Designprozesse in Unternehmen sind durch immer enger vernetzte Arbeitsweisen und steigende Wissensintensität geprägt. Die Bedeutung der Kommunikation in diesen interdisziplinären Kontexten wächst. Für das Design stellt diese Entwicklung eine besondere Herausforderung dar: sowohl bezüglich der Inhalte die es kommuniziert, der Methoden und Werkzeuge, die dafür eingesetzt werden, wie auch der Entwicklung einer kommunikativen Grundkompetenz als Teil einer umfassenden Designkompetenz. [... aus dem Text]

The development of more complex products has increased dependency on virtual/digital models and emphasized the role of simulations as a means of validation before production. This level of dependency on digital models and simulation togetherwith the customization level and continuous requirement change leads to a large number of iterations in each stage of the product development process. This research, studies such group of products that have multidisciplinary, highly iterative, and simulation-driven design processes. It is shown that these high-level technical products, which are commonly outsourced to suppliers, commonly suffer from a long development lead time. The literature points to several research tracks including design automation and data-driven design with possible support. After studying the advantages and disadvantages of each track, a data-driven approachis chosen and studied through two case studies leading to two supporting tools that are expected to improve the development lead time in associated design processes. Feature extraction in CAD as a way to facilitate metamodeling is proposed as the first solution. This support uses the concept of the medial axis to find highly correlated features that can be used in regression models. As for the second supporting tool, an automated CAD script is used to produce a library of images associated with design variants. Dynamic relaxation is used to label each variant with its finite element solution output. Finally, the library is used to train a convolutions neural network that maps screenshots of CAD as input to finite element field answers as output. Both supporting tools can be used to create real-time prediction models in the early conceptual phases of the product development process to explore design space faster and reduce lead time and cost. / Utvecklingen av mer komplexa produkter har ökat beroendet av virtuella/digitala modeller och ökat betydelsen av simuleringar för att validera en produkt inför produktion. Ett stort beroende av digitala modeller och simulering tillsammans med den individuella anpassningen och kontinuerliga kravförändringar leder till ett stort antal iterationer i varje steg i produktutvecklingsprocessen. Forskningen som presenteras i denna avhandling studerar denna typ av produkter som har multidisciplinära, mycket iterativa och simuleringsdrivna designprocesser. Det har visat sig att dessa tekniska produkter på hög nivå, som vanligtvis tillhandahålls av underleverantörer, vanligtvis har en lång ledtid för utveckling. Litteraturstudien pekar på flera forskningsspår, exempelvis designautomation och datadriven design, eventuellt med stöd. Efter att ha studerat fördelarna och nackdelarna med varje spår, väljs det datadrivna tillvägagångssättet och studeras genom två fallstudier som leder till att två stödjande verktyg tas fram. De förväntas förbättra utvecklingsledtiden i tillhörande designprocesser. Feature extraktion i CAD som ett sätt att underlätta metamodellering föreslås som det första verktyget. Detta stöd använder medial axis för att hitta korrelerade features som kan användas i regressionsmodeller. När det gäller det andra stödjande verktyget används ett automatiserat CAD-skript för att producera ett stort bibliotek med bilder som är associerade olika designvarianter. Dynamisk relaxation används för att märka varje variant med dess finita elementlösning. Slutligen används detta bibliotek för att träna ett konvolutionerande neuralt nätverk som kartlägger skärmdumpar av CAD som indata till finita elementfältsvar som utdata. Båda stödverktygen kan användas för att skapa modeller för förutsägelser i realtid i de tidiga konceptuella faserna av produktutvecklingsprocessen för att utforska designrymden snabbare och minska ledtid och kostnader.

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Gemäß dem ‚Circular Gap Report 2020‘ wird weltweit nur 8,6 % des Materials zirkulär genutzt. Die Tendenz ist sinkend: Zwei Jahre früher waren es noch 9,1%. Die Weltwirtschaft benötigte im Jahr 2019 insgesamt 100,6 Gigatonnen Material (de Wit et al., 2020). Trotz großer politischer, gesellschaftlicher und wirtschaftlicher Aufmerksamkeit rund um die Thematik einer dringend benötigten nachhaltigeren Wirtschaft zeigt sich, dass wir mit der Materialzirkularität insgesamt nicht auf Kurs sind. Wie kann die Materialzirkularität aus der Perspektive von Designer:innen – als Akteur:innen, die gemäß Literatur ‚over 80 % of all product-related environmental impacts‘ verantworten – verbessert werden? (Graedel et al., 1995)

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In this thesis, an improved framework is proposed for categorizing existing gamified systems. Related works and real world examples of gamification are discussed and some areas where insufficient research exists. In order to address the identified research problems, an experimental gamified system was designed and implemented for sharing articles related to different aspects of life. The participants of the study were recruited among the users of an existing Iranian lifestyle site for female users. Therefore, the gender of the users was considered in the design. A wide range of gamification elements were implemented in the system to test the effectiveness of specific design features and gamification elements’ parameters in increasing user motivation, for example, the contingency of rewards and the use of sound and animation in badges. A detailed questionnaire was used to answer the research questions. The results suggest specific combinations of gamification elements and their parameters that can be successfully applied by designers of social sites for similar audience.

