Theses supervised by Doç. Dr. Neda Üçer
11 theses · Yeditepe University
Exploring hand gestures among visually impaired and sighted users over remote control devices
With the emerging of touch-less human-computer interaction techniques, mid-air hand gestures have been widely used to create communication between users and devices, taking into account the inclusive design approach. As the visual world grows on digitization, tremendous research is being conducted on disadvantaged users, especially visually impaired users. However, many of these studies do not focus on the inclusive design approach. This thesis has been written to define usability and accessibility of gestures with an inclusive design approach, taking into account the problems faced by visually impaired people. In-depth interviews were conducted with visually impaired and visually impaired users and their gesture preferences were compared. 9 action commands were given to 5 visually impaired and 5 visually impaired participants to interact on their own computers. Findings show that there is a wide variety of gestures participants prefer according to their interaction habits. This preference model shows that graphical user interface elements have an effect on gesture preferences for visually impaired users, and that physical environment such as touch also has an impact on the gesture preferences of visually impaired users. In addition, the research only investigates mid-air gestures and interviews were conducted remotely due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
Effects of 3D computer graphics and 3D visualization in industrial products design and manufacturing
In industrial product design, the stages of 3D visualization and / or creating 3D computer graphics may change the final idea of designers final decision of design after the design thinking and / or sketching phases by affecting design development stages. These changes mostly occur on visual elements such as color, texture, material type but in some cases the material which has been decided to be changed during 3D visualization process may necessarily need a different production method to be manufactured. In these kind of instances usage 3D visualization softwares in industrial products design field, reduces the loss of resources because of foreseeing which can not be noticed before actually manufacturing the product by the production line. As a result of effective usage of 3D softwares decrease the loss of resources, making presenting product's photorealistic renderings to customers whom are in confirmation phase and speeding up the confirmation phase before manufacturing possible, is in the scope of research report which has been prepared by interviewing industrial products designers who are actively working in sector. Within the qualitative and literature researches, this thesis' aim is to research how and in which phases 3D computer graphics affect design decision, manufacturing methods and final product's cost estimations in industrial products design.
The path of designing: An analytic approach to product and brand with a case study of Turkish Raki bottles
In recent times; every aspect of our lives seems to be changing rapidly, and it is getting even faster by every step. To supply that demand of rapid change; professional designers need to work in a quick and precise pace. Due to the fact that the need is heavy, specialized design fields have emerged in a short amount of time, although their working mechanisms are similar to some degree. In this thesis work; at first, an understanding about how designing came to be what it is today is formed, and then two of the factions of it -namely branding and industrial product design- are analyzed. After conducting a historical and qualitative analysis upon those subjects, an intersection field between them is put into crosshairs; packaging design. The selected group for the case studies; Turkish rakı bottles are inspected by pointing out visual features of them and interviewing their designers. How and why the products are designed, their design processes are put on crosshairs to point out what made them successful in given market conditions, what made them stand out. As a final act, a speculation about design processes in general with the gathered information so far to come up with a general formula that would be followed in order to design efficiently. Understanding design processes in an inductive manner in such a way should be useful for every professional of today and future associated with designing in any measure.
