University of Tehran - Kish International CampusJournal of Design Thinking2645-33047120260601Toward Adaptive Degrees of Freedom: an Exploratory Study of User Preference Heterogeneity in Mass Customization Toolkits11110717010.22059/jdt.2026.410955.1186ENHesamoddinYavariDepartment of Industrial Design, College of Fine Arts, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.0009-0006-9032-8465Journal Article20260211<em>Mass Customization (MC) toolkits function as the primary interface between consumer heterogeneity and flexible manufacturing systems, facilitating the iterative configuration of personalized products. While widespread across industries, contemporary toolkit designs often rely on static "one-size-fits-all" frameworks that often struggle to account for the dynamic cognitive load imposed by varying solution spaces. This exploratory pilot study investigates user preferences regarding Degrees of Freedom (DoF) within MC interfaces. User interaction with a parametric lightshade configurator was examined across three distinct DoF levels (Low: 18, Medium: 23, and High: 28). The pilot observations suggest preliminary variation in user preference, and within the small exploratory sample (N=10), 4 participants showed differing preferences for the structured guidance of restricted options, while 6 participants preferred the granular control associated with high configurability. In addition, descriptive trends suggested that participants tended to prefer higher DoF levels for products perceived as more complex. The results argue the notion of a universally optimal option count and instead suggest the concept of Adaptive Degrees of Freedom (ADoF), in which toolkit complexity dynamically responds to differences in user expertise and product context. Given the small exploratory sample (N=10), these observations are descriptive and intended to generate hypotheses about adaptive interface design rather than to support statistical generalization. The primary contribution of this work is the clear illustration of user preference heterogeneity, which supports the foundational argument for developing and testing adaptive, context-aware DoF systems in future large-scale studies.</em>https://jdt.ut.ac.ir/article_107170_79e96d6b387afb3df2e614c8af6845f9.pdfUniversity of Tehran - Kish International CampusJournal of Design Thinking2645-33047120260601Enhancing Problem-Solving Skills of Middle Stage Students through Design Thinking Interventions: Evidence from an Empirical Study133310737410.22059/jdt.2026.412698.1192ENMonkiaRaiGuru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, Punjab, India0009-0009-2818-4474NavdeepKaurGuru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, Punjab, India0000-0002-9360-0528Journal Article20260413<em>The present study examines the effectiveness of Design Thinking interventions in enhancing the Problem-Solving ability of middle-stage students in science. In the context of contemporary educational reforms emphasizing competency-based learning and 21st-century skills, the study explores the impact of an innovative, learner-centred teaching approach on students’ cognitive development. It further investigates the influence of gender and type of school, along with their interaction effects, on problem-solving ability. An experimental research design with a pre-test–post-test control group was employed. The sample consisted of 200 eighth-grade students selected randomly from government and private schools of Amritsar. The experimental group was taught using the Design Thinking framework, incorporating stages such as empathizing, defining, ideating, prototyping, and testing, while the control group received conventional instruction. Data were collected through a self-constructed Problem-Solving Ability Test and analysed using mean, standard deviation, t-test, and two-way ANOVA. The findings revealed that students exposed to Design Thinking demonstrated significantly higher problem-solving ability compared to those taught through traditional methods. Significant differences were also found with respect to gender and type of school. Additionally, the interaction effects between treatment and gender, and treatment and type of school, were statistically significant, indicating that the effectiveness of the intervention varies across different learner groups and educational contexts. The study concludes that Design Thinking is an effective pedagogical approach for developing problem-solving skills among middle-stage learners. It highlights the need for integrating innovative, activity-based teaching strategies into school education to foster critical thinking, creativity, and meaningful learning experiences.