research project 2004-2007
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research project 2004-2007 |
| Schedule Back to main page |
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| WPI |
Work Package I: Theoretical background. This research will be carried out mainly by Susann Vihma in close cooperation with Lauri Repokari and Toni-Matti Karjalainen. The new insights produced by research within cognitive science will be discussed. Their contribution to semiotic approaches is a promising field of research because classic semiotic philosophy conceives representation as interaction and human relations to product environment as communication. |
| WPII |
Work Package II: Laboratory studies.
Laboratory studies will be implemented at the Helsinki University of Technology / Usability laboratory (Repokari) and at Helsinki University of Technology / Experimental Virtual Environment laboratory (Laakso). The aim of this study set is to collect information about semiotic product functions with the actual users in the controlled laboratory environment. The precise content of the studies will be planned during WPI. These multidisciplinary studies will be based on qualitative and quantitative research approaches. |
| WPIII |
Work Package
III: Field studies. Field studies will be carried out in the actual use situations with potential users in staged and actual use contexts. The aim of this WP is to collect information about the semiotic product functions in the real use contexts. This research work will be done in the field conditions and will be based mostly on qualitative methodology. Because this WP is partially parallel with the previous WP, the research focus will be in the same domain, but the methodology and analyses will be different and complementary. |
| WPIV |
Work Package IV: Qualitative case studies. These studies will be implemented especially by Toni-Matti Karjalainen to discuss and challenge theoretical concepts in different product categories and industrial contexts. The cases offer opportunities to model alternative communicative profiles of products. They will contribute to the construction of product typologies that distinguish semiotic functions of generic nature from those that are case-specific. Laboratory and field studies will be used to complement the case studies, for instance, by studying user perception through product mock-ups and concepts provided by participating companies. |
| WPV |
Work Package V: Analyses of research data. All the studies will be analyzed, if possible, quantitatively and qualitatively. There will be three product categories, which will be analyzed. The research plan is constructed to include various ways of studying products in their use (WP II-IV). They include the use of questionnaires in connection with the usability studies, semi-structured interviews in connection with field studies and observation of non-verbal communication with the help of the equipment at the usability laboratory. The phases are analyzed subsequently and conceived as complementary. Accordingly, the results of the usability laboratory studies are further examined in field studies or case studies. The role of the context will be notified as a research topic. Matrices that categorize visual product qualities will be developed and applied. As an outcome the research group will examine and discuss interpretations of the sample material. |
| WPVI |
Work Package
VI: Conceptual approach and suggestions for applications. The SeFun project will work out a clarifying analysis on semiotic product functions and their conceptual foundation. Susann Vihma will coordinate this WP. The suggested approach will be discussed and illustrated by the research of Lauri Repokari (mobile technology context), Toni-Matti Karjalainen (company context), Outi Turpeinen (exhibition context) and Mikko Laakso (mixed reality and virtual reality context), all of whom will study representational and communicative aspects of design embedded in different contexts. These studies will contribute important aspects of representation to each other. Hence, SeFun will produce suggestions and examples for further implementation within industrial design. This WP will be carried out in cooperation with the project’s international experts and other projects within this Programme and, finally, will be critically examined during the conference in 2007. |
| WPVII |
Work Package VII: Publication and other dissemination of the results. An anthology (150 pp.) will be published in the spring of 2007. It will include articles by members of the research group and invited researchers of semiotic product functions. The preparation work will be discussed in the scientific committee and with members from other projects of the Research Programme for Industrial Design. Four doctoral dissertations will be completed within the SeFun project. Conference proceedings will be published in connection with an open international research conference in 2007. In addition, the anthology will be delivered in advance to the conference participants. The group will publish interim reports in the form of research papers presented at international conferences and Nordcode seminars and actively participate in discussions on design research, especially together with the members of other projects of the Programme. A research report will be submitted to the Academy of Finland. |
| WPVIII |
Work Package VIII: Researcher training. Susann Vihma will be responsible for tutoring the three doctoral students at UIAH, and Lauri Repokari will supervise the work of Mikko Laakso at HUT. The SeFun group will work together in seminar sessions regularly every two weeks according to a detailed three-year work schedule. In parallel, the students will follow their individual study plans. Members of the group will jointly provide courses on specific themes to doctoral students and students at the MA-level at UIAH and HUT connected to the study programmes at these universities. The group will organize one-week intensive doctoral seminars at UIAH/HUT in 2004, 2005, and 2006 in cooperation with the other projects of the Research Programme for Industrial Design. Experts from Finland and abroad will be invited to work in these seminars. Researchers from the scientific committee and the Nordic network Nordcode will participate in the seminars, as will other experts according to the specific theme of the seminar. The SeFun project makes use of its www-page and will release newsletters in connection with the seminars. |
