Tag Archives: Brazil

Publications

Design brief helps advisors help business people working with designers

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Bertao, R. A., Brum, A. L. D. S., & Joo, J. (2023) The design brief as a pivotal tool: A study of Centro Brasil Design’s practices to promote design, The Design Journal, 26 (2), 188-209. 

Abstract

In the early stages of the design and innovation processes, stakeholders often develop a design brief. As a document gathering all design requirements, it is adopted as an agreement and a roadmap to facilitate communication throughout the project. This study expands the current literature about design brief tools by delving into the briefing process within design interventions conducted by design promotion organisations. We investigated the strategies and practices of Centro Brasil Design to nurture design among Brazilian enterprises. Particularly, we focused on its Design Export program, which aims to insert design in export-oriented businesses. Supported by the Design Quality Criteria framework, our study probed the program’s development and its design briefs, as well as the designers involved in the projects. The findings revealed how a design brief could lever the design advisory service. We further identified a new approach to briefing procedures and a design brief model for design interventions.

Keywords

Design brief, briefing, Design Quality Criteria, Centro Brasil Design, design promotion

Publications

Could AI be a creative collaborator?

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Bertao, R. A., & Joo, J. (2021). Artificial intelligence in UX/UI design: a survey on current adoption and [future] practices. In J. Cruickshank, L., Galabo, R., Perez, D., Gisclard, B., Bofylatos, S., Mortati, M., Valentine, L. and Hwang (Ed.), 14th International Conference of the European Academy of Design, Safe Harbours for Design Research (pp. 404–413). Blucher Design Proceedings.

Abstract

Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology has been disseminated across various industries, and algorithm-based activities are becoming common in design disciplines. Despite high expectations of collaborating with intelligent systems, whether designers are actually interested in working with algorithms has been little discussed. This paper summarises ongoing research findings that have probed the use of AI features in design practices. A survey of Brazilian UX/UI professionals was conducted to map their AI-supported activities and explore their perspectives on interacting with AI systems and future adoption scenarios. The findings indicate a low usage rate of AI tools in the Brazilian UX/UI industry and a limited operational perspective regarding the role, application, and impact of intelligent technologies on design. Surveyed UX/UI designers are more prone to adopt AI as a virtual assistant to facilitate practice and increase process efficiency rather than as a creative collaborator.

Keywords

UX/UI design; artificial intelligence (AI); adoption; design tool

Publications

Will designers adopt artificial intelligence (AI) for their professional tasks?

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Bertao, R. A., & Joo, J. (2021). “Hey Alexa, Would You Create a Color Palette?” UX/UI Designers’ Perspectives on Using Natural Language to Interact with Future Intelligent Design Assistants. Journal of The Korea Convergence Society, 12(11), 1–14.

Abstract

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been inserted into people’s lives through Intelligent Virtual Assistants (IVA), like Alexa. Moreover, intelligent systems have expanded to design studios. This research delves into designers’ perspectives on developing AI-based practices and examines the challenges of adopting future intelligent design assistants. We surveyed UX/UI professionals in Brazil to understand how they use IVAs and AI design tools. We also explored a scenario featuring the use of Alexa Sensei, a hypothetical voice-controlled AI-based design assistant mixing Alexa and Adobe Sensei characteristics. The findings indicate respondents have had limited opportunities to work with AI, but they expect intelligent systems to improve the efficiency of the design process. Further, majority of the respondents predicted that they would be able to collaborate creatively with AI design systems. Although designers anticipated challenges in natural language interaction, those who already adopted IVAs were less resistant to the idea of working with Alexa Sensei as an AI design assistant.

Keywords

Artificial intelligence adoption, Artificial intelligence-based design, Intelligent Virtual assistant, Voice interaction, UX/UI design

Cases

How to attract attention of pedestrians?

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How could we make passing pedestrians stop and look at something? One solution is to apply technology. For instance, tactile pavings or tactile ground surface indicators tell them when to cross roads.

Another solution is to apply design. While I visited Curitiba in Brazil, I was always attracted by fire extinguishers. This is because they are located inside red-yellow squares painted on the ground.

Interestingly, the same rule applies when fire extinguishers are above the ground. Red-yellow squares are painted on the ground even when fire extinguishers are hung on the wall.

Design beats technology in Curitiba.

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Reference

Labrecque, L. I., & Milne, G. R. (2012). Exciting red and competent blue: the importance of color in marketing. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 40(5), 711-727.

From beverages to consumer electronics, marketers are using color in innovative ways. Despite this, little academic research has investigated the role that color plays in marketing. This paper examines how color affects consumer perceptions through a series of four studies. The authors provide a framework and empirical evidence that draws on research in aesthetics, color psychology, and associative learning to map hues onto brand personality dimensions (Study 1), as well as examine the roles of saturation and value for amplifying brand personality traits (Study 2). The authors also demonstrate how marketers can strategically use color to alter brand personality and purchase intent (Study 3), and how color influences the likability and familiarity of a brand (Study 4). The results underscore the importance of recognizing the impact of color in forming consumer brand perceptions.

