• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.51-62
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• 2006

The concept of universal design has recently emerged as an important aspect of product design. Universal design is considerably analogous to ergonomic design in a way that it takes the capabilities and limitations of users into consideration during the product development process. However, relatively few studies have been devoted to reflect the practical use of ergonomic principles on universal design. This research attempts to develop a universal design index for mobile phone design to quantify how well a product complies with principles of universal design. The research also emphasizes on ergonomic principles as a basis of evaluation. A generation of the evaluation items was done by cross-checking among the personal, activity and product components. Personal components consist of human characteristics including age, physique, perceptual capacity, life-style, etc. Activity components were derived from those scenarios of mobile phone use while product components were composed of the parts to which a user interacts. Further analysis systematically generated a universal index from relationship matrices among the three components. The index was then used to test its suitability by applying to the evaluation of mobile phones currently on the market. This study demonstrates a development process through which evaluations can be made possible for universal design. The research suggests an improved approach to the appraisal of how well mobile phones are universally designed based on ergonomic principles.

• Journal of Korean Institute of Industrial Engineers
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.223-232
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• 2014

Life-cycle assessment (LCA) is often employed to quantify the environmental impact of a product in a comprehensive manner. The aspects of performance and usability as well as that of eco-friendliness should be considered in an integrated manner for the market competitiveness of an eco-friendly product. The present study developed a product improvement plan for an eco-friendly electric heater by benchmarking two small-size electric heaters (companies 'H' and 'T') in terms of performance, usability, and eco-friendliness. The performance measurements such as temperature, humidity, wind speed, noise, and power consumption were collected while the two heaters were operated in a laboratory setting. Then, the usability evaluations such as aesthetics, operation satisfaction, performance satisfaction, and overall satisfaction were surveyed for the two heaters using a 5-point scale (1 for very unsatisfied and 5 for very satisfied). Lastly, the LCA analysis was conducted by following the six-step process of eco-friendly product design provided by KEITI. The analysis results of the two products being integrated with the aspects of product, service, and user, four design improvement directions such as eco-efficient, smart, modularized, and user-support were recommended for an eco-friendly electric heater. These proposed concepts would be useful to develop an eco-friendly electric heater design with a high level of market competitiveness.

• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.137-145
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• 2022

The usability evaluation of the remote fluid monitoring device, which was introduced to reduce the work of nurses and increase the efficiency, was performed due to the expansion of the non-face-to-face medical system. Remote fluid monitoring is a fusion of various technologies such as fluid measurement and analysis, error correction technology, and transmission technology. The range of use by users, the information they want to obtain, and the control device, etc. are wide, and the factors that evaluate the product are also diverse. Therefore, it is difficult to improve the product through evaluation. In this study, a quantitative index was developed to help improve the product for commercialization by conducting 20 usability evaluations in three areas of product stability, operability, and satisfaction with the remote sap monitoring system device. It was performed through infrared and load cell-type sap monitoring devices. In terms of stability, there was a difference in installation work such as fixing the pole of the device, and high satisfaction was shown for operability and accuracy. In terms of product satisfaction, the satisfaction of load cell devices was generally high.

• The Research Journal of the Costume Culture
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.232-246
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• 2024

This study examines options to revitalize a B2B textile trading platform, exploring user satisfaction and perceptions of the importance of several website features. Between June 8 and June 21, 2023, fashion studies majors and domestic fashion brand product planners were asked to use the website of an open B2B textile platform for 30 minutes and then evaluate its features by responding to a survey. The final sample for analysis wad comprised of 150 questionnaires. To analyze the key textile website features, a paired t-test, Importance-Performance Analysis (IPA), and multiple regression analysis were utilized. The analysis classified the key textile website features related to user importance and satisfaction into the following categories: convenience, appearance, product information, and uniqueness. An analysis investigation of the differences in importance and satisfaction for each website evaluation attribute found significant differences in 12 attributes. The IPA analysis revealed that attributes such as product reliability, quality, a convenient search function, and convenient page movement are highly important to users and garner high user satisfaction; these findings demonstrate the importance of maintaining these elements. Images on the main screen, the latest trend information, and product prominence attributes also garner high importance ratings, but result in low user satisfaction, which signifies extensive revision is required. Finally, user evaluation of the convenience, appearance, and product information of the website was found to affect user recommendation intention.

