Broadening horizons : an emerging research agenda modelling design led innovation across secondary education

A re-examination of design education at all levels is needed to ensure global economic competitiveness and social and environmental sustainment. This paper presents an emerging research agenda modelling design led innovation approaches from the business sector to secondary education curriculum. To do this, a review of literature is provided and current knowledge gaps surrounding design education are detailed. A regional secondary school design immersion program is outlined as a future research case study using action research. A framework and recommendations for developing and delivering pedagogical approaches for 21st century skill outcomes in secondary education are briefly introduced and future research objectives are overviewed and discussed.

Challenges and opportunities in the journey of the design-led innovation champions

The purpose of this study is to deepen our knowledge and understanding of the challenges faced by design champions in proposing and applying design methods and insights in existing firms. This study investigates the early stages of the journey of the design champions as they incorporate design into operational and strategic conversations and practices, and their progress in mastering these challenges as opportunities in a firm context. Little research on this topic has been reported, yet it is of growing interest as more firms turn to design-led innovation to shape their strategies and practices. Interviews with design champions were used to investigate first hand the experience and reflections the many challenges provide. Findings from the study provide some early insights that can be extended through further research.

Unpacking the opportunities for change within a family owned manufacturing SME : a design led innovation case study

The following paper presents insights found during an ongoing industry engagement with a family-owned manufacturing SME in Australia. The initial findings presented as a case study look at the opportunities available to the firm engaging in a design led approach to innovation. Over the period of one year, the first author’s immersion within the firm seeks to unpack the cultural, strategic, product opportunities and challenges when adopting design led innovation. This can provide a better understanding of how a firm can more effectively assess their value proposition in the market and what factors of the business are imperative in stimulating competitive difference. The core insight identified from this paper is that design led innovation cannot be seen and treated as a discrete event, nor a series of steps or stages; rather the whole business model needs to be in focus to achieve holistic, sustainable innovation. Initial insights were found through qualitative interviews with internal employees including: overcoming silos; moving from reactive to proactive design; empowerment; vision for growth and the framing of innovation.

What is the role of design-led innovation and design-led prototyping in developing novel business models?

Recently, ‘business model’ and ‘business model innovation’ have gained substantial attention in management literature and practice. However, many firms lack the capability to develop a novel business model to capture the value from new technologies. Existing literature on business model innovation highlights the central role of ‘customer value’. Further, it suggests that firms need to experiment with different business models and engage in ‘trail-and-error’ learning when participating in business model innovation. Trial-and error processes and prototyping with tangible artifacts are a fundamental characteristic of design. This conceptual paper explores the role of design-led innovation in facilitating firms to conceive and prototype novel and meaningful business models. It provides a brief review of the conceptual discussion on business model innovation and highlights the opportunities for linking it with the research stream of design-led innovation. We propose design-led business model innovation as a future research area and highlight the role of design-led prototyping and new types of artifacts and prototypes play within it. We present six propositions in order to outline future research avenues.

Gaps in organizational leadership : linking strategic and operational activities through design-led propositions

The relationship between design process and business systems has been of interest to both practitioners and researchers exploring the numerous opportunities and challenges of this unlikely relationship. Often the relationship is presented as building design thinking capability within an organization, which can be broadly described as the union of design and strategy. Brown (2008) notes that design thinking is ‘‘a discipline that uses the designer’s sensibility and methods to match people’s needs with what is technically feasible and what business strategy can convert into customer value and market opportunities’’ (p. 1). The value that design thinking brings to an organization is a different way of framing situations and possibilities, doing things, and tackling problems: essentially a cultural transformation of the way it undertakes its business. The work of Martin (2009) has clearly shown the generalized differences between design thinking and business thinking, highlighting many instances in which these differences have been overcome, but also noting the many obstacles of trying to unify both approaches within an organization. Liedtka (2010) encourages firms to try and persist in overcoming these barriers, as she has noted that ‘‘business strategy desperately needs design ... because design is all about action and business strategy too often turns out to be only about talk ... fewer than 10 percent of new strategies are ever fully executed’’ (p. 9).

