Design-based inquiries into the networked products of the Internet of Things (IoT) lack a coherent understanding of the effect of such products on society. This paper proposes a new taxonomy for networked products, which would allow articulation on their current state and future, and provide insights to designers for creating meaningful and aesthetic products of IoT. Central to this framework is the proposition that our current product-scape should be understood as a distribution of material agencies and best analyzed through the metaphor of “agency”. We identify three types of agencies, i.e., the Collector, the Actor, and the Creator, and discuss how this approach could create new design methodologies to create more meaningful networked products that would empower people in their everyday lives.
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Formal elements are often used in art therapy assessment. The assumption is that formal elements are observable aspects of the art product that allow reliable and valid assessment of clients’ mental health. Most of the existing art therapy assessment instruments are based on clinical expertise. Therefore, it is not clear to what degree these instruments are restricted to formal elements. Other aspects might also be included, such as clinical expertise of the therapist. This raises the question of whether and how formal elements as observable aspects of the art product are related to clients’ mental health. To answer this question, four studies are presented that look at: (1) a meta-theoretical description of formal elements; (2) operationalization of these formal elements so they can be analyzed reliably in clients’ art products; (3) establishment of reliable and clinically relevant formal elements; (4) the relationship between formal elements and adult clients’ mental health. Results show that the combination of the formal elements “movement,” “dynamic,” and “contour” are significantly interrelated and related to clients’ mental health, i.e., psychopathology, psychological flexibility, experiential avoidance, and adaptability. These findings give insight in the diagnostic value of art products and how they may add to clients’ verbal expression and indicate their potential to benefit from therapy.
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Many consumers express concerns about the welfare of animals in agriculture, but often refrain from purchasing animal‐friendly alternatives that address their concerns. To support consumers in making choices in line with their values and attitudes, this study approaches consumer animal‐friendly product choice as a dilemma between maximising the buyer’s self‐interest and maximising societal interest. To address this social dilemma, we developed and tested positioning strategies that reinforce the animal welfare label with complementary consumption values (functional, emotional, social and epistemic). The results from a choice experiment with Dutch chicken meat shoppers showed that two strategies ‐ emotional and epistemic ‐ effectively increase consumer value perceptions. These insights imply that animal‐friendly products positioned to invoke emotion or curiosity drive consumers towards animal‐friendly product choices, and that these strategies are most effective for consumers who base their choice solely on maximising either self‐interest or societal interest
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Purpose: This paper aims to summarize the results of an empirical project to understand the perceptions of consumers of the future high end products in the USA. This project was a precursor of a larger global project on the topic. Design/methodology/approach: The approach utilizes the consumer insights-driven process, rule-developing experimentation (RDE), introduced by the senior authors and developed in cooperation with Wharton School of Business (University of Pennsylvania). The empirical part was conducted with qualified US consumers (middle- and upper-middle class respondents). Based on a series of in-depth qualitative interviews with global leaders of luxury and premium companies, star designers and thought leaders, five dimensions of high end offering were identified, with each dimension having a unique set of four factors (elements). The second part included a quantitative survey based on RDE (modified conjoint analysis) conducted in the USA with 373 qualified middle- and upper-middle class respondents to discover the driving forces behind their perceptions of high end. Findings: There are four distinct consumer mindsets towards future high end products. The segmentation is based on a disciplined experimentation afforded by RDE and produces a more targeted understanding of the consumer mind. Practical implications: The paper provides insights of what might drive the consumer perception of high end products in the near future. The pattern-based consumer mind-set segmentation creates actionable directions for corporations in answering today's big question "How can brands migrate from being cost-driven commodities to higher margins and profits?" The answer is in the high end. Originality/value: The approach offered here could help designers and brand managers to efficiently create better products that consumers like and perceive as high end. This will result in higher margins and help marketers to differentiate their respective products from the competition.
