Il est patent que les objets de design, en particulier les objets d’ameublement que sont les chaises, exercent un rôle social dans l’espace privé et public, mais ils peuvent aussi fonctionner symboliquement et produire une expérience esthétique. Cette thèse mène une réfl exion critique sur le rôle du design à partir de bases pragmatiques. Ainsi que le suggère Nelson Goodman dans Manières de faire de mondes, les œuvres d’art sont loin d’être les seules choses qui symbolisent. Notre travail consiste à montrer que les chaises, en tant qu’objets de design peuvent aussi fonctionner communicationnellement. Ayant constitué un corpus de 11 types de chaises selon deux critères caractéristiques du mode d’évaluation et de qualifi cation des œuvres de design ‒ l’innovation et la diff usion ‒, nous analysons les chaises comme des natures mortes, en tant qu’objets isolés. Et c’est pour mieux montrer ensuite la relation intime existant entre le corps d’un usager et la chaise qui devient alors un objet vivant, riche de cette relation. / It is clear that objects of design, especially design furniture in the case of chairs, not only fulfi ll a social function in both the private and public spheres, but they can also take on a symbolic role and produce an aesthetic experience. Based in pragmatic thinking, the present thesis aims to develop a critical line of questioning for studying the role played by design. As Nelson Goodman claims in his Ways of Worldmaking, works of art are not the only things that can symbolise. Our goal consists in showing that, insofar as they are objects of design, chairs also function communicatively. Drawing from a corpus of eleven diff erent types of chairs, put together according to two characteristic criteria related to the evaluation and description of works of design – i.e. innovation and distribution – we fi rst analyse chairs in terms of still life, that is to say, as isolated objects. This preliminary analysis allows us to underscore, in a subsequent move, the intimate relationship that prevails between the user’s body and a chair, which now becomes a living object, one that is enriched by this very relationship.

Bibliography: p. [331]-349. / This exploratory study was conducted against the background of immediate post-apartheid South Africa in which the social upliftment and improvement of living conditions of all South Africans is regarded as of the highest priority. In a science- and technology-orientated world, science and technology is inextricably linked to this process. The purposes of this study were (a) to determine the level of scientific literacy of matriculants entering tertiary education in the Western Cape for the first time; (b) to describe patterns of scientific literacy levels with respect to selected demographic and other student background variables; and (c) to ascertain which student background variables appear to have the most influence in determining whether matriculants are scientifically literate or not. A survey was deemed to be appropriate for answering the above research questions. Underpinning the study was the development of a pool of scientific literacy test-items, from which a criterion-referenced, reliable, valid, and composite scientific literacy test instrument - the Test of Basic Scientific Literacy - could be constructed.

This research aims to contribute to knowledge about the design of interactive systems sited in public spaces. In particular, the study concerns "optional interactions" where systems invite interaction from passers-by. These systems are action-orientated ratherthan goal-oriented, are designed to encourage engagement, and offer positive and rewarding experiences through the activity of interaction. This is in contrast to systems that provide functional services that are actively sought out by people, such as ticketvending machines or cash dispensers. This thesis asserts that this kind of optimal, designed experience can be examined and understood through comparisons with approaches taken by new-media artists working in interactive, technological media. Artists have different priorities, and use different methods to those employed by Human-Computer Interaction researchers, and this study aims to further understanding of the potential of these artistic approaches for interaction designers. The setting for these optional interaction systems is any public or semi-public environment, including museums, galleries, shopping centres, foyers and urban settings. As well as understanding the public and social context of these interactions, the experiential aspects of interaction are of primary importance in this study. The work is conducted with the aim of providing practical and theoretical resources to interaction designers tasked with creating engaging interactive systems that initiate and sustain experiences that are highly regarded by the participant. The thesis presents a designframework titled the Optional Interactions Design Framework.

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No description available.

At some point during a creative action something clicks, suddenly the prospective problem solver just knows the solution to a problem, and a feeling of joy and relief arises. This phenomenon, called Eureka experience, insight, Aha moment, hunch, epiphany, illumination, or serendipity, has been part of human narrations for thousands of years. It is the moment of a subjective experience, a surprising, and sometimes a life-changing event. In this thesis, I narrow down this moment 1. conceptually, 2. experientially, and 3. temporally. The concept of emerging solutions has a multidisciplinary background in Cognitive Science, Arts, Design, and Engineering. Through the discussion of previous terminology and comparative reviews of historical literature, I identify sources of ambiguity surrounding this phenomenon and suggest unifying terms as the basis for interdisciplinary exploration. Tracking the experience based on qualitative data from 11 creative practitioners, I identify conflicting aspects of existing models of creative production. To bridge this theoretical and disciplinary divide between iterative design thinking and sequential models of creativity, I suggest a novel multi-layered model. Empirical support for this proposal comes from Dira, a computer-based open-ended experimental paradigm. As part of this thesis I developed the task and 40 unique sets of stimuli and response items to collect dynamic measures of the creative process and evade known problems of insightful tasks. Using Dira, I identify the moment when solutions emerge from the number and duration of mouse-interactions with the on-screen elements and the 124 participants' self-reports. I provide an argument for the multi-layered model to explain a discrepancy between the timing observed in Dira and existing sequential models. Furthermore, I suggest that Eureka moments can be assessed on more than a dichotomous scale, as the empirical data from interviews and Dira demonstrates for this rich human experience. I conclude that the research on insight benefits from an interdisciplinary approach and suggest Dira as an instrument for future studies.

