This study introduces rapid design ethnography as a research strategy that may be used in design as an alternative to conventional ethnography. It interrogates this strategy by means of a study of the Ghanaian Adinkra symbols. Adinkra is an indigenous graphic language that carries specific cultural narratives that embody proverbs and or poetic messages. In view of this, this study discusses how a collaboration between ethnography (and rapid ethnography) and design can be merged to create appropriate visual communication with specific reference to this indigenous visual vernacular. The study also highlights the evolution of rapid ethnographic techniques in comparison to conventional ethnography, as well as the way that these techniques may be of assistance to both designer and ethnographer. / Mini Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2016. / Visual Arts / MA / Unrestricted

Focusing on the needs of users, design can leverage new product development process by offering insightful knowledge of those needs. This research investigates the technology development of smart homes. Design is utilised as a product research tool to identify key insights of the home life of the older adults living in the UK, and for the purpose of informing the front-end of the new product development process. The review of the literature in the field of smart homes suggests that the developments have lagged by a technology-push approach, the lack of appropriate concepts from users’ perspectives as well as the lack of development strategy, which has consequently been reflected in consumers’ reluctance towards smart homes. As a result, this doctoral research aimed to ‘develop a user-oriented product design research tool that improves the understanding of the home life of older adults.’ To achieve the aim, this research employs qualitative methodology to develop a research process that utilises the cultural probe, semi-structured interview and video tour. Informed by ethnographic tradition, this research establishes its trustworthiness and credibility by employing a thorough process of analysis (qualitative analysis with computer-assisted software NVivo 8 and peers debriefing) and evaluation (creative workshop and evaluative interview) with practitioners from the field of product design, design management and design education. The result of the field investigation is presented as ten personas and taxonomy of nodes, which form the contribution of this research, a sensitising tool and process. This research contributes a sensitising tool - a design-led, user-inspired and participatory product design research that the offers insightful knowledge of those older adults and their relationships with their homes living in the UK. This sensitising tool is developed for the smart home designers for the purpose of generating new product ideas and challenges designers’ preconception of users and smart homes, and provokes reflections on the practices of user-centred and user-participatory design, as examined in the creative workshop. In addition, this research also contributes to the growing debate surrounding the issues relating to ethnographic user research and the use of cultural probe for the design of new smart homes.

People-centred design is a design approach that takes the intended end users into consideration throughout the development process, resulting in more appropriate design output in terms of meeting peoples needs and wants. There is recognised value in the use of user-based information, and in establishing empathy with those being designed for, yet there is a distinct lack of literature addressing both aspects and the potential for associated support mechanisms for designers. The combination of information and empathy is the focus of this research. This thesis presents studies carried out to investigate the potential for ‘supporting people-centred design through information and empathy’, focusing upon the early stages of design development. The main aims of this research were to understand designers’ processes and where users fit into these, and to suggest means of support that could promote user focus whilst remaining a practical and appropriate complement to established methods. The under-explored nature of this area required empirical research engaging in practical ways with designers, which was achieved through in-depth probe studies and follow-up interviews with 10 designers; active participation in two four-month real-life design projects; the examination and co-creation of resource tool concepts during two workshops, each with 20 design participants; and ‘MHIRROR’ (Means of Human Information Retrieval, Representation, Organisation and Reflection), a mixed media human information resource was developed and trialed with six experienced inclusive design practitioners. These qualitative explorations with designers and within real-life projects facilitated understanding of the potential for human information resources to support the design process. The thesis has made original contribution to knowledge in terms of the formation of a framework for the manipulation and integration of human information into the design process; the iterative design and embodiment of a working prototype resource MHIRROR, and it has provided insights into the value of information and empathy resource combinations and their potential to promote people-centred design.

This dissertation collects principles and insights from various sources related to design for the developing world. These principles and insights form part of the foundation that can guide other engineers working in this area. The sources are the published literature, practitioners, non-governmental organizations, and our own field studies. From the engineering literature, we identified nine principles to guide engineers as they design poverty alleviating products for developing communities. Each principle is articulated, supporting literature is described, an in-depth example from the literature is given, followed by suggestions for how the principle can be applied to day-to-day engineering activities. Next, the work from engineering practitioners is studied. Information from various field reports was analyzed, a list of seven common pitfalls was derived, and the Design for the Developing World Canvas is introduced. This tool is similar to a Business Model Canvas, but it focuses on the product development process rather than the development of a business model. The Design for the Developing World Canvas can be used by design teams to facilitate discussions and make decisions that will allowthem to avoid the common pitfalls identified. A case study is then shared from a non-governmental organization called WHOlives.org about their experience with the Village Drill, a human-powered machine that digs boreholes for water wells. The case study outlines the development of the drill, a timeline of its implementation in 15 countries across three continents, specific values related to cashflows of the organization, and a conservative estimate of their impact in developing communities. A study of our original research conducting field studies using a technique called ethnography is then shared. This study was conducted in four countries on four continents and shows the impact of various conditions on the ability of the design team to collect information that is useful for making product development decisions. The conditions in this study include cultural familiarity, language fluency, gender and age of the respondent, information source type, use of prototypes, and others. The results can guide design teams as they make decisions about who to include on the design team, which projects to pursue, and how to conduct their own field studies. Lastly, conclusions related to design for the developing world are made based on the work presented and potential areas of future work are outlined.

This study has used design ethnography and service design thinking to understand triadic relationships in product-service systems. The data used in this research has been collected in an explorative user research phase of an overarching service design project at Scania CV. The service design project was of purpose to apply a user-centered design approach to investigate Scania Driver Services. The study finds Design Ethnography and Service Design Thinking as fruitful in understanding triadic relationships in product-service systems, but also identify challenges that require further exploration in order to enable the best possible value-propositions. The study contributes to understanding what kind of knowledge that applying design ethnography and a service design thinking approach to understand triadic relationships in product-service systems concern. A summary of knowledge identified is presented below. Understanding and knowledge concern: • Contradictions between the purchaser and end-user perception. • Actor perception of another actor(s). • Actor perceived evolution of another actor over time. • Actor change of view due to its own evolution. • Relationships of the service provider, purchaser and end user. • Misconceptions between actors. • Variation in communication between actors. • What the communication between actors is perceived to concern. • Additional actors than initially considered that are crucial for understanding the triadic relationship.

Services surround us every day and companies all over the world have to adapt to the demand of services to make their products more successful and attractive. This master thesis has, on behalf of Scania in Södertälje, Sweden, focused on the service Driver coaching, a service where drivers are dedicated a personal coach who gives regular calls to the drivers. The aim of the thesis was to explore how a driver coaching service could be individualised to each driver. Furthermore, the aim was to develop a design proposal for Driver coaching that creates value for both coaches and drivers. Three coaches from Sweden, Finland and Norway were observed and interviewed to identify what role the coaches have in the service and all the activities they perform. During the analysis of the ethnographic findings, explorations were made on whether valuable insights can be found by interpreting the data with service design visualisations. A customer journey was created which catalysed the analysis phase and helped to generate insights in which pain points could be identified. Three important themes that emerged from the insights were individualisation, trust and communication. Insights from the ethnographic findings and the literature review show that a driver coaching service should, in fact, be individualised. The design proposal that was developed enables different arrangements of the service, which fit each driver’s needs and goals, with the help of a driver profile. Conclusions include information about what is important to think about when designing a driver coaching service that is individualised. Lastly, the thesis contributes to research with lessons learned about how ethnographic data can be used in a generative service design process.