Design Process Research Articles

Research on the Talent Cultivation Model of Accounting Professionals in Higher Vocational Colleges under the OBE Concept

The OBE philosophy is to set the student's learning outcomes as the teaching goal, advocate the OBE philosophy, combine the needs of enterprises in hiring personnel, formulate training plans, establish curriculum systems, design and implement teaching processes, and determine graduation requirements. In order to promote the development of accounting and finance majors in vocational colleges and provide support and suggestions for the reform of vocational education as a whole, we study and explore how to expand the reform ideas of accounting and finance major curriculum systems in vocational colleges under the guidance of the OBE philosophy, and how to carry out the talent cultivation model of accounting and finance majors in vocational colleges.

The Concept of Building an Integrated Digital Ecosystem to Improve the Quality of Products and Services of Defense Industry Enterprises

Research and development of systems for managing material, technical, and intellectual resources are key directions for improving manufacturing processes in the modern world. In recent years, the question of integrating various management systems has become particularly relevant due to the widespread adoption of quality management systems and their certification to meet current regulatory requirements. This study attempts to merge the advantages of using product lifecycle information support technologies, such as data and information management, with the concept of digital twins, including virtual design, digital product modeling, and real-time analysis. The analysis covers the constituent elements of the generalized product design and manufacturing process, addressing the construction of an integrated digital ecosystem to enhance the quality of products and services in the defense-industrial complex. This ecosystem is based on the integration of technologies for continuous product information support using their digital twins and an integrated quality management system. It is shown that the approach to evaluating the effectiveness of purposeful processes should be complemented by a risk-oriented model, which includes response scenarios to potential adverse effects of the operation of the purposeful organizational-technical system. A structural scheme and formalized description of a generalized product information support model are presented, allowing for the integration of specific quality indicators into a unified strategic outcome. Ultimately, a concept for building an integrated digital ecosystem for defense-industrial enterprises is proposed, aimed at enhancing the overall quality of products and services.

Implementación de Disipador de Energía, TADAS

El Salvador is a country with high seismic demand, so the design and construction processes of buildings today areaimed at reducing the vulnerability caused by earthquakes, as part of the philosophy of damage mitigation and correct structural performance, there are Advances in detailing and construction techniques, so the use of deformation. energy dissipation systems is a safe way to prevent damage at a reasonable economic cost compared to the use of other more complex and sophisticated technologies. In El Salvador, the implementation of the TADAS (Triangular plate Added Damping And Stiffness) energy dissipation system has been implemented in a pioneering way and on a small scale, in the case of a two-story building, structured with Steel frames with ordinary detailing. The first level corresponds to parking, so the TADAS devices have only been installed in a longitudinal direction, while the second level corresponds to various uses of meeting people in meeting rooms and office work, so architectural issue the existence of windows with a view not interrupted by structural elements turned out to be a condition for not installing TADAS on that level. The final result meets the requirements of the ASCE-7-16 standard in deformation control, and prevention of structural damage due to the ductility that TADAS provides to the global structure. All the structural elements satisfy resistance and service requirements given by AISC-ANSI-36016. ILIA: Investigaciones Latinoamericanas en Ingeniería y Arquitectura, No. 01, 2024: 103-107.

Adding friction to Third Medium Contact: A crystal plasticity inspired approach

This paper presents the first method to enable friction in the Third Medium Contact (TMC) method. TMC embeds a solid in a highly compliant medium, which becomes infinitely stiff under ultimate compression, thus allowing forces to be transferred between the solids when the medium between the solids is compressed. This approach is increasingly adopted for integrating internal contact in structural design processes, owing to its continuous, fully implicit characteristics, simplicity, and its stability when applying regularisation to the third medium regions. The lack of friction has previously restricted the use of the TMC method in simulating real-world contact conditions. Here, we address this issue by (1) integrating an anisotropic term into a Neo-Hookean material model to provide shear resistance, and (2) employing a framework inspired by crystal plasticity that includes a yield criterion specifically designed to replicate the effects of Coulomb friction.The effectiveness of the method is demonstrated through two examples: (1) a smooth sliding contact problem and (2) a non-smooth C-shaped structure. Results demonstrate a close agreement with reference solutions obtained by a conventional Lagrange multiplier approach. While the method, for now, requires user-defined slip directions, it represents a significant advancement by enabling the integration of friction into TMC, thereby broadening its applicability to problems involving realistic frictional contact. Future research should focus on restoring the fully implicit nature of TMC in the presence of friction, and on developing automated slip direction definitions to enhance usability and expand the method’s versatility.

