Wenzhi Chen

Reexamining the relationship between design performance and the design process using reflection in action

Abstract Reflective actions in collaborative design can potentially improve design performance and results. This paper quantitatively reexamines the relationships between reflective activities and design performance during the collaborative design process in terms of reflection in action. Twenty sets of protocol data were encoded by a modified version of Valkenburg and Dorsts coding scheme. Using statistical testing, the relationship between the design performance and the number of activities plus the transitions was examined. A significant statistical correlation was found between the percentage of mature framing (setting up of a desired goal with sufficient follow-ups) and the overall performance. These quantitative results verify the qualitative findings of the previous study.

The Physical Elements Affecting Student’s Concentration in Libraries

This study aims to investigate the impact of physical elements in a library’s interior design on the concentration of students using the library for their work. The research question is as follows: which physical factors have, from their perspective, an impact on the concentration of students using the library for work? Also, this study compares the importance of the effect of the physical factors on the concentration of different users and activity profiles. There were 24 participants from 3 different Universities located in Guishan, Taoyuan, Taiwan answering the questionnaires and interview questions. Results showed that there were 11 factors rated as the most important factors affecting concentration ability namely: “Cleanliness”; “Aesthetic appearance”; “Noise level”; “Air movement”; “Amount of light”; “Air quality”; “Amount of space”; “Accessibility to facilities”; “Visual comfort”; “Crowdedness”; “Temperature”; and “Comfort of furnishing”.

Exploring the Relationship between Thinking Style and Collaborative Design Outcomes

The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between the team members’ thinking styles and their performance in collaborative design. 20 undergraduate industrial design students participated in the experiment. The Thinking Style Inventory was used to establish the thinking style profile. The grades of the collaborative design team members were collected. The correlation coefficient of team members’ thinking styles profiles was calculated, and the Pearson’s correlation analysis was used to examine the relationship between project grades and team members’ thinking style. The results demonstrated that the team members with difference thinking style could have better performance in the collaborative design team.

A Study on the C/R Ratio of Direct-Operation Multi-touch Interface

Multi-touch interface is becoming an important part of consumer information products. Interface design should have more in-depth understanding to achieve better human-computer interaction. This study investigates the multi-touch interface’s control/response ratio (C/R ratio) with rotation and moving tasks to understand the effects on participant’s performance and satisfaction. The results showed that the better C/R ratio is not the same for efficiency of different operating tasks. And the user satisfaction was affected by previous experience of the participants.

The Importance of Physical Elements and Their Influences on Users’ Concentration of Academic Library

This study aims to investigate the user’s perception of importance of physical elements to usage and design at academic library. Besides, the relationship between the user’s perception and their concentration ability was also studied. The questionnaire and visual test were adapted in this research. There are 180 participants from six different Universities in the North of Taiwan. To collect the data, the questionnaire method and Visual test Toulouse- Pieron were employed. The results shows that in the user’s perception, the auditory elements (silence, sound, noise) and air elements (air quality, temperature, smell) were the most important physical elements for the usage and design of the academic library. Visual elements (light quality, visual comfort) also played a key role in usage and design. Finally, the physical elements in the visual groups had more considerable relationship with the concentration index compare to the others physical elements groups.

The Instructional Model Framework of Undergraduate Industrial Design Core Course

Design is a powerful weapon for companies, and it is important to educate excellent designers for industry. The purpose of this study was to explore instructional design and to develop an instructional model for undergraduate industrial design core (studio) courses. The study was divided into two phases. First, 18 instructors were interviewed to collect qualitative data to formulate a framework of the instructional model. Then, a survey was conducted with a questionnaire designed according the framework and references to collect quantitative data to verify the model. The questionnaire was sent to 245 industrial design instructors, and 105 were returned. Finally, an instruction model for industrial design core course was formulated. The information provided in this study can deepen the understanding of instructional planning and provide a reference for teaching in design education.

Modified control-response ratio for move and rotation operations on a large multi-touch interface

This study focused on the effect of the control-response ratio (C/R ratio) of a multi-touch interface for move and rotation operations. The experiments were conducted to collect data on user performance and subjective evaluation to analyze the effects of five levels of the C/R ratio. Forty-five participants, 15 male and 30 female, were given tasks to complete. The results showed that in overall operations, subjective satisfaction was highest with the C/R ratio 1/1, but in the usability analysis among the C/R ratios 1/1, 1/2, and 2/1, there was no significant difference. Specific operations that analyzed the effects of the C/R ratio showed in the move operations the best C/R ratio was located between 1/1 and 1/2, and in the rotation operations, the difference among the C/R ratios 2/1, 1/1, and 1/2 was not significant. The best C/R ratio might be located among the three values. The results show that on a mid-size multi-touch screen, a modified C/R ratio may help users in pan and rotation operations to improve performance and satisfaction.

A new structure of online learning environment to support the professional learning

The online learning environment (OLE) is an essential element in using information and communication technology (ICT) for learning and instruction. This paper proposed a new structure of an OLE for design professional domain that tried to integrate the learning community (forum) and courseware for increasing the using motivation and learning efficiency. First, a framework consisted with four components - Instructor, Learner, Course, and Internet, was formulated. Then, the OLE was developed based on the framework that constructed by 3 levels - Community, Classroom, and Studio. Community provides an open space for users to interact and exchange the information. Classroom provides various design courses, while Studio provides several communication tools for design studio activities. The experiment courses and surveys were conducted to evaluate the need-ness and satisfaction of the OLE. The results show the positive responses from the learners that regarded the Community can help their learning.

Exploring the Learning Problems and Resources Usage of Undergraduate Industrial Design Students in Design Studio

Design is a power weapon of modern companies. It is important to have excellent designers for the industry. The purpose of this study is to explore the learning problems, and the resources that students used to overcome problems in undergraduate industrial design studio courses. The survey with open type questionnaires was used to collect data. There were 189 undergraduate industrial design students from 3 universities participating in this study. The results demonstrated that the most difficulties design tasks included concept generation, design presentation, and design research. The learning resources used to solve the learning problems included 4 categories: people, object, method, and environment. This information can increase the understanding of the learning process of students, and provide the reference for teaching planning and the setting of the learning resources in design education.