The adoption of systems-focused risk assessment techniques has not led to measurable improvement in the rate of patient harm. Why? In part, because these tools focus solely on understanding problems, and provide no direct support for... more
The adoption of systems-focused risk assessment techniques has not led to measurable improvement in the rate of patient harm. Why? In part, because these tools focus solely on understanding problems, and provide no direct support for designing and managing solutions (i.e., risk control). This second installment of a 2-part series on rebalancing risk management describes a structured approach to bridging this gap: The Active Risk Control (ARC) Toolkit. A pilot study is presented to show how ARC Toolkit can improve the quality of risk management practice.
We have been witnessing an increased interest in a more holistic approach to urban design practice and education. In this paper we present a spatial data model for urban design that proposes the combination of urban environment feature... more
We have been witnessing an increased interest in a more holistic approach to urban design practice and education. In this paper we present a spatial data model for urban design that proposes the combination of urban environment feature classes with design process feature classes. This data model is implemented in a spatial database that becomes the backbone of a City Information Model (CIM), integrating urban neighbourhood formulation, design, and evaluation methods into a comprehensive urban design support system. We demonstrate its application to urban design analysis and evaluation through the development of a tool for AutoCAD Map 3D that is integrated with the PostGIS spatial database.
In order to strengthen communication efficiency between different functional teams and discuss the experience potential users could have with products, a tool composed of various sets of cards was created: the kansei cards. The pictures... more
In order to strengthen communication efficiency between different functional teams and discuss the experience potential users could have with products, a tool composed of various sets of cards was created: the kansei cards. The pictures and keywords represented allow, according to the situation, for an investigation, discussion, and representation of intentional kansei qualities. Over the last three years, this tool has been used in various industrial design projects.
In this paper, we will first detail the state of the art that will set the frame for our research and introduce the key notions related to the creation of the tool and related methodologies. After having detailed our research question and hypothesis, we will present the creation of the kansei cards and two experimentations making use of them. The first methodology involves “users” in participatory design sessions to test if the cards permit an identification and communication of the directions of kansei-related design information. The second explores the impact that the cards have on discussions related to intentional experiences occurring within design team prior to idea-generation activities. To conclude, we will discuss the added value and limits of the tool and, more generally, the representation of kansei-related design information.
Current practice in healthcare risk management is supported by many tools for risk assessment (understanding problems), but none for risk control (solving problems). The results: a failure to improve safety, and a waste of the investment... more
Current practice in healthcare risk management is supported by many tools for risk assessment (understanding problems), but none for risk control (solving problems). The results: a failure to improve safety, and a waste of the investment made in risk assessment. The Active Risk Control (ARC) Toolkit, available for free, fills this void with a systematic, structured approach to risk control.
We have been witnessing an increased interest in a more holistic approach to urban design practice and education. In this paper we present a spatial data model for urban design that proposes the combination of urban environment feature... more
We have been witnessing an increased interest in a more holistic approach to urban design practice and education. In this paper we present a spatial data model for urban design that proposes the combination of urban environment feature classes with design process feature classes. This data model is implemented in a spatial database that becomes the backbone of a City Information Model (CIM), integrating urban neighbourhood formulation, design, and evaluation methods into a comprehensive urban design support system. We demonstrate its application to urban design analysis and evaluation through the development of a tool for AutoCAD Map 3D that is integrated with the PostGIS spatial database.
The immense proliferation of videogames over the course of recent decades has yielded a discoverability problem that has largely been unaddressed. Though this problem affects all videogame stakeholders, we limit our concerns herein to the... more
The immense proliferation of videogames over the course of recent decades has yielded a discoverability problem that has largely been unaddressed. Though this problem affects all videogame stakeholders, we limit our concerns herein to the particular context of game designers seeking prior work that could inform their own ideas or works in progress. Specifically, we present a tool suite that solicits text about a user's idea for a game to generate an explorable listing of the existing games most related to that abstract idea. From a study in which 182 game-design students used these tools to find games related to their own, we observe a demonstrated utility exceeding that of the current state of the art, which is the coordinated usage of assorted web resources. More broadly, this paper provides the first articulation of videogame discovery as an emerging application area.
