The end of the line

1995 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 125-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Stiff

This article is about encounters between electronic publishing and typography, seen through the lens of one issue: decisions about ending lines in typeset text. Computer scientists working in electronic publishing have long pressed typographers to explain the thinking behind their practice. But craft knowledge, represented by typographers, has so far largely remained mute. An apparently minor issue in typographic decision-making -whether to typeset text in justified or unjustified mode -reveals some of the situated reasoning which informs reflective design practice. The following questions are surveyed: What are the characteristics of unjustified setting? For what purpose is it used? How effective is it? How is it done in practice? Why has it been a subject of argument among typographers? Examining these questions tells something about the intricacy of typographic decision-making, and is a forcible reminder of the materiality of designing.

2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (6) ◽  
pp. 2927-2955
Author(s):  
Mar Palmeros Parada ◽  
Lotte Asveld ◽  
Patricia Osseweijer ◽  
John Alexander Posada

AbstractBiobased production has been promoted as a sustainable alternative to fossil resources. However, controversies over its impact on sustainability highlight societal concerns, value tensions and uncertainties that have not been taken into account during its development. In this work, the consideration of stakeholders’ values in a biorefinery design project is investigated. Value sensitive design (VSD) is a promising approach to the design of technologies with consideration of stakeholders’ values, however, it is not directly applicable for complex systems like biorefineries. Therefore, some elements of VSD, such as the identification of relevant values and their connection to a technology’s features, are brought into biorefinery design practice. Midstream modulation (MM), an approach to promoting the consideration of societal aspects during research and development activities, is applied to promote reflection and value considerations during the design decision making. As result, it is shown that MM interventions during the design process led to new design alternatives in support of stakeholders' values, and allowed to recognize and respond to emerging value tensions within the scope of the project. In this way, the present work shows a novel approach for the technical investigation of VSD, especially for biorefineries. Also, based on this work it is argued that not only reflection, but also flexibility and openness are important for the application of VSD in the context of biorefinery design.


2018 ◽  
Vol 140 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlye A. Lauff ◽  
Daria Kotys-Schwartz ◽  
Mark E. Rentschler

Prototyping is an essential part of product development in companies, and yet it is one of the least explored areas of design practice. There are limited ethnographic studies conducted within companies, specifically around the topic of prototyping. This is an empirical and industrial-based study using inductive ethnographic observations to further our understanding of the various roles prototypes play in organizations. This research observed the entire product development cycle within three companies in the fields of consumer electronics (CE), footwear (FW), and medical devices (MD). Our guiding research questions are: What is a prototype? What are the roles of prototypes across these three companies? Through our analysis, we uncovered that prototypes are tools for enhanced communication, increased learning, and informed decision-making. Specifically, we further refine these categories to display the types of communication, learning, and decision-making that occur. These insights are significant because they validate many prior prototyping theories and claims, while also adding new perspectives through further exploiting each role. Finally, we provide newly modified definitions of a prototype and prototyping based on this empirical work, which we hope expands designers' mental models for the terms.


2020 ◽  
Vol 110 ◽  
pp. 91-95 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ashesh Rambachan ◽  
Jon Kleinberg ◽  
Jens Ludwig ◽  
Sendhil Mullainathan

There are widespread concerns that the growing use of machine learning algorithms in important decisions may reproduce and reinforce existing discrimination against legally protected groups. Most of the attention to date on issues of “algorithmic bias” or “algorithmic fairness” has come from computer scientists and machine learning researchers. We argue that concerns about algorithmic fairness are at least as much about questions of how discrimination manifests itself in data, decision-making under uncertainty, and optimal regulation. To fully answer these questions, an economic framework is necessary--and as a result, economists have much to contribute.


2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 66-82 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kara Freihoefer ◽  
Terri Zborowsky

The purpose of this article is to justify the need for evidence-based design (EBD) in a research-based architecture and design practice. This article examines the current state of practice-based research (PBR), supports the need for EBD, illustrates PBR methods that can be applied to design work, and explores how findings can be used as a decision-making tool during design and as a validation tool during postoccupancy. As a result, design professions’ body of knowledge will advance and practitioners will be better informed to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the society. Furthermore, characteristics of Friedman’s progressive research program are used as a framework to examine the current state of PBR in design practice. A modified EBD approach is proposed and showcased with a case study of a renovated inpatient unit. The modified approach demonstrates how a highly integrated project team, especially the role of design practitioners, contributed to the success of utilizing baseline findings and evidence in decision-making throughout the design process. Lastly, recommendations and resources for learning research concepts are provided for practitioners. It is the role of practitioners to pave the way for the next generation of design professionals, as the request and expectation for research become more prevalent in design practice.


2021 ◽  
Vol 28 (11) ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Maryanne Syrmis ◽  
Nadine Frederiksen ◽  
Claire Reilly

Background/Aims There is significant variation in the implementation of temporary tube feeding management in children and a paucity of associated clinical practice guidelines covering all phases of care, from decision making regarding tube insertion through to tube weaning. Development of clinical practice guidelines should consider levels of evidence other than randomised control trials. Examining hospital-produced guidelines used by frontline health staff, for example, could distinguish areas of application of evidence-based recommendations, as well as domains of care in need of increased implementation. This article describes the content of existing hospital-produced guidelines relating to tube feeding care in a general paediatric population. Methods Hospital-produced guidelines were sought by mailing 200 health services worldwide and searching Queensland Health's Electronic Publishing Service in Australia and Google. A content analysis was then performed. Results The 13 collected hospital-produced guidelines from Australia, the UK and Canada generally comprehensively reported on processes related to the decision-making, tube placement and tube maintenance phases. However, reporting on oral feeding while tube feeding, tube feeding dependency, tube feeding exit planning, and the social and emotional aspects of tube feeding were areas within these phases that had limited coverage. Recommendations for the phase of tube weaning were also infrequently included. Conclusions Development of formal clinical practice guidelines covering all tube feeding phases should assist in optimising patient and health service outcomes.


Author(s):  
Jude Chua Soo Meng

In this paper I frame the totalizing dominance of performativity in educational arenas in terms of its effects on professional thinking and attitudes. The problem is that the education professional's cognition ends up artificially obsessed with defined performance indicators and closed by default to the fluidity that should accompany reflective design practice. To mitigate this state of affairs, I propose that educators be encouraged to playfully consider non-performative goals, and that institutions can even welcome insincere or experimental consideration of non-performative educational goals. Such solutions may also correct excessively performative cultures outside educational contexts.


Design Issues ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 70-83 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lindsay Poirier

Diverse disciplinary communities approach design with diverse design logics design directives informed by critical theoretical commitments that are to be translated into material form. Recounting the design of a digital humanities platform, this paper shows how design logics of existing digital infrastructure can at times be out of sync with those of a design community seeking to leverage it. I argue that, in such situations, a designer should do more than simply “make do” with available infrastructure; the designer should instead design deviously – leveraging infrastructure in ways that undercut its logics. This suggests that reflective design involves reflecting, not only on design practice, but also on the logics of the infrastructure available to designers.


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