</em>https://jdt.ut.ac.ir/article_107374_631da9a10d488745677cc1bf1b321960.pdfUniversity of Tehran - Kish International CampusJournal of Design Thinking2645-33047120260601Energy Sustainability in Iranian Tourism Buildings: The Role of Form and Orientation in Optimizing Solar Energy Absorption and Energy Consumption356110741210.22059/jdt.2026.410809.1185ENMinaKooshkiSchool of Architecture, College of Fine Arts, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.0009-0003-7344-1333MahdiehAbraveshSchool of Architecture, College of Fine Arts, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.0009-0005-3358-5652ParyaKarimyanSchool of Architecture, College of Fine Arts, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.0009-0002-6735-624XJournal Article20260208Given the increasing demand for energy and the irreversible effects of climate change worldwide, attention to the energy optimization of buildings has been more significant than ever before. This study examines the impact of building form and orientation on energy consumption and solar energy absorption in tourism complexes in four distinct climates of Iran (cold and dry, warm and dry, temperate and humid, and warm and moist). Using Grasshopper extensions with Honeybee and Ladybug, seven different building forms were simulated from 45 ° west to 45 ° east, resulting in a total of 315 scenarios. The results show that compact forms, such as cubic and L-shaped forms, generally consume 15% to 25% less energy compared to courtyard, U-shaped, or cruciform buildings. In the cold climate of Shahrekord, the difference between forms was less visible, while in Yazd, Gorgan, and Qeshm, energy consumption varied greatly due to the higher demand for building cooling. The shape and rotation of the structure were more important in adverse climates, with some forms increasing energy consumption by 30% to 40%. In general, a cubic form with an eastward rotation (2 to 10 degrees) provides the most optimal energy efficiency and solar gain. The results show that designers’ decisions about these factors early in the design process can significantly reduce the building’s annual energy consumption and ultimately carbon footprint over the life of the building.https://jdt.ut.ac.ir/article_107412_6a7ce1a16627ae3304dc34a6b16da8e6.pdfUniversity of Tehran - Kish International CampusJournal of Design Thinking2645-33047120260601Function, Aesthetics, and Values:Reframing the Definition of Industrial Design637710751810.22059/jdt.2026.415260.1199ENAhmadAbediniDepartment of Industrial Design, Faculty of Art, Alzahra University, Tehran, Iran0000-0002-2668-7125HassanSadeghi NaeiniDepartment of Industrial Design, Iran University of Science and Technology, Tehran, Iran.0000-0003-4094-0809KarmegamKaruppiahUniversity Putra Malaysia (UPM), Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.0000-0002-9488-9335Journal Article20260529<em>Industrial Design (ID) is currently grappling with a profound 'ontological drift,' as its boundaries expand into intangible service systems and digital territories. While this expansion reflects adaptability, it has triggered an identity crisis, diluting the discipline’s core expertise. This paper conducts a comparative analysis of canonical definitions (1959–2025) to identify critical gaps in current discourse, particularly the 'sustainability gap' and the 'technological reductionism' inherent in AI-driven design. To restore professional coherence, this study proposes a modernized, stabilized definition of ID. It introduces the 'Cybernetic Equalizer Model,' framing the designer not as a mere ‘maker of forms’ but as a mediator of perpetually competing forces, Function, Aesthetics, and Value, a balance rediscovered anew in every project, culture, and era. By re-anchoring the discipline as a 'Strategic Professional Service,' this framework provides an epistemological stabilizer for design education and practice in the post-disciplinary era, ensuring the profession's relevance against the challenge of generative automation. Crucially, this model operationalizes industrial design as the art and knowledge of shaping human experience through objects, grounding organizational strategy in enduring human values rather than tactical variables alone. </em>https://jdt.ut.ac.ir/article_107518_63310851ee32f9c4c295c3d3f6431448.pdfUniversity of Tehran - Kish International CampusJournal of Design Thinking2645-33047120260601Co-Creative Design Thinking, Power, and Boundary Critique: A Critical Systems Heuristics Perspective12514410767910.22059/jdt.2026.415918.1203ENSeyed MohammadSobhaniDepartment of Management, Islamic Azad University, Science and Research Branch, Tehran, Iran0000-0003-2977-8791Mohammad RezaFathiDepartment of Management and Accounting, College of Farabi, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.0000-0002-7973-9814Journal Article20260605<em>This study develops a Critical Systems Heuristics (CSH)-informed framework for rethinking Co-Creative Design Thinking in Iran’s socio-institutional context, with emphasis on power, participation, and boundary critique. Although Design Thinking and co-creation are widely