Visualization enables new forms of social expression beyond the support of scientific data analysis. Focusing on the expanded roles of computational visualization, I investigate the influences of computation on the aesthetics and the rhetoric of visualization through design research methods. My design research includes 1) the construction of knowledge by synthesizing literature from digital media studies, visual rhetoric, information visualization, graphic design history, and HCI and 2) research through practices and consequent critiques. Coded visualization is a new term that I coined to integrate the rhetoric and aesthetics of data visualization. I define it as a data-based interface whose visual form is an aesthetic space where messages are coded and interpreted with cultural references. I also suggest the design criteria of coded visualization, apply them to a design project, and critique how the current design of the project can be improved to fully exemplify the concept of coded visualization. This study on the rhetoric and aesthetics of visualization through design research contributes to digital media studies, design research, as well as information visualization.

Service design is a field emerging from the new-found interest in services as a design material by practitioners and academics of the human-centred design tradition. As such, the field can build on the knowledge from previous work in design as well as in service research. Introducing a new design material may however also introduce new challenges to practice. The research presented in this thesis investigates how the design research phase of the human-centred design process is affected by making services a design material.   How users, staff and other stakeholders are involved in service design projects was studied in four studies. Two studies focused on getting a holistic view of how service designers engage stakeholders in their design research. The methods used for these two studies were interviews in one case and participatory observation in the other. The two remaining studies focused on specific aspects of the stakeholder engagement process. One compared how designers and anthropologists approach ethnography, whereas the second investigated the communicative qualities of service design visualisations.   It is argued that service design is a stakeholder-centred design discipline. The tools used in service design are to a large extent borrowed from other qualitative research traditions, but design-specific tools do exist. The information gathered with the tools for stakeholder engagement is then transformed into insights through analysis and synthesis. These insights are visualised to provide easily accessible representations of service situations.   The final section of the thesis identifies challenges ahead for service design practice, based on the findings of the thesis and based on existing theoretical frameworks for the discipline. / Tjänstedesign är ett fält som fortfarande håller på att växa fram. Dess ursprung kan hittas i när praktiker och akademiker inom människo-centrerad design blev intresserade av tjänster som designmaterial. Tjänstedesign byggs upp baserat på kunskap från design- såväl som tjänsteforskning. Dock så innebär detta möte av traditioner att tjänstedesignspraktiken ställs inför  utmaningar som dess moderdiscipliner inte har ställts inför. Syftet med denna avhandling är att utforska hur involveringen av intressenter i designprocessen påverkas vid design av tjänster. Fyra studier har genomförts för att studera hur användare, personal och andra intressenter involveras i tjänstedesignsprojekt. Två av studierna fokuserade på att bygga upp en holistisk bild av intressentinvolvering. Dessa båda studier genomfördes med intervjuer respektive deltagande observation som datainsamlingsmetod. De båda andra studierna fokuserade i mer detalj på specifika aspekter av intressentinvolveringen. Av dessa två studier så studerade en skillnader mellan hur designers och antropologer närmar sig etnografi och den andra vad som kommuniceras av de visualiseringar av tjänstemiljöer som är vanligt förekommande inom tjänstedesign. Slutsatsen dras att tjänstedesign kan beskrivas som en intressent-centrerad designdisciplin. Verktygen som används inom tjänstedesign är till stor grad lånade från annan kvalitativ forskning, men även designspecifika verktyg förekommer. Den information som fås genom intressentinvolvering omvandlas till insikter genom analys och syntes. Dessa insikter visualiseras sedan i lättillgängliga representationer av tjänstetransaktioner.

Considering the ever-increasing impacts of climate change, the responsibility to take leadership lies with many actors; one of them being universities. The course in “Climate Change Leadership – Power, Politics and Culture” at CEMUS/Uppsala University explores the issue from a participatory perspective where students play a significant role in exploring what climate change leadership means throughout one semester. By using an educational design research approach this paper contributes to the further development of the course by giving a definition for climate change leadership as a theoretical outcome, and suggesting improvements for the course development as a practical outcome. To do so a theoretical analysis of leadership and change theories has been undertaken, as well as an analysis of data collected by current and former students, and course coordinators that have worked with the course before. The given definition and suggestions for the course will be subject to critical scrutiny in the upcoming spring semester and are subject to change depending on their efficacy in contributing to leadership capabilities in students.