This thesis is based on design theory about how to build an application for the mobile platform, a scientific analysis and an application for grocery shopping and meal planning. The thesis also contains a valuation of the research and of the application. The valuation of the application was done by a usability test and an analysis of the results of the test. The application of the thesis has an easy navigation system, which is time saving and simple to use. Finding recipes with the associated ingredients is a quick fix. The search function can be used for searching freely after recipes as well as for separate ingredients. That makes it possible for the user to create own recipes from available ingredients. One can also compose a recipe from scratch and add to the recipe bank. It´s also possible to see which ingredients that is needed for a certain recipe. The application is direct and easy to use and because of that it can be used outside the home in environments where there are a lot of distractions, for example in the food store, where all the ingredients is purchased and checked off from the list. The application is competent. The user can save recipes and create own recipes without having to login. From the added information the app is able to suggest menus, at the same time it enables for the user to compose his or her own menus with lunch and dinner. Gradually a big and varying recipe bank is built which is formed after the family´s specific priorities of good, easy to cook, healthy food and it also sends a warning if a recipe contains food that someone in the family is allergic to. Each and every recipe can also be illustrated with drawings which could improve the overview. The application can be synced with a web site where more information can be extracted. / Den här uppsatsen består av en designteori för hur en applikation för den mobila plattformen ska byggas, samt en vetenskaplig analys och en färdig applikation som ska användas vid inköp av mat och planering av måltider. Uppsatsen innehåller också en utvärdering av forskningen och av applikationen. Utvärderingen av applikationen utfördes genom en användarbarhetstestning och en analys av testningens resultat. Uppsatsens applikation en har smidig navigering, som är tidseffektiv och enkel att använda. Det går snabbt att ta fram recept och vilka ingredienser som krävs för receptet. Det är möjligt att söka fritt både på recept och enskilda ingredienser. Det innebär att användaren kan forma egna recept utifrån tillgängliga ingredienser. Man kan även komponera egna recept och lägga in i receptbanken. Det är också möjligt att se vilka ingredienser som behövs för att ett visst recept ska kunna tillagas. Applikationen är tydlig och lättanvänd och fungerar därför i miljöer med många distraherande inslag utanför hemmet, exempelvis direkt i butiken, där alla ingredienser kan köpas in och bockas av från en lista. Applikationen är kompetent. Användaren kan spara recept och lägga till egna recept utan att behöva logga in. Med utgångspunkt från inlagd information kan applikationen föreslå menyer, samtidigt som den möjliggör komposition av egna menyer för lunch och middag.  Efter hand byggs det upp en stor och varierande receptbank som formas efter familjens egna prioriteringar av god, lättlagad, nyttig mat och även varnar för exempelvis mat som kan framkalla allergireaktioner om allergi förekommer i familjen. Vart och en av recepten kan också illustreras med tecknade bilder vilket skulle kunna förbättrar överblicken. Applikationen kan samsynkas med en hemsida där mer utförlig information kan hämtas.

Supply Chain Event Management (SCEM) bezeichnet eine Teildisziplin des Supply Chain Management und ist für Unternehmen ein Ansatzpunkt, durch frühzeitige Reaktion auf kritische Ausnahmeereignisse in der Wertschöpfungskette Logistikleistung und -kosten zu optimieren. Durch Rahmenbedingungen wie bspw. globale Logistikstrukturen, eine hohe Artikelvielfalt und volatile Geschäftsbeziehungen zählt die Modeindustrie zu den Branchen, die für kritische Störereignisse besonders anfällig ist. In diesem Sinne untersucht die vorliegende Dissertation nach einer Beleuchtung der wesentlichen Grundlagen zunächst, inwiefern es in der Modeindustrie tatsächlich einen Bedarf an SCEM-Systemen gibt. Anknüpfend daran zeigt sie nach einer Darstellung bisheriger SCEM-Architekturkonzepte Gestaltungsmöglichkeiten für eine Systemarchitektur auf, die auf den Designprinzipien der Serviceorientierung beruht. In diesem Rahmen erfolgt u. a. auch die Identifikation SCEM-relevanter Business Services. Die Vorzüge einer serviceorientierten Gestaltung werden detailliert anhand der EPCIS (EPC Information Services)-Spezifikation illustriert. Abgerundet wird die Arbeit durch eine Betrachtung der Nutzenpotenziale von SCEM-Systemen. Nach einer Darstellung von Ansätzen, welche zur Nutzenbestimmung infrage kommen, wird der Nutzen anhand eines Praxisbeispiels aufgezeigt und fließt zusammen mit den Ergebnissen einer Literaturrecherche in eine Konsolidierung von SCEM-Nutzeffekten. Hierbei wird auch beleuchtet, welche zusätzlichen Vorteile sich für Unternehmen durch eine serviceorientierte Architekturgestaltung bieten. In der Schlussbetrachtung werden die wesentlichen Erkenntnisse der Arbeit zusammengefasst und in einem Ausblick sowohl beleuchtet, welche Relevanz die Ergebnisse der Arbeit für die Bewältigung künftiger Herausforderungen innehaben als auch welche Anknüpfungspunkte sich für anschließende Forschungsarbeiten ergeben.