promoted as human-centered and participatory approaches, their practical application often remains limited to consultation, workshops, and post-framing feedback. This study argues that such procedural participation is insufficient unless underlying boundary judgments are critically examined. The research adopts a qualitative interpretive design based on semi-structured expert interviews with specialists in Design Thinking, service design, urban and public-sector innovation, policy-making, community participation, and systems thinking. The empirical dataset consists of 24 interviews across six stakeholder groups in Iran. Data were analyzed through inductive coding, distinguishing “is” and “ought” conditions, and subsequently mapped onto the twelve CSH boundary questions and four dimensions: motivation, control, knowledge, and legitimacy. Findings reveal four boundary gaps: a motivation gap between public value claims and institutional priorities; a control gap in decision authority and resource allocation; a knowledge gap reflecting marginalization of experiential knowledge; and a legitimacy gap involving exclusion of affected stakeholders. The study contributes a boundary-critical methodological framework that operationalizes CSH in analyzing co-creative design systems in constrained contexts. It reconstructs design practice through expert-elicited boundary judgments, producing a model of participation-as-legitimacy. The framework extends co-creation and Design Thinking literature by offering a fourfold boundary gap typology to diagnose participatory distortion and explain when co-creation becomes symbolic rather than substantive.</em>https://jdt.ut.ac.ir/article_107679_57529d71db83a2275a413aa7cd716a92.pdfUniversity of Tehran - Kish International CampusJournal of Design Thinking2645-33047120260601A Design Framework for a Climate-Responsive Interactive Building Envelope Using Locally Calibrated Thermal Comfort Models: The Case of Isfahan, Iran799710767810.22059/jdt.2026.414166.1195ENRamtinMortahebDepartment of Architecture and Urban Planning, Faculty of Engineering and Technology, Ashrafi Esfahani University, Esfahan, Iran.0000-0002-6909-4741MehdiSadeghianDepartment of Architecture and Urban Planning, Faculty of Engineering and Technology, Ashrafi Esfahani University, Esfahan, Iran.0009-0000-9217-3387Journal Article20260511<em>Thermal comfort in buildings located in Iran’s hot–arid regions, and in Isfahan in particular, remains a difficult problem for designers to solve. Among the layers that mediate between occupants and the outdoor environment, the building envelope is arguably the most consequential, since it shapes both indoor comfort and the energy a building draws to maintain it. The climatic variety across Iran, together with the well-documented shortcomings of static, universally applied comfort models, has made the case for locally calibrated and climate-specific envelope strategies hard to ignore. This paper sets out to develop and assess, at a conceptual level, an interactive building envelope informed by the indigenous thermal comfort equations derived for Iranian conditions, with the analysis anchored in the climate of Isfahan. Methodologically, the work is a climate-data-driven design study supported by documentary analysis and complemented by the fabrication of a functional prototype for operational validation; it draws on long-term meteorological records from ten Iranian cities together with a review of the relevant comfort literature and standards.</em> <em>The analysis suggests that coupling passive climatic measures with an adaptive, movable envelope, one whose configuration tracks occupants’ thermal behavior, which we term an interactive envelope, offers clear potential to moderate indoor conditions and raise indoor environmental quality. To demonstrate the feasibility of this concept, a 1:20 functional prototype was fabricated, confirming that the control chain, temperature sensing, control logic, motorized actuation, and louvre movement across open, half-open, and closed states operate as intended. It should be stressed that this prototype was built to validate the kinematic and control behavior of the system rather than to reproduce or measure its full-scale thermal performance, which remains to be tested through measurement or simulation. On this basis we propose a design framework for an interactive envelope built on the comfort equations calibrated for Isfahan. The framework is intended to respond to the demands of a hot–arid setting while allowing thermal adaptability, control of solar gain, better use of natural ventilation, and reduced reliance on mechanical conditioning alone. Taken together, the study offers a reasoned starting point for climate-responsive and adaptive envelope design in contemporary Iranian architecture.