A problem exists that many eco-friendly products on the market today are not widely accepted by consumers. Three pilot experiments were conducted to examine a few causes of poor eco-friendly product acceptance. The first two experiments involved the testing of alternative products to disposable plastic water bottles. Two hypotheses were developed- the attitude hypothesis and the user activity hypothesis. The attitude hypothesis states that a person with a positive environmental attitude will lead to better eco-friendly product recommendation and rating, greater product uses, and a greater chance of continued use. The user activity hypothesis states that a product with difficult set-up or cleaning will lead to a worse product recommendation and rating, fewer product uses, and a smaller chance of continued use. Participants took home a product to test for one week and then returned to complete two surveys- a demographics survey and a product evaluation survey. These surveys measured variables such as environmental attitude, product recommendation and rating, number of uses, continued use, and many others. The results of the experiments show a relation between environmental attitude and the participants’ future usage with the eco-friendly product. In addition, the data shows that difficulty of product set-up and cleaning relate to the users’ opinion of the product. Since this methodology of testing has not been documented before, the lessons learned from these pilot experiments will help to develop a framework for product testing with human ubjects. The third pilot experiment tests the design method of defaults, which may be a powerful tool when designing eco-friendly products. The theory behind the default option is that people typically choose the default setting on a product, regardless if it is the best option. This theory was tested with the use of automatic paper towel dispensers. The lengths of the paper towels that the machines dispensed were changed periodically and the paper towel usage was measured. The results from this experiment indicate that users obey the rule of defaults, unless their needs are not being met at an extreme level.

The levels of income and employment rates of people with disabilities are often lower than those without them. An effective way to free disabled people from these circumstances would be to design proper job accommodation for them. Ordinarily, physical conditions severely restrict their ability to carry out their work efficiently unless they have are provided with appropriately designed assistive technology (AT). However, due to the physical conditions unique to each disabled person, understanding the requirements of a disabled person is often a challenge to an AT designer. The aims of this research were to develop a design model for an empathy tool that would assist in the process of designing AT for job accommodation, and to explore the relationship between the use of empathy tools and the improvement of design elements in job accommodation AT. The design models employed were developed by analysing interviews with AT users and examining the results of observations and a literature review. The model was then used to build an empathy tool to be used in designing job accommodation AT for a selected subject; the empathy tools were used in a series of assessments of designer users. The results show that, when compared with tools used in traditional design briefs, empathy tools can successfully help designers to improve design elements in terms, respectively, of their understanding of users' physical abilities (22 per cent), work requirements (26.6 per cent), ergonomic requirements (22.8 per cent), and environment characteristics (21.4 per cent). Meanwhile, it is difficult for the tool to improve upon other design elements, about which one must learn by gaining design experience.

Sustainable approaches have been extensively proposed in product, process and system levels. However, a lack of applicable solutions for these methods is identified in the existing research. This research considers uncertainties affecting sustainable systems and comprehensively discusses the need for the optimal design in product and system levels under uncertainty. Based on the economic, social and environmental requirements of a sustainable product, and uncertainties in engineering systems, two innovative methods are proposed. The methods, including agent-based modeling (ABM) and Big Data, quantify effects of users’ preference changes as a significant uncertainty source in a product design process. The effect of quantified uncertainties on the product sustainability is then evaluated, and solutions to reduce the effects are developed. Through a novel control engineering method, uncertainties are modeled in the design process of a product. Using two mathematical models, the cost and environmental impacts in the design process are minimized under users’ preference changes. The models search for an optimal number of iterations in the design process to achieve a sustainable solution. The methods have been extended to model and optimize the sustainable system design under uncertainties. Design of Eco-Industrial Parks (EIPs) is a practical and scientific solution to achieve sustainable industries. To improve the feasibility of flow exchanges between industries in an EIP under several uncertainties, this research provides a perspective analysis for establishing flow exchanges between industries. The sources of uncertainties in the EIPs are then comprehensively studied, and research gaps are highlighted. Finally, models to optimize flow exchanges between industries are presented and the validity of models is evaluated using real data. A major is including all sustainability pillars in the proposed approach. The research addresses users’ preferences to highlight the role of individuals in the society. Moreover, the economic and environmental objective functions have been considered for optimal decision making in the design process. This research underlines the role of uncertainty studies in the sustainable system design. Multiple classifications, perspective analysis, and optimization objectives are presented to help decision makers with the optimal design of sustainable systems under uncertainties. / February 2017