Multiuser virtual safety training system for tower crane dismantlement

Tower crane dismantling is one of the most dangerous activities in the construction industry. Tower crane erection and dismantlement causes 10–12% of the fatalities of all crane accidents. The nature of the task is such that off-the-job training is not practicable, and the knowledge and expertise needed has to be gained on the job. However, virtual trainers such as Microsoft Flight Simulator for airplane pilots and mission rehearsal exercise (MRE) for army personnel have been developed and are known to provide a highly successful means of overcoming the risks involved in such on-the-job learning and clearly have potential in construction situations. This paper describes the newly developed multiuser virtual safety training system (MVSTS) aimed at providing a similar learning environment for those involved in tower crane dismantlement. The proposed training system is developed by modifying an existing game engine. Within the close-to-reality virtual environment, trainees can participate in a virtual dismantling process. During the process, they learn the correct dismantling procedure and working location and to cooperate with other trainees by virtually dismantling the crane. The system allows the trainees to experience the complete procedure in a risk-free environment. A case study is provided to demonstrate how the system works and its practical application. The proposed system was evaluated by interviews with 30 construction experts with different backgrounds, divided into three groups according to their experience and trained by the traditional and virtual methods, respectively. The results indicate that the trainees of the proposed system generally learned better than those using the traditional method. The ratings also indicate that the system generally has great potential as a training platform.

The pedagogical, linguistic and content features of popular English language learning websites in China : a framework for analysis and design

As increasing numbers of Chinese language learners choose to learn English online (CNNIC, 2012), there is a need to investigate popular websites and their language learning designs. This paper reports on the first stage of a study that analysed the pedagogical, linguistic and content features of 25 Chinese English Language Learning (ELL) websites ranked according to their value and importance to users. The website ranking was undertaken using a system known as PageRank. The aim of the study was to identify the features characterising popular sites as opposed to those of less popular sites for the purpose of producing a framework for ELL website design in the Chinese context. The study found that a pedagogical focus with developmental instructional materials accommodating diverse proficiency levels was a major contributor to website popularity. Chinese language use for translations and teaching directives and intermediate level English for learning materials were also significant features. Content topics included Anglophone/Western and non-Anglophone/Eastern contexts. Overall, popular websites were distinguished by their mediation of access to and scaffolded support for ELL.

Researching doctoral pedagogy close up : design and action in two doctoral programs

With growing international interest in diversifying sites for pedagogical work within the doctorate, doctoral programs of different kinds are being developed in different disciplinary, institutional and national settings. However, little is known about how the pedagogical work of these programs is designed and enacted, and with what effects. In this paper, we present two cases of doctoral pedagogical work being undertaken within different disciplinary and institutional settings to describe how learning opportunities were designed and to theorise what it means to be engaged in doing doctoral pedagogy. Starting from the position that working from a design model supports systematic and rigorous documentation and development of pedagogy, we employ the twin concepts of design and action, drawing broadly on rhetorical and ethnomethodological understandings of pedagogy as social action. Of particular interest within the concept of design itself is the concept of enactment, the translation of designs into the practices of doctoral work. Together, the two cases become a resource for ‘slowing down’ and making visible the practices of doctoral pedagogy that often go unrecognised because they appear so ordinary and everyday. This call for examining close-up existing doctoral education practices and relationships is attending to the ‘next challenge for doctoral education’ (Green, 2009).

A gamified mobile application for engaging new students at university orientation

The term gamification describes the addition of game elements to non-game contexts as a means to motivate and engage users. This study investigates the design, delivery and pilot evaluation of a gamified, smartphone application built to introduce new students to the campus, services and people at university during their first few weeks. This paper describes changes to the application made after an initial field study was undertaken and provides an evaluation of the impact of the redesign. Survey responses were collected from thirteen students and usage data was captured from 105 students. Results indicate three levels of user engagement and suggest that there is value in adding game elements to the experience in this way. A number of issues are identified and discussed based on game challenges, input, and facilitating game elements in an event setting such as university orientation.

Videogame control device impact on the play experience

New types of control devices for videogames have emerged and expanded the demographics of the game playing public, yet little is known about which populations of gamers prefer which style of interaction and why. This paper presents data from a study that seeks to clarify the influence the control interface has on the play experience. Three commercial control devices were categorised using an existing typology, according to how the interface maps physical control inputs with the virtual gameplay actions. The devices were then used in a within-groups experimental design aimed at measuring differences in play experience across 64 participants. Descriptive analysis is undertaken on the performance, play experience and preference results for each device. Potential explanations for these results are discussed, as well as the direction of future work.

