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Creative questions are a major component of examination in design education for testing creative aptitude. During this process of framing creative questions, examiners remain ever-inquisitive to know whether questions framed by them really capture features of creative questions. Our objective is to explore whether technology can support examiners in situations like these. This paper investigates features of creative questions through mixed-method research techniques. A model is proposed based on DL algorithms that can find out inherent creativity factors in questions and identify whether a question is creative. This process of identifying creative questions triggers decision-making of examiners by which they update their questions based on the outcome of the DL-based system. This model is implemented using bidirectional encoder representations using transformers (BERT), and long short-term memory (LSTM) method for identifying creativity in questions, and their performance is compared. Results highlight that BERT overrules LSTM mechanism, showing 99.99% and 81.006% accuracy, respectively. Inter-rater reliability between the model and examiner’s opinion shows higher agreement (α = 0.96) in categorizing creative questions, and comparison among baselines builds trust in the model. A significant contribution of this research is to capture creative features in a question and categorize whether a question is creative in design education. This model highlights human–machine collaboration and promotes examiners' decision-making process to frame effective questions. It attempts to reduce uncertainty of examiners and assists in quick decisions to include creativity features in their questions by providing feedback on whether a question is creative.

Evaluating novelty in design education is subjective and generally depends on expert’s referential metrics. Presently, practitioners in this field perform subjective evaluation of answers of prospective students, but many a time, humans are prone to errors when associated with repetitive tasks on large-scale. Therefore, this paper attempts to automate the process of evaluating novelty by a proposed computational model. The present study explores design aptitude to evaluate novelty in solutions provided by students in an examination. Mixed-methods research is conducted based on structured questionnaire and analysis to investigate features of subjective evaluation of novelty practiced for evaluation in design education. The survey resulted in features that closely resemble human evaluation strategies for evaluating novelty from descriptive solutions. Further, a computational model is proposed, designed, and implemented that evaluates novelty. Scores are generated for each feature by unsupervised learning techniques, eventually calculating novelty score by a scoring function. This model suggests unambiguous scores to solutions, which might help in a consistent selection of students aspiring admission to design schools. This study attempts to reduce pain points of educational practitioners by offering a voluntary automated technique for subjective evaluation and optimize trustworthiness of students in examination process. In future, this model can be extended for evaluating any other domain of interest.

User Interface (UI) acts as a mediator between human and computer or any other system or sub-systems which exhibit its function, structure, and behavior. The complexities of UI are open issues that make it formidable to explore it. Supervision makes any task easier by explaining the elements and intentions of UI. Self-Explanatory User Interfaces (SEUI) traps the complexities of UI and provides assistive tools with it in order to supervise users addressing usability using visual and aural syntax. UIs require adapting to the mental model of users and support them during their task. The study presented in this paper has been administered to adult users (age group: 50-64 years) with minimum exposure to technologies and often requires support to get accustomed to interfaces. To complete a task successfully, it is essential to justify the intent of the design, purpose of any textual entry, the usability of the buttons, importance of the labels, visibility, or blurriness of certain items to end-users. Literature associated with SEUI highlight the intervention of Model-Driven Engineering in UI. But very few studies in this area have investigated concatenation of visual and aural syntax in UI. The visual aspect aims at explaining a clear and concise diagrammatic representation of the hierarchy of UI and the significance of each user entry while the aural dimension intends to provide audio instructions to the users. The results include evidence of significant growth in task completion rate and improvement in the task completion time of the novice users assisted with combined visual and aural syntax tool embedded in an interface. The results of the current study are significant in light of the designing and development of UIs that address adults who are a novice and lack exposure to UIs. The solution presented in this paper would support them to migrate from being a novice to an expert.

The paper describes a case study which was conducted on Indian pottery industry to understand problems faced by small-scale industries and hence how can HCI based system architecture can be proposed in order to help these industries to grow. Since India has more than 13 lakh small-scale industries, they require special attention to be paid for their growth and productivity. Current study suggests an online solution for Indian pottery industry. This system architecture connects potters to potential buyers and the raw material suppliers. Potters from three different locations were interviewed and studied to understand the existing problems of the Indian potters. Paper details about design solution inspired from Amul’s cooperative model. This solution can be scaled up for various small-scale industries similar to pottery.

