The purpose of this study is to document the design process as it is adapted to compressed timeframes. I have termed this adapted design process single-session design. This study will also explore the application of this type of design methodology in industry where the research and development phases of products are continually being compressed. The primary research for this study is extracted from the examples of rapid design observed repeatedly on the Robot Rivals television series on the Do It Yourself network. The scope of this television series is a competition between two teams of engineering students to design, build, and operate a robot in a single day. The show yields an ideal platform to study the design process in a highly adaptive and compressed form. This study will show how the design process can be adapted to function in a fast-paced situation. The design process in general has been studied for quite some time. However, to date there is no focused research on a specific design methodology that is intended for extremely short-term projects. This research provides insight into the situation where significant time constraints stimulate creativity and ingenuity in designs. / Master of Science

<p> Interior point methods (IPMs) is a powerful tool in convex optimization. From the theoretical point of view, the convex set of feasible solutions is represented by a so-called barrier functional and the only information required by the algorithms is the evaluation of the barrier, its gradient and Hessian. As a result, IPM algorithms can be used for many types of convex problems and their theoretical performance depends on the properties of the barrier. In practice, performance depends on how the data structure is exploited at the linear algebra level. In this thesis, we make use of the object-oriented paradigm supported by C++ to create a platform where the aforementioned generality of IPM algorithms is valued and the possibility to exploit the data structure is available. We will illustrate the power of such an approach on optimization problems arrising in the field of Radiation Therapy, in particular Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy. </p> / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc)

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

The aim of this thesis is to study the usage of an Apparel and Footwear Environmental Assessment Tool, the Rapid Design Module, in Swedish companies in the textile and fashion industry and the tool’s possible impact on the change process of organizational culture towards a more sustainable one. A qualitative study has been conducted via interviewing and observing employees using the focal tool on-site in three different companies. A theoretical framework within organizational culture was developed along with necessary cultural traits a company should nurture in order to change its culture towards a more sustainable one. The most important findings pointed out that companies should develop common guidelines in order to use the tool in question coherently and in unison. The tool was found to act as a change initiator in the employee level of the companies and additionally management support was found to be essential in order to empower employees in taking initiative in their work. Furthermore, the tool showed signs of increased collaboration within the companies’ external and internal environments, i.e. learning from one another, as well as it was observed to encourage interdependent thinking, which both are the necessary traits mentioned earlier. / Program: Master programme in Fashion Management