Cases

Empty space sparks creativity

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Space matters when we need creativity. According to research, when a ceiling is high, people become creative because a high (vs. low) ceiling primes the concept of freedom (vs. confinement). Similarly, Jump Associates has various types of cubicles for designers; “garage” cubicles are widely open for those who want to be creative, whereas “Zen rooms” are tiny small cubicles. Interestingly, Dev Patnaik, the founder of the Jump Associates, mentioned that US people prefer garage offices whereas Japanese clients like Zen rooms.

When I visited the design department at the University of Sao Paulo, one of the best universities in Brazil, I was shocked by its building. It has a huge empty space in the middle and has tons of bright, natural lights. I learned that empty space not only increases the perceived value of a product inside. It boosts the creativity of the people inside.

Inside the building, the walls allow people to write and erase easily, which also may enhance creativity.

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Reference

Meyers-Levy, J., & Zhu, R. (Juliet). (2007). The Influence of Ceiling Height: The Effect of Priming on the Type of Processing That People Use. Journal of Consumer Research, 34(2), 174–186.

This article demonstrates that variations in ceiling height can prime concepts that, in turn, affect how consumers process information. We theorized that when reasonably salient, a high versus low ceiling can prime the concepts of freedom versus confinement, respectively. These concepts, in turn, can prompt consumers’ use of predominately relational versus item-specific processing. Three studies found support for this theorizing. On a variety of measures, ceiling height–induced relational or item-specific processing was indicated by people’s reliance on integrated and abstract versus discrete and concrete ideation. Hence, this research sheds light on when and how ceiling height can affect consumers’ responses.

Cases

Curitiba has a sophisticated taste of design

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I went on a business trip to Brazil and Argentina with a group of colleagues. We gave lectures, led workshops, joined guided tours, and made new friends along the way.

One thing that stood out to me was the airport in Curitiba, Brazil. At the airport, I noticed a fire extinguisher and two public phones mounted on a gray wall. At first glance, they resembled desktop icons. Upon closer look, I found that a red-and-yellow square box was painted beneath the fire extinguisher, and one phone was positioned lower than the other.

I also observed how Curitiba uses color to promote recycling. Public trash bins were divided into sections, each marked with a distinct color to encourage proper sorting. It became clear that someone in the city thoughtfully used color, shape, height, and arrangement—not as mere decoration but as a tool for communication.

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Reference

Crilly, N., Moultrie, J., & Clarkson, P. J. (2004). Seeing things: Consumer response to the visual domain in product design. Design Studies, 25(6), 547–577.

This paper discusses consumer response to product visual form within the context of an integrated conceptual framework. Emphasis is placed on the aesthetic, semantic and symbolic aspects of cognitive response to design. The accompanying affective and behavioural responses are also discussed and the interaction between cognitive and affective response is considered. All aspects of response are presented as the final stage in a process of communication between the design team and the consumer. The role of external visual references is examined and the effects of moderating influences at each stage in the process of communication are discussed. In particular, the personal, situational and cultural factors that moderate response are considered. In concluding the paper, implications for design practice and design research are presented.

Cases

Every city needs art and art has to be in the middle of the people

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Granville Island is a tourist spot in Vancouver, Canada. It is a farmer’s market with shopping stores, food and beverage places, and art centers. In the middle of the island, gigantic factory facilities were painted like four mischievous boys. I found them artwork.

The name of these artworks are Giants. As the name suggests, these painted concretes are 70 ft (21m) tall.

The mural is part of a global series by OSGEMEOS called “Giants.” The Vancouver Mural is the first in Canada and the only one in 3D, making it unique in the world. The artists are two Brazilian identical twin brothers who have taken the Contemporary art world by storm. While primarily focused on transforming public space, they have exhibited at some of the most prestigious art institutions in the world including the Tate Modern in London and the Museum of the Contemporary Art in Los Angeles.

The Brazilian artists said “every city needs art and art has to be in the middle of the people.” Marketing researchers have also paid attention to how people move through museum spaces and experience art.

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Reference

Joy, A., & Sherry, J. F. J. (2003). Speaking of Art as Embodied Imagination: A Multisensory Approach to Understanding Aesthetic Experience. Journal of Consumer Research, 30(2), 259–282.

This article focuses on somatic experience–not just the process of thinking bodily but how the body informs the logic of thinking about art. We examine the links between embodiment, movement, and multisensory experience insofar as they help to elucidate the contours of art appreciation in a museum. We argue that embodiment can be identified at two levels: the phenomenological and the cognitive unconscious. At the first level, individuals are conscious of their feelings and actions while, at the second level, sensorimotor and other bodily oriented inference mechanisms inform their processes of abstract thought and reasoning. We analyze the consumption stories of 30 museum goers in order to understand how people move through museum spaces and feel, touch, hear, smell, and taste art. Further, through an analysis of metaphors and the use of conceptual blending, we tap into the participants’ unconscious minds, gleaning important embodiment processes that shape their reasoning.