Yuanyuan Yin

Development of a design performance measurement matrix for improving collaborative design during a design process

Purpose of this paper: the purpose of this paper is to investigate how to measure collaborative design performance and, in turn, improve the final design output during a design process, with a clear objective to develop a Design Performance Measurement (DPM) matrix to measure design project team members¹ design collaboration performances. Design/methodology/approach: the methodology adopted in this research uses critical literature reviews, in-depth focus groups interviews and a questionnaire survey. Findings: the main finding of this study is a DPM matrix that addresses five DPM indicators: efficiency, effectiveness, collaboration, management skill, and innovation, and 25 detailed DPM criteria. It was found that decision-making efficiency is the most important DPM criteria for collaborative design efficiency; plus delivering to the brief for effectiveness; clear team goal/objectives for collaboration; decision-making ability for management skill; and competitive advantage for innovation. Research limitations/implications: as the present study was focused on exploring DPM during a design process, some key DPM criteria, which are not measurable during a design development process, were not included in this study. The proposed multi-feedback approach for DPM matrix implementation needs to be validated in future research. Practical implications: the DPM matrix can be applied to support a design manager in measuring and improving collaborative design performance during a design process, by reviewing and modifying collaborative design development, identifying the design team strengths and weaknesses, improving team communication, and suggesting suitable responsive actions. Original/values: the major contribution of this study is the investigation and development of a DPM matrix to measure collaborative design performance during a design process

The shopping experience of older supermarket consumers

– The purpose of this research is to investigate the difficulties and challenges faced by the older supermarket consumers in order to form insights into potential ways of applying IT support and design solutions within the supermarket service for older consumers. The rationale for this research stemmed from observations and discussions with supermarkets with regards to the use of IT and better process design for a growing segment of their consumer base., – A mixed research methodology was used for this research. Firstly, an ethnographic approach based on direct observations was felt appropriate as this would offer a visual unbiased view of the processes involved in the shopping experience. Secondly, it was felt that it would be appropriate to support these findings with semi‐structured interviews. The data was clustered to provide contextual awareness of the problems involved within the shopping experience., – The findings indicated a range of areas where senior consumers faced difficulties. One major problem was around understanding where certain products were placed on shelves and why. The other areas of concern were access to products (shelf height), poor signage, labelling and inappropriate portion sizes., – The main research limitation is the small sample size that was studied. Obviously with a much larger sample a wider range of problems would be uncovered. The other area of concern is the fact that studying particular customers invades the privacy of customers that are inadvertently caught up on videos. In future, it may make sense to get participants to film themselves and talk into smart mobiles, recording real‐time data., – The research indicates that it is important for supermarkets to improve signage and customer support, and use IT more freely in most areas. The use of electronic ink signage is a new and important area that they could invest in. This would allow real‐time updates., – As many countries are faced with growing numbers of senior citizens, it is important that their lives are made easier and the shopping experience improved., – There are limited attempts at the use of an ethnographic approach to explore elderly consumers’ shopping experiences in the UK. The existing studies do not look at the practicalities of everyday shopping problems faced by this segment of the population. It also adds value to the retailers’ understanding of the behaviour patterns of this important customer segment, at the same time offering solutions to certain problems such as signage and directions through the utilisation of IT.

Development of a project level performance measurement model for improving collaborative design team work

This research explored a new direction of improving collaborative design by performance measurement. More specifically, a novel 3-dimensional performance measurement model is developed and the purpose of this model is to help project managers improve team collaboration by indicating strengths and weaknesses of team members during the project development process. Considering the complexity of collaborative design work, a multiple criteria model is proposed to reflect the design dynamics, which highlights five performance indicators: efficiency, effectiveness, collaboration, management skills and innovation. These five indicators are mostly influenced by role-based performance measurement criteria (the second dimension). Design and development process (time) is also considered (the third dimension). This 3D model allows all involved design participants to measure work performance at any time during the product development process. In order to develop this model, the role-based task analysis and industrial survey methods were utilized. Three groups of role-based product design and development performance measurement criteria were identified for measuring design performance of the top managers, middle managers and individual designers in a project team. A 3-dimensional performance measurement method was proposed to calculate final performance scores from a performance measurement matrix. The proposed model was evaluated as a tool which can support project managers to reduce potential design and collaboration risks and increase confidence in decision-making process. The model has been discussed on implementing in a web-based application for measuring design performance throughout the product design and development process.

An exploratory study of older customers’ holistic supermarket shopping experience in China

This research investigated difficulties and challenges that older customers face in a supermarket environment in China, so as to understand the way in which the supermarket environment and service can improve older customers’ shopping experience. An ethnographic user study, which combines video-based direct observations, in-depth interviews and a cultural probe information gathering pack, has been employed to explore Chinese older customers’ supermarket shopping experience. 30 Chinese senior citizens above 65 years of age and able to undertake their own shopping at least once fortnightly participated this project. Research results show that a shopping experience design should not only concentrate on instore shopping, but on a holistic shopping experience that includes shopping preparation, journey to store, in store shopping, journey back to home and after shopping at home. This flow and journey needs to be understood and addressed when designing a supermarket service for older customers. The supermarket shopping related issues that older Chinese customers face have been summarised, reported and discussed in the paper.