</em>https://jdt.ut.ac.ir/article_107678_d6da06d7b8e6476194882245c3368b43.pdfUniversity of Tehran - Kish International CampusJournal of Design Thinking2645-33047120260601Furniture Design, Arrangement, Relationship to Tiny House and Remote Working Activity9910810775010.22059/jdt.2026.414000.1198ENIzyanSyamimiSystem Planning Laboratory, Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Chiba University, Chiba, Japan.0009-0008-4254-538XOnoKentaDepartment of Design, School of Science and Engineering, Chiba University, Chiba, Japan.Journal Article20260524<em>Urbanization in most countries leads to limited space and tiny houses. The trend of remote work is also growing rapidly. However, residential properties are not typically designed as spaces for working activities, such as remote work. Furniture design for workspaces is also usually not designed for residential spaces. This study examines the perspectives of 15 professional designers, as captured through Key Informant Interviews (KIIs), on designing workspaces and potential furniture types for remote work across the 30 selected tiny-house floor plans. Discussions with KII’s show that with a suitable spatial configuration and appropriate furniture, a tiny house's limited space can accommodate a work area. As a result, most KII’s agree on the semi-open arrangement with several values as the furniture configuration for tiny houses. Even though 27.83% of modified floor plans show an increment in the percentage of multi-purpose space to maximize the area. The discussion also shows that the workspace area for a specific area has increased by 12.64% compared to the original floor plan. The suitable furniture for the multi-purpose space identified in this study was built-in or custom. This configuration study could help designers design and explore suitable furniture according to the spaces in tiny houses. </em>https://jdt.ut.ac.ir/article_107750_5cdbfa4fafd685a47abd30c1d0ecb9d5.pdfUniversity of Tehran - Kish International CampusJournal of Design Thinking2645-33047120260601A Study on the Design of GENSAI Products for Disaster Preparedness10912310765910.22059/jdt.2026.415700.1201ENRozitaFarzamDepartment of Industrial Design, College of Fine Arts, University of Tehan, Tehran, Iran.0009-0001-4334-4298Journal Article20260601<em>Natural disasters, an unavoidable part of human life, are increasing in both frequency and diversity, posing a major challenge to achieving sustainable development. Due to its geographical and geological characteristics, Iran is among the ten most disaster-prone countries in the world. For decades, strategies such as crisis management, public education, and architectural planning have been implemented to reduce the impact of these events. However, the role of product design, from risk identification to emergency response and post-disaster recovery, remains a crucial yet less explored dimension. The aim of this study is to examine product design strategies that minimize damage caused by natural disasters and to evaluate design ideas developed to address these critical challenges. The study's research questions were as follows: 1. How do GENSAI design concepts from Iran and Japan differ and/or are alike through their product(s) types, how they function, and their cultural adaptations? 2. What criteria could be developed to assess whether student-developed GENSAI design concepts were effective? 3. How could the use of a comparative analysis help to inform how to establish a foundation for a GENSAI design framework that could be adapted for any culturally diverse context?</em> <em>Because Japan is a pioneer in GENSAI-oriented design and has produced numerous products for disaster preparedness, workshops conducted in Japan, as well as a parallel workshop held in Iran by the authors, were selected as case studies. This study draws upon existing literature, including documents, books, essays, and articles, alongside workshop implementation and project analysis. The study employed a comparative design-research approach, integrating workshop-based inquiry, comparative thematic analysis, expert review and framework synthesis. Workshop outputs were analyzed using a multi-stage coding process and comparative thematic analysis. The results indicate that designing products based on the GENSAI approach can play a significant role in reducing the impacts of natural disasters. The results of combining and comparing Iranian and Japanese students’ responses were that they produced notably different but culturally relevant designs. Within these two workshops, Iranian concepts tended to emphasize multifunctional carriers, whereas Japanese concepts more often featured compact, personal-care items — patterns best read as context-dependent observations from a small, exploratory sample rather than as general cultural differences. The rationale of these principles and criteria founded the basis of a proposed Preliminary GENSAI Design Framework that could promote 'everyday resilience'. The preliminary GENSAI Design Framework is comprised of three layers (i.e. founding principles, design strategies & evaluation checklist). These design strategies offer practical, culturally adaptable solutions that strengthen preparedness and resilience in disaster-prone communities.