This paper presents an assessment of a selection software tools for urban design confronting their capabilities with the goals of the CityInduction research project. The goal of this paper is the assessment of existing platforms for... more
This paper presents an assessment of a selection software tools for urban design confronting their capabilities with the goals of the CityInduction research project. The goal of this paper is the assessment of existing platforms for computer aided urban design to select one as the basis for implementing the urban design model proposed in the CityInduction project. This model includes three sub-models that support the formulation of design programs from contextual information, the exploration of designs solutions through a grammar-based generative approach, and the validation of designs against the program through the use of evaluation tools. To each of these sub-models corresponds a module in the envisioned platform and so, existing platforms are assessed in terms of their ability to support the implementation of each module. The current goal is a proof-of-concept implementation, but the final goal is the development of a complete platform for supporting urban design.
La trayectoria de los ganaderos y su permanencia en la actividad es, un tema de interés para distintos actores e investigadores. En Uruguay, la ganadería ha sido desde los inicios de la República, una actividad no solo de gran... more
La trayectoria de los ganaderos y su permanencia en la actividad es, un tema de interés para distintos actores e investigadores.
En Uruguay, la ganadería ha sido desde los inicios de la República, una actividad no solo de gran importancia desde el punto de vista socio-económico.
La globalización y los avances de actividades que compiten por recursos como lo son la agricultura y la forestación, ponen en la mesa de discusión cual es la capacidad de adaptación de los ganaderos y la ganadería como actividad.
We present a novel, low-cost haptic feedback device for spatial design tasks that provides proprioceptive and tactile feedback. It uses the Manus VR datagloves and a custom VR CAD environment. Here, tactile feedback is provided to the... more
We present a novel, low-cost haptic feedback device for spatial design tasks that provides proprioceptive and tactile feedback. It uses the Manus VR datagloves and a custom VR CAD environment. Here, tactile feedback is provided to the index finger through a vibrating motor, which helps users in identifying points on a grid. This grid allows for alignment during the creation and manipulation of geometric shapes. Models can be adjusted by pinching at a vertex of the shape with index finger and thumb, and moving this to a different point on the grid. Here, proprioceptive feedback is provided by a solenoid locking mechanism. The system was evaluated through preliminary user testing. Results indicate that the device leads to more natural and intuitive interactions for both the point grid and vertex adjustment, but that the ergonomics needs to be improved. Future challenges involve further integration of the physical device and datagloves and refined, multi-finger feedback.
This article provides a comparison of design support landscape of three countries: the UK, Estonia and Turkey. The economic and political development patterns and experience of design support within these countries lead to different... more
This article provides a comparison of design support landscape of three countries: the UK, Estonia and Turkey. The economic and political development patterns and experience of design support within these countries lead to different models of design support. The differences are visible in the levels of support, aims of innovation, available resources and opportunities but also priorities. The way in which these projects/programmes are initiated, operate and sustain themselves vary as well. The article aims to understand the future of design support through looking at the versatile programmes in these countries. It provides a historical background of design support by building on specific programmes in these countries. Based on the knowledge drawn from comparison of histories of support, the paper not only makes suggestions for the development of future of design support models.
Our discussion focuses on the design of creativity support systems. We describe a dedicated support system and the results of its evaluation. We then analyze a creative collaboration that was carried out without such a dedicated support... more
Our discussion focuses on the design of creativity support systems. We describe a dedicated support system and the results of its evaluation. We then analyze a creative collaboration that was carried out without such a dedicated support system. We propose a new goal for designers of creativity support systems: facilitating creative presence. In addition, we describe four key aspects that such support systems should address: speed, status, synthesis and sketching.
