Design Artifacts Research Articles

Using AI-Enabled Divergence and Convergence Patterns as a Quantitative Artifact in Design Education

Abstract Design education has traditionally relied heavily on physical integration as it involves a lot of hands-on work, group critiques, and collaborative projects, but the COVID-19 pandemic has forced many institutions to adapt to remote teaching and learning environments. This has created challenges for design educators who have had to find ways to evaluate students' progress in the absence of in-person interactions. In this paper, we are proposing a dashboard visualisation approach that helps educators to monitor the progression of the entire class of students using Artificial Intelligence (AI) by tracking a time-based evolution of a design statement. This approach uses various Natural Language Processing (NLP) models to produce stock-like charts which represent students' and student groups' progression through a series of divergence and convergence phases. These charts become a form of Design Artifact that allows educator(s) to gain a birds-eye view of the class and react to groups that may require assistance; at the same time it becomes a qualitative means of evaluation and comparison across students and groups. Towards the end, this paper also showcases a web-based platform that is publicly available using such methodology, a case study that applied so methodology and recommendation of future works possible.

Enhancing lithic analysis: Introducing 3D-EdgeAngle as a semi-automated 3D digital method to systematically quantify stone tool edge angle and design.

In stone tool studies, the analysis of different technological and typological features is known to provide distinct but interrelated information on the design and use of artefacts. The selection of these features can potentially influence the understanding and reconstruction of past human technological behaviour across time. One feature frequently part of a standard lithic analysis is the measurement of edge angles. The angle of an edge, unmodified or shaped by retouch and an integral part of the overall tool design, is certainly a parameter that influences the interpretation of an artefact. The acuteness of an edge angle is often linked to aspects such as cutting, carving, or scraping efficiency and durability and thus, tool performance. Knowing the actual edge angle of a stone tool can therefore have important implications for its interpretation. In the case of edge angle analyses, manual measuring techniques have been established for many years in lithic studies. Here, we introduce a new method for accurate and precise edge angle measurements based on 3D data (hereafter 3D-EdgeAngle). 3D-EdgeAngle consists of a script-based, semi-automated edge angle measuring method applicable to 3D models. Unlike other methods, 3D-EdgeAngle illustrates an objective way of measuring the edge angle at cross sections along the entire tool edge in defined steps and, moreover, allows measurements at different distances perpendicular to the edge by controlling three involved parameters. Thus, with this method, the edge angle can be measured at any point in a high resolution and scale of analysis. Compared to measurements taken manually, with this method random and systematic errors can be reduced significantly. Additionally, all data are reproducible and statistically evaluable. We introduce 3D-EdgeAngle as a standard method to calculate edge angles with a highly accurate and systematic approach. With this method, we aim to improve the process of studying lithics and thus to increase the understanding of past human tool design.

WebDraw: A machine learning-driven tool for automatic website prototyping

To overcome the time-consuming nature and improve the cost-effectiveness of classical web development, being automatic is the most convenient alternative recent researchers suggest. Over the years, researchers have been working on inventing new approaches to generating websites automatically. In this paper, a novel approach is presented that automates the website generation process by incorporating web designer best practices and driving new prototype websites without the significant effort of redesigning websites. It takes high-fidelity mock-up design artifacts such as screen captures of real-world websites, and generates functional websites similar to the input websites, which involves three steps: GUI element detection, classification, and code generation. First, image processing techniques are applied to detect atomic web GUI elements from a mock-up design artifact of a real-world website. Second, a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) is trained to classify the extracted web GUI elements into their domain-specific types such as headings, paragraphs, images, etc. A Graphical User Interface (GUI) is typically represented in code as a hierarchical tree, with nested GUI elements bundled together within one another to construct a tree. A recursive algorithm is proposed that constructs the appropriate Document Object Model (DOM) hierarchy for a website by recursively grouping classified web GUI elements within each other. Finally, the constructed DOM is converted to the accurate native code. The approach was implemented as a tool called WebDraw. Design science research evaluation shows that WebDraw achieves an average of 90% web GUI element classification and generates website prototypes that are visually similar to the target website design mock-up artifact while producing functional GUI code. Furthermore, interviews with industry professionals illustrate WebDraw's industry relevance for improving their industrial web design and development workflows.