</em>https://jdt.ut.ac.ir/article_107659_022300703cf4bff5512ca84aaa9dde38.pdfUniversity of Tehran - Kish International CampusJournal of Design Thinking2645-33047120260601A Comparative Study of Persian Gardens Design and Five Principles of Pirnia Iranian Architecture14516210774910.22059/jdt.2026.409824.1183ENHoneyFadaieDepartment of Architecture, Roudehen Branch, Islamic Azad University, Roudehn, Iran.0000-0003-4523-6028MaryamMirzaeiDepartment of Architecture, University of Applied Science and Technology (Ofogh), Tehran, Iran.Journal Article20260131<em>This paper scrutinizes the recognition of the principles and parameters of traditional Iranian architecture in its historical gardens. Iranian traditional architecture has followed common principles and methods over millennia, encompassing a wide range of buildings such as houses, mosques, schools, and gardens.</em> <em>Among Iranian architecture scholars, Pirnia is known as one of the most prominent, having proposed five principles of Iranian architecture through studying traditional architecture and urban design in Iran. Studying these principles in each type of Iranian architecture can assist in understanding more about the architecture of Iran. Given the special significance of the Persian garden as a valuable example of the historical landscape and cultural heritage of this land, the authors of this paper aim to compare the features of the Persian garden with Pirnia's five principles of Iranian architecture. To ensure accuracy in this research, these principles will also be studied and analyzed in four valuable types of Persian gardens from different historical eras that UNESCO has registered and contain living vegetation. In this study, with the descriptive-analytical method, five principles of Iranian architecture compiled by Pirnia are compared with natural elements (water and plants) and built elements (pavilion) of selected gardens, and the principles of Iranian architecture are identified and described in them. The results show the compatibility of these principles with Persian garden design, which can also be utilized in contemporary landscape design.</em>https://jdt.ut.ac.ir/article_107749_6e01da4e62e56889369c511ad7102679.pdfUniversity of Tehran - Kish International CampusJournal of Design Thinking2645-33047120260601Diagnosis Before Selection: A Co-Created Digital Nudging Framework for Health App Design16317510797410.22059/jdt.2026.415786.1202ENShahrzadJafariDepartment of Industrial Design, Kish International Campus, University of Tehran, Kish Island, Iran.0000-0002-4789-7893YassamanKhodadadehDepartment of Industrial Design, Kish International Campus, University of Tehran, Kish Island, Iran.0000-0002-6711-549XTerenceLoveVariety Dynamics, Love Services Pty Ltd., Perth, Australia0000-0002-2436-7566Journal Article20260603<em>Digital nudging is a promising approach for supporting health-related behaviour change through mobile applications, yet existing design frameworks focus on selecting nudge mechanisms while offering little guidance on identifying users' cognitive states beforehand. This study reports the third phase of a three-phase mixed-methods research programme examining how behavioural design frameworks can better support practitioners in applying digital nudges effectively and ethically. Building on prototype testing with 88 users and a mixed-methods study of 38 UX/UI designers, Framework Version 1.0 was refined through a participatory co-creation workshop with ten professional designers; workshop data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis in MAXQDA. Findings indicate that practitioners require explicit support for diagnosing users' cognitive states before selecting interventions, that ethical evaluation should consider how a nudge influences decision-making rather than only its intended outcome, and that behavioural design frameworks must align with the time constraints of commercial practice. The workshop also identified identity-threat reactance as a distinct consideration in mindfulness-related design. These findings informed Framework Version 2.0, a practitioner-oriented framework integrating cognitive state diagnosis, mechanism-based ethical evaluation, and a sprint-compressed implementation mode into a unified design process. While further validation is needed, the framework offers an initial contribution toward bridging behavioural theory and professional UX practice.