This paper particularly deals with the way in which computer tools are used by students in their design studio's projects. Four institutions of architecture education in Algeria are considered as a case study to evaluate the... more
This paper particularly deals with the way in which computer tools are used by students in their design studio's projects. Four institutions of architecture education in Algeria are considered as a case study to evaluate the impact of such tools on student design process. This aims to inspect in depth such use, to sort out its advantages and shortcomings in order to suggest some solutions. A field survey was undertaken on a sample of students and their teachers at the same institutions. The analysed results mainly show that computer tools are highly focusing on improving the quality of drawings representation and images seeking observers' satisfaction hence influencing their decision. Some teachers are not very keen to overuse the computer during the design phase; they prefer the "traditional" approach. This is the present situation that Algerian university is facing which leads to conflict and disagreement between students and teachers. Meanwhile, there was no doubt that computer tools have effectively contributed to improve the competitive level among students.
This paper presents an assessment of a selection software tools for urban design confronting their capabilities with the goals of the CityInduction research project. The goal of this paper is the assessment of existing platforms for... more
This paper presents an assessment of a selection software tools for urban design confronting their capabilities with the goals of the CityInduction research project. The goal of this paper is the assessment of existing platforms for computer aided urban design to select one as the basis for implementing the urban design model proposed in the CityInduction project. This model includes three sub-models that support the formulation of design programs from contextual information, the exploration of designs solutions through a grammarbased generative approach, and the validation of designs against the program through the use of evaluation tools. To each of these sub-models corresponds a module in the envisioned platform and so, existing platforms are assessed in terms of their ability to support the implementation of each module. The current goal is a proof-of-concept implementation, but the final goal is the development of a complete platform for supporting urban design.
In our globalized environment, and particularly in the context of industrial design activities in international companies or research institutions, it is increasingly frequent to take part in diverse scenarios involving at least two... more
In our globalized environment, and particularly in the context of industrial design activities in international companies or research institutions, it is increasingly frequent to take part in diverse scenarios involving at least two different cultural contexts. Therefore, it becomes an essential point during the initiation of the design process to achieve an optimal transmission of design information in order to increase the added value of the project through the implementation of accurate cultural layers. However, issues pertaining to communication may arise throughout the process if there is an inadequacy in cultural understanding. Hence, it is crucial to address the significance of cross-cultural tools to be used in communication of the design information in its initial phase. Two case studies are referred to openly discuss the matter. Both cases correspond to research projects that were conducted at the Kansei Design division, Toyota Motor Europe (KD-TME). Both projects generated specific tools as a practical output for strategists and designers to use as a way to produce inspirational materials or define a target user, with a more grounded and sensible cultural base.
Computation, in the context of a digital designing process, is redefining architectural practice. Architects are developing new sets of tools which are dramatically changing the typical way of design procedure. The paper describes the... more
Computation, in the context of a digital designing process, is redefining architectural practice. Architects are developing new sets of tools which are dramatically changing the typical way of design procedure. The paper describes the research assumptions, problems and solutions proposition, aimed at creation of a real-time form finding tool for architects based on engineering methods. Through intersecting architectural form evaluation with engineering analysis and optimisation tools it is highly intended to offer the opportunity to variety of architects and designers to use the exceedingly complex and compound process for their design improvement. The form finding tool, to be effective and reliable, has to provide immediate feedback to a designer. This requirement enforces a software developer to use more sophisticated solutions. The paper focuses on possibilities of already known engineering procedures acceleration such as Finite Element Method or Topology Optimization for effective implementation in architectural design process.