• Asia Marketing Journal
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.73-92
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• 2009

Consumers influence other consumers' brand choice behavior by delivering a variety of objective or subjective information on a particular product, which is called WOM (Word-Of-Mouth) activities. For WOM activities, WOM senders should choose messages to deliver to other consumers. We classify the contents of the messages a consumer chooses for WOM delivery into two categories: Subjective (positive or negative) evaluation and objective information on products. In our study, we regard WOM senders' activities as a choice behavior and introduce a choice model to study the relationship between the choice of different WOM information (WOM with positive or negative subjective evaluation and WOM with objective information) and its influencing factors (information sources and consumer characteristics) by developing two bivariate Probit models. In order to consider the mediating effects of WOM senders' product involvement, product attitude, and their characteristics (gender and age), we develop three second-level models for the propagation of positive evaluations, of negative evaluations, and of objective information on products in an hierarchical Bayesian modeling framework. Our empirical results show that WOM senders' information choice behavior differs according to the types of information sources. The effects of information sources on WOM activities differ according to the types of WOM messages (subjective evaluation (positive or negative) and objective information). Therefore, our study concludes that WOM activities can be partially managed with effective communication plans influencing on consumers' WOM message choice behavior. The empirical results provide some guidelines for consumers' propagation of information on products companies want.

• Asia Marketing Journal
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.149-172
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• 2009

Prior research has investigated different effects of brand performance information such as premium price information and market share information on brand equity components - quality perception and brand preference. It was shown that the differential effects of brand performance information could depend on product-related variables like product category concept and quality variation in the product category. In this study, we conducted an experiment to find out how personal characteristics such as self-construal, price perception and brand commitment could influence the effects of different types of brand performance information. The results show that individuals who have independent self-construal, favorable price perception and emotional commitment with the brand develop more favorable evaluation of the premium price performance information resulting in more positive evaluations of the brand. However, individuals who have interdependent self-construal, unfavorable price perception and cognitive commitment with the brand develop more favorable evaluation of the market share performance information resulting in more positive evaluations of the brand. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of this study and its limitations, along with future research interests.

• Asia Marketing Journal
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.1-25
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• 2011

Brand names are often considered as a part of product and important extrinsic cues of product evaluation, when consumers make purchasing decisions. For a company, brand names are also important assets. Building a strong brand name in the Chinese commonwealth is a main challenge for many global companies. One of the first problem global company has to face is how to translate English brand name into Chinese brand name. It is very difficult decision because of cultural and linguistic differences. Western languages are based on an alphabet phonetic system, whereas Chinese are based on ideogram. Chinese speakers are more likely to recall stimuli presented as brand names in visual rather than spoken recall, whereas English speakers are more likely to recall the names in spoken rather than in visual recall. We interpret these findings in terms of the fact that mental representations of verbal information in Chinese are coded primarily in a visual manner, whereas verbal information in English is coded by primarily in a phonological manner. A key linguistic differences that would affect the decision to standardize or localize when transferring English brand name to Chinese brand name is the writing system. Prior Chinese brand naming research suggests that popular Chinese naming translations foreign companies adopt are phonetic, semantic, and phonosemantic translation. The phonetic translation refers to the speech sound that is produced, such as the pronunciation of the brand name. The semantic translation involves the actual meaning of and association made with the brand name. The phonosemantic translation preserves the sound of the brand name and brand meaning. Prior brand naming research has dealt with word-level analysis in examining English brand name that are desirable for improving memorability. We predict Chinese brand name suggestiveness with different translation methods lead to different levels of consumers' evaluations. This research investigates the structural linguistic characteristics of the Chinese language and its impact on the brand name evaluation. Otherwise purpose of this study is to examine the effect of brand concept on the evaluation of brand name. We also want to examine whether the evaluation is moderated by Chinese translation types. 178 Taiwanese participants were recruited for the research. The following findings are from the empirical analysis on the hypotheses established in this study. In the functional brand concept, participants in Chinese translation by semantic were likely to evaluate positively than Chinese translation by phonetic. On the contrary, in the symbolic brand concept condition, participants in Chinese translation by phonetic evaluated positively than by semantic. And then, we found Chinese translation by phonosemantic was most favorable evaluations regardless of brand concept. The implications of these findings are discussed for Chinese commonwealth marketers with respect to brand name strategies. The proposed model helps companies to effectively select brand name, making it highly applicable for academia and practitioner. name and brand meaning. Prior brand naming research has dealt with word-level analysis in examining English brand name that are desirable for improving memorability. We predict Chinese brand name suggestiveness with different translation methods lead to different levels of consumers' evaluations. This research investigates the structural linguistic characteristics of the Chinese language and its impact on the brand name evaluation. Otherwise purpose of this study is to examine the effect of brand concept on the evaluation of brand name. We also want to examine whether the evaluation is moderated by Chinese translation types. 178 Taiwanese participants were recruited for the research. The following findings are from the empirical analysis on the hypotheses established in this study. In the functional brand concept, participants in Chinese translation by semantic were likely to evaluate positively than Chinese translation by phonetic. On the contrary, in the symbolic brand concept condition, participants in Chinese translation by phonetic evaluated positively than by semantic. And then, we found Chinese translation by phonosemantic was most favorable evaluations regardless of brand concept. The implications of these findings are discussed for Chinese commonwealth marketers with respect to brand name strategies. The proposed model helps companies to effectively select brand name, making it highly applicable for academia and practitioner.

