Final Design Outcomes Research Articles

Comparative Analysis of Topology Optimization Platforms for Additive Manufacturing of Robot Arms

Recently, CAD environments have integrated topology optimization (TO) tools, enabling rapid development and manufacturing of parts with optimized mechanical properties. However, different CAD platforms incorporate TO differently, making a comparative analysis necessary. This study aims to systematically compare the efficiency, material usage, and design quality of five commonly used CAD/TO platforms when applied to the topology optimization of a six degrees of freedom robotic arm. The objective is to identify the key differences in how these platforms influence the final design and manufacturing outcomes. Practical validation of results is provided by printing and assembling optimized components into a fully functional robotic arm. Our findings indicate differences in optimization efficiency, material usage, and print time between analyzed platforms. Strengths and weaknesses of each platform are indicated and recommendations for optimization parameters are provided.

EMI EMC: Background, Standards and Design Aspects

In a multi subsystem environment, in order for the subsystems to interoperate, electromagnetic interference and compatibility aspects have to be addressed. This is a critical aspect of the design and identifying the EMI and EMC aspects at the specifications stage itself lends to a better final design outcome. This paper provides a brief overview of the current standards and elucidates the EMI EMC design aspects with the help of three case studies viz. Antenna Platform for LCA MMR, IDSN32 SRCU and Anuchitra DBS. The methods, measures and design practices used for a successful EMI-EMC performance outcome are elucidated.

Architectural layout generation using a graph-constrained conditional Generative Adversarial Network (GAN)

Efficiently generating appealing and realistic architectural space configurations has been a significant challenge for designers. This paper presents a deep-learning approach, providing architects with increased control over the final design outcomes. Employing deep learning algorithms to analyze the graph structure of input bubble diagrams facilitates the generation of node-based space layouts confined within predefined borders, ensuring a balance between creative freedom and practical constraints. The findings reveal the effectiveness of the graph-constrained data-driven method in automating the space layout design process. Automating space arrangement accelerates the building design workflow, yielding more efficient and productive results for architects.

Housing Development for All? Learnings from the Ars Longa Case.

This paper discusses the prerequisites of inclusive housing development based on the learnings from Ars Longa, a block of flats for artists, designers and authors in Helsinki, Finland, that was initiated by a group of elderly persons. The study draws from research on co-design and universal design in housing. Post Occupancy Evaluation is used as method of investigation. Interviews with four key actors trace the barriers and enabling factors in the housing development process and assess the final design outcome. The results highlight the role of public institutions in supporting resident-driven projects, the financing of projects as major barrier to laypeople, and the potential of concept design in integrating the needs of stakeholders. Joint design with adjacent plots made extensive shared spaces feasible and clever design moves enabled spatial flexibility, whereas the connection of co-design activities to building design was deemed weak. The study shows that continuous management and community building are needed for negotiating the use of spaces and for fostering agency and belonging among residents. The paper contributes to research on inclusive housing development through an empirical case.

Between Worlds: Exploring the Links Between the Tangible and Intangible Costs of Prototypes

Abstract Prototyping is an important part of the design process, but researchers currently have a limited understanding of how the resources invested in a prototype or designer teams’ intent for a prototype influence decision-making and perceptions of a prototype’s value. Prior work has shown that significant investment of time or money in design tasks can lead to design fixation, but little work has explored how these factors might impact design teams’ perceived value of prototypes with respect to the design process. Likewise, it is unclear how resource allocation and prototype intention effects the evolution of design team knowledge and subsequent design actions. To explore these relationships, an in situ study of prototyping tendencies was performed across two mechanical engineering design courses. Results suggest that effective design teams leveraged prototypes to uncover new design knowledge and limit uncertainty early in the design process. Importantly, this study did not find any significant relationships between the cost of a prototype in terms of money and time, and the perceived value of that prototype. Nor were any significant relationships found between costs and final design outcomes. Findings suggest that the true cost and value of a prototype with respect to design outcomes are challenging to explicitly quantify.

Category, process, and recommendation of design in an interactive evolutionary computation interior design experiment: a data-driven study

AbstractDesign is a complicated and sophisticated process with numerous existing theories trying to describe it. To verify theories and quantitatively describe the design process, design experiment, and data analysis are crucial and inevitable. However, applying data analysis in the design experiment is tricky and design data is not fully utilized in many aspects. To explore the potential of design experiment data, this paper introduces data-driven research based on an interior design experiment, aiming to reveal the category and process of design by conducting data analysis, visualization, and recommendation. We introduce an interactive evolutionary computation (IEC) design experiment that deals with a simplified interior design task and has already been tested on 230 subjects. Using the data gathered during the experiment, we conduct data analysis and visualization involving methods including Holistic color interval and K-means clustering to show categories and processes in design. Additionally, we train a content-based recommendation system with experiment data to capture user preference and make the IEC system more efficient and intelligent. The analysis and visualization show clear design categories and capture an evident trend towards the final design outcome. The application of the recommendation system brings a prominent improvement to the IEC system. This research shows the great potential of the various data-driven methods in design research.