Exploration and Design of Carbon Dot-Based Long Afterglow Materials Using Active Machine Learning and Quantum Chemical Simulations.

Long afterglow materials based on carbon dots (CDs) have attracted extensive attention in the field of optics due to their low cost and nontoxic properties. However, the targeted synthesis of specific properties of complex and unknown structures such as CDs remains a daunting challenge. In this study, the powerful nonlinear fitting ability of machine learning was used to explore the afterglow properties of CDs. The XGBoost algorithm demonstrates high prediction accuracy in determining the optimal excitation wavelength, optimal emission wavelength, and afterglow lifetime. Using Bayesian optimization, we screened and synthesized the CDs-based long afterglow materials with the longest lifetime reported so far by a one-step microwave method. By combining quantum chemical calculations with experimental data, we revealed the structure-function relationship between CDs and their precursors through electron-hole analysis. These results show that machine learning can establish nonlinear correlations between precursors and materials with unknown structures, clarify their intrinsic relationships, simplify the material design process, and thus accelerate the development of advanced materials.

Doherty Power Amplifier Design via Differential Combining

This paper introduces a novel differential combiner designed to effectively address parasitic capacitances of transistors used in power amplifier (PA) designs with precise compensation at a specified frequency. The combiner consists of a λ/4 transmission line with an integrated capacitor of value 2COUT at its midpoint, which ensures accurate cancellation of parasitic effects. This design connects the drain pins of two transistors, which are considered identical in this configuration. By eliminating the need for complex parasitic compensation techniques, this method significantly simplifies the design process of Doherty Power Amplifiers (DPAs). Extensive simulations validate the effectiveness of this approach, highlighting its potential as a versatile and straightforward solution for next-generation communication systems.

Developing a Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Plan for Organization's Strategic Objectives Using the Design Thinking Approach

The objective of this study was to develop a theoretical framework tailored for managers of small and medium-sized businesses, as well as project managers. Design thinking is human centered approach that involves stakeholders at different levels of its application in the development of innovations. Originally as an engineering method, it has been applied in diverse fields, including entrepreneurship. This paper presents an extended version of the double diamond framework used in design thinking. The double diamond framework was developed in 2005 as a graphical approach for achieving project design process. The author’s in-depth analysis of the model indicates that it can be applied to formulating business strategic objectives, a use case not previously discussed in the literature. Therefore, this paper aims contribute to the scientific body of knowledge by extending the double diamond model for strategic objective formulation. A normative conceptual methodology was used to develop this framework. The development of a monitoring and evaluation plan for businesses or projects, based on a traditional literature review methodology, illustrates how design thinking can offer a new perspective on these processes, helping to address key challenges. This paper demonstrates how each of the five stages in the design thinking process can be employed during the development of a monitoring and evaluation plan. Although this development process can be tedious and complicated, applying the design thinking approach can simplify and streamline it, ensuring active involvement from all stakeholders through the introduced extended framework. Recommendations for future research include applying the proposed extended framework in empirical studies involving large organizations. For practical implications, managers of small and medium businesses are encouraged to apply this model when developing strategies or incorporate it into project management to enhance the development of a project's monitoring and evaluation plan.

Optimal Layout of Modular Systems by Geometric Perturbations

In this study, we investigate the potential of integrating geometric perturbations into the design process to optimise modular systems such as floor coverings, façade claddings, and masonry walls. By allowing small geometry adjustments of the initial design, we achieve significant reductions in material waste or labour requirements, leading to cost-saving and environmental benefits without compromising the design concept. We compared our approach to traditional methods, where the layout of the modular system is determined after the geometry of the design is finalised. To illustrate our method, we present case studies for two- and three-dimensional modular designs.

