföringskanalerna och hur det i slutändan kan förändra upplevelsen för kunden. Den teori som har använts i denna studie omfattar områdena Omni  kanaler, marknadsföring och detaljhandel, allmän detaljhandel och dess kundupplevelse , beslut och konsumentbeteende vid köp av möbler, hur sociala medier påverkar marknadsföringen och teknologiska innovationer inom möbelindustrin. För att förstå hur omni-kanaler och teknologiska innovationer kan ändra kundupplevelsen och marknadsföringskanalerna för möbler, har tre semistrukturerade intervjuer och en undersökning gjorts. Resultatet av denna forskning kommer fram till att ha en teknikbaserad innovation som t.ex. InsideMaps gör köpupplevelsen mer fördelaktigt för både hedoniska och utilitaristiska konsumenter samt skiftar marknadsföringskanalerna åt mer direkt försäljning över Internet . Med hjälp av Internet, kan tillverkaren / återförsäljaren utvidga sitt varumärke till fler människor . Detta beror på det faktum att det blir lättare för kunderna att köpa möbler då de kan visualisera de möbler de köper innan och hur de skulle se ut i sitt eget hem . Men för att detta ska fungera på ett bra sätt är det viktigt att användarupplevelsen är bra. Genom att använda en teknikbaserad innovation kommer även leda till att en tillverkares - återförsäljares Omni - kanal och marknadsföring blir starkare, eftersom sådana innovationer stärker och ger en konkurrensfördel gentemot andra tillverkare - återförsäljare. / The objective of this research is to gain a better understanding of the factors involved in consumer decision making for buying home furniture and how Omni-channel retailing and technology-based innovation can help this industry to enhance its marketing channels and how it ultimately change the retail experience for the customer. The theoretical framework that has been used in this study covers the areas of Omni-channel marketing and retailing, general retailing customer experience, decision and consumer behaviors in retail furniture settings, how social media influences marketing and technology-based innovations within the furniture industry. In order to understand how the retail experience and the marketing channels of furniture shopping change through Omni-channel retailing and the use of technology-based innovations, three semi-structured interviews and a survey were done. The results of this research concludes that having a technology-based innovation such as InsideMaps will make the shopping experience more beneficial for both hedonic and utilitarian shoppers as well as shifting the marketing channels to more direct selling over the Internet. With the help of Internet, producers/retailers can extend their brand to more people. This is due to the fact that it will be easier for customers to buy furniture as they can visualize the furniture they are buying and how they would look like in their own home. However, for this to work it is important that the user experience is good. By using a technology-based innovation will also make a producers-retailers Omnichannel marketing stronger, as such innovation strengthen and gives a competitive advantage over other producers-retailers that uses Omni-channel marketing.

Today's social climate and working environments expose us to excessive expectations and demands and more and more people are diagnosed with stress-related illnesses. My degree project is an investigation of poetic design, healing spaces and fatigue syndrome and the importance of adapted health care environments that strengthen treatment and recovery. My mother has fatigue syndrome, she has been ill for over six years, and she still has severe symptoms that probably never fully will go way. So, the purpose of this project is, on the one hand an attempt to get a deeper understanding of her situation, and on the other, to shed some light on this illness that is getting more and more common, especially amongst women. Research shows that spending time in nature has healing effects for those with mental illness. Using my definition of poetic design as a method, I have transposed qualities of nature into an indoor environment that reconnects to humans deep and genetic relationship to nature. I am proposing a new type of health care space with a much-needed holistic approach. Focus is on treatments such as mindfulness, basal body awareness and yin yoga as well as different kinds of therapy and activities in a space close to nature. A holistic space including a garden, an indoor space and a piece of furniture that are designed to respond to the non-measurable and invisible symptoms of fatigue syndrome.

Circular Economy has gained a lot of interest by academia as well as companies and policymakers. Sustainability goals of the European Union has mainly caused this acceleration. However, research argued that the true impact and scale of CE will only be realized when companies deploy Circular Business Models (CBMs) and Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies in a holistic manner to capture new growth opportunities while also strengthening their core business. Especially digital technologies are seen as one of the key enablers for that transition and have become a central topic within the CE research agenda. This research looked at the potential role Blockchain technology can play in the transition towards Circular Economy of the Swedish Furniture Industry based on the identified challenges it currently faces. Based on the combination of literature - and empirical research, there can be concluded that the role of Blockchain technology in the transformation towards CE in the Swedish Furniture Industry is less significant than first anticipated. Based on the empirical findings, there can be concluded that the key driver of Blockchain technology is an environment where there is a systemic lack of trust related to transactions and data between different parties. In such circumstances, Blockchain technology does imply significantly added value due to its inherent features of decentralization, irreversibility, and transparency without the need for intermediary third parties. Circular economy can be seen as an ecosystem that consist of a complex network with different actors that all need certain information to effectively participate. Based on this research, the prominent implication for Blockchain technology in the Swedish Furniture Industry has been found in the current discussed European Union Product Passport in combination with the chemical regulation. Blockchain technology could play a prominent role in the aftermarket by enabling trust, transparency, and irreversibility. In this way all actors in the Circular Economy can use and contribute to the data in a uniform manner. / Cirkulär ekonomi har rönt stort intresse inom den akademiska världen samt bland företag och beslutsfattare. Det är främst Europeiska unionens hållbarhetsmål som har orsakat denna acceleration. Forskningen har dock visat att den verkliga effekten och omfattningen av den cirkulära ekonomin kommer att förverkligas först när företagen använder cirkulära affärsmodeller (CBM) och tekniker från den fjärde industriella revolutionen på ett holistiskt sätt för att ta tillvara nya tillväxtmöjligheter samtidigt som de stärker sin kärnverksamhet. Särskilt den digitala tekniken ses som en av de viktigaste faktorerna för denna övergång och har blivit en central fråga på forskningsagendan för CE. I denna forskning undersöktes vilken potentiell roll blockkedjetekniken kan spela i den svenska möbelindustrins övergång till cirkulär ekonomi utifrån de identifierade utmaningar som den för närvarande står inför. Baserat på kombinationen av litteratur - och empirisk forskning kan man dra slutsatsen att blockkedjeteknologins roll i omställningen till CE i den svenska möbelindustrin är mindre betydande än vad man först trodde. På grundval av de empiriska resultaten kan man dra slutsatsen att den viktigaste drivkraften för blockkedjetekniken är en miljö där det finns en systematisk brist på förtroende i samband med transaktioner och data mellan olika parter. Under sådana omständigheter innebär blockkedjetekniken ett betydande mervärde på grund av dess inneboende egenskaper i form av decentralisering, irreversibilitet och öppenhet utan behov av tredje part som mellanhand. Den cirkulära ekonomin kan ses som ett ekosystem som består av ett komplext nätverk med olika aktörer som alla behöver viss information för att effektivt kunna delta. Baserat på denna forskning har den framträdande implikationen för blockkedjetekniken i den svenska möbelindustrin hittats i det för närvarande diskuterade Europeiska unionens produktpass i kombination med kemikalieförordningen. Blockkedjetekniken skulle kunna spela en betydande roll för att möjliggöra förtroende, transparens och oåterkallelighet. På så sätt kan alla aktörer i den cirkulära ekonomin använda och bidra till data på ett enhetligt sätt.