Since mathematical tasks are central to the teaching of mathematics, it is crucial to extend our knowledge of the characteristic features of tasks that are conducive to student development of problem-solving and reasoning abilities as well as conceptual understanding.   The aim of the dissertation is to investigate how different types of mathematical tasks affect student learning and choice of learning strategies. This is done through a twofold approach: 1) to test the hypothesis that tasks affording students the opportunity and responsibility for constructing knowledge are more effective learning tools than tasks for which the solution is presented, and 2) to analyse the educational message embedded in the teacher’s formulation of the mathematical tasks on the Internet.   The main conclusion is that the type of task students engage with is important for their learning of new things. The participants who were engaged in creating their own solutions were less successful during practice but performed better on the tests in comparison with the participants who were involved in solving the tasks with a given method. The results of the sub-studies indicate that in a learning situation consisting of repeated practice of a solution method, the results are closely related to the students’ cognitive ability. The investigation shows that tasks inviting the opportunity to be solved through creative reasoning, to a certain extent serve a compensatory function in relation to students’ cognitive resources. This means that the participants need not put in so much effort in the test situation if they have practiced creative reasoning.   One conclusion to be drawn from the study of the educational message in Internet documents, when it comes to teachers’ formulation of tasks, is that there are many teachers who design tasks that encourage young students’ creative reasoning. However, the educational message in the documents shows that the teachers demand relatively little of the students in the majority of the tasks. The result indicates that there is some uncertainty about how to formulate and use tasks to support the older student’s mathematical development. The way the tasks are formulated indicates a lack of discursive tools to clarify the intended educational situation. Thus, the qualities in the tasks are hidden resources. / Det övergripande syftet med avhandlingen är att undersöka hur olika typer av matematikuppgifter påverkar elevers möjligheter till lärande och val av lärandestrategi. Resultaten visar att i en lärandesituation som består av upprepad träning av en lösningsmetod är elevernas resultat starkt beroende av deras kognitiva förmåga. Uppgifter som ger eleverna möjligheter att lösa dem med kreativa resonemang verkar i viss mån kompensatoriskt i förhållande till elevers kognitiva resurser. Testdeltagare som tränat via kreativa resonemang har en lägre kognitiv belastning. Studien av lärarkonstruerade uppgifter på internet visar exempel på uppgifter som upplevs som användbara i undervisningen. Uppgiftskonstruktörerna tenderar att ställa förhållandevis låga krav på eleverna i merparten av uppgifterna. Resultatet tyder även på en osäkerhet inför hur uppgifter skall kommuniceras för att stötta elevers matematiska utveckling. De kvalitéer som finns i uppgifterna kommer därför i skymundan. Matematikuppgifter är centrala i matematikundervisningen. Det är därför viktigt att öka kunskapen om matematikuppgifter och hur dessa kan bidra till elevers möjligheter att utveckla sin matematiska kompetens. Väl utformade matematikuppgifter kan bidra till att minska elevers utantillärande.

Design-oriented research is an approach to HCI research that frames HCI as a design discipline. One approach to design research is that of critical making, which incorporates critical thinking and practical ‘making’ into the design process whereby ‘making’ is framed as another context of thinking. Cybertherapy is any computationally mediated psychotherapy intervention technique. Contextually, cybertherapy is situated within the field of Psychology and yet it is argued here the area is non-binary by nature and highly relevant to the field of HCI. This study demonstrates the validity of critical making as a design-oriented research approach to the field of cybertherapy design and beyond. Through the immersive demonstration of critical making for cybertherapy innovation design, the design research approach is evaluated and argued to be a beneficial stance towards such non-binary research and development.

