http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/8643 2026-04-19T08:03:52Z http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/32742 Title: Examining how human-centred design and information design could help reduce language barriers between Syrian immigrant parents and Turkish primary teachers through school management guidelines Authors: Berktaş, Sena Abstract: This research develops an information design guideline for Turkish primary school management teams, grounded in Human-Centred Design (HCD) principles, to address language barriers experienced between immigrant parents and teachers. Background research highlights that Syrian student, the largest immigrant group in Türkiye, face low educational attainment, which undermines their academic success, future prospects, social cohesion, and the host country’s human capital. Recognising the critical role of parental involvement in children’s education, this study identifies language barriers as the primary obstacle to effective engagement. Secondary findings revealed that these barriers are context-dependent and interconnected with emotional, cultural, and knowledge-related challenges, which were further investigated through primary research. A case study was conducted in Istanbul with 38 participants identified through stakeholder analysis. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews and card-sorting activities, and analysed through thematic analysis and conceptual mapping. The research broadened the understanding of language barriers. Emotional barriers were characterised by high expectations from both parties and limited empathy, although positive teacher attitudes and support from local parents were also identified as facilitating factors. Cultural barriers stemmed from differences in lifestyles and mindsets, while similarities, such as shared religious beliefs, provided common ground. Knowledge-related barriers were reflected in immigrant parents’ limited familiarity with the host country’s education system; however, these challenges could be mitigated by the approachability of Turkish teachers. To address these issues, expert insights informed the development of a guideline for school managers, organised into six recommendations with differentiated priority levels: language support and clear meeting protocols as essential measures; orientation courses and social activities as recommended measures; and shared spaces, together with visual and physical modifications, as additional supportive measures. The prototype guideline was evaluated with five schools (12 participants) and ten experts through semi-structured questionnaires and interviews, with iterative refinements applied. The findings highlighted the need to extend the guideline beyond school management to all school personnel, with certain revisions, as well as to provide a tailored, concise version for parents. In addition, policy-level guidelines were developed, emphasising the dual need for policies that outline expectations for immigrant communities while fostering a welcoming environment within the host society. Future research will focus on advancing these recommendations at the policy level to support systemic change. Description: This thesis was submitted for the award of Doctor of Philosophy and was awarded by Brunel University London 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/31495 Title: A complexity leadership theory framework for engineering management Authors: Biggadike, Chris Abstract: Complexity Leadership Theory (CLT) views organizations as complex systems and proposes important implications for leadership theory. However, current research on CLT has focused mainly on its theoretical development, providing limited practical application examples for complex industries, such as that found in manufacturing engineering. To address this research gap, a complexity leadership framework was developed in collaboration with practitioners through an action research program in an engineering organization headquartered in the United Kingdom that specializes in aerospace and defence. The proposed framework builds on previous research that identified three leadership modes (i.e., Administrative, Enabling, and Adaptive) for complex engineering environments. Specifically, data were collected from 852 leaders, with action research involving 37 participants from the UK, USA, Canada, Australia, and Ireland. The proposed complexity leadership framework, titled “the 5-point framework”, reflects the fundamentals of leading within the organization’s complex engineering environment. The framework was validated through practitioner review and five independent elite interviews with leaders from diverse organizations. The study’s results contribute to current literature by expanding the previously proposed three leadership modes to five modes (i.e., Direction, Strategic Administrative, Enabling, Tactical Administrative and Adaptive). The findings contribute to the current discourse by providing engineering leaders with a refined framework that addresses the multifaceted leadership requirements critical for navigating complex environments. Description: This thesis was submitted for the award of Doctor of Philosophy and was awarded by Brunel University London 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/30775 Title: User-centred artificial intelligence for game design and development with GAGeTx: Graphical Asset Generation and Transformation Authors: Fukaya, Kaisei Abstract: In an increasingly