English as a medium of instruction for engineering e-portfolio

This paper tackles the importance of capacity-building and Industry 4.0. preparation in higher technical education where sustainable learning approaches start gaining a place. The primary study objective focuses on developing a combined curricular implementation of an applied didactic and career-promoting tool. A sequence of applied tasks related to the Mechanics of materials course and supported by English as Medium of Instruction (EMI) allowed to teach technical topics through the English Language. The transversal competences’ framework strengthened training activities and created a meaningful connection to a professional e-portfolio artefact design. Quality task and presentation deliveries, remarkable e-portfolio contributions and student satisfaction questionnaires motivate applying this methodology to specialisation courses in engineering training. The findings help establish new models for higher education institutions' teaching and learning.

A decision support system using signals from social media and news to predict cryptocurrency prices

We design, implement, and evaluate a decision support system that combines fine-grained signals derived from news and social media with bitcoin prices using a Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) neural network. Through this artifact, we construct a portfolio to trade bitcoin in three stages. In the first stage, signals and prices are used as inputs for the LSTM model to predict bitcoin prices. In the second stage, we identify the signals that are the most effective predictors of bitcoin prices and then combine these signals to generate predictions that outperform market benchmarks. In the final stage, we assess portfolios based on their financial performance relative to these benchmarks. This design artifact introduces a method to harness the inherent heterogeneity of online news and social media for bitcoin price prediction.

Comparing and Evaluating Human and Computationally Derived Representations of Non-Semantic Design Information

Abstract Design artifacts provide a mechanism for illustrating design information and concepts, but their effectiveness relies on alignment across design agents in what these artifacts represent. This work investigates the agreement between multi-modal representations of design artifacts by humans and artificial intelligence (AI). Design artifacts are considered to constitute stimuli designers interact with to become inspired (i.e., inspirational stimuli), for which retrieval often relies on computational methods using AI. To facilitate this process for multi-modal stimuli, a better understanding of human perspectives of non-semantic representations of design information, e.g., by form or function-based features, is motivated. This work compares and evaluates human and AI-based representations of 3D-model parts by visual and functional features. Humans and AI were found to share consistent representations of visual and functional similarities, which aligned well with coarse, but not more granular, levels of similarity. Human–AI alignment was higher for identifying low compared to high similarity parts, suggesting mutual representation of features underlying more obvious than nuanced differences. Human evaluation of part relationships in terms of belonging to the same or different categories revealed that human and AI-derived relationships similarly reflect concepts of “near” and “far.” However, levels of similarity corresponding to “near” and “far” differed depending on the criteria evaluated, where “far” was associated with nearer visually than functionally related stimuli. These findings contribute to a fundamental understanding of human evaluation of information conveyed by AI-represented design artifacts needed for successful human–AI collaboration in design.

Requirements, Objectives, Both, or Neither: How to Formulate Complex Design Problems for Innovation Contests

Abstract Technical organizations increasingly rely on innovation contests to find novel ideas for designing complex systems. These activities involve outsiders in the early stages of the design process, leading to ground-breaking designs that often surpass expectations. Here, the contest’s rules document plays a crucial role: this design artifact communicates the organization’s problem and the desired system performance to the participants—significantly impacting the resulting solutions. However, the contest’s nature amplifies the challenges of communicating complex design problems across boundaries. Existing strategies for formulating—i.e., requirement and objective allocation—might not suit this context. We developed an inductive model of their formulation process based on a multiyear field study of five complex innovation contests. We found that a formulation team (or “seeker”) balanced the need to communicate their problem in detail with the risk of excluding valuable participants. Here, they chose among three approaches—incentivize, impose, or subsume—depending on their knowledge of potential solutions and the participants’ capabilities. Notably, the seeker formulated more granularly than the literature describes, employing multiple approaches within each rules document. These findings shed light on a poorly understood aspect of innovation contests, shed new light on a longstanding debate in the engineering design literature, and guide practitioners’ formulation processes.

Üstün Zekalı Öğrenciler Tarafından Tasarlanan Ürünlerde Yaratıcılığın Değerlendirilmesi: Sosyal Göstergebilimsel Çokmodlu Bir Bakış Açısı

Creativity is a central trait of giftedness, making the assessment of creativity an essential endeavor. A socio-cultural perspective takes into account all aspects of the social environment in which creative products emerge and underscores the necessity of considering these aspects when assessing such products. Regarding gifted classroom as a socio-cultural context, this study aims to introduce a systemic approach to evaluating creativity in designs created by gifted students, considering the multimodal discourse practices within the classroom. A qualitative descriptive method was employed, involving 16 fifth-grade gifted students in the study. Data were collected through participant design of artifacts and analyzed using multimodal and semiotic richness analysis. The results indicate that the analyzed texts are predominantly rich in semiotic aspects and demonstrate the effectiveness of the evaluation tool in assessing creativity in designs based on the discourse nature of the gifted students' science classroom.

