BURA Collection:http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/86432026-06-19T08:30:17Z2026-06-19T08:30:17ZPhysical variables to shape individual interpretations into collective knowledge. A participatory data physicalization method for women’s UTI symptoms.Terenghi, Ginevrahttp://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/334632026-06-19T02:00:42Z2026-01-01T00:00:00ZTitle: Physical variables to shape individual interpretations into collective knowledge. A participatory data physicalization method for women’s UTI symptoms.
Authors: Terenghi, Ginevra
Abstract: This doctoral research investigates how data physicalization can support awareness and communication of symptoms in women affected by urinary tract infections
(UTIs). Drawing on feminist theories of situated knowledge, biosemiotics, and autographic design, it reconsiders symptoms as interpretative processes that acquire meaning through the continuous interaction between body, perception, and environment, rather than as fixed biomedical evidence.
UTIs are among the most common bacterial infections, disproportionately affecting women and often recurring over time. Yet symptom communication remains limited because clinical practice privileges measurable biological indicators, while the qualities of lived experience, such as pressure, burning, discomfort, or urgency, are difficult to articulate and marginalised in clinical accounts. In response, the research identifies physical variables, understood as material properties such as texture, weight, and shape, as a way to translate embodied sensations into tangible and shareable forms. Physical variables therefore operate as participatory devices through which symptoms can be expressed, compared, and collectively interpreted.
Through participatory data physicalization, making becomes a process of knowing. Participants work with tangible materials to express, reflect on, and communicate bodily sensations that are often difficult to articulate verbally. Five workshops were conducted between 2023 and 2024 in Switzerland and the United Kingdom, involving around fifty participants. Three sessions with women affected by recurrent UTIs and clinicians form the analytical core of the research. Participants used modular Data-Probes, supported by labels and a structured protocol, to construct artefacts representing their symptoms.
The findings show that engagement with physical variables supports reflection, comparison, pattern recognition, and dialogue, transforming individual sensations into collective insights through shared material reference points.
The main methodological contribution is the Physical-Variable Apparatus,
a material-discursive arrangement that connects labels, protocols, material components, and a digital interface into a system for participation, physical engagement, and interpretation. Beyond UTIs, the approach offers a transferable model for bringing embodied data into participatory enquiry, showing how data physicalization can support collective knowledge production across contexts.
Description: This thesis was submitted for the award of Doctor of Philosophy and was awarded by Brunel University London2026-01-01T00:00:00ZHygrothermal performance analysis of bio-based insulation materials for retrofitted brick walls in JordanAl-Rawashdeh, Thanaahttp://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/334572026-06-19T02:00:41Z2025-01-01T00:00:00ZTitle: Hygrothermal performance analysis of bio-based insulation materials for retrofitted brick walls in Jordan
Authors: Al-Rawashdeh, Thanaa
Abstract: This thesis investigates the coupled heat and moisture transport (hygrothermal performance) of retrofit insulation systems for external walls made of hollow-bricks representative of Jordan’s housing stock in three Jordanian microclimate zones. Two bio-based options (sheep wool and hemp–lime) and two conventional options (EPS/XPS and mineral wool) are compared. The materials were selected to span contrasting hygrothermal behaviours relevant to retrofits (vapour openness, moisture storage/buffering, and capillary transport), allowing for a mechanism-based comparison of condensation and mould risk under Jordanian boundary conditions.
Methodologically, a mixed-methods design is adopted. Transient heat and moisture simulations using the WUFI suite (WUFI 2D for representative sections and WUFI Pro for annual 1D parametric analysis) quantify moisture accumulation, RH fields, and mould indices across assemblies and climates; DesignBuilder is used in a supporting role to provide building-level heat-ing/cooling indicators and a consistency check on thermal behaviour. Parametric sweeps con-sider insulation type, practicable thickness ranges, and the vapour openness of interior finishes, with emphasis on lime plasters compatible with bio-based systems. Performance indicators in-clude the U-value, moderation of relative humidity indoors and short-term buffering, surface-temperature safety margins, interstitial moisture accumulation, mould growth indices, and indicative seasonal energy implications. A complementary focus group and semi-structured interviews with local stakeholders explore the most consequential implementation determinants—perceived moisture/mould risk, cost and payback expectations, supply-chain availability, workmanship and detail capability, and policy/incentive acceptability.
Results indicate that vapour-open, moisture-buffering assemblies –particularly hemp-lime and sheep-wool systems paired with lime finishes – reduce indoor relative-humidity excursions, improve winter surface-temperature safety margins, and lower mould growth indices compared with polymeric foams at comparable thermal transmittance. Although foams achieve low U-values at minimal thickness, their lower openness to vapour increases sensitivity to detailing and workmanship. Bio-based options deliver comparable thermal performance at practicable thicknesses with greater moisture robustness under Jordanian boundary conditions. Originality lies in combining Jordan-specific future climate files with coupled heat and moisture modelling of prevalent hollow-brick retrofits and stakeholder evidence, producing microclimate-sensitive, moisture-aware retrofit guidance rather than U-value-only compliance comparisons.
