A study on the effects of routing symbol design on process model comprehension

Process modeling grammars are used to create models of business processes. In this paper, we discuss how different routing symbol designs affect an individual's ability to comprehend process models. We conduct an experiment with 154 students to ascertain which visual design principles influence process model comprehension. Our findings suggest that design principles related to perceptual discriminability and pop out improve comprehension accuracy. Furthermore, semantic transparency and aesthetic design of symbols lower the perceived difficulty of comprehension. Our results inform important principles about notational design of process modeling grammars and the effective use of process modeling in practice.

Materialities influencing the design process

The use of material artefacts within the design process is a long-standing and continuing characteristic of interaction design. Established methods, such as prototyping, which have been widely adopted by educators and practitioners, are seeing renewed research interest and being reconsidered in light of the evolving needs of the field. Alongside this, the past decade has seen the introduction and adoption of a diverse range of novel design methods into interaction design, such as cultural probes, technology probes, context mapping, and provotypes.

Rock, paper, scissors : reflective practice for design process in the novice landscape architect

We describe a pedagogical approach that addresses challenges in design education for novices. These include an inability to frame new problems and limited-to-no design capability or domain knowledge. Such challenges can reduce student engagement with design practice, cause derivative design solutions as well as the inappropriate simplification of design assignments and assessment criteria by educators. We argue that a curriculum that develops the student’s design process will enable them to deal with the uncertain and dynamic situations that characterise design. We describe how this may be achieved and explain our pedagogical approach in terms of methods from Reflective Practice and theories of abstraction and creativity. We present a landscape architecture unit, recently taught, as an example. It constitutes design exercises that require little domain or design expertise to support the development of conceptual thinking and a design rationale. We show how this approach (a) leveraged the novice’s existing spatial and thinking skills while (b) retaining contextually-rich design situations. Examples of the design exercises taught are described along with samples of student work. The assessment rationale is also presented and explained. Finally, we conclude by reflecting on how this approach relates to innovation, sustainability and other disciplines.

Improving the Walkability of Subtropical Urban Areas: a case study analysis for the development of a design process

This research develops a new framework to be used as a tool for analysing and designing walkable communities. The literature review recognises the work of other researchers combining their findings with the theory of activity nodes and considers how a framework may be used on a more global basis. The methodology develops a set of criteria through the analysis of noted successful case studies and this is then tested against an area with very low walking rates in Brisbane, Australia. Results of the study suggest that as well as the accepted criteria of connectivity, accessibility, safety, security, and path quality further criteria in the form or planning hierarchy, activity nodes and climate mitigation could be added to allow the framework to cover a broader context. Of particular note is the development of the nodal approach, which allows simple and effective analysis of existing conditions, and may also prove effective as a tool for planning and design of walkable communities.

Conceptual fashion : design, practice and process

While Conceptual fashion design practices have been a pervasive influence in fashion since the early 1980s, there is little academic analysis that might explain how they are distinct from conventional fashion design practices. In addition, fashion practitioners have not historically contributed to fashion research. As a result, contemporary fashion practitioners have difficulty setting critical contexts and expanding their creative work as there is little relevant literature available from practitioner perspectives. This project uses practice-led research to develop a discourse for understanding Conceptual fashion design process and how it relates to more conventional fashion design practices. In this exegesis I use Conceptual art as a lens to expand understandings of Conceptual fashion and my own creative practice. This analysis demonstrates that there are valuable connections to be drawn between Conceptual art and Conceptual fashion practice. In particular, these connections reveal the differences between the way Conceptual and more conventional fashion designers relate to the conceptual and the visual in their design process. This exploration demonstrates that while fashion is a visual field, Conceptual fashion designers produce a more ‘intellectual’ type of fashion that uses the visual to communicate ideas that question the nature of fashion. I explore the relevance of these ideas through application and experimentation in my creative practice projects by drawing from systems and rules identified in the work of early Conceptual artists and contemporary Conceptual fashion designers.