Applying design research for cross-disciplinary collaboration: Experiences from a gamification process

This study explores applying design science research (DSR) frameworks to facilitate cross-disciplinary collaboration towards game development. It uses a DSR framework proposed by Peffers et al (2014) to integrate the knowledge and experiences of a cross-disciplinary research team and develop a game which gamifies the investment decision-making process of energy communities. The framework employed for this paper constituted five phases around problem identification, definition of solution objectives, artefact design and development, demonstration and evaluation. The iterative process of the framework allowed for gradual but incremental improvement in the outcome and the associated artefacts and sustained researcher collaboration. The resultant interactive in-person game required the participants (or their teams) to navigate through the complexities of the decision-making process in a community while considering factors such as information asymmetry, uncertain return on investments, time constraints, etc. The game was instantiated twice and was able to engage players effectively. Moreover, the post-game evaluation indicated that the players acquired learning about energy communities. The participants developed an understanding of the game only gradually and their engagement in the later rounds of the game. Three distinct investment strategies emerged from the two instantiations (diversification, focus on centralised options, or focus on decentralised options). The participants preferred to maintain a strategy rather than reacting situationally. This gamification experience, albeit applicable to this specific research context, shows that DSR frameworks can be successfully applied to facilitate cross-disciplinary collaboration because they allow for more flexible and iterative knowledge exchange. The post-game evaluation helped identify avenues for further improvements, such as focusing on incremental-iterative development of the output, expanding the flexibility and visibility of the game, involving a more balanced research team, etc. The contribution of this study lies in extending the discourse on cross-disciplinary collaboration by incorporating DSR frameworks and demonstrating the application of game-based learning beyond end-user application.

Workshop-suited identification of thermo-elastic errors of three-axis machine tools using on-machine measurement

This paper presents a method for workshop-suited identification of thermo-elastic errors of three-axis machine tools (MTs) using on-machine measurement. For this purpose, a new design for a three dimensional artifact is presented. Using the artifact, it is possible to identify all relevant geometric errors of three-axis portal milling machines in table design. The method presented is therefore suitable for the one-time identification of geometric errors caused by manufacturing inaccuracies, assembly-related deviations and wear, and for the identification of thermally induced geometry errors over a long-term period. Since the artifact is scalable in size, it can be easily adapted to different machine sizes. The presented method thus represents a universal and inexpensive possibility to measure geometric and especially thermo-elastic errors.Within the scope of this paper, an error model was established for the investigated machine type and an artifact design was derived on the basis of this model. The suitability of the artifact for identifying thermo-elastic errors has also been investigated experimentally. For this purpose, an artifact made of thermo-invariant material (Invar) was produced. This artifact was measured cyclically on a MT with three linear axes, which was exposed to a controlled thermal load in a temperature chamber. The positions of the geometric features were collected using a 3D touch trigger probe. In addition, the ambient temperatures were recorded. The results of this measurement are discussed in this paper.

On the fatigue properties of material extrusion 3D-printed biodegradable composites reinforced with continuous flax fibers

Nowadays, additive manufacturing is increasingly used for prototypes and low-volume products. Firstly, it offers great design freedom; however, the components must inevitably have certain design artifacts that cause stress concentrations. To this end, composites of biodegradable PLA (polylactic acid) matrix and continuous flax fibers were fabricated in this study using material extrusion 3D printing. Static characterization and mechanical fatigue tests between 103 and 2·106 load cycles were performed for plain specimens, three types of notches for the matrix, and two composite configurations. The notches only slightly affected the static performance of the tested materials. Accordingly, compared to the unnotched versions, the PLA matrix and composites exhibited a reduction in tensile strength of up to 8% and 19%, respectively. It was found that compared to the PLA matrix, the fatigue strength at high cycles increased by 1.8 and 2.3 times for the plain composite with a fiber volume fraction of 7.8% and 14% fibers, respectively. In the fatigue of notched composites, the notch effect is reduced by fibers in the tip. The fatigue strength is up to 1.9 and 2.9 times higher compared to the notched matrix for the composite with a smaller and larger volume fraction, respectively.