digitalised world, visual media is utilised in a wide array of forms. This visual content ismade up ofmany individual elements, referred to as graphical assets. A wide variety of well established and nascentmethods, referred to as graphical asset generators (GAGs), can be used to automate the production of graphical assets. Video games are a popular and growing application of graphical assets, requiring copious amounts of 3D and 2D visual content. The aim of this thesis is to examine how generativemethods can be applied to the creation of graphical assets for games, and to discover how game designers and developers choose to utilise them. This is achieved through the pursuit of 5 research objectives: first, collating and examining the state-of-the-art of GAGs in the literature; second, developing a framework for using, implementing and evaluating GAGs (GAGeTx); third, obtaining user needs and preferences through a user experiment; fourth, developing a proof-of-concept prototype tool, serving to validate GAGeTx; fifth, refining the framework through further user experimentation using the prototype tool. Contributions of this thesis include: the GAGeTx framework; a systematic literature review state-of-the-art GAG methods; empirical findings on user needs and requirements; a novel, game engine-integrated framework and prototype tool for sword generation; and a method for dataset creation, tailored to unsupervised deep learning for GAG tasks. The GAGeTx framework offers a comprehensive categorisation and conceptualisation of GAG methods, which allows researchers and practitioners to identify or create themost appropriate GAGmethods given their needs and requirements, through a step-wise process built on empirical findings. This is supported by the integration of GAG evaluationmetrics and the consideration of user pipeline applications. The systematic literature review consolidates fragmented research fromvarious domains into a unified taxonomy, identifying key aspects of GAGs. This facilitates cross-over between domains and provides a valuable entry point for both new researchers and practitioners in the field ofGAGresearch. Empirical findings fromuser studies provide guidelines for integrating GAG tools into game design and production pipelines withminimal friction and facilitating the adaptation ofGAGresearch into practical tools. In addition, they identify the appropriatemetrics for evaluating the strength and utility ofGAGtools based on their technique, further aiding in the benchmarking and improvement of GAGmethods. The prototype, named Swordgen, allows users to generate varied sword assets for games via several generative techniques at different levels of user initiative, providing and validating a configurable and extendable framework for game-engine integrated GAG tools. The dataset creation method enables the creation of bespoke content and style specific datasets for training unsupervised deep-learning-based GAGs. Through selecting specific data sources, including concept-art fromthe user’s current project, users can control the design constraints of a GAG model, without compromising on dataset size. Description: This thesis was submitted for the award of Doctor of Philosophy and was awarded by Brunel University London 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/30590 Title: Design for wellbeing: Exploring the role of workplace design by using XR to promote doctoral researchers’ workplace subjective wellbeing in UK HEIs Authors: Fayyad, Nadine Kamal Abstract: Despite growing awareness of the mental health challenges faced by doctoral researchers (DRs) in UK higher education institutions (HEIs), little is known about how their workplace design, particularly open-plan offices, impacts their wellbeing. This thesis addresses this gap by focusing specifically on DRs, a group often overlooked in workplace design research. The thesis makes several contributions to theory and practice. First, it sheds light on the unique experiences and needs of DRs in open-plan office environments. Second, it introduces the Design for Workplace Wellbeing (DfWW) framework, linking physical environmental variables with the theory of wellbeing to enhance subjective wellbeing. Third, it demonstrates the innovative use of Extended Reality (XR) to test and evaluate the design intervention, offering a new method to assess spatial design solutions. Finally, it provides evidence-based design recommendations informed by ethnographic and participatory research, guiding improved workplace wellbeing for DRs. The research has three phases. Phase one reviews the literature on subjective wellbeing, workplace design, and XR technologies, leading to the DfWW framework. Phase two explores and investigates workplace wellbeing through experts’ input and ethnographic research with DRs, linking physical environmental variables to the PERMA constructs. Phase three develops and evaluates a workplace design intervention using XR, offering practical recommendations. Results indicate that physical environmental variables, such as noise and light, have impacts on the PERMA constructs. For example, noise negatively affects all PERMA elements, while good lighting improves Positive Emotion and Engagement. These findings underscore the importance of addressing these variables to improve wellbeing in open-plan office environments for DRs. Description: This thesis was submitted for the award of Doctor of Philosophy and was awarded by Brunel University London 2024-01-01T00:00:00Z