Chih-Long Lin

A study of framework and process development for cultural product design

The style of product design for a country or a nationality is influenced by its essential traditional cultures and lifestyles. Recently, the importance of studying Taiwanese cultures has been shown repeatedly in several studies in design field. Despite the recognized importance of product design in cultural and creative industries, they lack a systematic approach to it. Therefore, the main purpose of this paper is to build a design framework and process for cultural product design. The approach includes two phases. First, the design framework and process for product development is constituted by the cultural attributive analyses and design concepts table, design principles, literature review and expert opinions. In the second phase, we undertake design practices based on the design framework and process in order to prove the effect.

Biomechanical, physiological and psychophysical evaluations of clean room boots.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the significance of boot sole properties on reducing fatigue, to evaluate the effects of load carrying and walking (over a 1 h period) on biomechanical, physiological and psychophysical responses, and to investigate the correlations between the measurements. The results indicated that elasticity and shock absorption of the boot had significant effects on outcome variables. Significant load effects were seen in most measurements. All of the significant time period effects gave strong regressions, with no R2 value less than 0.983. The findings of this study provide useful information for the selection and design of clean room boots as well as for job design for load carrying tasks in the clean room environment.

The evaluation of force exertions and muscle activities when operating a manual guided vehicle.

A manual guided vehicle (MGV) is used to handle heavy materials in thin film transistor-liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) manufacturing clean rooms. This study focuses on evaluating the force exertions and muscle activities in MGV operations. The independent variables include gender, force direction, handle height, load handled and wheel diameter of the MGV. The results show the force direction, handle height and load handling effects are significant in most measures except for F(ending) (the peak force required to stop the MGV) and the EMG of the anterior deltoid. The wheel diameter had a significant effect on F(initial) (the peak force required to move the MGV) and F(ending) responses. Gender did not significantly effect any measures. Moreover, the pushing and pulling force is less at 115cm handle height than at 101.5cm and 88cm handle heights. Using 15.3cm (6 inch) diameter wheels requires less force than 20.3cm (8 inch) diameter wheels because the two front wheels are fixed and the two rear wheels are rotatable. The design implications are discussed.

Cultural ergonomics in interactional and experiential design: Conceptual framework and case study of the Taiwanese twin cup

Cultural ergonomics is an approach that considers interaction- and experience-based variations among cultures. Designers need to develop a better understanding of cultural ergonomics not just to participate in cultural contexts but also to develop interactive experiences for users. Cultural ergonomics extends our understanding of cultural meaning and our ability to utilize such understanding for design and evaluate everyday products. This study aims to combine cultural ergonomics and interactive design to explore human-culture interaction in user experiences. The linnak is a typical Taiwanese aboriginal cultural object. This study examined the cultural meaning and operational interface of the linnak, as well as the scenarios in which it is used in interaction and user experiences. The results produced a cultural ergonomics interface for examining the manner in which designers communicate across cultures as well as the interweaving of design and culture in the design process.

Torque levels, subjective discomfort, and muscle activity associated with four commercially available screwdrivers under static and dynamic work conditions.

This study evaluated screwdrivers with different handle designs and blade lengths. 10 men and 10 women voluntarily participated. A repeated-measures experiment design was employed. The three independent factors were sex of user, handle (four types), and blade length (130, 170, and 210 mm). The dependent measures were the maximum supination torque under a static task and the %MVC of EMG responses in biceps brachii and flexor digitorum, and a discomfort rating for the upper extremity under the dynamic task. Analysis showed that the in-line screwdriver with the combined characteristics of large handle diameter (3.8–4.1 cm), smooth rubber covering handle surface, triangular (or circular) shape, and adequate handle length (11 cm) had the greatest supination torque and a smaller discomfort rating than the screwdriver with the pistol-grip handle. Blade length was not significantly related to any dependent measure.

The Cognition of Turning Poetry Into Painting

This study used the fuzzy approach to investigate the cognition of emotional responses and visual scenes when turning poetry into painting. In Experiment I, subjects were asked to match a painting with a poetic title based on their emotional responses. Experiment II used a fuzzy rating by which subjects were asked to subjectively evaluate the degree of overall fitness, as well as the degree of fitness between each poem and the emotional responses to and scenes of the paintings. The results show that the fuzzy approach can be applied for the effective evaluation of paintings and can provide artists with an idea of how to concentrate their efforts at the creation stage and improve communication with viewers.