Adaptive Inspirational Design Stimuli: Using Design Output to Computationally Search for Stimuli That Impact Concept Generation

Abstract Design activity can be supported using inspirational stimuli (e.g., analogies, patents) by helping designers overcome impasses or in generating solutions with more positive characteristics during ideation. Design researchers typically generate inspirational stimuli a priori in order to investigate their impact. However, for a chosen stimulus to possess maximal utility, it should automatically reflect the current and ongoing progress of the designer. In this work, designers receive computationally selected inspirational stimuli midway through an ideation session in response to the contents of their current solution. Sourced from a broad database of related example solutions, the semantic similarity between the content of the current design and concepts within the database determines which potential stimulus is received. Designers receive a particular stimulus based on three experimental conditions: a semantically near stimulus, a semantically far stimulus, or no stimulus (control). Results indicate that adaptive inspirational stimuli can be determined using latent semantic analysis (LSA) and that semantic similarity measures are a promising approach for real-time monitoring of the design process. The ability to achieve differentiable near versus far stimuli was validated using both semantic cosine similarity values and participant self-response ratings. As a further contribution, this work also explores the impact of different types of adaptive inspirational stimuli on design outcomes using a newly introduced “design innovation” measure. The design innovation measure mathematically captures the overall goodness of a design concept by uniquely combining expert ratings across easier to evaluate subdimensions of feasibility, usefulness, and novelty. While results demonstrate that near inspirational stimuli increase the feasibility of design solutions, they also show the significant impact of the overall inspirational stimulus innovativeness on final design outcomes. In fact, participants are more likely to generate innovative final design solutions when given innovative inspirational stimuli, regardless of their experimental condition.

Zeitgeist publication: a storytelling project with residents and design students

In Spring 2018 and then again in Fall 2018, residents in a long-term care facility came together with undergraduate communication design students, to co-design and co-write a mini publication series featuring resident stories. Through our project, small teams of two to three students were paired with two to three residents, to create a mini-publication over the course of six visits with each other. The purpose of the Zeitgeist project was to create a platform for meaningful exchange and social interaction between students, residents, their families and care home staff through both the design process and the final design outcomes. This project gives voice to residents, providing an opportunity for creative and emotional expression, stimulation of positive memories and the engagement of residents in a unique and meaningful activity. Simultaneously this project offers design students learning opportunities in storytelling, publication design, co-design and participatory design research. This project was inspired by the Zeitgeist Kollektiv, a public editorial design and storytelling project within a care home system.

The Use of Patterns as an Urban Design Approach

Urban design is a complex problem-solving activity that commonly requires the aid of a variety of methods to support the process and enhance the quality of the outcomes. How to help designers with suitable methods to deal with ill-defined urban problems constitutes a major challenge in the urban design domain. In this regard, the use of urban design patterns is considered as a method that can contribute to urban design problem-solving. However, this tool was never investigated to understand its role in the task-related activities that take place during the design process by designers working in a team, and its influence on the creativity of the final design outcome as perceived by urban designers and students. Therefore, an empirical research based on a controlled experiment was carried out to explore the aid provided by design patterns during the conceptual stages of the process. Sixty-three master students working in teams of three were assigned a set of patterns to solve an urban design task. They were requested to use this material to produce as many creative conceptual solutions as possible. At the end of the sessions, they evaluated the creativity of their outcomes, and they completed a questionnaire about the aid afforded by the patterns. The solutions were also assessed by two independent urban designers. The study contributed to gain a better insight into the main design activities derived from the use of patterns as problem-solving tools and to unveil their contribution to urban design. The aid provided by the urban patterns was mainly concerned with task-related activities, and thereafter with team interactions. Overall, the use of patterns was seen to enhance the functionality of the design. Implications for design practice and design education are discussed.

Industrial Lighting: A Holistic Approach Using Light-Emitting Diode Technology

This article discusses the effects of implementing a specialized holistic lighting design throughout a new industrial petroleum-processing facility using highmast lights and the latest light-fixture technology rather than conventional lighting design methods. Topics of engineering justification for design decisions, the final design outcomes, and the financial impacts of choosing the design approach are presented in a case study, and additional environmental and economic successes and failures of the design philosophy are explored.

