Qifeng Yan | Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture (original) (raw)

Papers by Qifeng Yan

Design for smart mobile integrated solution design is complex, as it requires striking a balance ... more Design for smart mobile integrated solution design is complex, as it requires striking a balance among research, interactive, UI, ID design, and technology feasibility and a good coordination between hardware, software design and development in the design process. A clarification of the design process flow, events and participants involved in each phase is needed. This paper proposed a service oriented smart mobile integrated solution design process model with 8 sub-process: solution proposition process, solution design theme creation process, use case creation process, UI specification proposal process, UI and ID proposal process, hardware and software development process, hardware and software joint test process, and usability test process. The goal, difficulty, research, ID, UI, hardware, software design and development events, related design methods, and participants of every sub-design process were further discussed and described in the design case, the WAWA smart mobile integrated solution for children and parents, to illustrate the application and efficiency of the service oriented design process model. A reflection of the process and improvement suggestions were discussed at the end of this paper based on feedback from usability test and interviews of team members involved.

In this paper we present Stroke++, a novel hybrid Chinese input method for touch screen mobile ph... more In this paper we present Stroke++, a novel hybrid Chinese input method for touch screen mobile phones that leverages hieroglyphic properties of Chinese characters to enable faster and easier input of Chinese characters on mobile phones. By using a special keypad layout, a friendly user interface and an adaptive radical selection algorithm, we achieved a competitive inputting performance compared with currently prevalent mobile Chinese input methods, while keeping a low entry barrier for Chineseinput novices. An extensive evaluation results show that Stroke++ out-performs the state-of-the-art keystroke-based or handwriting recognition-based Chinese character inputting methods, as far as the input speed and convenience are concerned.

The smart mobile integrated solution design process has been explored and maturing in diverse pro... more The smart mobile integrated solution design process has been explored and maturing in diverse projects worldwide in both traditional manufacturers and service companies for the past ten years. This paper proposed a pre-study of eight smart mobile integrated solution design process models based on case studies of smart phone and tablet by in-depth interviews of product managers about the design events and process flow from the beginning of the project, through ID, hardware, UI and software design and development, to production and release. A general design process model of four stages was constructed based on key design decision meeting and three general design process categories were created based on product plan type and decision maker: Independent research and design process, carrier biding oriented and carrier proposal oriented design process. Different design events in the divided four stages among the three categories were compared and described. Finally, a further study of the independent research and design process was carried out to construct sub-categories of design process models: product oriented and service oriented smart mobile integrated solution design process.

Household robots are widely popular with families for their interestingness. Based on the princip... more Household robots are widely popular with families for their interestingness. Based on the principle of tumbler, we have developed a novel household robot named Wawa (in the meaning of baby). This robot can be used for entertainment, home decoration, call alert, assisted play and so on. Usually a tumbler can only keep stability in the vertical direction and its swing is uncontrollable. With simple mechanical structure and concise control system, Wawa can be stable in any posture and can swing as desired. It thus can achieve two actions, which are dancing-regularly swing in predetermined trajectory, and face tracking-properly swing according to the position of the observers' face. Experiments are provided to show the features and functions of the cute robot. The mechanical system, control system and motion planning are presented in this paper to show how robotic toy can be developed based on traditional toy with mechatronic technique.

Maybe it is too early to conclude that wearable design needs a new paradigm which is radically di... more Maybe it is too early to conclude that wearable design needs a new paradigm which is radically different to desktop and mobile. But some findings are worth discussing from both our practices and observation of the recent industrial boom of wearable devices. Following literature reviews, we categorize wearable design consideration as clusters of "T", "H", "F" & "I". As the trigger for a new wearable product development, the selection of the entry point from different considerations could lead different design process and results. We examine recent trend of trigger shifting and the reasons behind it.

This paper describes how a hardware-software integrated system for facilitating communication bet... more This paper describes how a hardware-software integrated system for facilitating communication between Tibetan Buddha masters and adherents is researched, designed, developed and tested. The conclusions and lessons learnt might be helpful for developing similar religion related interactive systems and services using modern ICTs.

Unlike traditional products, mobile internet products are differentiated by user interface and co... more Unlike traditional products, mobile internet products are differentiated by user interface and content languages in stead of national sales networks. Identifying the language specific requirements has become more and more important. In this paper we explore the cultural differences in mobile internet content creation, selection and consumption between Chinese and English speakers through comparing the content publication and usage statistics of the English site and the Chinese site of a leading free mobile internet widget service run by a top mobile phone maker.

In the information age, almost all the language input devices are invented in western countries f... more In the information age, almost all the language input devices are invented in western countries first according to Latin language tradition and then they are localized for eastern countries. In this paper, we forget all the hardware and software constraints from traditional Latin oriented input device and design a new hybrid language input experience from Asian especially Chinese's point of view. The user study results are quite positive.

Mobile internet service design is a new growing industry influenced by many complicated cultural ... more Mobile internet service design is a new growing industry influenced by many complicated cultural and social aspects, and has very few theories and guidelines for internationalization and localization, especially for emerging markets. This paper tries to explore some new cultural difference dimensions through a Brazil-China joint service design research project.

Most of current user interfaces and interaction systems are based on psychological and social mod... more Most of current user interfaces and interaction systems are based on psychological and social models drawn from the European and American research traditions. However, recently, the applicability of these models is reconsidered after many products and services were proved to be failed in eastern cultures. This paper proposes that different user experiences should be designed for different cultures. In this research, EastWest cultural differences are found in 3 user experience areas: 1, correlation of subjective and objective results; 2, Personal mobile networks; 3, Device interaction learning style. Some problems found during this research and some possible future improvements are also discussed.

Most current user interfaces and services are based on psychological and social models drawn from... more Most current user interfaces and services are based on psychological and social models drawn from European and American research traditions. After identifying preferences and value orientations in different cultures from a series of user studies, this research tries to form a theoretical base for understanding local cultures and designing different user experiences for people from different cultures. The goal of this research is to explore cost-effective strategies for developing multiple versions of user interfaces and services for different cultures, perhaps through cultural templates or through special versioning tools.

Almost all the language input devices were designed based on western linguistic and psychological... more Almost all the language input devices were designed based on western linguistic and psychological model. They are just localized by changing the printings without any key layout modification for eastern countries. In this paper, the design process and user study of a Chinese style keypad and a hybrid input method are introduced.