The problem encountered in this study was threefold: 1. To analyze the field of engineering models used in design studies and identify and define the way in which they are applied to product development. 2. To determine the degree and extent of skills and knowledge necessary for constructing engineering models. 3. To compare the skills and knowledge associated with model building to course content offered in industrial arts.

A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Arts, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts May 2016 / The technology of 3-D Printing is afforded extensive coverage in the media. Discourses surrounding this technology are charged with ideas of revolutions in manufacturing, democratisation of technology, and the potential to change the face of consumption and production. This technology is being marketed to the consumer and hobbyist. The consumer-grade 3-D printer is a result of the labour of a loose-knit worldwide community of hobbyists known as the "Maker movement". This movement, a convergence of the traditional "Hacker" culture and Do It Yourself (DIY) is constructed around ideas of affective labour. That is, labour performed for the sole purpose of enjoyment of doing so, and for a sense of well-being and community. The explosion of "affordable" 3-D printing as a technology is a result of this affective labour, yet little mention is made of any forms of labour in popular media discourses surrounding this technology. In this paper I construct a history of the Maker movement while theorising the forms of labour inherent to this movement using the Autonomist Marxism of Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri as a framework. Then, working within the field of Cultural Studies, and drawing on Actor-Network Theory (ANT), I perform Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis (MCDA) on a small sample of texts to illustrate the occlusion and obfuscation of labour within these discourses of the consumer 3-D printer

Em essência, esta tese traz um compêndio técnico para auxiliar no projeto de cadeira de rodas de propulsão manual, visando à ampliação eficiente da ergonomia e da mobilidade dos usuários. Essas recomendações foram elaboradas a partir de uma ampla revisão da literatura e da aplicação de um teste de usabilidade com um referencial tecnológico de cadeira de rodas. Os conceitos teóricos que fundamentam esta tese abrangem o contexto histórico e técnico da deficiência, as premissas éticas para o design de produto, as recomendações de projeto já consolidadas pela literatura científica, os aspectos da facilidade de uso no âmbito do design centrado no usuário, o desenvolvimento motor da pessoa com deficiência, a biomecânica da propulsão manual e as respectivas formas de manejo desse equipamento. A sistemática metodológica da pesquisa foi fundamentada em três abordagens. Na primeira selecionamos um referencial tecnológico a partir de uma amostra de 101 modelos de cadeiras de rodas disponíveis no mercado brasileiro. Depois de escolhido o produto, aplicamos um teste de usabilidade, levando em consideração a norma ISO 20282-2:2006(E), que possibilitou verificar o grau de satisfação e comprovar que as cadeiras de rodas, são ineficientes para atender às necessidades ergonômicas e de mobilidade dos usuários. Participaram dessa pesquisa 43 sujeitos de ambos os gêneros, com idade média entre 31 e 37 anos. E, finalmente, com o uso do software Kinovea analisaram-se os diferentes padrões do movimento da propulsão manual. Nesta última abordagem, estabeleceram-se parâmetros cinemáticos, temporais, antropométricos e posturais, que serviram para enriquecer e consolidar novas recomendações de projeto. Essas recomendações abrangem os cinco sistemas que compõem uma cadeira de rodas: (a) sistema de propulsão, (b) deslocamento, (c) apoio para o corpo, (d) estrutural e (e) morfológico. Por fim, foram traçadas reflexões metodológicas de projeto, uma prospecção do futuro das cadeiras de rodas no Brasil e algumas sugestões de pesquisas no campo do design para a saúde, as quais surgiram durante o desenvolvimento dessa investigação. / In essence, this thesis brings a technical compendium to assist in the design of manual wheelchair propulsion, aiming the efficient expansion of ergonomics and user mobility. These recommendation were development from an extensive literature review and application of a usability test with a technological reference wheelchair. The theoretical concepts that underlie this thesis cover the historical and technical context of disability, the ethical assumptions for product design, the design recommendations already established in the scientific literature, the aspects of ease of use under the user-centered design, the motor development of the disabled person, the biomechanics of manual propulsion and related forms of handling such equipment. A systematic methodological research was based on three approaches. The first selected a technological reference from a sample of 101 models of wheelchairs available in the Brazilian market. After select the product, apply a usability test taking into the ISO 20282-2.2006 (E) which enabled us to verify the degree of satisfaction and demonstrate that the wheelchairs are inefficient to attend the ergonomic necessity and mobility of users. In this study 43 subjects took part of test, both genders, on average between 31 and 37 years. Finally, using the software were analyzed Kinovea different patterns of motion of manual propulsion. In the last approach, settled parameters, temporal, anthropometric and postural which served to increase and consolidate new design recommendations. These recommendations cover the five systems that set a wheelchair: (a) propulsion system, (b) displacement, (c) support for the body, (d) structural and (e) morphology. Finally, methodological reflections project, an exploration of the future of wheelchairs in Brazil and some suggestions for research in the field of design for health, which arose during the development of this research.

