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Scent As a Medium for Design: an Experimental Design Inquiry

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Scent as a Medium for Design:

An Experimental Design Inquiry

A Thesis
Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for
The Degree Master of Fine Arts in the
Graduate School of The Ohio State University

By
Alessandra Cerqueira Mattos, MBA

Graduate Program in Industrial, Interior and Visual Communication Design
The Ohio State University
2011

Master’s Examination Committee
Professors
Peter Chan, Advisor, PhD
Elizabeth B.-N. Sanders, PhD
Carolina Gill Copyright by
Alessandra Cerqueira Mattos
© 2011

All rights reserved

Abstract

The roles of Designers and Researchers are blending together and each one is trying to work in and improve on the other’s domain. This represents an important shift for both fields, but it is fundamental that the next steps are taken by studying and acquiring more knowledge across both fields.

Thus, this study aims to adapt Experimental Design as a method to be used by Designers. The use of experiments as a method for Design Research is a relatively unexplored domain within the field of Design that has implications for positive and useful applications. With the application of rigorous methods of experimental study, results can be generalized to broader situations. Scientific methods address concern of bias, replication, and disclosure of the problem and findings. Experimentally-based findings will be well respected not only by Designers, but also by the Scientific community.

The experiment consisted of interviews with ninety people who were asked to associate the presented smells with words. Quantitative analysis was done using statistical tests to understand whether people’s responses did or did not occur by

ii chance. This helped support, scientifically, the findings. Additionally, qualitative analysis was done by creating different types of visualizations of the data. These visualizations helped to reveal patterns and to create unique “fingerprints” for the smells.

The sense of smell was chosen as a medium for the Experimental Design. In Psychology or Neuroscience it is easy to find information about how the sense of smell works. It is a sense that hits us directly through the limbic system, which supports a variety of functions including emotion, behavior and longterm memory. Therefore, our associations with smells are incredibly strong, emotional, and cognitively bonded to memory, which shows opportunities for Design explorations. However, there are not a clear understanding about people’s psychological perceptions and associations to the odors. Understanding this will enable the use of smells in a more conscious way according to people’s perceptions.

iii
Dedicated to my family: My mother, who believes in me more than anyone else. Everything I am, I owe her. Phil, who keeps her happy giving me piece of mind. Bruno, who is and will always be my best friend, love, and life partner.

iv

Acknowledgements

During my six years of professional experience, prior to coming to The Ohio State University, I have worked creating and developing concepts, products, and ideas. However, rarely have I actually had time to research and understand the real problems to develop better solutions early in the process. Being exposed to Design Research methods during the first year of the Design Development Master Program, studying Design Research and User Experience under the direction of Professors Liz Sanders, Heike Goeller, Paul Nini, Carolina Gill, and Brian Stone, made me re-evaluate my personal interests and create a new direction for my thesis ideas, focusing more on research techniques and data analysis rather than practical Design applications.

My committee was essential to feed my interest for Design Research and keep me on track. I would like to thank Dr. Peter Chan, my main advisor, who guided me calmly through all the steps on this journey. He was open to my ideas and helped me polish them to create an interesting and useful project. His patience was essential to keep me going. Thanks to Carolina Gill who happily embraced my topic and always gave me considerable and thoughtful feedback. Last but

vnot least, I would like to thank Dr. Elizabeth Sanders who not only inspired me throughout my time at The Ohio State University, but also involved and immersed herself in this study with me.

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Vita

  • 1979
  • Born – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

  • 2004
  • B.S. Industrial and Visual Communication Design,

Escola Superior de Desenho Industrial, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
2004-2009

2007
Design and Branding Manager, Uncle K Rio de Janeiro, Brazil MBA in Marketing Fundação Getúlio Vargas, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil University Fellowship Recipient, The Ohio State University Graduate Teaching Associate, The Ohio State University
2009-2010 2010-2011

Fields of Study

Major Field: Industrial, Interior and Visual Communication Design vii

Table of Contents

Abstract..................................................................................................ii Acknowledgements............................................................................... .....v Vita................................................................................................. .....vii

Chapter 1

Introduction..............................................................................................1

1.1 Objectives and scope................................................................................... 1.2 Background information ........................................................................... 1.3 Introduction to Research Methods ...........................................................
127
1.4 Roadmap to the study.............................................................................. 10

Chapter 2

The sense of smell....................................................................................13

2.1 Describing and identifying odors............................................................. 16 2.2 Odor classification systems...................................................................... 17

2.2.1 Zwaardemaker smell system, 1895..........................................................................   18 2.2.2 Henning odor system, 1916......................................................................................   19 2.2.3 Crocker-Henderson smell classification, 1927 ........................................................   20 2.2.4 Stereochemical smell theory or the Seven Basic Smells, 1952................................   20 2.2.5 Conclusion.................................................................................................................   21