User-centred designers study user behaviours, to create products that fetch maximum adoption and longer loyalty. All this has led to an increased emphasis on user engagement. Often the ill-impact on the user gets overshadowed by business goals. The study presented in this paper focuses on digital well-being of the user and how designers can aid in developing tools to equip the users. A detailed literature review is conducted so as to highlight the inconsistencies of existing digital media that fail to address the issue of digital well-being. They highlight factors other than lacking self-control that lead to uncontrolled tech consumption. The literature review is then followed by a qualitative research study that investigates current mobile usage and its discontinuation pattern. Combining insights from the literature and the exploratory study with users, the study finally suggests unique approaches that designers and the mobile industry can adopt to design for disengagement. The findings of the study can contribute to understanding the middle ground that looks out for the user’s well-being without compromising on businesses and platforms.

The Indian e-commerce industry is rapidly growing. One of the major contributing factors toward the success of these companies is the quality of user experience their platforms provide. The study reported in this paper primarily focuses on India’s top B2C organizations and the role of definitive user experience elements in shaping the success of these organizations. A heuristic-based comparative study was conducted among the top e-commerce Web applications in order to identify unique features that contribute to a sumptuous user experience. The analytical study was backed up by user studies that report the expectation of the customers and their frustrations. The collective insights were then correlated to each platform’s market ranking and share with an objective to identify and analyze features, design cues and elements that contribute to their standing in the Indian market. In a nutshell, the qualitative study explores connections between market ranking, usability heuristics, and user study insights in order to prescribe design features, cues, and elements that benchmark the user experience framework for B2C applications in an Indian context. The insights elaborate on the current trends, gaps, and opportunity areas for B2C applications.

User-centered design (UCD) process is a comprehensive and widely accepted methodology practiced by designers across numerous areas of specializations like product design, user experience design, interaction design, web design etc. The central philosophy of this approach is to empathize with the user at various design decisions in order to fulfill user requirements. Like UCD approach, the Stanford Biodesign process is also an accepted and widely used framework specifically for health technology innovation. UCD philosophy and the Stanford Biodesign process both lay strong emphasis on deep understanding of user(s) and stakeholders as their basis for focused ideation and development. However, health technology innovation brings additional challenges and constraints in its course of design and development, which not only require to satisfy user requirements but also clinical and demographic requirements for successful healthcare implementation. This paper discloses such challenges of health technology design and development and synthesizes the requirements that need to be considered in a design methodology. Later, based on these requirements the paper compared both Stanford Biodesign process and UCD process in terms of methodological effectiveness for highly sensitive healthcare innovation. The paper also highlights issues where UCD approach fails to address some of the requirements for healthcare innovation and suggests additional contexts and stages to be considered by a UCD practitioner as an easy adaptation for healthcare design projects.

Background: Cashew nut shelling is characterised by awkward working posture, repetitive hand/wrist motions, as well as long hours of standing work. This may lead to the development of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). Therefore, the objectives of this study were to investigate the prevalence of MSDs and related risk factors among female cashew nut shelling workers (CNSWs) in Indian cashew factories. Methods: Data were collected using a self-reported questionnaire from 102 female CNSWs. Nine different body parts were evaluated using the Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire (NMQ). Severity of pain in these body parts was also assessed using 5-point pain rating scale. Current working postures of these female CNSWs were examined using the Rapid Entire Body Assessment (REBA) method. Results: Prevalence of MSDs reported by the female CNSWs was high (84.3%). Most commonly affected body parts were the knees (63.7%), lower back (62.7%), shoulders (58.8%) and hands/wrists (50.0%). The mean pain severities of female CNSWs who had knees, lower back, shoulders, and hands/wrists complaints were moderate to high (i.e., 3–4 on 5-point scale). The REBA working posture evaluation indicated that level of exposure to musculoskeletal risk was moderate to high (at action levels 2 and 3), which indicates necessary investigation and change in current working postures of female CNSWs in order to avoid further risk. Conclusion: The present study has shown that the female CNSWs in Indian cashew factories are at a risk of MSDs. Future studies, including direct exposure ergonomics assessment methods are strongly suggested.