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In the SaxShirt project Saxion is working on smart textile solution, but Saxion is not the only organization; commercial products are popping up in the market everywhere. This paper gives an up-to-date overview of the commercially available products, to have a clear view on the current market, to learn from the existing solutions and be able to position the SaxShirt with respect to the existing developments.
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This paper describes a study into consumers' reasons for buying socially responsible (SR) products, such as Fair Trade products and organic meat. As opposed to other studies, we use a qualitative approach based on 25 in-depth interviews and include several different products in the research. This leads to several new results, such as: (1) buying SR products is perceived as an imperfect moral duty; (2) low quality of SR products is a dissatisfier, but high quality not a satisfier; (3) the attitude towards SR products is related to the reputation of charitable funds; (4) the demand for SR products is negatively related to the frequency of purchasing SR products; (5) reflection on SR products raises the demand for SR products; (6) consumers that have witnessed the social problems that SR products aim to alleviate purchase more SR products. Finally, we find that the demand for different SR products is correlated: if a consumer buys one SR product, it is more likely that (s)he purchases other SR products as well.
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In clinical practice, formal elements of art products are regularly used in art therapy observation to obtain insight into clients’ mental health and provide directions for further treatment. Due to the diversity of formal elements used in existing studies and the inconsistency in the interpretation, it is unclear which formal elements contribute to insight into clients’ mental health. In this qualitative study using Constructivist Grounded Theory, eight art therapists were interviewed in-depth to identify which formal elements they observe, how they describe mental health and how they associate formal elements with mental health. Findings of this study show that art therapists in this study observe the combination of movement, dynamic, contour and repetition (i.e., primary formal elements) with mixture of color, figuration and color saturation (i.e., secondary formal elements). Primary and secondary elements interacting together construct the structure and variation of the art product. Art therapists rarely interpret these formal elements in terms of symptoms or diagnosis. Instead, they use concepts such as balance and adaptability (i.e., self-management, openness, flexibility, and creativity). They associate balance, specifically being out of balance, with the severity of the clients’ problem and adaptability with clients’ strengths and resources. In the conclusion of the article we discuss the findings’ implications for practice and further research.
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Rationale: The goal of the PROVE (Protein enriched vegan products to fight malnutrition) project is to innovate the assortment of plant-based energy and protein enriched products for dietary treatment of (risk of) malnutrition. We aimed to explore preferences of dietitians for plant-based products in the treatment of malnutrition.Methods: In this design-based research project, the Double Diamond model was applied. Contextual interviews were performed with 9 dietitians experienced in treating clients using a vegan diet (1 omnivore, 3 flexi-vegetarian, 1 vegetarian, 1 pescetarian, 3 flexi-vegan). Interviews focused on preferences regarding product type, size, nutrients, taste, packaging, price. Affinity mapping was used to code and analyze the transcripted interviews. The results were summarized into concept products.Results: Four product concepts were developed that represent preferences of dietitians for a plant-based energy and protein enriched product for clients with (risk of) malnutrition. Overall, pea or soy were preferred as a protein source and addition of vitamins and minerals was not preferred.Conclusion: Preferences of dietitians for plant-based protein and energy rich products for patients with risk of malnutrition largely vary. Within PROVE, we will enrich these results with patient perspectives, as basis to develop and deliver plant-based energy and protein enriched products for treatment of (risk of) malnutrition.
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Agricultural by-products, that is primary residue, industrial by-products and animal manure, are an important source of nutrients and carbon for maintaining soil quality and crop production but can also be valorised through treatment pathways such as fermentation, incineration or a combination of these called bio-refinery. Here, we provide an overview of opportunity to reduce environmental impact of valorising agricultural by-products. We estimate the available by-products in Northwestern Europe as a case study and the maximum and realistic greenhouse gas reduction potentials. Availability, collectability, the original use and environmental impact including land use changes, soil carbon sequestration and pollution swapping are discussed as critical factors when valorising agricultural by-products.
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