<p>Accessibility often isn’t recognized to the abled-bodied. The objects, systems and tools of access aren’t even noticed until those without disabilities need it or become disabled themselves. Building on my initial academic and scholarly research, I conducted a case study at The Wabash Center; a facility that serves people with disabilities in the local West Lafayette and surrounding communities. I spent three months observing, journaling, and identifying key patterns that revealed the tensions in food access issues at the facility. These patterns included community, agency, dependency and assistance, and accountability. The issues I identified at The Wabash Center all fall under the overarching issue of power and control. Power and control describes the notion that is often exercised by abled-bodies in the presence of people with disabilities. In this context, food and food access is used as a form of power and control. It is commonly found that the issue of power and control is embedded in design and the way that designers conduct their processes. To better understand the systemic relationships and issues of food access, it was imperative to analyze the internal interactions of how disabled people negotiate in an institutionalized setting. This thesis discusses the reflection process of my efforts to look critically at my own assumptions about disability, food access, and its relationship to design.</p>

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This dissertation explains two sonification platforms designed for image-sound association study and art, and the study results. A platform for user study was developed first and an artistic audiovisual platform was derived based on it. First, the five image-sound association studies were conducted to see whether people can successfully associate sounds and fundamental shapes (i.e., a circle, a triangle, a square, lines, curves, and other custom shapes) and the correct answer rate was high. Then, the same sonification platform was transformed by adding colors to the audiovisual platform for artistic/musical expression. A line-by-line sonification method and an object-oriented method were newly developed to sonify the background and the shapes separately. To enhance user experience, the sound of each shape was spatialized in a multi-layer speaker environment or a virtual listening environment. / Doctor of Philosophy / This dissertation introduces two sonification platforms designed for image-sound association study and art, and the study results. A platform for user study was developed first and an artistic audiovisual platform was derived based on it. First, the five image-sound association studies were conducted to see whether people can successfully associate sounds and fundamental shapes (i.e., a circle, a triangle, a square, lines, curves, and other custom shapes) and the correct answer rate was high. Then, the same sonification platform was transformed by adding colors to the audiovisual platform for artistic/musical expression. A line-by-line sonification method and an object-oriented method were newly developed to sonify the background and the shapes separately. To enhance user experience, the sound of each shape was spatialized in a multi-layer speaker environment or a virtual listening environment.

This research has explored potential ways for understanding the contribution communication design makes within the field of interaction design; specifically projects that have involved the design of web-based interactive systems. As a practice-based design investigation, this research has been conducted through a series of interaction design projects within the context of a Collaborative Research Centre, and have often included working with industry partners. I will refer to these as projects throughout this exegesis. In this exegesis, I will argue that communication design can make a valuable contribution to interaction design projects, and that this contribution can be facilitated by understanding interactive systems in terms of the role that they play in our everyday experience of the world. This exegesis presents the central argument of the research and how the research questions were investigated. It presents the projects through which the research has been conducted, and through discussion, presents the discoveries and knowledge gained through this research. The total submission for this research consists of the exegesis, exhibition, and oral presenation. Throughout each mode of delivery I will share how the research questions were investigated.

abstract: Traditional design education consists of three phases: perceptual, transitional, and professional. This study explored three independent variables (IVs) as predictors of success in the Transitional Phase of a visual communication design (VCD) program: (a) prior academic performance (as reported by GPA); (b) cognitive style (assessed with Peterson, Deary, and Austin's Verbal Imagery Cognitive Styles Test [VICS] and Extended Cognitive Style Analysis-Wholistic Analytic Test [E-CSA-WA]); and (c) learning style (assessed with Kolb's Learning Style Inventory [LSI] 3.1). To address the research problem and hypothesis, this study examined (a) the relationship between academic performance, cognitive style, and learning style, and visual communication design students' performance in the Transitional Phase; (b) the cognitive style and learning style preferences of visual communication design students as compared with other samples; and (c) how the resulting knowledge can be used to improve instructional design for the Transitional Phase in VCD programs. Multiple regression analysis revealed that 9% of Transitional Phase performance was predicted by studio GPA. No other variables were statistically significant predictors of Transitional Phase performance. However, ANOVA and t tests revealed statistically significant and suggested relationships among components of the independent variables, that indicate avenues for future study. The results are discussed in the context of style-based learning theory, and the cognitive apprenticeship approach to instructional design. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.S.D. Design 2011

This thesis explores the relationship between designer intent and consumer response. A novel approach to evaluate the degree of correspondence between designer intent and consumer perceptions has been proposed. The empirical results have shown the influence of consumers’ cultural backgrounds on the way they perceive semantic and symbolic product personalities (characteristics of a product and its owner, respectively), comparing British and Japanese consumer groups. Semantic product personalities are more likely to be universally perceived and more easily intentionally elicited from consumers than symbolic product personalities. The research project consists of a pilot study (Phases I) and an experiment (Phase II) in which mixed methods of interview and survey are employed. Phase I seeks to explore the in-depth understanding of a designer’s thoughts by interviews, and to develop and test newly elaborated consumer surveys termed Designer-driven semantic differentials and Consumer-driven adjective selection. The findings have been considered to construct an analytical framework, characterised by Agreement among consumer perceptions and Correspondence between designer intent and the consumer perceptions, for evaluation of designers’ elicitation of intended product personalities from consumers. Phase II conducts a statistical examination of the impact of cultural difference on consumer perceptions under experimental conditions. The perception of target and non-target consumer groups as categorised by nationality were gauged by Designer-driven semantic differentials and Personality selection, specifically perception of USB sticks designed by three different designers. The survey results are analysed by using descriptive statistics, one-way ANOVA and Chi-squared test within the analytical framework. Subsequently, the results from Phase I and II are extensively discussed based on a framework based on brand personality and Affect Control Theory, both of which may involve potential impact on the development of design research into product development with emotional attachment. The scene is set for future research opportunities based on the approach and findings of this study.

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