A Multi-Method Case Study of Textile Craft-Design Applications – Usability and Effects on the Design Process
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Riikonen , S & Seitamaa-Hakkarainen , P 2018 , ' A Multi-Method Case Study of Textile Craft-Design Applications – Usability and Effects on the Design Process ' , Art, Design and Communication in Higher Education , vol. 17 , no. 2 , pp. 217-236 . https://doi.org/10.1386/adch.17.2.217_1
| Title: | A Multi-Method Case Study of Textile Craft-Design Applications – Usability and Effects on the Design Process |
| Author: | Riikonen, Sini; Seitamaa-Hakkarainen, Pirita |
| Contributor organization: | Maker culture, Design learning and Technology (MaDe) Department of Education |
| Date: | 2018-10-01 |
| Language: | eng |
| Number of pages: | 20 |
| Belongs to series: | Art, Design and Communication in Higher Education |
| ISSN: | 1474-273X |
| DOI: | https://doi.org/10.1386/adch.17.2.217_1 |
| URI: | http://hdl.handle.net/10138/324522 |
| Abstract: | This article presents a multi-method case study of five mobile device and desktop computer applications intended specifically for craft-design. The main aim of the study was to investigate the effects of application usage on the craft-design process and to analyse the usability of the applications from three perspectives: user experience, traditional usability and functionality. Eight master’s level craft teacher students evaluated the applications and used those to conduct a design task on a Virtual Design Studio course at the University of Helsinki. To enable an authentic working environment and style for the participants and to gather research data remotely, a multi-method approach was designed that included data from questionnaires, written tasks and recordings of screen events. Analysis of the effects of application usage on the craft-design process revealed three factors that promote changes: the usability of an application, new possibilities and limitations compared to traditional design methods and the technical expertise of the designer – usability being the most significant factor behind the changes observed. |
| Subject: |
516 Educational sciences
ICT craft-design design applications Design process digital design USABILITY |
| Peer reviewed: | Yes |
| Rights: | cc_by |
| Usage restriction: | openAccess |
| Self-archived version: | acceptedVersion |
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(Helsingin yliopisto, 2016)Rapid development of ICT has brought it into nearly all areas of everyday living, including craft. Therefore, to retain the unique nature of craft, deep understanding is needed on how use of ICT affects craft, especially craft-design that is the sole basis of craft. In addition, it's also vital to assess the quality of the digital design tools. Little is known about ICT usage's effects on the craft-design process nor about usability of digital design tools meant for craft design. This research had three main objectives: to study usability of applications, meant for craft-design and find the best suited applications for craft-science students to use in their studies, to analyze and describe how using the applications affect students' craft-design processes and to develop and evaluate the performance of a remote evaluation method to study the two previous aspects. This research is a qualitative case study. Five applications were tested by eight participants. To enable authentic real life working environment and style for the participants and to gather research data remotely a remote multi-method was designed for data gathering of this re-search that included questionnaire-, written- and screen events video data. The main data analysis followed the procedures of qualitative content analysis. Usability of the five applications varied from very bad to excellent. Based on the overall usability, the applications that are most advisable for craft-design studies, from the five applications evaluated in this research are iWeaveIt and StitchSketch. Analysis of effects of application usage to participants' craft-design processes revealed three factors that promote changes: usability of the applications, new possibilities and limitations compared to traditional design methods and technical expertise of a designer. Reinterpretations and further development of ideas during the design process was observed in this research, while the participants were using the applications that were evaluated as good or excellent in terms of usability that contradicts with the findings of previous studies. The remote multi-method developed for this research fulfilled the main goals set for it. It gave the participants a possibility to work in their natural working environment without time or place limitations and it still produced rich attitudinal and behavioral data.