This paper examines how spatial arrangements affect digitally supported individual and group decision-making. In a controlled within-subjects study, 24 participants completed the NASA Moon Survival Task across three spatial conditions: standing at an interactive table, sitting at the same table with personal zones, and using laptops. By analysing decision quality, speed, and perceived collaboration, the study shows that spatial design meaningfully shapes decision performance, interaction dynamics, and user experience.

This study presents a simulation-based framework to analyze resource consumption and cost effects of product family design strategies. Drawing on Extended Axiomatic Design (EAD) and 53 documented design cases, we simulate empirically grounded patterns that reveal denser, more homogeneous resource use than benchmarks from cost accounting literature. The findings (1) provide a reusable dataset; (2) demonstrate the value of EAD for standardized product family design and enhanced cost transparency; and (3) support broader generalization of cost accounting insights.

Mixed Reality (MR) prototyping offers significant design opportunities but introduces complexity in prototype specification. This paper presents a card-based design tool to support designers in this specification process. The tool is based on a comprehensive taxonomy of MR prototype fidelity and foundational research into the interplay between, and value of, different physical and virtual characteristics. A validation study demonstrates that the developed tool supports and guides designer reasoning, resulting in higher quality MR prototypes with stronger rationale for their implementation.

Perpetual innovative products (PIPs) enable the reuse of components from previous generations to create new products with improved functionality and performance, supporting a circular economy. However, the concept entails uncertainties in design due to degradation and functional integration. This paper examines how testing can reveal and reduce these uncertainties through the analysis of testing activities. A four-step process is proposed that integrates testing in PIP development. The process strengthens decision-making by translating heterogeneous testing into actionable design knowledge.

This study presents a structured approach for developing new modular, size-variable product families in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), demonstrated through a case study on air filtration units. Starting from a minimum viable product (MVP), the approach provides a framework for size level definition and systematic generation of alternative modular concepts while considering product-specific design trade-offs. An evaluation combining qualitative criteria assessment with quantitative cost forecasting enables transparent concept comparison.

The EU 2050 carbon neutrality target drives growing interest in renewable energy (RE) integration in building design, yet social housing organizations face difficulties integrating them early in design due to complexity and high upfront costs. This paper presents a three-step method based on the Set Based Design approach to define the design space using a morphological chart. This offers a robust and adaptable framework to formalize and structure domain-specific knowledge, clarifies design options, and supports informed decision-making for RE integration in social housing design.

Rebound effects occur when sustainability interventions trigger behavioural or systemic responses that offset environmental benefits. This paper explores how designers encounter and seek to prevent them in practice, based on nine interviews with sustainability-oriented practitioners. We identify twelve challenges across micro, meso and macro levels, showing that effective prevention requires aligning behavioural literacy, organisational governance and structural incentives across design contexts.

Metamodels are replacing costly validation simulations and experiments in clinch joint design. If materials or conditions change, existing metamodels may no longer be reliable. This paper presents an approach that uses model uncertainty, the Coefficient of Prognosis and the R2 score to decide if a model should be reused or recalibrated, or if fine-tuning is needed. Two case studies show that the framework can provide sufficient recommendations and reused, recalibrated and fine-tuned models can match new models while reducing simulation and training effort.

This paper presents a design support framework that focuses on linking product design with risk management within the pharmaceutical packaging industry. The framework is intended for use by packaging designers and adopts a multi-user perspective to identify design requirements and integrate them into risk mitigation activities. It promotes safe and effective packaging through proactive design, reducing costly redesign measures. A preliminary version is presented which has been developed through studies with key industry stakeholders, including pharmaceutical packaging designers.

In an increasingly data- and AI-driven economy, integrating ethical values into algorithmic decision-making is becoming ever more pressing. Benevolence is a fundamental value in human and organizational interactions, fostering trust, fairness and long-term relationships. Companies, particularly in the financial sector, must balance economic efficiency with social responsibility. As business decisions become increasingly automated, the question arises whether and how benevolence can be programmed. Research on artificial benevolence explores how AI systems can maximize not only efficiency but also trust, mitigate discrimination and align with broader corporate purposes. This requires an interdisciplinary perspective integrating technical, ethical and legal dimensions. While existing regulations increasingly shape AI-driven decisions, the question remains how artificial benevolence can be implemented and legally anchored.

A brief examination reveals the multifaceted legal challenges involved in implementing artificial benevolence in consumer banking. In addition to the omnipresent questions of data privacy and liability, risks of discrimination shape the legal debate on a practice of benevolent AI-driven decision-making. Further issues stem from governmental participation in consumer banks based on the model of a public savings bank. The social impact of decisions made by banks in their interactions with private customers on tenancies, real estate projects and the provision of daily necessities is exceedingly important to fundamental rights. Another relevant question is whether administrative bodies could commit themselves to derivative participation claims. This article outlines these issues in the context of the growing regulatory framework provided by European Union law.

Alternative dairy management practices are often touted as avenues for achieving environmental, social, and cultural sustainability in the unique Northeastern United States dairy market. Some of these management practices, like selling into alternative markets, becoming certified organic, and grazing, are specifically outlined by researchers and policymakers as opportunities for farmers in the Northeast. This research uses the thematic analysis of 25 semi-structured interviews to develop an understanding of farmers’ attitudes toward and willingness to adopt these management practices. Participating farmers represented a range of farm size, location, and attributes, including those who used some, all, or none of these practices. Themes developed from this data relate to practicality, farmer values, the importance of local food availability, and the need to reshape consumer interaction and education. The need to expand dairy marketing opportunities and pathways is illustrated through descriptions of farmers’ experiences. This research explores novel perspectives of how the confluence of perceived value and practicality of alternative management practices can contribute to the long-term sustainability and viability of the dairy food system in the Northeast.