Is carousel interaction really usable?

In this paper a novel and significant study into the usability of carousel interaction in the context of desktop interaction is presented. Two equivalent prototypes in an e-commerce context were developed. One version had a carousel and the other version did not have a carousel. These were then compared with each other in an empirical experiment with 40 participants. The data collected were statistically analysed and overall results showed that in terms of performance the Web site version without carousel outperformed the version with carousel. Furthermore, the subjective preferences of the participants were strongly in favour of the without carousel version of the site. The results of this study make an important contribution to knowledge suggesting that in many cases implementing a carousel is not the best design decision. The results of this paper are particularly significant in relation to desktop versioned Web sites and goal-driven tasks. Serendipitous-type tasks and mobile versioned web sites used on mobile devices with touch screens were not part of the scope of this work.

The Architecture of Eco-Theology: Towards a New Typology for Christian Sacred Space

This paper will begin by exploring the underlying scriptural and theological foundations for a Christian response to the ecological crisis with particular focus on the writings of cultural historian, Father Thomas Berry, CP. It will then describe the first worship space in Canada that attempts to embody the emergent “Eco-theology” to invoke both the transcendental and imminent presence of the divine by reconsidering every design decision from first principles. As articulated in its architecture, the traditional elements of Roman Catholic sacred space have been re-imagined and given unique expression to emphasize that when we gather for Christian worship, we do so within the greater context of creation. St. Gabriel’s Passionist Parish church therefore represents a distinctly new typology for Christian Worship that contributes towards an understanding of early scriptural teachings which emphasized the sacredness of all creation and not just the sacredness of humankind. The new building as sacred space presents a “Gestalt whole”, and like the medieval cathedrals of Europe, becomes itself a form of Catechetical pedagogy, engaging the senses, demanding reflection, and inviting transformation.

Creating space and time for innovation - a methodology for building adaptation design appraisal using physics-based simulation tools and interactive multi-objective optimization

PurposeIt is crucial to consider the multitude of possible building adaptation design strategies for improving the existing conditions of building stock as an alternative to demolition.Design/methodology/approachIntegration of physics-based simulation tools and decision-making tools such as Multi-Attribute Utility (MAU) and Interactive Multi-objective Optimization (IMO) in the design process enable optimized design decision-making for high-performing buildings. A methodology is presented for improving building adaptation design decision making, specifically in the early-stage design feasibility analysis. Ten residential building adaptation strategies are selected and applied to one primary building system for eight performance metrics using physics-based simulation tools. These measures include energy use, thermal comfort, daylighting, natural ventilation, systems performance, life cycle, cost-benefit and constructability. The results are processed using MAU and IMO analysis and are validated through sensitivity analysis by testing one design strategy on three building systems.FindingsQuantifiable comparison of building adaptation strategies based on multiple metrics derived from physics-based simulations can assist in the evaluation of overall environmental performance and economic feasibility for building adaptation projects.Research limitations/implicationsThe current methodology presented is limited to the analysis of one decision-maker at a time. It can be improved to include multiple decision-makers and capture varying perspectives to reflect common practices in the industry.Practical implicationsThe methodology presented supports affordable generation and analysis of a large number of design options for early-stage design optimization.Originality/valueGiven the practical implications, more space and time is created for exploration and innovation, resulting in potential for improved benefits.

CHOOSING THE STYLE OF A NEW DESIGN - THE KEY SHIP DESIGN DECISION

As a former senior designer of naval vessels and, more recently, a leading researcher in ship design, the author has previously presented a description of the ship design process in terms of the important decisions a ship designer makes in concept exploration. Such decision are made consciously or unconsciously in order to produce a new design or, preferably, any design option. It has been contended in many publications that the first real decision that a ship designer makes, in order to proceed, is the selection of the “style” of the design study or of a specific design option. This term was adopted in order to cover, not just a host of design issues and standards implicit in a given study, but also, at this very initial step, the overall characteristics of any particular study. So the term style could be said to be doubly important. The current paper considers the nature of the early ship design process for complex multi-functional vessels and then retraces the origins of the particular use of the term, where it was seen as the last of the five elements in Brown and Andrews’ 1980 encapsulation of the ship design issues that matter to the naval architect, incorporated in the term “S to the 5th”. This leads on to consideration of the various aspects of design style, many of which could be considered “transversals” as they apply across the naval architectural sub-disciplines and to the component material sub-systems comprising a ship. One of the distinctive advantages of the architecturally driven ship synthesis or Design Building Block approach is that it can address many of these style issues in the earliest descriptions of an emergent design study. Examples, drawing on a range of built Royal Navy ship designs, are presented to show their top-level style characteristics, followed by a series of ship design research studies illustrating how the impact of specific component style aspects can be investigated in early stage ship design, using the UCL Design Building Block approach. Finally, recent research led investigations into integrating ship style into early stage ship design are summarized to demonstrate why the choice of “style” is seen to be The Key Ship Design Decision.