Fashion style transfer: enhancing efficiency and aesthetic with a novel two-stage neural network

Neural style transfer is increasingly recognized as a crucial tool in fashion design. It enables the transfer of stylistic elements from an inspirational source image to a fashion product, thus streamlining the design process and enhancing efficiency. However, existing research primarily focuses on the transfer of painting styles, which only partially meets the specific requirements of fashion design. This study introduces a novel two-stage style transfer model for fashion design applications. This model can efficiently transfer fashion patterns that combine global and local features, preserving the original background while achieving symmetry and gradient effects in fashion patterns. Additionally, a five-factor machine scoring system, closely aligned with human preferences, is proposed to provide a more objective evaluation of the application value of style transfer models in fashion design. Our comparative experiments with various models demonstrate that our proposed model meets the specific requirements of fashion design, particularly regarding style transfer efficiency and aesthetic considerations.

An Efficient Method of DRC Violation Prediction with a Serial Deep Learning Model

In VLSI design, the utilization of Design Rule Check (DRC) tools in the early stage is crucial for predicting and resolving violations, thereby expediting the physical design process. In our study, we present an efficient model that predicts DRC violations prior to the routing stage. Additionally, our model incorporates a sliding-window technique to enhance the feature extraction process. We extract structural features using Graph Convolutional Networks and utilize feature reuse techniques to fully recover the lost information in neural layers, which serves as input to the Convolutional Neural Network model, resulting in more accurate hotspot prediction. The experimental results demonstrate that our model successfully identifies 95.78% of DRC violations, with a mere 4.17% false-alarm rate. Not only does our method deliver improved feature preprocessing results, but it also enhances prediction accuracy compared to alternative approaches.

Game Designers’ Experiences with Educational Game Design Elements: From Practice to Conception!

Educational game (EG) designing processes have adopted various processes and approaches over the last decades. While many articles report EG design elements that can potentially assist in effective EG design, not much research exists on whether game designers use/agree with those elements. In considering the aforementioned, the questions arise with game designers’ practices: how do they approach EG design elements in their process? Are there any core elements they include in their EG designing practices? Are there any other aspects that influence their EG designing process? Therefore, this paper reports on the above-addressed questions and how game designers and their experiences in designing EGs can present insightful gaming elements associated with EGs. Based in Australia, a phenomenological approach was adopted to conduct semi-structured interviews to gather the essence of their experiences. Seventeen game designer participants attended two-hour interview sessions. Interpretive thematic analysis was used to identify emerging themes until saturation was achieved (Braun and Clarke 2012). The analysis was concurrently grounded through the concepts of the theory of experience, including continuity, interaction, situation, freedom, and desire which drives the purpose to apply and contextualize the growth of experience (Dewey 1938). In conclusion, an “Essential” Educational Game Elements (EGEs) framework is proposed with design elements collating all relevant elements/factors, necessary theories, and mechanics suggested by game designers for consideration in the design process as they have practiced. Lastly, researchers in educational/serious games are encouraged to consider the application of the proposed framework in designing EGs to further expand its limitations.

Games Design Frameworks: A Novel Approach for Games Design Pedagogy

The discipline of Games Design has surged in popularity in higher education as a route to industry for aspiring game developers. Notably, at the time of writing 138 UK Universities are now offering game design degrees, and many further education institutions. This growth is not only in volume but also in the diversity of students who enrol in these courses. Young learners, coming from various backgrounds and with differing levels of professional and academic experience, are drawn to games as a field of study. Games disciplines (such as Games Art, Design, and Programming) are often seen as more accessible than their comparative parent disciplines (such as Computer Science). This diversity presents both an opportunity and a challenge for educators: to develop teaching methodologies that not only cater to a wide range of experiences but also effectively prepare students for the creative and technical demands of the games industry. This paper introduces a pioneering design concept utilized in the pedagogy of game design, namely the use of game frameworks. A framework is a structure built in a video games engine, containing a pre-made, playable game experience, which students are taught to build upon and modify. Frameworks abstract and modularise fundamental, complex elements of the game creation process, allowing new learners to quickly become engaged with the iterative process of designing gameplay. It also allows educators to focus on a specific area of interest. For example, a student can focus just on the UI elements of the game for a whole module of study, without needing to have built the entire game first. This allows students to focus on the elements being taught, without introducing a significant amount of non-assessed content just to enable to learning. This position paper discusses our application of this approach, including the process of framework design, supportive assessment, successes and challenges.

