Conference Agenda

The purpose of this study is to measure the effect of empathy priming on both ideation fluency and idea originality during brainstorming tasks. In a three between-subjects experimental design study, sixty industrial design students were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: single persona priming, empathy maps priming, and no priming. A one-way, between-subjects analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed that empathy priming had a significantly different effect on ideation fluency than idea originality. Participants in the empathy maps group showed higher ideation fluency and generated a greater number of novel ideas compared to either the single persona group or the control group. The study demonstrated that priming with empathy maps positively influences idea originality; however, priming with illustrative persona showed no significant effect on idea originality.

Mechanical Engineering graduates are expected to emerge from their degrees competent in communication, collaboration and other transferrable skills, often learnt through engineering design projects. Authenticity of small-group projects may be limited however, due to reduced complexity of both product and inter-team interaction of educational projects as compared to industry. Four years ago, we restructured a third-year module such that three teams of four students each collaborate in a so-called superproject to deliver a functioning prototype. In the cohort of 180 students, 15 superprojects are defined, each with a different topic. Academics act as the project director for the various superprojects, representing both client and mentor roles. Additional academics are technical advisors and supervisors to respective subassembly teams. Workshop and laboratory technicians provide practical support enabling access to, and design for, advanced manufacture and testing facilities. The module leader and departmental pastoral support team act as the superproject’s HR department, providing advice and support for professional skill development and appropriate behaviours. This structure requires strong inter- and intra-team collaboration and communication, and good interpersonal skills for successful integration of subassemblies. Findings after four years of running superprojects include that the nested organisation requires higher staff input than other options, but is considered a valuable investment relative to outcomes. The structure allows more complex projects, with variable interfaces and more authentic constraints and working conditions, improving both student experience and employability. Staff development is also facilitated through the hierarchical and collective nature of supervision and assessment on the module.

The participatory design of urban areas and spaces, which takes into account the needs of local residents and initiatives, is an important aspect of urban planning.

As part of this, efforts to design urban spaces in a participatory manner are becoming increasingly important in order to improve the quality of life of local residents and promote environmentally friendly solutions. This will create a significant contribution to social and environmental sustainability and quality of life in urban areas.

Within the framework of sustainable urban development and in the context of the New European Bauhaus (NEB), the revitalisation of a fallow industrial estate in the city of Zeitz is a central element of this contribution.

Therefor this contribution explores methods that enable active citizen participation while integrating innovative concepts such as non-persona, beyond-human persona, sustainability persona, giga-mapping and user-integrated design in the project process.

Furthermore this contribution introduces the planned use of augmented reality (AR) technologies and how this can be integrated into participatory design process. This contribution aims to communicate planned content before it becomes reality to involve residents. This can be achieved through the concept of reading the city as a patchwork, by experiencing different concrete futures in real places trough AR, alongside digital community walls, and digital crowd innovation challenges.

This paper examines systems design methodologies to enhance human-centred product-service systems by leveraging the transformative impact of engineering Lean Six Sigma techniques. It investigates the integration of AI within a university context, exploring how these approaches can; drive process improvements, optimise resource use, and deliver enhanced service outcomes for students, faculty, and staff. The study focuses on improving the efficiency of the placements booking process within engineering and design areas of a university located on the southern coast of the UK. Executed over 18 months, allowing both the implementation of improvements and the subsequent analysis of their effects throughout an academic period. This approach yielded a substantial corpus of quantitative data. The utilisation of key engineering tools such as; Stakeholder Mapping, SIPOC, Gemba walks Hypothesis Testing and Control Charts, played a pivotal role in streamlining processes.

The initial study involved 142 students across two placement areas, with only approximately 40% managing to book their second Placement Review in a single email transaction. The remaining 60% required additional contact, consuming valuable staff time. The post implementation study involved 157 students across the same two placement areas, a comparable data set. It was found that an AI assisted booking system only reduced the number of students requiring further contact by 8.66%, not a significant figure. However, the real benefit of the new system was that the mean time to book the students Placement Review was decreased by 67.03%.