2.3 Designing fragrances................................................................................ 21

2.3.1 Traditional fragrance classification ........................................................................   23 2.3.2 Modern fragrance classification..............................................................................   23 2.3.3 Fragrance wheel.......................................................................................................   23

2.4 Using smells as a Design element........................................................... 24 viii

Chapter 3

Design Research methods exploration...................................................... .....28

Chapter 4

Designing and conducting the experiment................................................ .....36

4.1 Exploratory Study #1............................................................................... 36 4.2 Exploratory Study #2.............................................................................. 46 4.3 Final Experimental Design .................................................................... 53

Chapter 5

Experiment Analysis..................................................................................61

5.1 Quantitative Analysis................................................................................ 61 5.2 Qualitative analysis ................................................................................. 73

5.2.1 Word clouds ..............................................................................................................   75 5.2.2 Gender Comparison word clouds ...........................................................................   80 5.2.3 Categories’ comparison............................................................................................   82 5.2.4 Words’ comparison...................................................................................................   91 5.2.5 Summary of the smells .............................................................................................   93

Chapter 6

Exploring Smell Tool concepts/ideas/prototypes......................................... .....97

Chapter 7

Discussions and Conclusion......................................................................103

7.1 Discussion: exploring and applying the research’s findings................. 103

7.1.1 Checking if a chosen smell is consistent with pre-defined concept s . .....................   104 7.1.2 Looking for smells associated to specific concepts ................................................   106 7.1.3 Researching associations for a new smell .............................................................   108

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7.1.4 Probing deeper into patterns..................................................................................   109

7.2 Conclusion............................................................................................. 109

Appendix ..............................................................................................111

Appendix A. Exploratory Study 1 – transcriptions.........................................................   111 Appendix B. Final Experiment Answer Sheet ................................................................   140 Appendix C. Responses to the Final Experiment Questionnaire ....................................   141 Appendix D. Grouping Demographic Information – Final Experiment ......................   155 Appendix E. Re-coding to Annotated Words – Final Experiment ................................   158 Appendix F. Calculating significant words’ threshold value.........................................   169 Appendix G. Selection of Significant Words...................................................................   170

Bibliography..........................................................................................185

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List of Tables

Table 1. Experiment demographics: gender ..........................................................61 Table 2. Experiment demographics: age range .....................................................62 Table 3. Experiment demographics: department..................................................62 Table 4. Experiment demographics: origin ...........................................................63 Table 5. Threshold values for significant words: total...........................................69 Table 6. Threshold values for significant words: gender.......................................69 Table 7. Chi-Square test showing p_values for comparing females and males where orange represents significant difference at 0.01 level, and green represents significant difference at 0.05 level .........................................................................72 Table 8. Percentages of the average of words chosen by a single participant...... 83

xi

List of Figures

Figure 1. Design and the Senses (Shedroff, 1994) ...................................................4 Figure 2. Olfactory system (Lynch & Icke, 2007).................................................. 15 Figure 3. Henning’s odor prism (Stevenson et al., 2006) .....................................19 Figure 4. Fragrance Wheel (Edwards, 2011)..........................................................24 Figure 5. Map of Design Research and Practice (Sanders et al., 2011) .................29 Figure 6. Map of Design Research and Practice modified.....................................32 Figure 7. Box with all the smells in numbered bags. .............................................41 Figure 8. Participants’ desk: consent form, questionnaire, tasks order, stickers, cards, categories’ definitions, and coffee. ..............................................................41 Figure 9. Investigator’s desk with script, smell and tasks order, and notebook...42 Figure 10. Classification of smells into good or bad ..............................................43 Figure 11. Analysis spreadsheet example...............................................................52 Figure 12. Experiment answer sheet......................................................................67 Figure 13. Word clouds: size represents number of times a word was chosen (1) 77 Figure 14. Word clouds: size represents number of times a word was chosen (2)78 Figure 15. Gender comparison word clouds ..........................................................81 Figure 16. Categories comparison chart visualization #1......................................85

xii
Figure 17. Categories comparison chart visualization #2......................................87 Figure 18. Categories comparison chart visualization #3 .................................... 90 Figure 19. Words’ comparison chart (detail) .........................................................92 Figure 20. Cinnamon word cloud ..........................................................................93 Figure 21. Cinnamon categories’ comparion chart................................................93 Figure 22. Ginger word cloud.................................................................................94 Figure 23. Ginger categories’ comparion chart......................................................95 Figure 24. 2D Smell Tool concept......................................................................... 98 Figure 25. 3D Smell Tool concept ..........................................................................99 Figure 26. Interactive concept (OECD Better Life Initiative, n.d.) ..................... 101 Figure 27. Pomegranate word cloud for females ................................................105

xiii

Chapter 1

Introduction

“The biggest felonies in sensory science have to do with equating the physical stimulus, or early neural signals, with psychological perception (…) Researchers have mostly attempted to determine how a chemical stimulus is represented in the olfactory system, without considering context and learning.” (Dr. Peterzell, 2006)

