Poles Apart: Discerning and opportunistic mind-sets in design learning

Mind-sets play an important role in orienting the decisions and activities that an individual engages in when he or she is designing, and designing involves interaction with complex, open-ended and ambiguous situations. This means that the individual disposition of a person influences the way that he or she reacts, and in designing, the...

A review of the methodology and applications of anthropometry in ergonomics and product design

Anthropometry is a key element of ergonomic studies for addressing the problem of fitting the tasks/products to user characteristics, but there is a gap between anthropometric data and their application for designing ergonomic products and environments. This research was conducted to review the literature on the methodology and applications of...

Initiation of verbal expression in young children in Design and Technology education: a case-study

One of the core activities of Design and Technology Education is designing, which is a thinking activity that benefits greatly from expression. Verbal expression serves interaction. A teacher can induce verbal expression in pupils by inviting them to interact about familiar subjects. This interaction is a stepping stone towards an integration of...

Groundwork: Preparing an effective basis for communication and shared learning in design and technology education

In Dutch Design and Technology Education the beginning of a process of learning is usually determined by the teacher. In this paper it is argued that a beginning, determined in interaction with the students, is more profitable as the interaction will lead to joined-up exploring, creating and thinking and an increased motivation to learn....

Prosthetic pride

An artificial leg, a hearing aid, a dust mask: there is a fair degree of stigma attached to some products. How do you deal with that as a designer? Kristof Vaes completed his doctorate on this subject in a joint study by the University of Antwerp and TU Delft.

Design as a synthesis of spaces: Using the P-S framework

Designing is a multi-dimensional phenomenon and is difficult to describe through one disciplinary research lens only. This paper uses a framework within which multiple theories of designing could be informed of their role and explanatory power. The Product space and Social Space framework describes the scope of designing activities and it allows...

Designing: Insights from weaving theories of cognition and design theories

This paper addresses the issue of ‘What is designing?’ from an unconventional perspective and aims to advance our understanding of what design really is. Designing has been studied from different perspectives but the underlying theoretical basis of studying the act has often been dispersed and not clear. To address these shortcomings, the paper...

The ethical cycle