The thesis contributes (i) a Jordan-specific hygrothermal comparison of bio-based and conventional insulators for prevalent hollow-brick typologies; (ii) an explicit treatment of vapour openness and buffering with seasonal interstitial-risk assessment; (iii) microclimate-sensitive guidance on material choice, thickness, and vapour open interior plasters, including detailed considerations; and (iv) a market- and policy-orientated assessment of barriers and enablers grounded in stakeholder evidence. The findings support moisture-aware retrofit pathways that improve comfort and reduce risk, and inform incentives and codes that recognise coupled heat–moisture performance and vapour-open finishes.
Description: This thesis was submitted for the award of Doctor of Philosophy and was awarded by Brunel University London2025-01-01T00:00:00ZDeveloping decision-making skills and tactical awareness in rugby union players through user-centred serious gamesAlexander, Neilhttp://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/334392026-06-18T13:49:12Z2025-01-01T00:00:00ZTitle: Developing decision-making skills and tactical awareness in rugby union players through user-centred serious games
Authors: Alexander, Neil
Abstract: Serious Games have been used as a training and learning tool in a variety of different educational fields with positive results in enhancing skills. However, within the domain of team sports, there is limited research to ascertain if Serious Games can have such an impact on athletes. Existing training methods within team sports remain conventional pitch training, with video analysis and classroom sessions using flip charts. Whilst these methods have proven success, there exists limitations such as availability, costs, content rigidity as well relevance to all experience levels of athletes. Serious games have the potential to overcome these issues with a highly available, low cost, interactive serious game with dynamic content, which could allow players to continue their training off the pitch, as well as being tailored to their own experience level and playing position.
The aim of this thesis is to investigate the suitability and effectiveness of Serious Games as a training aid to develop decision-making skills and perceptual-cognitive abilities of Rugby Union players. The research followed 4 objectives: first a systematic literature review on the perceptual-cognitive abilities and decision-making skills in team sports, and specifically Rugby union, to establish the key factors and state-of-the-art approaches for decision-making training in team sports and serious games approaches, to develop a conceptual framework; next a user-centred approach was designed to refine the framework and design a serious game for training rugby union players in decision making, using a key participant group of rugby union experts to inform the design as well as refine the conceptual framework; third, a serious game was implemented based on this design as a proof-of-concept prototype for improving decision-making skills of Rugby Union players; finally, the hypothesis was validated and evaluated with a participant group, using the prototype game, the usability and effectiveness of decision-making training impact were both evaluated. The findings from this found that the serious game was usable and engaging by rugby players and coaches, as well as had a direct impact on the decision-making skills of the participant group, as assessed by proxy by their coaches. Contributions in this thesis include: the Headlights: Conceptual Framework, a Research Artefact & Shieldwall: Rugby (the proof-of-concept prototype), as well as a User-Centred Design Methodology. Findings showed that the user studies’ highlight the potential for serious games to be used as an impactful training aid for rugby union, and other team sports to compliment existing coaching methods which will overcome current issues with existing training methods, whilst providing accessible and adaptive training environments for athletes at all performance levels.
Description: This thesis was submitted for the award of Doctor of Philosophy and was awarded by Brunel University London2025-01-01T00:00:00ZCollaborative design processes: Developing adaptive processes for OBM firms and design agencies across varying levels of design maturityChoo, Young Eunhttp://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/334282026-06-18T14:37:55Z2025-01-01T00:00:00ZTitle: Collaborative design processes: Developing adaptive processes for OBM firms and design agencies across varying levels of design maturity
Authors: Choo, Young Eun
Abstract: This study investigates how collaborative design processes can be developed to enhance cooperation between OBM (Original Brand Manufacturing) firms and design agencies operating at different levels of design maturity. The central aim is to develop collaborative design processes (CDPs) that foster mutual understanding, strengthens inter-organisational integration, and supports design-led innovation and competitiveness.
Focusing on South Korean OBM firms transitioning from OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturing) and ODM (Original Design Manufacturing) models, the research examines how design collaboration operates in practice within industrial contexts characterised by engineering-dominant structures and hierarchical cultures. Through ten qualitative case studies in consumer electronics, robotics, and industrial appliances, the study examines how OBM firms and design agencies interact, negotiate, and co-develop design solutions across differing organisational and cultural settings.
A qualitative multi-case study methodology was adopted, incorporating semi-structured interviews, participatory observation, and comparative analysis of collaboration structures. The theoretical framework integrates the Danish Design Ladder (DDL) with an empirically grounded Collaborative Design Process (CDP) model, revealing how varying levels of design maturity shape collaboration dynamics, decision-making, and innovation outcomes.
Findings indicate that most OBM firms remain at early design maturity stages (1–2), where collaboration is transactional and output-oriented. A few firms display Stage 3 characteristics (Design as Process), showing emergent integrative practices, while Stage 4 (Design as Strategy) remains largely unattained. Persistent barriers include engineering-dominant hierarchies, fragmented communication, and insufficient design leadership.
The study contributes by proposing collaborative design processes that align design agencies’ methodologies with the evolving maturity of OBM firms. Theoretically, it positions design as a collaborative and dynamic organisational capability. Practically, it provides actionable insights for managers and designers to embed structured collaboration, bridge internal–external expertise and advance towards design-led innovation systems.
Description: This thesis was submitted for the award of Doctor of Philosophy and was awarded by Brunel University London2025-01-01T00:00:00Z