Megan Strickfaden

Establishing thermal comfort: characterization of selected performance and physical properties of fabrics used in hospital operating room uniforms

The purpose of this research was to characterize selected thermal properties of clothing fabrics available to operating room (OR) workers at the University of Alberta Hospital and to relate the thermal properties to fabric structural characteristics. In this study, we measured the thermal resistance and air permeability of fabrics obtained from surgical gowns, scrubs and warm-up jackets currently in use in ORs in a specific hospital. The results showed that the fabrics from which the surgical gowns were made provide the highest thermal insulation with lowest air permeability, while the warm-up jackets’ fabrics had the greatest air permeability with low thermal insulation values. The clothing options available to workers in the OR fall well below the predicted clothing insulation values for thermal comfort. For workers in the OR, such as anaesthesiologists, who are predominantly sedentary throughout their work shift, the lack of thermally insulating clothing options has consequences for their overall thermal comfort. This study comprises part of a larger ongoing study investigating improving the OR workers thermal comfort through clothing.

Reversing the {Im}material Sense of a Nonplace The Impact of Blindness on the Brussels Metro

This article explores the Brussels metro as a nonplace and considers the impact of blindness on nonplace. In discussing the {im}materiality of the metro, this article focuses on the experience of metro-time as “waiting and anticipation” and metro-space as “alone-together.” Along with this, the notion of a dialogue with blindness is introduced into this nonplace. We explore the relation between metro and blindness as dialogue: the meeting and aversion of two actors in the particular context of the Brussels metro. In this, the authors identify how the investment of particular agents makes the metro space more malleable. Two strategies are used, one considers the different world in which blind people live and experience spatial environments, thus suggesting the invasion of “another world” into a nonplace. The second strategy considers embodiment and performance, and how contextual features afford new representations and pathways through and into a nonplace. At the core of this work is an argument that illustrates how the dialogue between blindness and public space can reverse the quality of the {im}material sense of a nonplace. The ethnographic work that serves as the background for this article is twofold. First, observation of daily travel on the metro brings an understanding of the general characteristics of the metro system, which includes human interaction/s and performance. Second, through observation and documentation of a group of disability advocates, educators, designers, and planners worked together to create a more accessible metro system for people who are blind and visually impaired. Finally, it is argued that fundamentally, a dialogue with disability reverses the {im}material sense of a nonplace. The potential of blindness in reversing the metro’s nonplace qualities stems from the articulation of a sensory vulnerability in a time where vision has achieved a dominant position. Blindness-as-vulnerability is a significant agent for intra-action in the Brussels metro system, making it a safer environment, a more tactile environment, and one where information is added for the benefit of a particular group and also extending to all people.

Inspired and Inspiring Textile Designers Understanding Creativity Through Influence and Inspiration

This paper reports a study that investigated the synergies of influence (that which shapes the context for creative ideas) and inspiration (that which inspires the content) during the creation process of ten seasoned textile designers towards a better understanding of creativity. The behaviors and rhythm of textile designers were mapped using participant observation with multiple methods including field observation, capturing visual records using video equipment and photography, note taking, auditory records using mp3 recorders, and conducting informal dialogue during studio sessions. The results provide detailed interpretive information in the form of themes focused on understanding how they used and transformed inspirational sources towards the completion of their projects and how designers use their personal thesauruses through their sociocultural capital as influences. No two designers used and transformed inspirational sources in exactly the same way, yet each designer exhibited multiple methods of transformation by including an element of inspiration in their design process. Four separate themes emerged when we looked at how the designers used their personal thesauruses as influences. These themes were: (a) connections made to their sociocultural capital and through research, (b) narratives found or told to focus their projects, (c) emotions related to their attachments and reactions, and (d) design elements they referenced that aided in their decision making. Our rich descriptions of when and how often influence and inspirational sources play into the creative and problem-solving processes are a step toward a better understanding of creativity as a dynamic, complex, and diverse endeavor.

{Im}materiality Designing for More Sense/s

“{Im}materiality: Designing for More Sense/s” is an edited compilation of articles that explore the complexity of embodied human experience within the built environment. A particular aim of these collected works is to look toward how deepening one’s understandings of the experiences of bodies in space and place can contribute to future built environments. The contributors to this special issue are trained in practice-based disciplines such as architecture, product development, and ergonomics. At the same time, they bring in particular theoretical backgrounds of research experience in anthropology, design history and theory, and sociology. They come together through a focus on heterogeneous experiences of disability to articulate themes and issues that illustrate immaterial connections to the material world.