Enhancing the post-millennial generation's museum visits and engagement by using augmented reality platforms: a case study for the Jordan Museum
Recently, with the increase in the speed of life, there is a cultural problem that obviously emerged through the younger generation, where they becoming less interested in visiting cultural institutions. Consequently, that issue has triggered the loss of large visitors from this social segment. It has also contributed by making the younger generation less conscious of their culture and heritage. Indeed, some of the reasons which pushed the younger generation away from visiting the museums are due to the outdated conditions of cultural institutions, and in addition to the latest technology trends that becoming an essential part of the new generation's lifestyle. Depend on that, this research intends to propose Augmented Reality (AR) technology as a new technological way to enhance young people's visits and engagement inside the museums. Thus, this experience could remain forever in their minds by transforming it into a memorable visit, which may attract them to visit the museums frequently. The thesis firstly defines the Augmented Reality (AR) technology and explain the post-millennial Generation's characteristic and preferences. While the methodology part mainly focuses on testing the Augmented Reality platform with a group aged between 18-24 at the Jordan Museum. Finally, the data were analyzed to verify whether the Augmented Reality platform enhances the engagement of the post-millennial generation within the museum and whether it contributed to providing them with a successful visit that might encourage them to visit the museum repeatedly. Keywords: Augmented Reality, Museum, Generation Z, Engagement, Learning
Semiotic analysis of GSM operator ads in Turkey
It cannot be denied that, throughout the history of mankind, one of the most fundamental requirements is communication. With the opportunities offered by developing technologies, communication tools and their place in our lives are growing. Today, the GSM sector is one of the most widely used communication tools. The phenomenon of competition, which has become more frequent due to the impact of the consumer society, is reflected in the GSM world. Consequently, it is seen frequently that the operators take advantage of advertisements to publicize their products and services and the fact that leading advertisers of the advertising industry in Turkey are GSM operators supports this idea. Within the scope of this thesis, advertising strategies of GSM operators providing services in our country have been examined and their ads have been interpreted semiotically. In addition, a survey was conducted to learn the opinions of end users about ads and to comprehend the effect of ads on their operator preferences. The findings of this study were used to guide and deepen the research. As a result of researches and studies, it is observed that the operators carry out advertising strategies which are tailored for the target audience and dominated by competition. Some advertising campaigns use similar methods, while others differ. In some advertisements, operators come to the forefront with their own activities, while in others, they prefer to reach the end user through what the competing operator does not or cannot do. Keywords: Communication, GSM Operators, Semiotics, Advertisement
The analysis of micro art in Turkey within the perspective of visual communication design
In this thesis, the existence and development of Mikro Art in Turkey, is examined in the contex of visual communication design perspective within the example of Mikro Art artist Hasan Kale's works of arts. The drawings and designs discussed in the thesis are handled on the basis of four criteria; The readability, the perceptibility, the formal expression of the designs and drawings and their transfer to meaning. Additionally, the analysis of the thesis is mainly based on the basic design principles, Gestalt theory and Roland Barthes's semiotic analysis methods.
Yazılı kültür'ün yeni medya bağlamında kuşaklar arası kullanımı üzerine bir inceleme
Yeni medya ve teknolojileriyle birlikte, internet kullanımının hızla gelişim göstermesi, sosyal ağlar ve teknolojik cihazlar vasıtasıyla iletişimde değişime yol açmıştır. Yazılı iletişimde (mesajlaşma) kullanılan kısaltmalar ve görsel ifadelerin tümünün kullanımı, yazı dilini etkileyerek, yazılı kültürü değişime uğratmaktadır. Bu yeni iletişim şekli içerisinde değişimin ne derece ve hangi boyutta olduğunu ortaya koymak açısından X, Y ve Z kuşağı bireylerinin yeni medya teknolojilerini ve yazı dilini kullanımları, bu tez çerçevesinde incelemektedir. Tez kapsamında anket araştırmasında, yazılı kültür'ün yeni medya bağlamında kuşaklararası kullanımı üzerine bir inceleme yapılarak ortaya çıkan verilerin sonuçları ortaya konulmuş, tartışılmış ve değerlendirilmiştir.
The communicative dimension of visual elements in creating the brand identity in healthcare institutions: A case study of Private Kent Hospital
Patients' visual perception of the healthcare institution, affects deeply their perception of the institution's brand identity. That's the reason why healthcare institutions should consider the communicative dimension of visual elements in creating their brand identity and in order to establish strong, long-termed relations with their patients. The aim of this thesis is to find out how to create consistent, strong, tangible brand identity in healthcare institutions by the use of visual elements based in visual communication design. The thesis identifies firstly the brand and the brand identity on a theoritical basis and then examines as a case study the visual elements used in the creation of brand identity of Private Kent Hospital in İzmir. Finally, it discusses the appropriateness of the strategic choice of visual elements of Private Kent Hospital and emphasizes the importance of visual elements in creating the brand identity in healthcare institutions. Key Words: Visual Communicaiton Design, Healthcare Institutions, Brand Identity.