• Journal of Pharmaceutical Investigation
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.323-329
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• 1997

Ipriflavone is non-hormonal antiosteoporotic drug which inhibits bone resorption by reducing recruitment and/or differentiation of osteoclasts, and stimulates proliferation and differentiation of osteoblast, and also enhances calcitonin secretion in the presence of estrogen. Although some kinds of immediately-released preparation of ipriflavone are available in commercial market, in present study, we tried to formulate sustained-release tablet using coating method with hydrophobic and hydrophilic coating materials. In vitro dissolution test was applied to evaluate sustained-release patterns of several test preparations (Test tablet A, B and C) designed using different preparation method or different compositions. From the results of dissolution test, test tablet A which showed suitable dissolution profile was selected as the candidate of new product. Pharmacokinetic evaluation of test drug, ipriflavone sustained-release tablets, was conducted in 6 beagle dogs weighing $11.5{\pm}0.5\;Kg$ compared with $Theobon^{\circledR}$ tablet, immediately-released tablet (Kukjae Pharm. Co.) as reference drug. Two products were randomly administered to 6 beagle dogs, and after 1 week, cross-over study was conducted. From the present study, AUC and $T_{max}$ of test product were significantly different from those of reference product (p<0.05), respectively$(AUC\;:\;3646.28{\pm}472.56\;vs\;3646.28{\pm}472.56\;ng{\cdot}hr/ml,\;T_{max}\;:\;4.33{\pm}1.03\;vs\;1.42{\pm}0.38\;hr)$. But $C_{max}$ was not significantly different between two products (p>0.05) $(\;512.52{\pm}48.18\;vs\;443.97{\pm}140.53\;ng/ml)$. From the results of pharmacokinetic evaluations, it was noted that absorption amount of test product was increased, but absorption rate was delayed and $C_{max}$ of two products were not changed. And it was concluded that redesign of the sustained-release preparation which has a lower content of iprifavone rather than test tablet A must be considered.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.22 no.7
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• pp.851-861
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• 1998

The present study examined the consumer's evaluations of apparel quality and price, and the brand recognition according to the consumer's decision making styles(quality-conscious, brand-conscious, and price-conscious consumers). The two hundred and three subjects were asked to evaluate the quality and price of the two almost identical experimental blouses except for brand labels. One was the national brand, Keith and the other was the private brand, Ivy house. Also, the subjects were asked to answer if they recognize these two brands. The data were collected by self-administered questionnaire and were analyzed by frequency, percentage, one-way ANOVA, two-way ANOVA, and factor analysis. The results of the study were as floows: (1) Examining the perceptions of product qualities, generally speaking, all three types of the consumers evaluated the national brand's qualities more highly than those of the private brand. However, in-part, the price-conscious consumers evaluated some product charac-teristics more highly than those of national brand: touch of fabric, sewing, and the hemline finishing. (2) Investigating the perceptions of product prices, All three types of the consumers evaluated the price of the national brand more highly than that of the private brand. Among those, the price-conscious consumers recognized the price of the national brands most expensively. (3) Identifying the brand recognition of the two brands, the brand-conscious consumers showed the highest brand recognition and the price-conscious consumers showed the lowest brand recognition in both national and private brands, 51.9% of the total respondents identified the private brand showing comparatively high brand recognition. (4) Examining the relationship between the demographic factors and the consumer decision making styles, the monthly household income was statistically significant. Namely, 71.4% of the brand-conscious consumers have the monthly household income of 3,000,000 Won or higher which means that the higher monthly household income, the higher tendency to be brand-conscious consumers.

• Sleep Medicine and Psychophysiology
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.51-55
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• 2020

In this paper, we reviewed domestic and foreign cases and evaluation methods for validation of sleep products for development of the domestic sleep industry. Foreign companies and organizations are trying to verify products relatively systematically for demonstration purposes, but they are using different methods depending on the institution, and standardized validation guidelines have not been established. In Korea, there has been little evaluation including objective verification for sleep products. Sleep-wake evaluation for validation of sleep products requires expert evaluation of the product and of the product effectiveness by users, and subjective and objective sleep-wake evaluations and circadian rhythm evaluation methods can be used. For more accurate verification, experimental designs such as randomization method, control product utilization method, and cross-experiment design can be used.