Scrutinizing design educators' perceptions of the design process

Abstract When developing a better understanding of the design process there are several possible approaches to choose from. Many studies are based on novice designers (e.g., students) or designers of relatively modest talents. By contrast, some studies have queried designers who are considered to have outstanding and exceptional ability in order to gain an understanding of design at the highest level that it is practiced. The study reported here adopts yet another approach by exploring how design processes are perceived by design educators. The approach is motivated by the observation that teaching design requires consciously distilling the essence of the design process for the students, observing students during their design process and guiding them through the process. As a result, design teachers tend to develop a more articulate view of design processes than most other designers. Nineteen design teachers are interviewed using general topics as discussion points. Such an approach is invaluable when exploring more abstract research questions such as the notion of design processes. This approach differs from more controlled approaches (e.g., protocol analysis) in that it accepts that the data obtained are partially driven by negotiation between the researchers and the participants, and that the discussions are largely stories or narratives about design and designing. The resulting data illustrate that design processes are interpreted, articulated, and understood in a variety of ways by different teachers. These data and subsequent results tell us in rich detail about designing and design teaching, and as a result extend our understanding of the design process.

Evaluating a Proposed Design for All (DfA) Manual for Architecture

This paper outlines the evaluation of a print-based Design for All (DfA) manual. The purpose was to understand if and how a DfA manual can be used as a tool to inspire students (future architects) in designing an inclusive project to transform theory into practice. The DfA manual has been used and tested during a workshop that took place at the UDweek 2016 in Hasselt, Belgium. Our results show that the manual was favorably received, particularly in the areas of the manual’s visual presentation. Conversely, short guidelines, as mean to transfer knowledge, was perceived as too prescriptive. Furthermore, more information to generate insights on users’ needs are required and the static format of the manual can’t satisfy the different ways students prefer to access information. The research provides interesting criteria on how to create a more relevant and useable DfA manual; however, further studies are required to elaborate upon these.

From Industrial Design Education to Practice: Creating Discipline Through Design Sprints

This paper looks into the value of design sprints as a means to training industrial design students towards practice within industry through the analysis of five consecutive years of design sprints with 280 interdisciplinary student teams of engineering, business students, and industrial design students. In the past several years, several design schools and many companies utilize the methodology of design sprints through human-centered design. This interdisciplinary ‘time boxed exercise’ is meant to rapidly focus product innovation to drive more valuable outcomes for the user; however, the design sprint also has considerable benefits towards teaching and ‘disciplining’ students for the work they will later engage in professional practice. Our results reveal three highly significant contributions of design sprints to aid students towards transitioning to professional practice including: (1) aiding towards working through design fixation, (2) creating ambiguity that leads to heightened innovation, and (3) making linkages between digital collaboration (what most students know well) and in-person collaboration.

Spatialising differently through ability and techné

ABSTRACT This paper reflects on multisensorial and multimodal processes by considering spatial design differently through three case studies in Canada and Belgium that involved persons with visual impairments. Our research provokes alternative ways of ‘seeing’ and ‘being’ in the world and we assert that the normative ways that designers think, act, and design for/with people who have disabilities can be shifted when considering ableism and techné together. Our studies and methods differ from other design processes and methods, in that we situate design within an understanding of ableism and techné, where we encourage designers to reflect upon their ability biases in order to break assumptions about the abilities and disabilities of users and/or codesigners. Through exploring, observing and creating, nuanced examinations into ability and techné are revealed that support an intimate bond and an empathic response towards shaping the designers’ understanding of participants embodied and practical knowledge. Our case study research expands the ways of knowing and doing in codesign through ableism and techné with people who are visually impaired, to create inspiring and meaningful designs through multisensorial processes that are inclusive of ‘seeing’ in order to spatialise differently.

Design and Evaluation of Workwear for Protection Against Steam and Hot Water

People working in the oil industry are often exposed to hazardous materials and equipment, in which case Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) is essential for protection. Current workwear can adequately protect the workers from hazards such as flash fire and radiant hear exposures; however, increasing steam and hot water burn injury statistics indicates that the garment fails to protect wearers from these hazards (Crown & Dale, 2005). With a focus on design and evaluation of a new workwear prototype, this continuing research is part of a larger project aimed at investigating and developing improved materials and garment systems for protection from steam and hot water for the Western Canadian oil industry. Purpose & Objectives: The research presents four main objectives: 1) identifying the natural work environment and task-related hazards; 2) understanding the functional, comfort and aesthetic requirements of the potential wearers; 3) establishing garment design criteria and recommendations; 4) applying the functional apparel design process to develop workwear prototypes.