A growing number of interior design stakeholders believe that increased levels of research will lead to the legitimization of the profession, an expanded and specialized body of knowledge, professional recognition, disciplinary status, and sustainability of the profession. Despite the potential importance of research in the profession, few strategies exist for how research can have a more effective role within interior design. The main purposes of this study were to provide a strategy for incorporating research into interior design, and provide educators with information about how interior design programs could utilize the strategy. The qualitative study was based on a triangulated research design that included: (a) semi-structured telephone interviews with 29 participants (11 from educational institutions, 14 from professional practice, and 5 from professional organizations); (b) the collection of documents from all study participants; and (c) a case study, conducted over a five day period, within a professional practice firm in the United States. The study findings provide insight into the perceptions held by educators, practitioners, and members of professional organizations about research, and research in interior design specifically. These perceptions, combined with other information, led to the Theoretical Framework for Research in Interior Design. Consisting of three distinct, but interconnected, cultures: (a) design, (b) research, and (c) knowledge management, the Framework explains who, what, when, where, why, how, and with what consequences research is conducted, translated, used, and disseminated in interior design. The implications of the Framework for post-secondary interior design education programs suggest that first-professional undergraduate programs could focus on interior design, first-professional masters programs could focus on knowledge management, and post-professional masters and Ph.D. programs could focus on research. This arrangement would provide each level of post-secondary education and each program type with a specific focus, and would provide the discipline with a range of graduates capable of taking on a variety of roles within professional firms, educational institutions, professional organizations, industry, or government. Overall, the Framework provides a strategy for ensuring that the interior design profession retains its design identity, and expands and capitalizes on its research identity. At the same time, the Framework introduces a new identity that can bring designers and researchers together in more productive and beneficial ways.

A growing number of interior design stakeholders believe that increased levels of research will lead to the legitimization of the profession, an expanded and specialized body of knowledge, professional recognition, disciplinary status, and sustainability of the profession. Despite the potential importance of research in the profession, few strategies exist for how research can have a more effective role within interior design. The main purposes of this study were to provide a strategy for incorporating research into interior design, and provide educators with information about how interior design programs could utilize the strategy. The qualitative study was based on a triangulated research design that included: (a) semi-structured telephone interviews with 29 participants (11 from educational institutions, 14 from professional practice, and 5 from professional organizations); (b) the collection of documents from all study participants; and (c) a case study, conducted over a five day period, within a professional practice firm in the United States. The study findings provide insight into the perceptions held by educators, practitioners, and members of professional organizations about research, and research in interior design specifically. These perceptions, combined with other information, led to the Theoretical Framework for Research in Interior Design. Consisting of three distinct, but interconnected, cultures: (a) design, (b) research, and (c) knowledge management, the Framework explains who, what, when, where, why, how, and with what consequences research is conducted, translated, used, and disseminated in interior design. The implications of the Framework for post-secondary interior design education programs suggest that first-professional undergraduate programs could focus on interior design, first-professional masters programs could focus on knowledge management, and post-professional masters and Ph.D. programs could focus on research. This arrangement would provide each level of post-secondary education and each program type with a specific focus, and would provide the discipline with a range of graduates capable of taking on a variety of roles within professional firms, educational institutions, professional organizations, industry, or government. Overall, the Framework provides a strategy for ensuring that the interior design profession retains its design identity, and expands and capitalizes on its research identity. At the same time, the Framework introduces a new identity that can bring designers and researchers together in more productive and beneficial ways.

Graphic design education has a long history of practitioners leading the development of teaching environments. While these practitioners may develop innovative teaching methods during their educational career, many will never engage with the discipline and literature of pedagogy. Ramsden (2003) asserts that pedagogical principles can help create deeper teaching/learning environments, but this research is all too often disseminated in a lexicon that is not familiar to new graphic design teachers. The research just does not get the message across to those who could benefit most from it. Although graphic design has had difficulties in translating the pedagogical lexicon to its context, it could use its expertise in the visual language to help create a broader understanding of teaching and learning theories and principles for itself and others. The very visual communication skills that we teach could be a more effective way to communicate to educators the necessary pedagogical theory that is to be used in the classroom. This exegesis documents my exploration of pedagogical awareness in graphic design education and how graphic literacy can facilitate this awareness. Through a reflective practice of reading, designing, teaching and conversation, I have uncovered my perceptions and conceptions as a teacher and discovered how some pedagogical principles can help the teaching and learning environment. I have used this knowledge to create an awareness of these principles through the comic language.