1.1 Objectives and scope

In the broadest sense, this research project examines how Designers can make use of research methods in a more scientific way. The aim is to learn what kinds of perceptions, memories, and associations smells can trigger in people, and to understand if it is possible to use scent as another Design element. This study also highlights the potential for using scientific methods with a User-Centered Design mindset.

Design Researchers, or even Designers interested in research methods or in researching new smells are the people who would find this project and its results

1relevant and significant. The idea of understanding how smells influence people’s emotions could also inspire Design practitioners. However, the main objective of the research is to explore the use of more scientific methods, specifically in this case, the use of Experimental Design, in Design Research settings. The focus is not on the specific results of each one of the smells that were used as stimuli. Scent is being used as the medium to implement the method.

The use of experiments as a method for Design Research is a relatively unexplored domain within the field of Design that has implications for positive and useful applications. With the application of rigorous methods of experimental study, results can be generalized to broader situations. Additionally, the investigation is being done from an interdisciplinary perspective, an approach that intends to bring different schools of thought and disciplines together as new needs emerge.

1.2 Background information

Design discipline is comprised of different areas, and more have been incorporated and created adapting to changes in technology, and demand. The three most common specializations that can be found in most Design schools are Industrial Design and Visual Communication Design. Some schools also include Interior Design under the same umbrella. However, the approach for this study, analysis and discussions, include only Industrial and Visual Communications Design.

2
The Design field has been changing and incorporating stimuli to other senses through the Design for Experiencing approach. However, Visual Communication Design, as the name suggests, still relies heavily on the sense of sight. Communication of content, ideas, and concepts are created by using visual aids such as color, typography, and composition. Additionally, Designers that work with time-based media, such as animation, make use of the auditory sense (hearing) as well. It enhances the communication of specific content, opening possibilities for a new way of experiencing the information. For Industrial Designers, not only the sense of sight is important, the sense of touch might be relevant as it could enhance experience and lead users to act and/or react to products in different ways. For example, in an object with different textures, the areas where users are supposed to touch or hold will be the ones with a more ergonomic grip, a lot of times with dents to accommodate the fingers, and sometimes also with a more rubbery surface for a better grip. These tactile cues might be relevant if someone is using a device without being able to see it.

Amongst Visual Communication and Industrial Designers, most of them address only three of the five senses. The sense of taste and smell have been neglected, mostly because there is not enough knowledge around what Designers could do with them to explore new possibilities.

3

tactile sense

visual sense

product touch kinesthetic

  • color
  • iconography

photography illustration sense of direction contrast typography calligraphy graphic design branding animation

video/film service design voice

music sound

olfactory sense

gustatory sense (taste)

auditory sense

Figure 1. Design and the Senses (Shedroff, 1994) It is the growing complexity of experiences that people expect from every product, brand, and space that explains the importance of a research comprising one more sense. The sense of smell is actually the one sense mostly related to people’s emotions. (Droscher, 1969) There are many factors that can influence how we perceive things, and things are defined by how they make one feel.

When it comes to the study of smells, aromatherapy is another field that approaches how smells affect people. It is known as an alternative medicine and

4its purpose is to change a person’s mind, mood, cognitive function or health. Aromatherapy is considered anecdotal by the scientific community..(Ehrlich, 2009)

Smells are being used today as an important element for branding. Some of the oldest documented examples about Designers or Marketers using smells as another element to identify a brand or product come from 1965. The first example was the development of a distinct smell for the 1965 Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud. They introduced a new fragrance to the new models of Rolls-Royce cars because customers’ expectations for the new released cars were not being fulfilled anymore. Older models still had the natural smell of wood, while the new ones smelled like plastic and foam. The development of the smell for the 1965 RollsRoyce was created by mimicking the smell of the old cars (Lindstrom, 2010).

Another important example was in 1990, when Singapore Airlines decided to innovate and expand their identity to include not only colors, shapes, typeface, and logo. The company also developed a distinct smell that was applied to the perfume of flight attendants as well as blended in the airplanes’ towels and diffused in their spaces. The objective was to provide a more complete experience to their clients, helping them to recall more powerfully the experience of flying with them (Kumar, 2006).

