Elke den Ouden

Interactive city lighting

LED based lighting systems have enabled radically new possibilities in the field of artificial lighting. This is due to in part to the LED being digitally controllable which means this efficient light source can also be integrated with sensors and smart environments. This has opened up a new world of lighting and lighting interaction opportunities that has been applied in new concepts in many of the indoor lighting domains. The outdoor lighting domain however has focused mostly on the LEDs efficiency and low cost of ownership to save energy and money for local governments. The use of the LED as a potential means for providing interactive city lighting for social good or entertainment is as yet a fairly unexplored area. This is therefore the focus of this workshop to bring together a community of researchers, designers and technologists to explore the potential of interactive city lighting and how it could support or enhance the lives of those living in a city.

The Age of Transformation

The world is going through a transformation. We face a number of tremendous societal challenges for which traditional approaches no longer work. Mankind has gone through big changes before: moving from the agricultural economy to the industrial economy, and more recently, into the ‘experience’ economy and the knowledge economy. This chapter explores the paradigm shifts of the past and the present, to set the scene for the rest of the book. Most of all, facing the current societal challenges will require collaboration between profit and non-profit organizations as well as connected individuals, to create meaningful innovations that will guide people and society through the transformation.The world is going through a transformation. We face a number of tremendous societal challenges for which traditional approaches no longer work. Mankind has gone through big changes before: moving from the agricultural economy to the industrial economy, and more recently, into the ‘experience’ economy and the knowledge economy. This chapter explores the paradigm shifts of the past and the present, to set the scene for the rest of the book. Most of all, facing the current societal challenges will require collaboration between profit and non-profit organizations as well as connected individuals, to create meaningful innovations that will guide people and society through the transformation.

Understanding consumer perception of technological product failures: an attributional approach

Besides the widely promoted advantages the influx of new technology is bringing to consumers, the disadvantages due to increasing cognitive complexity of such technological advanced products have also been recognized. Among other things, an increasing number of unknown field complaints is one of the evidences. Since consumers often perceive a products (mal)functioning differently than designers do, we propose an attributional approach to evaluate potential product failures. In this paper, we present the results of an exploratory empirical study to evaluate the attribution of picture quality failures in LCD televisions for a diverse group of consumers. This approach is aimed to provide designers better insight into how consumers perceive (potential) product failures, in order to support critical design decisions in the product development process.

Radical Front End Transfers From Research To Development: The Impact Of A Hybrid Model

Incumbents facing a digital transformation are confronted with digital trends, such as Internet of Things, smart cities, and big data, that open up new customer segments, but simultaneously demand ...

Roadmaps for energy (R4E): how to foster the sustainable energy transition of communities

The sustainable energy transition of communities is one of the main targets within the European energy policies. Consistent energy planning is needed but conditioned by difficulties of city administrations to meet the necessary skills and have the necessary knowledge in order to lead the corresponding transition processes. R4E develops roadmapping capacities of 8 European partner cities (Eindhoven, Forli, Istanbul, Newcastle, Murcia, Palermo, Sant Cugat and Tallinn) together with their local stakeholders, and provides them with the necessary knowledge about innovative energy solutions in the fields of smart buildings, smart mobility and smart urban spaces. A specific systemic approach to these future energy solutions has been developed, based on so-called Systemic Solutions Maps, in order to strengthen the capacities of the participating stakeholders in designing detailed roadmaps and developing together with the city authorities specific project portfolios.

Value from Different Perspectives

Value is a subject that has been studied in many contexts and in many scientific disciplines. Even within one discipline it has different connotations. This chapter gives an overview of the term ‘value’ from the perspective of the social sciences that provide a relevant context for innovation: economics, psychology, sociology and ecology. But before considering the social sciences, it is useful first to look at the history and etymology of the term value, and the philosophical perspective, to provide a sound basis for further discussion. The different views on value will be integrated into one overall Value Framework. This combines the value concepts from economics, psychology, sociology and ecology, and explains them at the four levels of value described in the previous chapter: user, organization, ecosystem and society. The Value Framework serves as a basis for design to create shared value with transformational innovations.

Levels of Value

Transformational solutions are needed to tackle today’s societal challenges facing the world. These transformational solutions create value not only for their end-users and the organizations that market them, but also for society as a whole. But what is value in this context? The term is used frequently, but has different meanings in different contexts. This chapter explores the different levels of value that are relevant for innovations that address societal challenges: the user, the organization, the ecosystem and society.

Creating Meaningful Value Propositions

Designing meaningful innovations that create value for users, organizations, ecosystems and society requires a holistic view to integrate seemingly conflicting needs and requirements into compelling solutions. This chapter describes and illustrates with examples the way of thinking, the process and the tools to reach an integrative value proposition and its accompanying value formula. It shows that innovation projects of this kind typically have higher uncertainties, which translates into the need to integrate knowledge and experience from various disciplines, and to follow a more explorative approach in the initial phases of the projects. Building on the literature from design, marketing, business and innovation management, as well as extensive practical experience in projects in the field, an approach is defined that describes pragmatically how to define and realize meaningful innovations. It contains descriptions of methods and ways of working, together with examples.