abstract: The purpose of the study is to gain a better understanding of baby boomers' attitudes toward video chat applications and software based on their user experiences through the measurement of the level of use, usefulness, usability and aesthetics preferences. 133 participants recruited at a local public library and at three senior centers took the survey and 14 respondents were interviewed. The results of the study indicate: (1) Baby boomers have diverse attitudes and experiences in video chatting, but their attitudes do not present a significant difference from those of older generations; (2) Baby boomers' preferences for interface design are influenced by their psychological characteristics rather than physical changes; (3) Family members and close friends are a great resource for assistance and motivation for boomers. The knowledge of motivational factors and barrier factors could help maintain the existing baby boomer users and encourage potential users by providing an improved video chat experience design for them to connect with younger generations. This research could also lead social services into the telehealth age by bridging the gap between a traditional intervention and modern instant video communication. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Design 2014

This dissertation evaluates and elevates the perception of the strategic use of design for airlines, especially a Silent Design airline like Saudia Airlines. Saudia Airlines is an international airline located in the Gulf region in the Middle East. In comparison to some other Gulf state airlines, Saudia Airlines benefits from its large geographical coverage, and is considered to be one of the richest and longest established carriers in the industry. However, the rapid growth during the past few years of other Gulf carriers (e.g. Emirates Airlines, Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways) highlights the necessity for improvements to be made by Saudia Airlines so that it can sustain its position in the global market. These three mega Gulf airlines have shown major developments in their strategic use of design in delivering innovative and differentiated design touch points in their customer journeys. The purpose of this research is to ‘create a design management conceptual framework (DMCF) to assist Saudia Airlines in evaluating and elevating the perception of the strategic value of design.’ To date, airlines adopting a Silent Design approach have rarely been addressed in empirical studies. To achieve this, secondary research investigated several topics, mainly the perception of the strategic use of design, the operational use of design and how design was managed based on design management evolution. Furthermore, design outcomes are presented after implementing the strategic use of design, to deliver innovative and differentiated results. Moreover, the case studies of several companies are presented that use design at a strategic level, especially in the airline industry. The primary research investigated key stakeholders’ views (customers, design experts and Saudia Airlines’ employees and design consultants). The findings from these investigations, and emergent key themes and sub-themes created the prototypes that led to the formulation of the DMCF, which is the main contribution of this study. The DMCF was developed and tested with experts in the field. The proposed framework is considered a significant starting point for airlines that want to evaluate and elevate their perception of the strategic use of design. The DMCF addresses the significant results of this study and key points are made, as follows: 1) Four key dimensions are identified: a) organisational mind-set, b) structure and design capabilities, c) design process and communication, and d) customer experience, which could evaluate and elevate the strategic use of design. 2) The Silent Design culture is identified as pertaining to Saudia Airlines in this study. This culture emphasises the moderate ambition of the strategic use of design by using it at an operational level. It also includes an ill-defined structure for managing design and a lack of design capabilities. In addition, it has an unclear design process and ad hoc cross-departmental collaboration. The overall result is that the Silent Design organisations’ customer experiences are characterised by undifferentiated products and services. 3) The Strategic Design culture is identified and addresses the airlines that make good use of design. This culture emphasises the strong ambition of the strategic use of design by using it at a strategic level. It also includes a systematic and clear structure for managing design. It has a clear design process and clear cross-departmental collaboration. The overall result is that Strategic Design organisations maintain their position as innovators and differentiators within the airline industry. 4) Some recommendations are made that target how to bridge the gap between these two cultures, including appointing a design leader within a Silent Design culture airline. This would elevate the airlines’ perceptions of the strategic use of design.