Fashion and textile practice transitioned over the past decade from a physically engaged design practice into a screen-based design practice with textiles simulated on digital bodies. Digital designers use tangible interaction with textiles for post-phenomenological design considerations. Our research indicates a complementary relationship between tangible interaction and drape observation, which allows for new approaches when considering textile materials. The drape observation based on drape measurement methods developed in textile science equips designers with a deeper material understanding. As the flat textile is placed in the scientific setup, the deformation and the designer's experience co-shape design considerations. The physical-to-digital paradigm shift disconnects designers from the tangible interaction with the textile. Fashion designers' approach contrasts with textile science methods to measure textile properties (needed to simulate textiles) and drape. Equipping designers with this understanding of textile technology requires interdisciplinary developments to make combined tangible drape tools accessible in physical and digital design spaces. Understanding design considerations in physical-digital practices and material drape, utilizing simulated textile properties, is essential for this endeavor. Cross-disciplinary understanding of textiles and similar soft materials between fashion designers, design researchers, textile and computer researchers, and cultural heritage researchers seems valuable in reducing measurement hurdles and creating tools to increase relationships between the physical and digital textiles and improving visual analyses and assessment of textiles. Our reflection to sharpen the post-phenomenological lens and cross-disciplinary collaborations of our past and future research contributes to understanding physical-digital textile design considerations and required cross-disciplinary interaction.
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Customer-supplier relationships are becoming more digital. However, a personal approach still seems to be a key success factor in the service journey, creating an optimal customer experience. In this research, we investigated the effects of a personal communication approach on customer experience and customer relationship. The personal touch was operationalised in two studies focusing on written forms of communication (Study 1) and spoken forms of communication (Study 2) amongst customers of an energy company. Both studies show that a personal tone of voice in customer contact results in a more positive customer experience (in terms of consumption emotions, customer satisfaction and recommendation intention). However, it does not impact the long term relationships between service provider and customers. Customers do not adjust previously built relationship norms when they are approached in a more or less personal way, as long as the chosen approach does not violate relationship norms. The research is relevant for organisations interested in the effects of a more personal approach in customer contact. The paper combines existing theories on customer experience and customer communication with the existing theories on relational models.
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Can you remember the last time the ground gave way beneath you? When you thought the ground was stable, but for some reason it wasn’t? Perhaps you encountered a pothole on the streets of Amsterdam, or you were renovating your house and broke through the floor. Perhaps there was a molehill in a park or garden. You probably had to hold on to something to steady yourself. Perhaps you even slipped or fell. While I sincerely hope that nobody here was hurt in the process, I would like you to keep that feeling in your mind when reading what follows. It is the central theme of the words that will follow. The ground beneath our feet today is not as stable as the streets of Amsterdam, your park around the corner or even a poorly renovated upstairs bedroom. This is because whatever devices we use and whatever pathways we choose, we all live in hybrid physical and digital social spaces (Kitchin and Dodge 2011). Digital social spaces can be social media platforms like Twitter or Facebook, but also chat apps like WhatsApp or Signal. Crucially, social spaces are increasingly hybrid, in which conversations take place across digital spaces (WhatsApp chat group) and physical spaces (meeting friends in a cafe) simultaneously. The ground beneath our feet is not made of concrete or stone or wood but of bits and bytes.
