Yuxiang Yu

Low back pain is a prevalent issue among sedentary individuals due to prolonged sitting postures, often leading to physical discomfort and psychological distress. This study proposes a coir-fiber-based lumbar support pillow (CLP) incorporating traditional Chinese medicine acupoint massage principles to alleviate low back pain in sedentary individuals. The CLP was designed based on human-machine interaction parameters and acupoint locations, integrating coir-fiber-based massage balls (CMBs) to optimize acupoint stimulation. A user evaluation involving 20 participants assessed acupoint stimulation, elastic modulus distribution, and physiotherapy effects. Results demonstrated that the stimulation pressure varied significantly depending on acupoint location, with the right lumbar side 16.57% higher than the left and lower lumbar acupoints 67.45% higher than upper ones. Elastic modulus tests showed a positive correlation with stimulation levels, confirming that CMBs provide effective acupoint stimulation. Physiotherapy tests indicated significant reductions in systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), and heart rate (HR), with respective decreases of 9.8%, 7.2%, and 37.4%. Additionally, the use of CLP led to notable reductions in fatigue (VAS) and anxiety (STAI). The CLP successfully integrated acupoint massage principles, demonstrating effective lumbar support and physiotherapy benefits. The combination of coir fiber elasticity and acupoint stimulation improved comfort, reduced back fatigue, and enhanced circulation. These findings suggest the potential of coir fiber-based products incorporating traditional Chinese medicine in mitigating sedentary-related discomfort.

Waste bamboo fibers are mostly in a spiral coil state and exhibit a certain degree of elasticity, which has the potential to be used as elastic cushion filler. However, there are few studies on its application to elastic cushions. In order to efficiently use waste bamboo fibers, a bamboo-based elastic cushion (BEC) was prepared and evaluated. The BEC units were prepared by mixing bamboo waste fibers with ES fibers and dividing them into five grades according to elastic modulus. The BECs were arranged with BEC units based on the sitting pressure distribution of the human body and evaluated using objective and subjective methods. The appropriate process of BEC units was a heating temperature of 150 °C, heating time of 50 min, and bamboo proportion of 50~75%.The elastic modulus of units had a clear influence on the sitting pressure distribution of the BEC. With the increasing elastic modulus of BEC units, the maximum pressure and average pressure of the BEC first decreased and then increased, while the contact area showed an opposite trend. Additionally, the comfort rating of the BEC with higher elastic modulus units was higher, and the appropriate elastic modulus range was 0.25~0.40 MPa. The BECs made with units with different elastic moduli increased the comfort rating by 12.8% compared with that with the same units, and the sciatic node was the most sensitive part for humans when sitting on the BEC. The results could provide data support for the application of waste bamboo fibers in elastic cushions.

Designers search for memories and retrieve appropriate mental information during design brainstorming. The specific contents of retrieved memories can serve as stimuli for new ideas, or act as barriers to innovation. These contents can be divided into different categories, which are reflected in designers’ creativities, and derived from individual lives and design experiences. Appropriate categorization of retrieved memory exemplars remains a fundamental research issue. This study tentatively divided retrieved memory exemplars into eight categories from brainstorming on the topic of library desk and chair design. A verification questionnaire was performed and validated the accuracy of categorization. The categorization result could be applied to design education in terms of understanding students’ design performances and capabilities.

In order to clarify the effects of crude bio-oil for phenol-formaldehyde resin, the phenol-formaldehyde resin with bio-oil model compounds (BMPF) were prepared by model compound method. The bonding strength and aging resistance of BMPF were determined, and their microstructure and chemical bonds were also analyzed by scanning electron microscope, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and nuclear magnetic resonance analysis, respectively. The results showed that the components of crude bio-oil had various degrees of effects on the BMPF performance, and the most obvious one is the phenols. The phenols and the ketones of bio-oil had positive effects on the bonding strength. The ketones had the biggest effect on the surface smoothness of BMPF film. But all components of bio-oil could inordinately improve the aging resistance of BMPF. The structural analysis indicated that the effects of bio-oil components on the BMPF performance by changing the resin structure. The CH₂ peak in FT-IR and the methylene bridges intensity in NMR of phenol-free BMPF and ketone-free BMPF were smaller, while the results of aldehyde-free BMPF and acid-free BMPF were opposite. And the influence degree of BMPF structure was basically consistent with that of BMPF performance. These results could provide a basis for the modification of phenol-formaldehyde resin by crude bio-oil.

Promoting consumers’ willingness to pay is crucial to creating a sustainable e-commerce environment, and the interaction design of the product configurator plays a key role in this. In the present study, the product configurator, which is indispensable in online customization, is adopted as the research object to analyze the influence of interaction design on the customization experience of consumers. The pricing method (total product pricing, incomplete total product pricing, and individual module pricing) and navigation design pattern (tabs and dropdown menu with arrow buttons) are adopted as independent variables, while system usability, flexible navigation capability, perceived control, perceived enjoyment, complexity and task performance are taken as dependent variables. One hundred and eighty college students participated in this study. The results of the 3 × 2 two-factor experiment reveal that: (1) Different navigation design patterns will lead to significant differences in system usability, flexible navigation capability, and perceived control of the product configurator, and tabs are better than dropdown menu with arrow buttons in these aspects. (2) Different pricing methods will significantly affect the perceived control of users. Under individual module pricing and incomplete total product pricing, perceived control is higher. (3) Different combinations of pricing methods and navigation design patterns will affect users’ evaluation of flexible navigation capability and complexity, and under the individual module pricing and incomplete total product pricing methods, users think that tabs have a higher flexible navigation capability and lower complexity. However, under the total product pricing method, users are convinced that dropdown menu with arrow buttons has a higher flexible navigation capability and lower complexity. The research results are of great significance to both interface interaction design and online customization. Furthermore, the interaction design method of price presentation and navigation design of the product configurator is analyzed to determine the most appropriate interaction design principles, so as to enhance the user experience of online customization and provide constructive ideas from the design perspective for online customization.

To clarify the modification mechanism of bio-oil for phenol-formaldehyde resin with crude bio-oil (BPF), the bio-oil compounds were simplified by model compound method according to the component distribution. The phenol-formaldehyde resin with bio-oil model compounds (BMPF) were prepared and their basic performance, bonding strength and aging characteristics were determined. The changes on the microstructure and chemical bonds of BMPF were also analyzed by scanning electron microscope, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and nuclear magnetic resonance analysis. Results showed that the components of bio-oil had different influence on the performance and microstructure of BMPF, especially phenols. Structural analysis indicated that the phenols and ketones of bio-oil had positive effects on the synthesis of BMPF, while the aldehydes and acids had negative effects. But all components of bio-oil could improve the aging resistance of BMPF inordinately. These results could provide a basis for the modification of BPF.

The influence of thinking flexibility on design is often underestimated by researchers in the field of design education. In this study, morphological analysis was used as a tool to develop design proposals and eye tracking technology was applied to track the attention. The feature of thinking activities in problem-solving between two groups (novice and expert) was analyzed by Heat map and Gaze plot in qualitative, and measured by indicators such as fixation and saccade in quantitative. Findings suggested that, i) Experts showed more fixation duration and fixation numbers in thinking activities, and the attention containing more AOIs was positively related to the rationality of the scheme. ii) Saccades with greater amplitude were more beneficial to the novelty of scheme. iii) Experts considered the information of each block in a balanced way, while novices tended to ignore unimportant blocks. These results will have a far-reaching impact on the development of designers’ thinking and help novices to exercise creative thinking and produce high-quality designs.