Colour is a basic aspect of perception and the perception of colour varies from individual to individual. This indicates that the perception of colours mean different semantics in various contexts to different individuals. Therefore, these differences in perception forms to behave in different attitudes towards colours among individuals and it is likely to achieve different attitudinal responses to colours from individuals. Relying on the effects of colours on individuals, the initial interest of this thesis is to explore the attitudinal approaches of individuals to colours. This thesis is first and foremost exploratory in nature. This thesis intended as a first step towards exploring the ways in which the individuals think of, construe and give meaning to colours in their own words. The subjective approach proposed in terms of this thesis is based on the underlying philosophy behind Personal Construct Theory (PCT). In order to elicit the individuals&rsquo / ways of construing and giving meaning to colours in their own words, an experiment was conducted with the utilisation of the Repertory Grid Technique (RGT). Sixty undergraduate students of Middle East Technical University (METU) Faculty of Architecture were voluntarily participated in the experiment. As a stimuli, eleven basic colours which were black, grey, white, yellow, orange, red, pink, purple, brown, blue and green were utilised. For the second step, this thesis intended investigating the structure and interrelations between the elicited attitudes of individuals and eleven basic colours. As a result of the experiment, 60 repertory grids were elicited and were analysed by using the qualitative and quantitative applications of content analysis. The resulted data afterwards were analysed by using multivariate statistical analysis methods. The overall results of this research can support certain information for further scientific investigations on colour perception and colour psychology. Additionally, the results of this research can help and guide designers to attain objective understandings about the individuals&rsquo / attitudes to colours. This can contribute to designers as a practical worthwhile during colour design and colour planning in their products and services.

Colour is a basic aspect of perception and the perception of colour varies from individual to individual. This indicates that the perception of colours mean different semantics in various contexts to different individuals. Therefore, these differences in perception forms to behave in different attitudes towards colours among individuals and it is likely to achieve different attitudinal responses to colours from individuals. Relying on the effects of colours on individuals, the initial interest of this thesis is to explore the attitudinal approaches of individuals to colours. This thesis is first and foremost exploratory in nature. This thesis intended as a first step towards exploring the ways in which the individuals think of, construe and give meaning to colours in their own words. The subjective approach proposed in terms of this thesis is based on the underlying philosophy behind Personal Construct Theory (PCT). In order to elicit the individuals&rsquo / ways of construing and giving meaning to colours in their own words, an experiment was conducted with the utilisation of the Repertory Grid Technique (RGT). Sixty undergraduate students of Middle East Technical University (METU) Faculty of Architecture were voluntarily participated in the experiment. As a stimuli, eleven basic colours which were black, grey, white, yellow, orange, red, pink, purple, brown, blue and green were utilised. For the second step, this thesis intended investigating the structure and interrelations between the elicited attitudes of individuals and eleven basic colours. As a result of the experiment, 60 repertory grids were elicited and were analysed by using the qualitative and quantitative applications of content analysis. The resulted data afterwards were analysed by using multivariate statistical analysis methods. The overall results of this research can support certain information for further scientific investigations on colour perception and colour psychology. Additionally, the results of this research can help and guide designers to attain objective understandings about the individuals&rsquo / attitudes to colours. This can contribute to designers as a practical worthwhile during colour design and colour planning in their products and services.

Usability is regarded as one of the most important factors that consumers consider while purchasing products, however it is difficult to judge usability unless the user actually uses the product. Perceived usability is influential for consumers when identifying a product as usable and purchasing it. This study concentrates on the relationship between visual appeal and perceived usability especially for consumer products. The influence of visual appeal on perceived usability for consumer products is scrutinized through the findings of an empirical study besides a broad literature review. In the literature, there are many studies -mostly dealing with the HCI products- claiming that visual appeal affects users&rsquo / perceptions of usability. However, the empirical study results indicate that the relationship between visual appeal and perceived usability is not clear for consumer products as the relationship declared in the literature.

In recent years, the field of design has met new grounds with the growing awareness among design researchers of the potential relationships between cognitive studies of creativity and computational modeling. The turn of the studies has given rise to the emergence of a new paradigm of modeling and understanding mental processes in creative design. This study tries to gain further insight into the creative occurrence by blending virtual experiences with designer actions in a model of creative thinking in concept generation phase based on the Geneplore Model by Finke et al. (1995) and supported by analogy construction incorporating the implementation of a computer based tool (Black Box) running on PC platform as a potential immanent part of the concept generation phase. Black Box is devised in such a way that the core of the constructive process of the analogy relies on the designer&amp / #8217 / s expressional, perceptual and conceptual actions which are presented in the traditional methods of sketching and writing, whereas the change and expansion of the design space is realized through the virtual worlds the tool offers via the computer screen. The research method is based on the development of Black Box tool and its subsequent implementation in a study with eight experienced design consultants, utilizing a procedure composed of preliminary interview, observational protocol analysis, questionnaire and retrospective interview. Through encoding actions of individual designers by means of their maps in the computational tool, the study yields significant results in revealing differing thinking maps of different designers which have been used to propose a general creative thinking map of concept generation in Black Box presented in a way to be adapted for further studies. Moreover, the study provided insight on the methods used to assist creativity in concept generation by different designers, on the selection of inspirational material and on the integration of analogies as knowledge transformers to evoke design concepts.