Human-centered design for artificial intelligence
The 20th century witnessed massive breakthroughs in technology and today, new technologies such as the Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence and Virtual Reality keep emerging by changing people's lives, communication styles, needs, expectations and relationships with technology profoundly. Artificial Intelligence has always been a utopic/dystopic notion that is dreamed, discussed and written about in science-fiction. It usually represents a technology with "non-human" characteristics. It has been making people both excited and frightened, based on the imagination of the writer. Today, it is not a fantasy anymore; it is a new technology that is being used, explored, taught and watched very carefully. Human-centered design is a widely-used framework for designing new products and it has been helping designers to address and solve real problems by putting the humans in the center of the design process. This thesis aims to determine the fundamentals of human-centered design and explore the Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology. And in this context, it asks: In the age of the artificial intelligence, which is perceived as the opposite of the "human", how can human-centered design be used to establish a connection between the humans and the machines? Based on a review of literature on the relationship between the human-centered design and the emerging technologies, an online survey is conducted with people from different social and cultural backgrounds. Analysis of the responses to that survey demonstrated that people establish better relations with non-human things in the extent to their similarity with humans and their ability of solving real human problems. Further research is needed to verify these findings since this is such a new area for human beings to explore. Keywords: Artificial intelligence, human-centered design, emerging technologies.
Impact of sustainability in brand identity:Visual analysis of Ikea, Adidas, BMW, Bosch
In this thesis, the sustainable approaches in visual design are examined. Sustainability is one of the prominent subjects of today. It has managed taking place in education and in the missions of major companies in the business world. The reason underlying the importance of being sustainable is strong. It is one of the liabilities of the people to leave a clean world to the next generations and for paying this debt, it is clear that it is not only necessary to take personal measures such as avoiding throwing garbage on the streets, using less water in the products bought and in daily decisions and acting minimal in energy usage and waste production, but also companies, corporations and communities should take certain measures in their productions and processes. While the necessity of giving as little damage as possible to earth reaches people, it resulted in new terms emerging in design, marketing and shopping behaviours of people. At this point, we see that visual communication design is successful in creating changes in human behaviours. In this thesis, it is examined by which means visual communication design does to help people do sustainable choices, how it serves as a key for us to protect nature, what kind of sustainable measures the companies take in their processes, through the advertising campaigns or products of the most active companies.
Transformation of visual metaphors in design, user experience and usability by observing mobile interfaces
In this thesis study, by observing interface design methods such as skeuomorphic design, flat design and material design the visual metaphor term is examined on screens. Mobil interface designers adopt one of these three design methods and present their designs. When it first appeared skeuomorphic design had become very popular among designers but subsequently it lost its popularity. In this study, the reasons for this and a possibility of regaining the popularity of skeuomorphic design is investigated. In the study, the role of visual metaphors in communicating social values associated with new communication technology is examined through an analysis of some mobile applications and their interfaces. In the related literature a metaphor is defined as a way of speech in which an expression is used to refer to something that literally suggests a similarity. As for a visual metaphor, uses one or more images to compare two unlikely things together. Here used symbols and images should be familiar to everyone. Thus, these metaphors play an important role in communication's effectiveness. Mobil interfaces have undergone a transformation process. Design methods have changed over time. This study examines the transformation process and changing design methods on mobile interfaces through visual metaphors and how they make the user experience easier or more complicated. Various findings emerged from the questionnaire and interviews with the designers within the scope of the study, and these findings were explained at the end of the study. Keywords: Skeuomorphic Design, Flat Design, Material Design, Interface Design Methods, Visual Metaphor, Mobil Interface, User Experience