Co-producing affordable housing futures: tools for community participation

Archio interviewed by Dhruv Sookhoo and Ava LynamKyle Buchanan and Mellis Haward, directors of architectural practice Archio, reflect on their experience developing a toolkit of practices that facilitate co-design of community-led housing.In this interview, Buchanan and Haward examine the participatory approaches that Archio adopts to negotiate the delivery of enhanced housing outcomes [1]. They describe building trust with residents by interpreting their lived experiences and aspirations through architectural knowledge and practices. Discussion focuses on the co-production of design artefacts as tools that enable community stakeholders to negotiate shared ambitions for their neighbourhood within community-based development and regulatory processes (e.g. development management).In 2016, Archio was invited by London Community Land Trust and Citizens UK to compete for the opportunity to design and deliver eleven affordable homes on a disused garage site at Brasted Close, in Lewisham, London [2]. Unusually, a “Pick an Architect” workshop was held on the development site, where the public was able to evaluate prospective architectural teams for their ability to engage future residents and neighbouring communities in the collective examination of fundamental socio-spatial aspects of the project. Archio’s successful approach at the pioneering community land trust at Brasted Close anticipated their development of a toolkit of practices that emphasise collaboration during community-led development of affordable housing. These design tools were refine through use across a series of later commissions including a co-housing project at Angel Yard, Norwich and a resident-led estate regeneration scheme at Astley Estate, Southwark.

Circular economy is key! Designing a digital artifact to foster smarter household biowaste sorting

Waste volumes are rising. This is a problem, as they worsen environmental challenges such as climate change. At the same time, however, waste bears valuable resources – yet untapped. The concept of a circular economy bears the potential to unleash these resources. In the short run, only changing the waste sorting behavior of citizens can effectively contribute to circular resource flows, as waste management companies cannot ensure the purity of waste by purely technical means. Aligned with the digital realm, this work focuses on designing a digital artifact that contributes to improved household waste sorting. Using a design science research approach, we develop the artifact's design with input from theory, 23 interviews with potential users and practitioners, and evaluate a prototypical instantiation in a large German city. We contribute to literature and theory by generating design knowledge on information systems for improved biowaste and residual waste sorting by individuals. We derive as key design principles the importance of awareness and transparency, social influence, education and confirmation, and incentives. Our solution embracing those principles enhances the awareness of circular economy processes and the relevance of correct waste sorting. At the same time, our solution is relevant to solving waste management companies' current challenges such as the incineration of valuable biowaste as part of residual waste.

Potentialities of Agave sisalana Fibers in the Design of Bioinspired Materials and Artifacts

Potentialities of Agave sisalana Fibers in the Design of Bioinspired Materials and Artifacts

Value proposition-driven reconfiguration of business models in dynamic industries: a design-science approach

PurposeThis paper aims to better understand and structure the process of business model (BM) redesign in dynamic industry contexts by exploring the interactions of BM components through a configuration and design-science lens. While these interactions have been investigated broadly in the BM literature, detailed studies on their properties and structures are limited.Design/methodology/approachA design-science methodology was utilised to conceptualise a BM design artefact based on literature, the components' interactions of which were investigated and iteratively validated through a case study of an organisation going through a BM change. The artefact served as a framework to capture the case firm's BM and value proposition through semi-structured interviews.FindingsThe results suggest that the interaction of BM components is represented by the value proposition as an integrating mechanism, which can be expressed as a combination of tangible, intangible and monetary inter-component flows. The value proposition, rather than being pre-determined and static, is dynamic and evolves as its flows are exchanged across the value creation, delivery, customer and capture components of the BM. These exchanges and interactions are facilitated by the components' input-process-output capabilities and drive BM reconfiguration through five value flow “properties”, expressed in terms of change in quantity, speed/frequency, composition, quality and value.Research limitations/implicationsWhile developed with inputs from a complex business environment that provides a rich research context, this work acknowledges the trade-off between in-depth single case analysis in theory building, and the need for follow-on research to address the limiting contextual variables and extend generalisability.Practical implicationsThe study offers a framework-based sequence of activities that managers can adopt for the BM design process in dynamic industry environments.Originality/valueThis work contributes to BM theory by setting out a mechanism that helps better understand interactions of BM components in dynamic environments, while also challenging the established definition of the value proposition concept – a key BM component – thus presenting significant implications for theory.