Our understanding of the effects that human production and consumption has on our planet and its resources has challenged us to think differently when developing new products. In response to these problems, Eco Design has been developed over the last few decades. Eco Design is a process integrated into product and engineering design that aims to lower the environmental impact of products across their life cycle, whilst not hindering design brief criteria such as function, price, performance, and quality. Research in Eco Design has focused mainly on the development of new tools and ways to implement Eco Design in industry. However, there is still little empirical knowledge today regarding the state of Eco Design implementation and practices in industry; in addition to the prerequisite needs and factors to successfully implement Eco Design. The aim of this research has been to review the level and type of Eco Design in the British Product Design industry and to identify recurrent themes helping or hindering implementation. This was achieved through the use of a pilot study followed by a two stage case study design, involving 20 cases and 57 participants across 65 interviews. The investigation and its analysis produced 12 confirmed themes, each generating their own drivers and barriers to Eco Design implementation. This research into Eco Design implementation provides a unique contribution and a timely insight into the Eco Design practices of the British Product Design industry today. The research also provides the novel contribution of identifying the drivers and barriers to implementing and sustaining Eco Design, as well as an understanding of the strengths and shortfalls of the current Eco Design processes and tools. These contributions to knowledge in the field of Eco Design will help future research formulate better solutions to implement Eco Design processes in the Product Design industry.

This thesis investigates the influence that cultural differences have in the designing of products and services that encourage sustainable lifestyles. This was researched through a case study of dishwashing practices in Mexico and the UK, and the development of a methodological framework for supporting designers working in cross-cultural contexts. Designers can shift user behaviour to be more responsible, and by doing this, reduce a product s impact on the use phase of its lifecycle. Nevertheless, designing products that successfully drive behaviour towards a more sustainable path can only be accomplished if they are conceived to fit the user and the specific context of interaction. In order to do so, designers must truly understand the users, and take into account the complex web of factors that lay behind individual behaviour. A comprehensive review of the literature established an understanding of human behaviour and the emergence and evolution of practices and routines. This brought to light the diverse behavioural patterns in different contexts; and was further investigated with a scoping study in two different locations (Mexico and the UK), exploring general water consuming practices in the home, specifically manual dishwashing practices. The preliminary findings shaped a study that aimed to deepen the understanding of these practices in the selected sites, involving the use of Cultural Probes and videoing people in their common kitchen environment. A robust and clear image of washing-up practices emerged with rich and detailed data presented in different media, ideal to be implemented in a design process. To this end, a series of multicultural Personas were created as the direct outcome of the Cultural Probes and the scoping study, giving way to the design studies phase of the project, carried out with industrial design students in Mexico and the UK. A design brief for sustainable washing up practices was delivered. Design experiments were used to provide interesting evidence of the influence in the design process of the designers understanding of the target user. The findings indicate that designers benefit from exploration and creativity tools tailored directly from the user-research findings in the early design process. This increases the level of empathy towards the user, particularly making it easier to design for users with different needs and contexts than the designers themselves. It also helps designers to better apply design for sustainable behaviour framework to their concept designs.

Previous research highlighted consumer dissatisfaction with fashion clothing products on offer. There is a lack of information about real consumers needs due to the industry standards of beauty and behaviour as well as a constant rush for innovation that feeds fashion cycles. This research identifies the elements that will enable fashion clothing companies to become more inclusive, and aims to find a methodological relationship between the stakeholders in the fashion industry: consumers, designers and companies. The research considered the difference between a mature market as opposed to emergent ones, and addressed differences between Western and Eastern cultures.

Significant changes in demographics, including a growing ageing population and a larger number of people with disabilities, have made inclusive design an increasingly relevant notion in the design of products, services, and environments. However, there is considerable concern that the concept of inclusive design is rather limited in its current definition and applications and has not yet been thoroughly applied. This is possibly due to the conventional understanding and application of inclusive design, mainly rooted in and focused on physical aspects of inclusion, such as accessibility, usefulness, and usability. This limited focus has led various voices in design academia and industry to speak of the need for further consideration of the psychological and social aspects of inclusive design as the next step to facilitate inclusive design, and make impact. In this research, inclusivity on psychological and social levels, is referred to as "psychosocial inclusivity". The concept of psychosocial inclusivity, including a clear definition thereof and its application, is rather limited in the existing literature. Therefore, this PhD research aims to further explore this concept by establishing a clear definition and the dimensions thereof. In order to achieve this, an initial definition and dimensions of the psychosocial inclusivity in design are established through a critical review of existing literature from both social science and design perspectives. The initial definition and dimensions are then developed, refined, and evaluated through four empirical studies: the Delphi study (expert survey); field study I (ethnographic interviews with mobility scheme users); field study II (ethnographic interviews, creative workshop, and observation of older individuals); and an evaluation study (online survey of design academics and professionals). These studies have been designed based on a triangulation approach in order to enhance the reliability and validity of the outcomes. At the end of this research, the definition and dimensions for psychosocial inclusivity in design (Cognitive, Emotional, Social, and Value dimensions) are proposed. The outcomes of this research can enhance the understanding and knowledge of the concept of psychosocial inclusivity in design. Also, the definition and dimensions can be used by design academics and professionals or third parties to consider psychosocial aspects. The dimensions also can be developed as a complete set of framework or toolkit through further research.