An inherent criterion of evaluation in Design education is novelty. Novelty is a measure of newness in solutions which is evaluated based on relative comparison with its frame of reference. Evaluating novelty is subjective and generally depends on expert’s referential metrics based on their knowledge and persuasion. Pedagogues compare and contrast solution for cohort of students in mass examination aspiring admission to Design schools. Large number of students participate in mass examinations, and in situations like this, examiners are confronted with multiple challenges in subjective evaluation such as- 1) Errors encountered in evaluation due to stipulated timeline, 2) Errors encountered due to prolonged working hours, 3) Errors encountered due to stress in performing repeated task on a large-scale. Pedagogues remain ever-inquisitive and vigilant about the evaluation process being consistent and accurate due to monotony of repeated task. To mitigate these challenges, a computational model is proposed for automating evaluation of novelty in image-based solutions. This model is developed by mixed-method research, where features for evaluating novelty are investigated by conducting a survey study. Further, these features were utilized to evaluate novelty and generate score for image-based solutions using Computer Vision (CV) and Deep Learning (DL) techniques. The performance metric of the model when measured reveals a negligible difference between scores of experts and scores of proposed model. These comparative analysis of the proposed model with human experts’ confirm the competence of the devised model and would go a long way to establish trust of pedagogues by ensuring reduced error and stress during the evaluation process.

Cashew-nut shelling is an important operation in cashew industries in India. The work of Cashew-Nut Shelling Workers (CNSWs) is characterized by repetitive movements, prolonged standing, and awkward working posture. However, CNSWs are understudied worker population with respect to musculoskeletal health and risk factors. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 150 CNSWs in cashew industries across three states of India. The objectives of the study are to identify the prevalence of musculoskeletal (MS) disorders and associated risk factors among CNSWs in cashew industries in India. The data were collected using a questionnaire via the standardized Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire (NMQ) and by direct observations of working posture (Rapid Entire Body Assessment [REBA] method) to determine ergonomic risks. The highest prevalence of MS disorders was mainly found in knees (56.0%), lower back (53.3%), shoulders (48.0%), and hands/wrists (47.3%). The REBA grand score (4–7) indicated that most CNSWs’ postures were at medium risk level, necessitating further investigation and changes to their working habits and workstations to decrease the level of risk. In addition, the results of multivariate logistic regression models revealed that work-related factors including work experience (>5 years) and working posture, were significantly associated with MS disorders in different body regions. Individual factors including gender (being female), age, and educational level, were also associated with the occurrence of musculoskeletal complaints. These study results indicate the prevalence of MS disorders and emphasize the need for ergonomic design interventions for the prevention of MS disorders among these working populations.

This cross-sectional study investigated the prevalence of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs), ergonomic risk levels, and associated risk factors (personal and work-related) with WMSDs among 290 cashew workers in small-scale cashew processing units of Eastern India. The data were collected through a questionnaire [including Nordic musculoskeletal questionnaire (NMQ)] and direct observation of work posture using rapid entire body assessment (REBA) method. Results showed that 70.3% of cashew workers reported WMSDs during the past 12 months, with shoulders (52.4%), lower back (51.4%), and hands/wrists (43.4%) regions being the highest. Work-related factors, including work experience, daily working time, work fatigue, job stress, and personal factors (gender, age, material status, educational level, and type of work), were independently associated with WMSDs. Further, REBA final score (8-10) indicated that cashew workers' postures were at a high-risk level. Finally, it is concluded that WMSDs among cashew workers are a significant problem, which needs ergonomic work improvements.

