Design Research Dissertation - Compilation

28/08/2023 - 28/11/2023 (Week 01 - Week 14)
Wong Khye Qing / 0361000
Design Research Dissertation/ Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Creative Media
The Compilation

 
Instructions
 


Overview of Tasks
  • Task 1: Research Dissertation draft 
  • Task 2: Final Dissertation Turnitin report 
  • Task 3: Visual Design Publication Flipbook 
  • Task 4: Research Article Publication

Task 1: Research Dissertation Draft 

Fig 1.0  Research Dissertation Draft, .PDF


Task 2: Final Dissertation Turnitin report  


Fig 2.0  Final Dissertation Turnitin report, .PDF

After some minor amendments from the previous Dissertation Draft, the document was submitted into Turnitin to generate the report regarding plagiarisms. Results have shown with just 3% Similarity Index, passing the plagiarism checking test.  


Task 3: Visual Design Publication Flipbook 
 

Fig 3.0 Design Concepts Moodboards

There were two ideas for the design concept for the Visual Design Publication. Both of the ideas featured an almost similar idea of being minimal and clean, but the first idea mainly focused on black and white with Sans Serif (Avenir, Roboto) typeface. Meanwhile, the chosen second idea featured black and white with blue color as a contrasting color for the design, Sans Serif typeface (Neue Haas Grotesk) was used for the design. 

Fig 3.1 Visual Design Publication Flipbook, FlipHTML5

With the contents from final dissertation, a flipbook was created to allow readers to read the contents of the final dissertation that were arranged into organized layouts and pages for convenience. This Visual Design Publication contained 76 pages that featured minimal design for better readability. 


Task 4: Research Article Publication

 
Fig 4.0  Research Article Publication, .PDF

This Research Article was further summarize from the final dissertation and compiled into a simplified article for reference and reading. This publication contained 7 pages in total with images and appendices attached. 



Feedbacks

Week 14
  1. Try explaining why the survey is suitable for your research and not in a general way.  
  2. Correct the capitalisation of the word Dark Mode 
  3. The methodology is clear
  4. Don’t move the template format for the figures, try to follow the template. 
  5. Add the summary of the first paragraph of the findings for the preference of Dark mode final.
Week 13
  1. young adults are more focused in your research, it can be remained in the keyword
  2. research questions should be after the problem statement
  3.  move the methods in the introduction to methodology 
  4.  number the research questions
Week 11
  1. the dark blue looks more professional compare with the brighter blue, it mix well with the black color and not as flashy as the new blue
  2. change the paragraphs to 2 columns because 3 columns are just too minute and affect the readability
Week 10
  1. title page should be on the right side before the acknowledgement
  2. add title to the table of contents 
  3. leading could be lesser 
  4. the page numbers are important to direct the reader
Week 9
  1. Avenir will be a better font than the Roboto
  2. Second idea is more exciting, the example shown is played more with the typography
  3. Neue Haas Grotesk can be both heading and body text, it is better than Graphik for the second idea 
  4. Second idea resonates better, it is not so rigid compared to black and white as well as simple and clean with colors to set it apart. 
  5. The color Blue makes an impression of screen-like, it is somehow related to the the user intereacting with the screen. 
  6. Blue can appear in some pages and might not needed to be too consistent. 
  7. Can explore to play with typography but not to overdo it as it will become too experimental.
Week 7
  1. Quotes don't need to be bold 
  2. Do include image for specific images for better reference
  3. Remove ""RQ2"" for proper submission 
  4. Sum up the survey results for 5.4, show various examples of Dark mode in used, explain why are they stressful for the eyes, examples can be visual related and textual related but all in dark mode.
  5. Apply this in a design to explain the effectiveness of Dark Mode, how would the app look like on different scenarios.
Week 6
  1. remember to quote the response from the qualitative responses.
  2. change surveyee into participants 
  3. psychological aspect can be changed to engagement
Week 5
  1. Picture credits need some amendments 
  2. Figures number need to be according to the section of the dissertation.
  3. It's good to have a practice for referring to the image shown 
  4. Try finishing 5.2 as it has no discussion involved and focus on the main parts of 5.3 and 5.4
Week 4
  1. The discussion is not about the preference, but also the research problem of the effectiveness for Dark Mode. 
  2. Expected that the explanation for the choice of platforms, but the paragraphs are not too long which could still be kept
  3. Good description of about the Dark Mode in the introduction
  4. Be careful of saying "fairly preferred" as it needed to be cited with a source or based on the survey. 
  5. Find articles to cite sources about visual fatigue that is directly related to mobile use
Week 2
  1. Research Question 3 can be used as Conclusion of the dissertation 
  2. The 5.0 of discussion could explain the choice of platforms, on why you have chosen the platforms, Instagram and Microsoft Teams 
  3. The intro could briefly introduce the popularity or preference among the young adults of Dark Mode. Try introduce percentage and citation into the introduction, recap the context of the discussion. 
  4. The 5.2 will describe how the use of Dark Mode in Instagram and Microsoft Teams, showing some visuals of how they look like. Good choice of case studies which consists of personal and professional. 
  5. The 5.3 will be answering the Research Question 1 and discuss about the physical and psychological aspect of using Instagram and Teams


Final Reflection

Experience 
I have experienced the process of refining and completing the research dissertation and designing the visual design publication. I had fun creating the visual design for publication, it was able to allow me to design my own publication with the style and concept that I proposed. It was satisfying using the data and research that I have compiled throughout the semester to put transformed into a publication that allows readers to read my article through the online flipbook. I also experienced the process of building a dissertation from the previous semester's research methodology. It might be rough at times, but I do feel like it was a fruitful experience to gain, as it would able to spark our interests in wanting to understand more in depth of the topic that we were interested. 

Observation
Through the process of Visual Design Publication, I have observed that it would be much better to use as less color as possible for the design in the publication. With the usage of just a few colors, it would be able to bring out the clarity of the design and not create an overwhelming and oversaturated design. As for my case, the 3 colors, Black, White and Blue colors were able to blend in together to create a simple and minimal design that did not sacrificed the readability of the contents. I have also observed that the usage of secondary data in the discussion was a tremendous help in supporting the primary data. Although it might seemed that the findings from primary data was enough, the secondary would make the whole research more credible and insightful with references. 

Findings
With the chance to explore more about the visual design for my publication, I have found that the Grid system was really a great help in completing the visual design. Though this system would sometime be overlooked, it served as my guideline and enabled me to create visual designs that were systematic and consistent for reading contents. It was also nice to know about the article publication, which allowed me to understand more about the process of creating an article and simplifying it to enable easier reading for readers. 

Thoughts
This course have taught me a lot about the disciplines writing and consistency. It has allowed me to further appreciate researching and writing, as it allowed me to greater understand the topic that I was interested and curious about. The process of compiling and refining for the dissertation and publications has been satisfying for me as the weeks of progress to become something fruitful and productive. If I were to be allowed a second chance in creating a publication, I would advice myself to have a better weekly progress for a smoother research journey bit by bit. Lastly, it has been great to complete the methodology and dissertation course, I hope I could carry what I have learned from these courses and apply them to my future works.