Structuring, Aggregating, and Evaluating Crowdsourced Design Critique

Feedback is an important component of the design process, but gaining access to high-quality critique outside a class-room or firm is challenging. We present CrowdCrit, a web-based system that allows designers to receive design critiques from non-expert crowd workers. We evaluated CrowdCrit in three studies focusing on the designer’s experience and bene-fits of the critiques. In the first study, we compared crowd and expert critiques and found evidence that aggregated crowd critique approaches expert critique. In a second study, we found that designers who got crowd feedback perceived that it improved their design process. The third study showed that designers were enthusiastic about crowd critiques and used them to change their designs. We conclude with implications for the design of crowd feedback services. Author Keywords Design; critique; feedback; social computing; crowdsourcin

Training in crisis communication and volcanic eruption forecasting:Design and evaluation of an authentic role-play simulation

We present an interactive, immersive, authentic role-play simulation designed to teach tertiary geoscience students in New Zealand to forecast and mitigate a volcanic crisis. Half of the participating group (i.e., the Geoscience Team) focuses on interpreting real volcano monitoring data (e.g., seismographs, gas output etc.) while the other half of the group (i.e., the Emergency Management Team) forecasts and manages likely impacts, and communicates emergency response decisions and advice to local communities. These authentic learning experiences were aimed at enhancing upper-year undergraduate students’ transferable and geologic reasoning skills. An important goal of the simulation was specifically to improve students’ science communication through interdisciplinary team discussions, jointly prepared, and delivered media releases, and real-time, high-pressure, press conferences. By playing roles, students experienced the specific responsibilities of a professional within authentic organisational structures. A qualitative, design-based educational research study was carried out to assess the overall student experience and self-reported learning of skills. A pilot and four subsequent iterations were investigated. Results from this study indicate that students found these role-plays to be a highly challenging and engaging learning experience and reported improved skills. Data from classroom observations and interviews indicate that the students valued the authenticity and challenging nature of the role-play although personal experiences and team dynamics (within, and between the teams) varied depending on the students’ background, preparedness, and personality. During early iterations, observation and interviews from students and instructors indicate that some of the goals of the simulation were not fully achieved due to: A) lack of preparedness, B) insufficient time to respond appropriately, C) appropriateness of roles and team structure, and D) poor communication skills. Small modifications to the design of Iterations 3 and 4 showed an overall improvement in the students’ skills and goals being reached. A communication skills instrument (SPCC) was used to measure self-reported pre- and post- communication competence in the last two iterations. Results showed that this instrument recorded positive shifts in all categories of self-perceived abilities, the largest shifts seen in students who participated in press conferences. Future research will be aimed at adapting this curricula to new volcanic and earthquake scenarios

Getting executives to SIT: building leaders’ resilience and stress tolerance for enhanced organizational effectiveness

Purpose This paper presents stress inoculation as a method for reducing executives’ stress and enhancing their resilience and performance. Design/methodology/approach A review of theory and research on executive stress, resilience, and stress inoculation training was conducted. Findings Across studies, stress inoculation training has yielded reductions in performance anxiety and state anxiety while improving performance under stress. Practical implications Stress inoculation training offers a highly customized and practical way for executives to design adaptive responses to the stressors they find particularly difficult. Originality/value Stress inoculation training traditionally has been applied in clinical settings and in extremely stressful settings (e.g., military, law enforcement). This article describes how this intervention may be applied within organizations as a needed addition to the complement of stress management approaches currently offered to executives. </jats:sec