</em>https://jdt.ut.ac.ir/article_107974_cb0dc3ae6386e4f2a5d6689176d1b1de.pdfUniversity of Tehran - Kish International CampusJournal of Design Thinking2645-33047120260601The Moshabak Effect: Perforated Surface as Design Strategy in Iranian Architecture17719010794410.22059/jdt.2026.416603.1207ENZeynabJafariFaculty of Architecture and Urban Planning, Shahid Rajaee Teacher Training University, Tehran, Iran.0000-0002-2111-2541Seyed YahyaIslamiSchool of Architecture, College of Fine Arts, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.0000-0001-5722-5487Seyed MajidHashemi ToghroljerdiFaculty of Architecture and Urban Planning, Shahid Rajaee Teacher Training University, Tehran, Iran.0000-0003-2268-6982Journal Article20260615<em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Most studies of Moshabak concentrate on its architectural effects, including daylight control, ventilation, shade, privacy, ornament, and regulated visibility. Less attention has been paid to the physical organization through which a perforated surface produces these effects. This study investigates Moshabak as an operative surface logic by examining how void is measured, distributed, and held within material continuity. The research combines theoretical-historical interpretation with field documentation, measured drawings, and computational morphometric analysis of two Moshabak surfaces in the Jameh Mosque of Ardestan. Aperture count, density, scale, spacing, orientation, and solid–void ratio were calculated and compared.</em> <em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The results reveal two markedly different configurations. Type A contains 239 apertures, a void ratio of approximately 40.4%, an aperture density of 130.9 apertures/m², and an oblique line share of 67.4%. Type B contains 106 apertures, a void ratio of approximately 32.2%, an aperture density of 26.1 apertures/m², and an orthogonal line share of 97.7%. Together with the measured drawings and field photographs, these configurations support the interpretation of Type A as a filtering boundary and Type B as a framing boundary.</em> <em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">These findings define the Moshabak Effect as the capacity of a materially continuous perforated surface to organize boundary conditions and graded interior–exterior relations through calibrated void. The study thus connects the architectural interpretation of Moshabak to measurable properties of surface configuration.</em>https://jdt.ut.ac.ir/article_107944_93089d9f3ebd97b8ee36bfde3a7448b2.pdfUniversity of Tehran - Kish International CampusJournal of Design Thinking2645-33047120260601Cultivating an Internal Understanding of “Proportion” in Freshman Undergraduate Students Through the Teachings of “Design Thinking” (Case Study: Architecture Students)19121310827010.22059/jdt.2026.417242.1211ENEbrahimHeidariDepartment of Architecture, Kish International Campus, University of Tehran, Kish, Iran.SaiedKhaghaniDepartment of Architectural and Urban Heritage Studies and Conservation, College of Fine Arts, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.0000-0001-7386-8861Journal Article20260625<em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Due to the complexity of the contemporary world, the design process has shifted from its former reliance on fixed principles toward the outlook of design thinking, a shift that has brought about extensive transformations in design education; design thinking is a form of pre-reflective awareness that serves as an internal compass along the path of design, which is referred to as design meta-awareness.</em> <em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">This approach is capable of cultivating within the individual a key tool such as proportion, whose task is to objectify the designer’s mental images. Nevertheless, instruction based on design thinking is not simple, and the design teacher must take multiple factors into account. Teaching proportioning on the basis of design thinking is an internal process rather than an external prescription. Accordingly, the aim of this study is the internalization of proportion in freshman undergraduate students on the basis of the teachings of design thinking. At the outset, this study examines the literature of design thinking through a descriptive-analytical method in order to extract strategies for cultivating the mechanism of proportioning. In the next step, these strategies were tested experimentally on freshman architecture students at Payame Noor University. The findings derived from the research literature indicate that, in the internalization of proportion, the following strategies should be taken into account: release after learning, architectural education within the building atmosphere, the apprenticeship approach, and intra-group interactions. Testing the aforementioned strategies among Payame Noor freshmen provides architecture teachers with a diverse toolbox of guidelines for the internalization of proportion</em><span dir="RTL" lang="AR-SA">.</span>https://jdt.ut.ac.ir/article_108270_78c7c4217d41b7fd2e60121142f5851c.pdf