The study reported in this paper investigates the effect of navigational mechanisms on students in a computer based assessment environment at a cross-cultural setting. Literatures in computer based assessment studies highlight the phenomenon of “test mode effect” that can explain the differences in test scores across two different formats of testing. In this study the authors posit that even different formats of presentation through the same media might affect students’ performance in a computer based assessment environment. The study reported here investigates the effect of two different navigational mechanisms namely, vertical menu and step based navigations on students’ performance. Students from Indian universities and American universities participated in the study. The results highlight that navigational mechanisms affect students’ performance and their subjective evaluation of the Computer based Assessment system. The results of the study would provide navigational heuristics for the Graphical User Interface designers to design a learner centered Computer based Assessment system.

Different social networking applications commonly have different layouts which include different background colours, contact grid options, etc. Fewer studies have been taken into the account of user preferences of these attributes. In addition, aesthetics plays an important role in interface design acceptance of mobile applications especially in social networking domain. In corroboration with available literature, the present study was conducted to understand the users’ preferences for various layout elements which include different background colours, contact list grids, contact details grids, and message reply buttons in social networking mobile applications, based on aesthetics perception. Results of the present study highlight that aesthetically pleasant layout attributes are beneficial for user acceptance of user interface of social networking applications. Based on present study results, an interface design guideline was developed to design interfaces for new and better mobile applications in the domain of social networking messenger.

Designers often refer to task analysis for mapping user’s activity while conceptualizing system design. Task analysis substantially optimizes task performance by addressing human error during system design. Goals, Operators, Methods, and Selection rule (GOMS) is widely used technique of task analysis to enhance usability, human performance and overall productivity of the system. Although widely used, a major constraint of GOMS is its inability to support designers to envisage the outcome of decision making for method selection while performing different operations to achieve the goal. This drawback of GOMS hinders efficiency of task analysis and thereby affects designers in optimizing design interventions for end users. The present study was conducted to address the issue of Decision making in GOMS. An integrated framework consisting of payoff matrix in GOMS has been proposed and validated. To evaluate the usability of proposed framework, five user experience experts were asked to evaluate two popular e commerce websites. The payoff matrix was evaluated using Laplace criterion of decision making under uncertainty rule of operation research strategy. The empirical evidence from the study indicated that selection rules for a method using human factors affects design decisions. The proposed framework reported here would support designers in their decision make process for an optimized design intervention.

E-learning systems have overcome the temporal aspatial constraints of traditional learning environments in extending educational opportunities to one and all. With a growth rate of 35.6%, the e-learning market is expanding in a phenomenal pace, still many e-learning systems fail. One of the important factors that determine the success of information systems is the ability of the system to satisfy its users. This paper focuses on the system design perspective, one among various factors that account for users'satisfaction in e-learning systems and argues that for enhanced user satisfaction; a learner Centered framework should be adopted over user Centered frame work for design of e-learning systems.

Culture is a critical influential factor in online learning environments. In the present scenario a designer from a particular cultural background conceptualizes a globalized educational product to be delivered across geographical boundaries through the online medium. Design of such products is influenced by the designer's pre-suppositions about how he / she visualizes the reality and conceptualizes the system. Similarly the end users visualize the system according to their own pre-suppositions. In this paper, we discuss the role played by culture in the design of cross cultural educational products and how it influences the acceptance and usability of a globalized online learning environment. For this study 17 publications have been selected based on how various layers of cultural meta-models can be related to design morphology, to understand whether levels of culture affects learning systems in the same way in which it influences other online systems and to analyze whether subjective cultural issues should be preferred more by user interface designers over the objective cultural issues or its the vice-versa, while designing cross-cultural online learning systems. In this paper a framework has been prepared which relates layers of cultural meta-models to various design morphologies. The review indicates that learning systems are complex due to various levels of communication and group behaviors between the students and their tutors which are influenced by cultural dimensions. Hence the authors suggest that although objective culture should be considered but subjective culture should be given prime importance. The review is intended to help user interface designers understand cultural dimensions that affect various levels of the learning system and identify variables that can be used while designing a cross cultural online learning system.