Design and Development of EcoSense: Android-Based Incentivized Environmental Campaign App

This research paper presents the design and development of EcoSense, an Android-based incentivized environmental campaign app, using the Design Science Research Methodology (DSRM). The DSRM approach involved six steps: problem identification, objective definition, design and development, demonstration, and evaluation. The problem of insufficient participation in environmental activities in Indonesia was identified using the Five Whys method, and user requirements were collected through an online survey. Various design artifacts were created to ensure the app is user-friendly, and the app was evaluated based on user engagement and participation. The results suggested that the app has the potential to effectively engage users in environmental campaigns, as evidenced by the relatively high retention and conversion rates. The study has some limitations, such as a small sample size and limited evaluation metrics, but future research can address these limitations and expand on the findings.

Small satellite Extracurricular projects – Implementing a context‐driven SysEng engine for improved adaptability and student agency

AbstractUniversity student projects usually attempt to follow, and often fail to follow, industry frameworks and standards to ensure the success of their development effort. The typical student satellite project follows ESA ECSS or NASA project frameworks, prescribing document artefacts, project reviews, the project life cycle, and typical project processes. In the case of Orbit NTNU, this was done without understanding the underlying dependencies and supporting connections between artefacts, design steps, and project phases. This paper presents a framework for increased understanding of the purpose of common design artefacts and their interdependencies by applying model‐centric system thinking and systemigrams as a tool for highlighting relationships and dependencies within the SysEng discipline, thus enabling the students to complete well‐informed and planned design iterations that build a solid and coherent system understanding throughout the project lifecycle. The method is built to be adapted to the needs of the project team and can readily be used by 1st year university students with one semester of SysEng experience.

Making the Fantastic Real

This study - Making the Fantastic Real - provides research into the subject of design fiction, science fiction fandom, sharable digital media content on the one hand, and the design of real-life engineering artifacts on the other. This study has selected the case of The Hacksmith to understand the space of meaning (science, fiction, co-creation, and design) created by the production of “the fantastic” by this specific acknowledged Canadian Youtuber.
 
 The Hacksmith Industries is the trademark name of the YouTube channel The Hacksmith (https://www.youtube.com/c/theHacksmith/featured) created by Canadian engineer James Hobson in 2006. One of the signature elements of Hobson’s interests is the lightsaber and the Star Wars franchise. But Hobson explores many other dimensions of popular culture, ranging from nerf wars shooters to superhero artifacts of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. His focus is on how to make elements or objects of the fantastic real, as his slogan goes, not to change any storyline, story arc or franchise world, but to see how far the innate human capability of play and creation can be taken from the fictional realm to reality.

INVESTIGATING THE EFFECT OF SKETCH QUALITY ON THE SHARED UNDERSTANDING OF DESIGN DYADS

AbstractWhile a significant amount of research has documented the importance of design artefacts in design communication, relatively little work has investigated the effect of design artefact quality on the development of a shared understanding between designers. In the current work we focus specifically on sketch quality and the effect of sketch quality on the shared understanding of design dyads. A controlled study with 22 design dyads (44 designers) was conducted to understand the relationship between sketch quality and shared understanding. Results suggest that design artefact quality, measured by sketch understandability, does not predict the shared understanding of a design concept. Our findings hold implications for the fundamental ways in which we evaluate sketch quality and the importance of artefact fidelity for communicative acts.

HVLV ENGINEERING WITH MODULE SYSTEM(S), ETO AND LEAN DESIGN – STUDY ON PRACTITIONER INFORMATION NEEDS

AbstractThis research elaborates the engineering design of high value low volume (HVLV) artefacts (aka Capital goods, investment goods). Our goal is to describe what information needs the practitioners have when doing sales engineering and engineering in HVLV projects. The research approach uses Design Research Methodology with four company cases.Our findings are that engineering design of HVLV artefacts reuses several module systems, module libraries, technology catalogues, engineering-to-order and variety of design support systems, configurators, design guidelines, parametric models and lean-based design reasoning patterns etc. This poses major challenges for the engineers; how to use all relevant information and how to find it from different IT-systems.This study indicates that in HVLV context such engineering strategy is required, which guides and drives tactical and operational engineering decisions not only within a project delivery but across project deliveries. Operative and tactical engineering is done during the delivery project and value capture is not achieved in full potential if the engineering strategy is neglected or overruled. This is challenge for current modularisation and ETO-methods and tools.