The play materials designed for special education are commonly used by children with various disabilities. This study overviews these materials from the perspectives of special needs, special user groups and special education. Furthermore, the effects of different disabilities on the interactions of the children with the same toys are investigated, within the light of those special cases. The base of the study is constructed with a literature review on toys, play and special education, followed by observations that are performed in a special education centre with six subjects having different disabilities, namely Rett&rsquo / s syndrome, mental retardation, hyperactivity, Down&rsquo / s syndrome, cerebral palsy and autism. The study is concluded with compared results of the observations and design implications derived from the interactions between the toys and children.

User experience (UX) is a multi-dimensional user-product interaction involving positive and emotional usage. Fun experience is a component of UX which maintains distinctive dimensions. In this study these dimensions of the fun concept, namely the nature of the experience, the qualities of products that take place in the experience, and the emotional content of the fun experiences are investigated. The thesis is supported by arguments collected from the literature and the data from two empirical studies.

Product experience is a multi&amp / #8208 / dimensional user&amp / #8208 / product interaction, which includes the user&rsquo / s emotional aspects. Emotional experience is a component of product experience which comprises the emotions elicited by the brands and products of the brand. This study investigates the relationship between brand and product emotions and the qualities of products that evoke these emotions. The presented study was mainly based on literature review and empirical study. First, psychological background of emotions was reviewed to explain the process underlying these emotions. Then, emotions of users were investigated from design and marketing perspectives. The literature review was then supported by the data collected through the findings of the empirical study. The empirical study aimed at examining the relationship between emotions of users, product qualities and brand of the product. One product of five different brands were shown to the participants and each participant was asked to rate their emotions. Each participant was shown one set of products (i.e. iron), and each set was consisted of original (O), mixed (M) brand names or no brand name (N). The results of 105 participants were evaluated using statistical analyses and content analyses methods. The data analyses were undertaken separately for each of the product groups, with the findings for each group then being cross&amp / #8208 / compared using SPSS software. The aim was to elicit information on possible relations between brands that form certain impressions of, and emotions towards products bearing their brand name, plus the change in negative/positive emotions associated with each iron across the three groups. The results give valuable insights into the practical impact of branding, product identity and product emotions. The study also extends the understanding of how branding affects people&rsquo / s emotional responses to consumer products.

Although, the literature reveals that coach interior designs have been emphasized as an important factor determining their competitiveness in the market and the quality of an interior design can be effectively improved by using information about passenger expectations, few practical studies exist to assess the urban railway transport interiors from the passengers&rsquo / perspective. Consequently, designers lack reliable criteria to guide their decisions which would satisfy users. In this study, it is intended to develop a procedure to create interior design alternatives of urban railway transportation vehicles with regard to subjective needs and preferences of users. In order to acquire design criteria and recommendations for such interiors, the design alternatives are then evaluated quantitatively through the medium of semantic assessment tools. The thesis is supported with the arguments collected from literature and with the data from three empirical studies.

In this study, semi-structured interviews adopted from repertory grid studies are conducted with ten 5-year-old preschool children, during which children are asked to evaluate four types of construction play materials and four types of metallophones.In the study, the important design attributes of these two types of play materials preferred by preschool children are analyzed by gathering their own evaluation criteria. Based on the interview data, children&rsquo / s preferences, evaluation criteria and the reasons behind their preferences are tried to be identified. The results of the study show that, children evaluated construction play materials considering method of construction, form of the pieces, color, size, types of pieces, types of constructions, ease of construction and material. Children evaluated metallophones considering color, placement of the keys, sound, being in the openbeing closed, form, size, storage of the mallets, weight, size of the mallets, form of the keys, coding, number of mallets, number of keys, height and material. The study also includes the analysis of the relationships between children&rsquo / s evaluation criteria for each product group and comparison of the evaluation criteria related to construction play materials and metallophones.

Exhibitions have played a significant role within the dynamics that have been effective in the development of industrial design in the West. Similarly, exhibitions have recently become a significant issue in the history of industrial design in Turkey. This study first looks into the exhibitions in the West and the dynamics that have been effective behind them, and draws an analytical framework accordingly, then presents the historical development of industrial design in Turkey. Through the key factors that have been effective in the development of industrial design in Turkey, this study aims to analyze the relationship between design exhibitions and the development of industrial design in Turkey.