Thesis (MTech (Design))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2018. / Design is a highly complex process. It involves various stakeholders, processes and interactions that need to work coherently in order to result in a successful design or product. It needs to be acknowledged that offering design as a successful service is not simply an interaction between a customer and a single designer, but in reality is far more complex and detailed. In today’s society, it is no longer sufficient for design-businesses to only focus on providing a well designed end product. Instead, customers now seek value in superior experiences from the services they use. Design-businesses thus need to shift their current outward focus to also create and design superior service experiences. Owing to the intangible complexities and intricacies within design as a service it makes it incredibly challenging to improve or enhance. Skeg Product Development, a leader in the Product design industry in South Africa, was used as a single case study to offer a real-world working context of Product design as a service. This study used purposefully selected Service design tools and techniques, such as the customer journey and service blueprint, for co-design workshops. Three workshops were facilitated in order to co-design maps with employees from various functions within the case study. Workshop 1 required participants to map their ideal customer journey. This was used to identify an area of focus within the case study that would benefit the most from improved visualisation. Workshop 2 and 3 used a service blueprint to map the existing front of stage- and backstage interactions and processes respectively. The mapped findings were supplemented by informal interviews with employees as well as continuous observations within the case study. It was found that Product design as a service, although the experience is subjective to each customer and project, is filled with intangible challenges and intricacies. It had been identified that managing customer expectations is currently the biggest challenge in offering Product design as a service. Although this was found to be a crucial obstacle to the customer experience, with multiple discussions around the topic, very little is actively being done to address it. It was also identified that current internal processes are not completely understood in terms of what they entail or their purpose to the service. This was found to be especially true across the various functions. This holds significant consequences for employees, the service and ultimately the customers. During the course of the study a number of themes and topics emerged. These include the success criteria for Product design as a service, as well as the significance of understanding roles and processes. The challenge of managing customer expectations in an unpredictable context is also addressed. The study subsequently presents two means for design-businesses to shift their focus to backstage processes in order to mitigate this challenge. The emerged themes speak to the greater industry of Product design as well as the developing field of Service design. This research is aimed at any individual, business or employee involved in the design industry. This includes anyone who has a role in delivering design as service who could benefit from a clearer understanding of the challenging context in which they work. It would also be beneficial to an individual or business who may want to suggest adjustments or changes to improve design as a service in future.

Kwok, Tsz Ho. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2013. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 161-175). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstracts also in Chinese.