Optimal Bayesian experimental design for models with intractable likelihoods using indirect inference applied to biological process models

This paper addresses the problem of determining optimal designs for biological process models with intractable likelihoods, with the goal of parameter inference. The Bayesian approach is to choose a design that maximises the mean of a utility, and the utility is a function of the posterior distribution. Therefore, its estimation requires likelihood evaluations. However, many problems in experimental design involve models with intractable likelihoods, that is, likelihoods that are neither analytic nor can be computed in a reasonable amount of time. We propose a novel solution using indirect inference (II), a well established method in the literature, and the Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) algorithm of Müller et al. (2004). Indirect inference employs an auxiliary model with a tractable likelihood in conjunction with the generative model, the assumed true model of interest, which has an intractable likelihood. Our approach is to estimate a map between the parameters of the generative and auxiliary models, using simulations from the generative model. An II posterior distribution is formed to expedite utility estimation. We also present a modification to the utility that allows the Müller algorithm to sample from a substantially sharpened utility surface, with little computational effort. Unlike competing methods, the II approach can handle complex design problems for models with intractable likelihoods on a continuous design space, with possible extension to many observations. The methodology is demonstrated using two stochastic models; a simple tractable death process used to validate the approach, and a motivating stochastic model for the population evolution of macroparasites.

Fashion Thinking : Creative Approaches to the Design Process, F. Dieffenbacher (2013)

Fashion Thinking: Creative Approaches to the Design Process, F. Dieffenbacher (2013) London: AVA, 224 pp., ISBN: 9782940411719, p/bk, $79.99

Understanding the behavior of workshop facilitators in systems analysis and design projects: Developing theory from process modeling projects

Organizational and technological systems analysis and design practices such as process modeling have received much attention in recent years. However, while knowledge about related artifacts such as models, tools, or grammars has substantially matured, little is known about the actual tasks and interaction activities that are conducted as part of analysis and design acts. In particular, key role of the facilitator has not been researched extensively to date. In this paper, we propose a new conceptual framework that can be used to examine facilitation behaviors in process modeling projects. The framework distinguishes four behavioral styles in facilitation (the driving engineer, the driving artist, the catalyzing engineer, and the catalyzing artist) that a facilitator can adopt. To distinguish between the four styles, we provide a set of ten behavioral anchors that underpin facilitation behaviors. We also report on a preliminary empirical exploration of our framework through interviews with experienced analysts in six modeling cases. Our research provides a conceptual foundation for an emerging theory for describing and explaining different behaviors associated with process modeling facilitation, provides first preliminary empirical results about facilitation in modeling projects, and provides a fertile basis for examining facilitation in other conceptual modeling activities.

Design process

Christina Waterson interviews Queensland interior designer Marisha McAuliffe about her PhD research into process, and why some people are drawn to create.

Process makes perfect: High-performance design creates healthy environments for high-performance learning

Considering the staggering benefits of high-performance schools, it seems an obvious choice to “go green.” High-performance schools offer an exceptionally cost-effective means to enhance student learning, using on average 33 percent less energy than conventionally designed schools, and provide substantial health gains, including reduced respiratory problems and absenteeism. According to the 2006 study, Greening America's Schools, Costs and Benefits, co-sponsored by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and Capital E, a green building consulting firm, high-performance lighting is a key element of healthy learning environments, contributing to improved test scores, reduced off-task behavior, and higher achievement among students. Few argue this point more convincingly than architect Heinz Rudolf, of Portland-Oregon-based Boora Architects, who has designed sustainable schools for more than 80 school districts in Oregon, Washington, Colorado, and Wyoming, and has pioneered the high-performance school movement. Boora's recently completed project, the Baker Prairie Middle School in Canby, Oregon is one of the most sustainable K-12 facilities in the state, and illustrates Rudolf's progressive and research-intensive approach to school design.

Communication Architecture Design for Real-Time Networked Control Systems

Networked control over data networks has received increasing attention in recent years. Among many problems in networked control systems (NCSs) is the need to reduce control latency and jitter and to deal with packet dropouts. This paper introduces our recent progress on a queuing communication architecture for real-time NCS applications, and simple strategies for dealing with packet dropouts. Case studies for a middle-scale process or multiple small-scale processes are presented for TCP/IP based real-time NCSs. Variations of network architecture design are modelled, simulated, and analysed for evaluation of control latency and jitter performance. It is shown that a simple bandwidth upgrade or adding hierarchy does not necessarily bring benefits for performance improvement of control latency and jitter. A co-design of network and control is necessary to maximise the real-time control performance of NCSs

The Design, Implementation and Outcomes of a Mentoring Program

This paper reports on the design, implementation and outcomes of a mentoring program involving 18 employees in the IT Division of WorkCover Queensland. The paper provides some background information to the development of the program and the design and implementation phases including recruitment and matching of participants, orientation and training, and the mentoring process including transition and/or termination. The paper also outlines the quantitative and qualitative evaluation processes that occurred and the outcomes of that evaluation. Results indicated a wealth of positive individual, mentoring, and organisational outcomes. The organisation and semi-structured processes provided in the program are considered as major contributing factors to the successful outcomes of the program. These outcomes are likely to have long-term benefits for the individuals involved, the IT Division, and the broader organisation