To support the construction sector in its transition to a circular economy, many design instruments and decision support tools have been and are still being developed. This development is uncoordinated and raises confusion among building... more
To support the construction sector in its transition to a circular economy, many design instruments and decision support tools have been and are still being developed. This development is uncoordinated and raises confusion among building designers and advising engineers, slowing down the tools' adoption in practice. Moreover, it is unclear if the available design tools are able to fulfil the needs of design professionals at all. Therefore, this research identifies the knowledge challenges for the "supply and demand" of design tools for a circular construction practice. It focuses on Flanders, given the importance the topic receives in the region's policy programme and among practitioners. This study builds on a thorough literature review, and on inventorying and categorising instruments and ongoing developments. By comparing that review with the needs that were identified during interviews with a focus group, it was possible to pinpoint designers' needs for support tools and outline three urgent research tracks. More generally, it was found that the needs of our focus group are only partially reflected by the available design tools and the ongoing developments. This identified mismatch advocates for a more participatory and practice-oriented research approach when developing design support tools for circular building.
Problem solving systems incorporating a truth or reason maintenance component have been developed for a number of different domains, including hypothetical reasoning, diagnosis, planing and circuit design. Almost without exception, the... more
Problem solving systems incorporating a truth or reason maintenance component have been developed for a number of different domains, including hypothetical reasoning, diagnosis, planing and circuit design. Almost without exception, the problems addressed by these systems are well structured, that is, there exists a complete and consistent statement of the problem requirements when the problem solving begins. In this paper we argue that RMS (an in particular assumption-based truth maintenance systems) can also be applied to ill structured problems. We describe a hybrid ATMS-blackboard architecture which has been employed in the development of a number of design support systems in different domains and briefly outline some of the questions raised by our experience with the architecture. (August 1992)
The problem of controlling inference is a common one in AI systems. It is particularly acute in AI-based design support systems, which to be effective must not only produce the right answer, but must also produce it at the right time.... more
The problem of controlling inference is a common one in AI systems. It is particularly acute in AI-based design support systems, which to be effective must not only produce the right answer, but must also produce it at the right time. In this paper we discuss these problems in the context of a particular implementation, the Edinburgh Designer System (EDS), a design support system for mechanical design problems. We present an approach to the control problem which utilises the context of a task to determine which inferences the system should perform. We describe a hybrid architecture, an assumption-based truth maintained blackboard system and its associated context management system which partitions the blackboard into a series of views containing the information relating to a particular design task. The resulting system integrates truth maintenance and the control of inference with the framework of an assumption-based truth maintenance system (ATMS). (May 1991)
The application of Artificial Intelligence to the support of engineering design is now an active area of Artificial Intelligence research. This paper introduces and describes the approach to AI-based design being developed at the... more
The application of Artificial Intelligence to the support of engineering design is now an active area of Artificial Intelligence research. This paper introduces and describes the approach to AI-based design being developed at the Department of Artificial Intelligence, Edinburgh University. It identifies the requirements of one particular aspect of the design support system being built at Edinburgh, and suggests that Persistent Object System techniques offer a means of meeting these requirements. (August 1987)
Abstract Our discussion focuses on the design of creativity support systems. We describe a dedicated support system and the results of its evaluation. We then analyze a creative collaboration that was carried out without such a dedicated... more
Abstract Our discussion focuses on the design of creativity support systems. We describe a dedicated support system and the results of its evaluation. We then analyze a creative collaboration that was carried out without such a dedicated support system. We propose a new goal for designers of creativity support systems: facilitating creative presence. In addition, we describe four key aspects that such support systems should address: speed, status, synthesis and sketching.
The important performance of bars in today´s society imposed the creation of this research work, which is directly focused on the performance of the organizational factors of these companies in the municipalities of Apizaco, Huamantla and... more
The important performance of bars in today´s society imposed the creation of this research work, which is directly focused on the performance of the organizational factors of these companies in the municipalities of Apizaco, Huamantla and Tlaxcala downtown, through a methodology that allowed obtaining a diagnosis considering the main areas that are: management, processes, human resources, sales, accounting and physical facilities and the main organizational factors that intervene for proper performance. Subsequently, a statistical correlation analysis was carried out to determine the link between organizational factors and it was determined that the factors with the highest correlation are: the organizational climate, recruiting staff, the motivation, the quality of services and advertising.
A PDF version of the iD Cards design tool that supports collaboration and understanding during product development. Validated and distributed by the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA),