Design Research Opportunities Research Articles

Developing Design Approaches for Tile Pattern Designs Inspired by Traditional Textile Patterns

This article presents multidisciplinary research that involved design (i.e., textiles, tiles, pattern design), mathematics (i.e., symmetry and seven frieze groups) and a viewpoint on product design and development for business opportunities. This research comprised a design experiment and a survey. In the design experiment, two design approaches were created to translate the characteristics of traditional textile patterns into new pattern designs for floor tiles. These two design approaches were entitled: “partial replication”, and “combination and simplification”. The seven frieze groups were used as a transformation rule in both design approaches, resulting in two sets of frieze patterns. Although they were derived from the same origin, they looked different. A survey was conducted with 61 respondents to gain outsiders’ perspectives on these new pattern designs. The findings include: (i) positive responses to applying traditional textile patterns to other products, (ii) plausible products for pattern designs, (iii) preferences for design approaches and frieze patterns and (iv) opportunities for design research and education with other disciplines. This paper concludes with theoretical and practical implications for further research.

Design at hackathons: new opportunities for design research

AbstractHackathons are short-term events at which participants work in small groups to ideate, develop and present a solution to a problem. Despite their popularity, and significant relevance to design research, they have only recently come into research focus. This study presents a review of the existing literature on the characteristics of designing at hackathons. Hackathon participants are found to follow typical divergence–convergence patterns in their design process throughout the hackathon. Unique features include the initial effort to form teams and the significant emphasis on preparing and delivering a solution demo at the final pitch. Therefore, hackathons present themselves as a unique setting in which design is conducted and learned, and by extension, can be studied. Overall, the review provides a foundation to inform future research on design at hackathons. Methodological limitations of current studies on hackathons are discussed and the feasibility of more systematic studies of design in these types of settings is assessed. Further, we explore how the unique nature of the hackathon format and the diverse profiles of hackathon participants with regards to subject matter knowledge, design expertise and prior hackathon experience may affect design cognition and behaviour at each stage of the design process in distinctive ways.