Pilot Study: Engineering Students Use Generative AI to support the development of playful educational technology

This qualitative pilot study provides an example of how generative Artificial Intelligences (GenAI) can be applied in an engineering course focused on the development of playful educational technology. In this context, playful educational technology refers to games or game-like applications designed for educational purposes. We explore various applications of GenAI in creative design processes such as brainstorming, acting as a collaborative partner in design, facilitating image and sound creation, and aiding in the resolution of coding challenges. By examining examples from 36 engineering students' semester-long projects, we highlight the potential and drawbacks of GenAI as an extra teammate in enhancing the design process for developing educational game-based learning experiences. Key findings from the study include: The students opted to use a GenAI as a teammate, whose input required validation. They employed GenAI in areas where they found it effective and where no major ethical issues were involved. It was also surprising to observe the wide variety of AI tools the students incorporated.

A Conceptual Framework for the Development of Effective Serious Games for Learning

Currently, the interest in using serious games as a tool for learning and teaching in traditional educational processes has increased significantly. Therefore, serious games for learning are gaining increasing attention from researchers and domain experts (educators), as they are both looking for methods and tools to improve the quality of learning. Even though there are many existing design frameworks, models, and methodologies that offer valuable insights into the possibilities and limitations of serious games for learning, they focus mostly on high-level aspects and requirements of these games. Therefore, they do not fully help in understanding how such aspects can be concretely fulfilled. In this research, we investigate, characterize, and categorize the functional requirements and aspects needed for developing effective serious games for learning. This investigation aims to construct a conceptual framework to fill the gap in the current design frameworks. The proposed conceptual framework is used to understand the game´s structure and behavior with a focus on both aspects of serious games (educational and entertainment aspects), in other words, providing a way to think about the relationships between serious game components and the learning objectives of the game. The main contributions of the proposed conceptual framework are to facilitate and support the design and development process of these games as well as to enhance the collaborative work within a multidisciplinary development team. Finally, to show the feasibility and applicability of the conceptual framework, a practical example is presented to demonstrate the use of this framework. Furthermore, we conducted an evaluation process for implementing the conceptual model. The evaluation shows promising results in helping participants, particularly those with gaming experience, to understand and identify the roles of each component in the game and recognize the game's learning objectives. This will eventually lead to design and develop effective learning games in a flexible and easy-to-use way.

Enhancing Team Cohesion Through a Custom MOBA Game: Development, Implementation & Impact

The quality of a team in organizations has an impact on the success of the team in achieving their goals. Team building activities are one of the elements which can improve relationships in different kinds of teams. One of those can be playing competitive digital games, whether for teams working remotely or on site. This paper presents a case study that explores the design and development process of an innovative online game that combines elements of third-person action and multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) games to provide an experience that strengthens team cohesion. The game design and mechanics support distribution of team roles based on Belbin's theory, highlighting the importance of diverse roles for balanced team functionality. By integrating unique character functions, the game encourages players to understand and appreciate the different roles individuals play in a team, enhancing empathy and mutual respect among team members. The game is uniquely designed to be simpler and more accessible than typical MOBAs, making it an ideal tool for educational and organizational settings to boost team cohesion and communication skills among people from various backgrounds. The leveling of the playing field allows individuals with minimal gaming experience to participate fully and effectively. The design principles ensure that the core mechanics of the game encourage teamwork and effective communication over individual skill, emphasizing collective success. The case study delves into the development process, the challenges faced, the solutions implemented, and the outcomes observed as part of a research project conducted between 2022-2023. The findings suggest that game-based learning can significantly transform traditional team-building methods, introducing a new paradigm for fostering high-performance teams in an increasingly digital world.

On the development of the first russian-chinese standard in the field of aircraft manufacturing GOST R 70066-2022 «Aircraft equipment. Requirements for aircraft acoustic design of passenger salon and crew cockpit»

The new national standard in the field of aircraft engineering GOST R 70066-2022 "Aircraft equipment. Requirements for aircraft acoustic design of passenger salon and crew cockpit" is reviewed. This standard was the first jointly developed by experts from Russia and China and approved as national standards in the Russia and China ( GB/T 41886-2022). The standard establishes general technical requirements for the acoustic design of the passenger cabin and crew cockpit, as well as requirements for verification of the acoustic design process of passenger cabin and cockpit of transport aircrafts.