More than ever before, engineers are creating products for developing countries. One of the purposes of these products is to improve the consumer's quality of life. Currently, there is no established method of measuring the social impact of these types of products. As a result, engineers have used their own metrics to assess their product's impact, if at all. Some of the common metrics used include products sold and revenue, which measure the financial success of a product without recognizing the social successes or failures it might have. In this thesis I introduce a potential metric, the Product Impact Metric (PIM), which quantifies the impact a product has on impoverished individuals -- especially those living in developing countries. It measures social impact broadly in five dimensions: health, education, standard of living, employment quality, and security. By measuring impact multidimensionally it captures both direct (having to do with the products main functions) and indirect impacts (not related to the products main functions), thereby revealing more about the products total impact than with other metrics. These indirect impacts can have a larger influence on the consumer than the direct impacts and are often left unmeasured. It is calculated based on 18 simple field measurements of the consumer. The Product Impact Metric can be used to predict social impact (using personas that represent real individuals) or measure social impact (using specific data from products introduced into the market). Despite its challenges, the measurement of a program or policies social impact is a common practice in the field of social sciences. This measurement is made through social impact indicators which are used to measure, predict, and improve potential social impacts. While there are clear benefits to predicting the social impact of a product, it is unclear how engineers are to select social impact indicators and build predictive models. This thesis introduces a method of selecting social impact indicators and creating predictive social impact models that can help engineers predict and improve the social impact of their product. First, an engineer identifies the product's users, objectives, and requirements. Then, the social impact categories that are related to the product are determined. From each of these categories, the engineer selects several social impact indicators. Finally, models are created for each indicator to predict how a product will change these indicators. The impact categories and indicators can be translated into product requirements and performance measures that can be used in product development processes. This method of predicting social impact is used on the proposed, expanded U.S. Mexico border wall.

In this thesis the industrial design studio has been investigated with particular reference to studio thinking and learning and project-based activity. This investigation has been set in the context of a final-year, degree program in industrial design that includes a substantial research and development project. From a critical review of the relevant literature the characteristics of studio culture have been identified, together with its role in the teaching of both creative and systematic endeavour. In addition, the history and context of the role of the industrial/product designer is reviewed in order to understand the nature and the required skills of the discipline. In this thesis, an initial study surveyed academics involved in teaching industrial design in Australia, and overseas. The study sought to determine the approach of students, in various industrial design degree programs, to their final-year projects and the extent to which design process and design methods were incorporated in their project reports. The findings revealed a number of operational needs associated with studio-based learning, particularly those associated with final-year, project-based activity. These findings, together with teachings from the literature concerning how students go about design in the studio and the needs associated with project activity, led to the proposal of a generic model, entitled the Major Project Development Model "MPD Model". The operational criteria in the MPD Model guided the development of a computer-integrated system of design methods allocated to the respective phases of the process. This system, called the "MPD System", is designed to support and enhance student design work in major projects. A second study was conducted that analysed: student performance in their project reports; the extent to which their design research conformed to the MPD Model; and the extent to which design methods were used in their final-year projects. Criteria and guidelines for the successful conduct and evaluation of such projects have been proposed and set up as part of the experimental programme. The experimental work, reported in this thesis, is based on an in-depth, comparative investigation of a range of major project reports, firstly those produced in the year 2003 during which final-year students did not have access to or knowledge of the MPD System and secondly, those produced in 2004 where students were provided with the MPD System, hence providing two cohorts for comparative purposes. The theoretical and experimental work have been related, with appropriate results and conclusions, to the following issues: Design theory � an MPD Model has been proposed and applied in keeping with a set of operational criteria; design methods - a model reflecting a range of methods aligned to phases of the MPD Model have been established in keeping with needs of designers in their execution of phases of the process; brainbased learning theory � a model of the integration of the MPD System as a means of linking systematic and creative thinking in the studio process is proposed; academic performance � the academic performance of students has been studied and data have been derived which provide valuable information for the design educational process. The results of this research will encourage use of a more structured teaching and learning approach and the employment of design methods in major projects. This comprehensive research thesis provides a framework for further research and recommendations for further research.