The evaluation of visuospatial performance between screen and paper

Abstract This study evaluates the effect of presentation media (PC tablet versus pencil and paper) on the performance, level of visual fatigue, and subjective preference of those taking visuospatial tests. Fifty university students participated and performed three visuospatial short-term memory tests and three visuospatial ability tests by using both types of display media. The display medium substantially affected all of the measured variables (p

The Impact of an Actual Visit and Photograph Watching of an Exhibition on Visitor Viewing Experience

This research regarded the exhibition “Unfold a New Vision: To experience the surprises and awe in indigenous living aesthetics” as the subject to examine the impact of the format of the exhibition on the visitors’ satisfaction. The independent variable included the manner of visiting (visiting the exhibition or watching photographs in the exhibition hall) and theme display zone (the entrance, living room, dining room, bedroom, children’s room, and the creel (Sanku) lamp). This research asked three major questions regarding each display zone (the feeling and process of visiting, evaluation of the displayed items, and the overall feeling of the display zones). 156 questionnaires were collected for analysis. The result indicated that the scores of four questions regarding the visiting of the display were higher than that of watching the photographs. The questions of “works and fashion” and “intentions of decorating the living place with the displayed items” scored significantly higher in the group of photograph watching. Regarding the feeling of the display zone’s theme, there was only one question – “feel like sleeping” showed to have significant difference. In the section of the evaluation of the displayed items, there were five questions; overall feeling of the exhibition zones, three questions. Among them, the question concerning the interaction of the manner of visiting and the theme zone’s theme showed to have significant impact on the question of “exciting”. Finally, this research suggests that it is better to include the close-up photographs in the pamphlet of the displayed items in an exhibition. Concerning the materials and styles of the displayed items in the display zones should be consistent to offer visitors marvelous and consistent experiences. In addition, when providing the photographs to people that are unable to visit the exhibition in person, it is better to accompany those photos with music or samples of the displayed items to give them audio and tactile experiences to promote their satisfaction.

Influence of Media Forms on Painting Appreciation Experiences

This study mainly investigates the influence of different media presentation forms on viewers’ perception, preference, and viewing time. This study enrolled 15 male and 15 female subjects to participate in the experiment. The independent variables included gender (male and female) and media forms of paintings. The media forms included four factors: original paintings, planar presentation of paintings, screen presentation of paintings, and picture book of paintings. The experimental results showed that, the gender factor did not have significant influence on all the measurement variables. Media forms had significant influence on 4 indices; “viewing paintings arbitrarily,” “paintings reflected a sense of value,” “preference for paintings,” and “viewing time” (p < 0.05). According to the research results of this study, the sense of value reflected by original paintings was the highest, and they were most preferred by viewers. It is advised to provide proper painting titles and good viewing environment during exhibition of paintings to help viewers develop pleasant emotions and further increase their preference for paintings.

The Effects of Form Ratio in Product Design

Product personalities are often designated for market segmentation during product marketing, and product appearance is usually an important aspect for determining product personality. Rational and emotional are the two opposite adjectives with the most resonance during interpretation of the properties of product forms. Among the researches on form ratio, the golden ratio is the most historic. In this study the questionnaire survey of two group variables of “rational and emotional properties” and “preference” among 5 kinds of ratio states of 4 kinds of basic forms has been carried out for the purposes of (1) figuring out the correlation among the backgrounds of respondents, the form preference, and the rational and emotional perception, and (2) the difference in rational and emotional perceptions of different forms. This study is also aimed at the impacts of ratio variations of different forms on the rational and emotional properties. Both the online questionnaire and questionnaire in paper copy have been implemented simultaneously in this experiment for two weeks. In the end 230 online questionnaires and 220 paper copies of questionnaires have been collected, and there are 417 valid questionnaires out of the total of 450 questionnaires. The results of these questionnaires have led to two conclusions: 1. The one with the highest significance of impact on rational and emotional properties and preference level is the college attended, followed by the gender. 2. The smaller aspect ratio of rectangular, the more rational it will be. The smaller aspect ratio of the organic form, the more emotional is will be.