Graph Modeling for Efficient Retrieval of Power Network Model Change History

Power grids are constantly evolving, and data changes are increasing. Operational technology (OT) is controlled by IT technologies in smart grids, where changes in the physical world impose changes in the software data model, as well as the continuous generation of data points, resulting in time series datasets. The increased need for processing large amounts of data combined with requirements to maintain and increase overall performances has created a significant challenge for traditional database solutions and relational database models. The main idea of this paper was to find and propose a graph model that will allow the retrieval of historical connectivity in a reduced time complexity. Furthermore, the research question was addressed by evaluating three different approaches where the results provide a foundation for the proposed design guidelines related to optimizing graph-based databases for a modern smart grid system. The results of the experiments demonstrated reduced time complexities from 3 to 5 times depending on the typical industry usage patterns and the selected graph model. This suggests that the design decision may severely affect the outcome for given smart grid use cases when using historical features in OT technologies. Therefore, the main contribution of the research is the proposed guidelines on how to design an optimal graph model that satisfies the described smart grid requirements.

Between Moments - Using virtual reality with participatory processes to design healthcare waiting places

<p>Within healthcare architecture, there is a void of attention directed towards the non-medical spaces; the waiting rooms, hallways and all ‘between moments’ where many people spend extended periods of time under acute stress. Nowhere is this more prevalent that in the emergency departments where patients seek care and treatment for real or perceived, serious injuries or illnesses. While waiting for medical attention, exposure to high levels of harsh lighting, sterile furnishings, chaotic activity and cavernous rooms with others in distress can cause and increase anxiety, delirium and high blood pressure. The emotional experience of such spaces changes based upon a user’s unique sensory conditions and therefore their individual perception of space. The architectural design tools and devices to explore these highly charged sensory spaces have been historically limited to technical plans and sections and rendered marketing perspectival images, which do not fully communicate the immersive experience of these spaces when in use. Virtual reality is emerging as a powerful three-dimensional visualisation tool, offering designers the opportunity to comprehend proposed designs more clearly during the planning and design phases, thus enabling a greater influence on design decision making. This research explores the use of VR in a healthcare perspective, adopting a participatory design approach to simulate sensory conditions of blindness, deafness and autism and the emotions associated with these conditions within space. This approach diverges from a purely visual method of design towards an understanding of the haptic, exploring the critical phenomenology behind these non-medical spaces. The research finds significant potential for the use of virtual reality as a design tool to simulate the experience of these spaces in early design stages.</p>

Between Moments - Using virtual reality with participatory processes to design healthcare waiting places

<p>Within healthcare architecture, there is a void of attention directed towards the non-medical spaces; the waiting rooms, hallways and all ‘between moments’ where many people spend extended periods of time under acute stress. Nowhere is this more prevalent that in the emergency departments where patients seek care and treatment for real or perceived, serious injuries or illnesses. While waiting for medical attention, exposure to high levels of harsh lighting, sterile furnishings, chaotic activity and cavernous rooms with others in distress can cause and increase anxiety, delirium and high blood pressure. The emotional experience of such spaces changes based upon a user’s unique sensory conditions and therefore their individual perception of space. The architectural design tools and devices to explore these highly charged sensory spaces have been historically limited to technical plans and sections and rendered marketing perspectival images, which do not fully communicate the immersive experience of these spaces when in use. Virtual reality is emerging as a powerful three-dimensional visualisation tool, offering designers the opportunity to comprehend proposed designs more clearly during the planning and design phases, thus enabling a greater influence on design decision making. This research explores the use of VR in a healthcare perspective, adopting a participatory design approach to simulate sensory conditions of blindness, deafness and autism and the emotions associated with these conditions within space. This approach diverges from a purely visual method of design towards an understanding of the haptic, exploring the critical phenomenology behind these non-medical spaces. The research finds significant potential for the use of virtual reality as a design tool to simulate the experience of these spaces in early design stages.</p>

(Computationally) designing out waste: Developing a computational design workflow for minimising construction and demolition waste in early-stage architectural design

In the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry, waste is oft framed as an economic problem typically addressed in a building’s construction and demolition phase. Yet, architectural design decision-making can significantly determine construction waste outcomes. Following the logic of zero waste, this research addresses waste minimisation ‘at the source’. By resituating the problem of construction waste within the architectural design process, the research explores waste as a data and informational problem in a design system. Accordingly, this article outlines the creation of an integrated computational design decision support waste tool that employs a novel data structure combining HTML-scraped material data and historic building information modelling (BIM) data to generate waste evaluations in a browser-based 3D modelling platform. Designing an accessible construction waste tool for use by architects and designers aims to heighten awareness of the waste implications of design decisions towards challenging the systems of consumption and production that generate construction and demolition waste.