Analyzing the factors influencing the successful design and uptake of interactive systems to support social networks in urban neighborhoods

In urban residential environments in Australia and other developed countries, Internet access is on the verge of becoming a ubiquitous utility like gas or electricity. From an urban sociology and community informatics perspective, this article discusses new emerging social formations of urban residents that are based on networked individualism and the potential of Internet-based systems to support them. It proposes that one of the main reasons for the disappearance or nonexistence of urban residential communities is a lack of appropriate opportunities and instruments to encourage and support local interaction in urban neighborhoods. The article challenges the view that a mere reappropriation of applications used to support dispersed virtual communities is adequate to meet the place and proximity-based design requirements that community networks in urban neighborhoods pose. It argues that the key factors influencing the successful design and uptake of interactive systems to support social networks in urban neighborhoods include the swarming social behavior of urban dwellers; the dynamics of their existing communicative ecology; and the serendipitous, voluntary, and place-based quality of interaction between residents on the basis of choice, like-mindedness, mutual interest and support needs. Drawing on an analysis of these factors, the conceptual design framework of a prototype system — the urban tribe incubator — is presented.

Modeling resource management in the building design process by information constraint Petri nets

The effect of resource management on the building design process directly influences the development cycle time and success of construction projects. This paper presents the information constraint net (ICN) to represent the complex information constraint relations among design activities involved in the building design process. An algorithm is developed to transform the information constraints throughout the ICN into a Petri net model. A resource management model is developed using the ICN to simulate and optimize resource allocation in the design process. An example is provided to justify the proposed model through a simulation analysis of the CPN Tools platform in the detailed structural design. The result demonstrates that the proposed approach can obtain the resource management and optimization needed for shortening the development cycle and optimal allocation of resources.

Daylighting performance of subtropical multi-residential towers : simulations tools for design decisions

During an intensive design-led workshop multidisciplinary design teams examined options for a sustainable multi-residential tower on an inner urban site in Brisbane (Australia). The main aim was to demonstrate the key principles of daylight to every habitable room and cross-ventilation to every apartment in the subtropical climate while responding to acceptable yield and price points. The four conceptual design proposals demonstrated a wide range of outcomes, with buildings ranging from 15 to 30 storeys. Daylight Factor (DF), view to the outside, and the avoidance of direct sunlight were the only quantitative and qualitative performance metrics used to implement daylighting to the proposed buildings during the charrette. This paper further assesses the daylighting performance of the four conceptual designs by utilizing Climate-based daylight modeling (CBDM), specifically Daylight Autonomy (DA) and Useful Daylight Illuminance (UDI). Results show that UDI 100-2000lux calculations provide more useful information on the daylighting design than DF. The percentage of the space with a UDI <100-2000lux larger than 50% ranged from 77% to 86% of the time for active occupant behaviour (occupancy from 6am to 6pm). The paper also highlights the architectural features that mostly affect daylighting design in subtropical climates.

Sustainable urban stormwater management : water sensitive urban design perceptions, drivers and barriers

Stormwater has been recognised as one of the main culprits of aquatic ecosystem pollution and as a significant threat to the goal of ecological sustainable development. Water sensitive urban design is one of the key responses to the need to better manage urban stormwater runoff, the objectives of which go beyond rapid and efficient conveyance. Underpinned by the concepts of sustainable urban development, water sensitive urban design has proven to be an efficient and environmentally-friendly approach to urban stormwater management, with the necessary technical know-how and skills already available. However, large-scale implementation of water sensitive urban design is still lacking in Australia due to significant impediments and negative perceptions. Identification of the issues, barriers and drivers that affect sustainability outcomes of urban stormwater management is one of the first steps towards encouraging the wide-scale uptake of water sensitive urban design features which integrate sustainable urban stormwater management. This chapter investigates key water sensitive urban design perceptions, drivers and barriers in order to improve sustainable urban stormwater management efforts.

Flourishing and video games

Studies dedicated to understanding the relationship between gaming and mental health, have traditionally focused on the effects of depression, anxiety, obsessive usage, aggression, obesity, and faltering ‘real life’ relationships. The complexity of game genre and personality aside, this review aims to define a space for a positive relationship between videogame play and wellbeing by applying current videogame research to the criteria that defines the wellbeing construct ‘flourishing’. Self- determination theory (SDT), and flow provide context, and areas of overlap are explored.