Scaling design and similarity analysis of a floating nuclear power plant

In the process of developing floating reactor systems, their operation in the marine environment needs to be simulated to ensure the reliability of the safe design of nuclear reactors. Scaling test is a potential option for computer model validation by virtue of its low cost and flexibility. This study first gives the similarity law for dynamic tests of the reactor system in high-temperature environments by dimensional analysis. Then we focus on analyzing the jamming phenomenon that may occur during the similarity design process and provides a solution for realizing the contact state of the prototype in the scaled model. This study also analyzes the dynamic response of a floating reactor system under extreme operating conditions by combining numerical simulations and scaling tests. By comparing the response results predicted by the scaled model with the prototype response, it is further demonstrated that the feasibility of scaling test as an alternative to full-size test to provide a reference for realizing low-cost, accurate and safe design for reactor system.

Bending Rules, Telling Stories: Convivial Game Design Approaches for Engaging With Futures

Games have been used in civic participation (Lerner, 2014) and civic learning (Raphael et al. 2010). Building on the idea of using games for participation, democracy and collaboration, we propose approaching games as tools for convivial learning. First introduced by Illich (1973), the concept of conviviality envisions a society characterised by collaboration and self-determination, underpinned by tools that encourage joyful interaction, creativity and human agency through control over the tools. We believe that games as convivial tools could help bring forth creativity and mutual learning about civic processes and desirable futures. Yet, games’ nature as rigid systems of rules (Salen & Zimmerman, 2010) seems potentially at odds with positioning them as tools promoting agency. We propose to use the tension arising between rigidity and agency as starting point for exploring game design strategies for convivial games through research-through-design. We ask how games for thinking about the future may be designed that allow players to exercise control over their own experience, and to what effect. Inspired by the concept of critical play (Flanagan, 2009; Grace, 2014) and building on the distinction between narrative and mechanics as key constituting game elements, we have designed two distinct games for collaboratively engaging with the future. The first, Narrate, focuses on letting players invent their own narrative, whilst the second game Remix allows for experimentation with game rules and mechanics. We present the design process for each game and contrast the different approaches taken. Each game was tested by two groups and analysed in regards to its capacity to bring forth conviviality, creativity and collaboration. The paper compares and provides a discussion on how suitable the two chosen strategies of experimenting with narrative or mechanics are for (1) facilitating thinking and learning about shared futures, and (2) supporting player agency and bringing forth convivial interactions.

Designing Games for GDPR: Negotiating Understandings of GDPR in EU Schools.

In this study we combine a participatory design process with a citizen science framing, to foster a dialogue on GDPR in the school. We focus on the perspective of students, approaching them as co-researchers, in designing and evaluating a series of apps, aimed at spreading knowledge on GDPR. We have created a design space between secondary school students in Denmark and Italy, to gather insights across different countries. Results show that approaching students as designers and testers enabled them to provide honest and concrete insights on their experience with GDPR. We identified a detachment related to their posting activities, caused by how social media platforms (SoMe) challenge the boundaries between their personal and school-related ecologies.

Systematic Layout Planning and Analytical Hierarchy Process for Laboratory Layout Optimization: A Case Study of DESPRIN

The Product Design and Innovation Laboratory (DESPRIN) at Del Institute of Technology plays a crucial role in supporting innovation. Yet, its current layout struggles to meet its users' diverse and evolving needs. This study addresses the problem of inadequate spatial configuration, which hampers workflow efficiency, ergonomics, and the lab's overall capacity to accommodate various activities. To resolve this issue, a flexible layout is designed using the Systematic Layout Planning (SLP) method, emphasizing optimizing space utilization, workflow, and spatial adaptability. Data collected from literature reviews, interviews, statistical analyses, and anthropometric measurements inform the design process to enhance the lab’s quality and spatial efficiency. The Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) is employed to prioritize key layout design factors, identifying capacity as the most critical element (0.4930), followed by facilities (0.1688), accessibility (0.1414), security (0.1270), and environment (0.0708). The study results in 13 new layout configurations that can accommodate various activities within DESPRIN, providing a more dynamic and responsive user environment.