Joined up Thinking?

The aim of this paper is to provide educators and potential industrial partners with an insight into students' perceptions of working with industry during their undergraduate studies, and to highlight, through comments from academic staff, the effect on their design outcomes. The paper focuses on a collaborative design activity conducted with second-year product design students in a UK higher education institution. The study is part of the ongoing pedagogic development of a module and programme relating to design practice and covers two academic years – in one year the design brief was based on a review of literature and in the second an industrial partner provided the information. Academic staff and industrial partners were interviewed; students completed a survey regarding their experience and perception of working with the industrial partner in the module. The results indicated that there were significant improvements in student engagement, academic grading and the perceived quality of the final design outcomes. The results also showed that students not only saw industry collaboration as an essential element in their undergraduate learning but also that it was a key factor when deciding which programme to study.

Application and Evaluation of Double-Layer Grid Spatial Structures for the Engineering Education of Architects

AbstractUp until the Renaissance, architects had been considered master-builders. However, the complexity of modern construction required more specialization in trades and caused fragmentation of the responsibilities of individuals involved in design and construction. Nowadays, architects are mainly responsible for the issues related to aesthetics, form, and functionality. In addition, they act as integrators and collaborate with a number of professionals involved in the construction process. One important aspect of building design is its structure, which can have significant impacts on the form and functionality of the final design outcome. Therefore, architects must be aware of structural concepts, and particularly, how form and structural behavior are related to each other. This paper presents a collaborative effort by a team of engineers, computer scientists, architects, and educational experts to develop a web-based system called Structure and Form Analysis System (SAFAS) for use by undergraduate arc...

Analogies as Creative Inspiration Sources in the Design Studio: The Teamwork

Analogical reasoning can be seen as an important aid in problem solving, and architectural design problem solving in particular. Analogical reasoning was found to be an important aid supporting architectural education. In this paper we explored the use of visual and verbal analogies in the early phases of the design process when student designers work alone and as a team. In addition, we investigated the contribution of different types of analogy on the creativity of the final design outcome. In an empirical study the use of visual and verbal analogies were compared in regard to the question of how designers deal with different problem solving activities during the design process. Findings showed that the help provided by visual analogy was mainly successful in a definition of the problem, clarifications of ideas, and evaluations of solutions. Verbal analogy, on the other hand, was particular successful in generating design ideas. Both types of analogies contributed to the originality and aesthetic value of the final design outcome. Independently of the type of analogy used, working in team was found to be fundamental to enrich different aspects of the design activity. Implications for design education are discussed.

Managing Design-Process Complexity: A Value-of-Information Based Approach for Scale and Decision Decoupling

Abstract Design-processes for multiscale, multifunctional systems are inherently complex due to the interactions between scales, functional requirements, and the resulting design decisions. While complex design-processes that consider all interactions lead to better designs, simpler design-processes where some interactions are ignored are faster and resource efficient. In order to determine the right level of simplification of design-processes, designers are faced with the following questions: (a) How should complex design-processes be simplified without affecting the resulting product performance? (b) How can designers quantify and evaluate the appropriateness of different design-process alternatives? In this paper, the first question is addressed by introducing a method for determining the appropriate level of simplification of design-processes—specifically through decoupling of scales and decisions in a multiscale problem. The method is based on three constructs: interaction patterns to model design-processes, intervals to model uncertainty resulting from decoupling of scales and decisions, and value-of-information based metrics to measure the impact of simplification on the final design outcome. The second question is addressed by introducing a value-of-information based metric called the improvement potential for quantifying the appropriateness of design-process alternatives from the standpoint of product design requirements. The metric embodies quantitatively the potential for improvement in the achievement of product requirements by adding more information for design decision-making. The method is illustrated via a datacenter cooling system design example.

Unified user interface design: designing universally accessible interactions

Designing universally accessible user interfaces means designing for diversity in end-users and contexts of use, and implies making alternative design decisions, at various levels of the interaction design, inherently leading to diversity in the final design outcomes. Towards this end, a design method leading to the construction of a single interface design instance is inappropriate, as it cannot accommodate for diversity of the resulting dialogue artifacts. Therefore, there is a need for a systematic process in which alternative design decisions for different design parameters may be supported. The outcome of such a design process realizes a design space populated with appropriate designed dialogue patterns, along with their associated design parameters (e.g. user- and usage-context-attribute values). This paper discusses the Unified Interface Design Method, a process-oriented design method enabling the organization of diversity-based design decisions around a single hierarchical structure, and encompassing a variety of techniques such as task analysis, abstract design, design polymorphism and design rationale.