Critical success factors of process modeling for enterprise systems

The integrated and process oriented nature of Enterprise Systems (ES) has led organizations to use process modeling as an aid in managing these systems. Enterprise Systems success factor studies explicitly and implicitly state the importance of process modeling and its contribution to overall Enterprise System success. However, no empirical evidence exists on how to conduct process modeling successfully and possibly differentially in the main phases of the ES life-cycle. This paper reports on an empirical investigation of the factors that influence process modeling success. An a-priori model with 8 candidate success factors has been developed to this stage. This paper introduces the research context and objectives, describes the research design and the derived model, and concludes by looking ahead to the next phases of the research design.

A generative design system based on evolutionary and mathematical functions

Previous work by Professor John Frazer on Evolutionary Architecture provides a basis for the development of a system evolving architectural envelopes in a generic and abstract manner. Recent research by the authors has focused on the implementation of a virtual environment for the automatic generation and exploration of complex forms and architectural envelopes based on solid modelling techniques and the integration of evolutionary algorithms, enhanced computational and mathematical models. Abstract data types are introduced for genotypes in a genetic algorithm order to develop complex models using generative and evolutionary computing techniques. Multi-objective optimisation techniques are employed for defining the fitness function in the evaluation process.

Creative design and the generative evolutionary paradigm

Design as seen from the designer's perspective is a series of amazing imaginative jumps or creative leaps. But design as seen by the design historian is a smooth progression or evolution of ideas that they seem self-evident and inevitable after the event. But the next step is anything but obvious for the artist/creator/inventor/designer stuck at that point just before the creative leap. They know where they have come from and have a general sense of where they are going, but often do not have a precise target or goal. This is why it is misleading to talk of design as a problem-solving activity - it is better defined as a problem-finding activity. This has been very frustrating for those trying to assist the design process with computer-based, problem-solving techniques. By the time the problem has been defined, it has been solved. Indeed the solution is often the very definition of the problem. Design must be creative-or it is mere imitation. But since this crucial creative leap seem inevitable after the event, the question must arise, can we find some way of searching the space ahead? Of course there are serious problems of knowing what we are looking for and the vastness of the search space. It may be better to discard altogether the term "searching" in the context of the design process: Conceptual analogies such as search, search spaces and fitness landscapes aim to elucidate the design process. However, the vastness of the multidimensional spaces involved make these analogies misguided and they thereby actually result in further confounding the issue. The term search becomes a misnomer since it has connotations that imply that it is possible to find what you are looking for. In such vast spaces the term search must be discarded. Thus, any attempt at searching for the highest peak in the fitness landscape as an optimal solution is also meaningless. Futhermore, even the very existence of a fitness landscape is fallacious. Although alternatives in the same region of the vast space can be compared to one another, distant alternatives will stem from radically different roots and will therefore not be comparable in any straightforward manner (Janssen 2000). Nevertheless we still have this tantalizing possibility that if a creative idea seems inevitable after the event, then somehow might the process be rserved? This may be as improbable as attempting to reverse time. A more helpful analogy is from nature, where it is generally assumed that the process of evolution is not long-term goal directed or teleological. Dennett points out a common minsunderstanding of Darwinism: the idea that evolution by natural selection is a procedure for producing human beings. Evolution can have produced humankind by an algorithmic process, without its being true that evolution is an algorithm for producing us. If we were to wind the tape of life back and run this algorithm again, the likelihood of "us" being created again is infinitesimally small (Gould 1989; Dennett 1995). But nevertheless Mother Nature has proved a remarkably successful, resourceful, and imaginative inventor generating a constant flow of incredible new design ideas to fire our imagination. Hence the current interest in the potential of the evolutionary paradigm in design. These evolutionary methods are frequently based on techniques such as the application of evolutionary algorithms that are usually thought of as search algorithms. It is necessary to abandon such connections with searching and see the evolutionary algorithm as a direct analogy with the evolutionary processes of nature. The process of natural selection can generate a wealth of alternative experiements, and the better ones survive. There is no one solution, there is no optimal solution, but there is continuous experiment. Nature is profligate with her prototyping and ruthless in her elimination of less successful experiments. Most importantly, nature has all the time in the world. As designers we cannot afford prototyping and ruthless experiment, nor can we operate on the time scale of the natural design process. Instead we can use the computer to compress space and time and to perform virtual prototyping and evaluation before committing ourselves to actual prototypes. This is the hypothesis underlying the evolutionary paradigm in design (1992, 1995).