5
Designers and Marketers already understand the potential of using scent in their projects as a branding technique in order to create another way of helping people to recall and identify brands and products. However, Designers are still not exploring other possibilities of communicating ideas and concepts using smells. Creating associations between brands and products with specific smells is already a big step, but how are the smells chosen? Is there a meaning behind the scents or is it just a matter of being a good scent? It does not appear to be based on associations that people have with those smells. The associations are created in people’s minds by Marketers and Designers: the scent is presented and at that moment people start to associate that a certain smell belongs to a specific brand.

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  • Biosynthesis, Composition and Sources of Floral Scent in Ornamental Crops: a Review Poonam Kumari1*, Sapna Panwar1, Namita1 and Anjali Soni2

    Biosynthesis, Composition and Sources of Floral Scent in Ornamental Crops: a Review Poonam Kumari1*, Sapna Panwar1, Namita1 and Anjali Soni2

    Chemical Science Review and Letters ISSN 2278-6783 Review Article Biosynthesis, Composition and Sources of Floral Scent in Ornamental Crops: A Review Poonam Kumari1*, Sapna Panwar1, Namita1 and Anjali Soni2 1Division of Floriculture and Landscaping, ICAR- Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi 110 012, India 2Division of Fruits and Horticultural Technology, ICAR- Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi 110 012, India Abstract Fragrant flowers produce their perfume in glands on the petals known as Keywords: Floral scent, Herbivores, “osmophores”. Floral fragrance is typically a complex mixture of low Pollination, Terpenes molecular weight volatile compounds (100-200 Da) which gives the flower its unique, characteristic fragrance. Floral scents have vital *Correspondence function in plants reproductive process and possess substantial economic Author: Poonam Kumari significance. Many floral scent volatiles fall into the category of Email: [email protected] terpenoid, phenylpropanoid/benzenoid, and aromatic amino acid. Flowers produce a great range of specific metabolites like fragrant volatiles to attract pollinators, hormones to stimulate or repress signalling cascades and fragrant volatiles for protection against herbivores or pathogens. Introduction The ability of flowering plants to prosper throughout their long evolution has been strongly dependent on the constant development of strategies to lure pollinators. This has led to the creation of elaborate perianth forms, splendid colour patterns, and a broad spectrum of fragrances. Floral fragrance is an important trait of flower which plays an important role in the reproductive process and possesses substantial economic significance. It essentially improves aesthetic characteristics of ornamental plants. Together with shape and colour, it determines the pollination syndrome of the flower.
  • Floral Scent and Intrafloral Scent Differentiation in <Emphasis Type

    Floral Scent and Intrafloral Scent Differentiation in <Emphasis Type

    Plant P1. Syst. Evol. 177:81-91 (1991) Systematics and Evolution © Springer-Verlag 1991 Printed in Austria Floral scent and intrafloral scent differentiation in Moneses and Pyrola (Pyrolaceae) JETTE T. KNUDSEN and LARS TOLLSTEN Received January 23, 1991 Key words: Angiosperms, Pyrolaceae, Pyrola, Moneses. - Floral scent, intrafloral scent differentiation, orientation cues, poricidal anthers, pollen flowers, buzz pollination. Abstract: Floral scent was collected by headspace methods from intact flowers, petals, and stamens of four species of Pyrolaceae. The scent samples were analyzed by coupled gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The floral scent in PyroIa spp. is differ- entiated into a characteristic petal scent-phenyl propanoids and a characteristic stamen scent-methoxy benzenes. In Moneses the scent is characterized by isoprenoids and ben- zenoids, with a larger proportion of benzenoids in the stamens compared to the petals. Specific anther scents may promote foraging efficiency in buzz-pollinated species and enhance flower fidelity. Variation in floral scent composition is consistent with the tax- onomic relationships among the genera and species examined. Most plants reproduce through pollination and the selective forces for improvement of a plants reproductive success, through enhanced pollination success, act strongly on floral characters (e.g., GRANT 1949, KEVAN 1984). GRANT (1949) found that 40 % of the taxonomic characters used to distinguish between closely related species of bee-pollinated plants pertained to floral parts as compared to 15% in promis- cuous, entomophilous plants, indicating that the flower constancy of bees has had a strong effect on the evolution of floral traits in bee-pollinated plants. Floral scents together with visual cues are important in attracting pollinators.
  • Sources of Nuance in Plant–Pollinator Communication

    Sources of Nuance in Plant–Pollinator Communication

    Available online at www.sciencedirect.com ScienceDirect Olfaction in context — sources of nuance in plant–pollinator communication 1,3 2,3 2 Claire Rusch , Geoffrey T Broadhead , Robert A Raguso 1 and Jeffrey A Riffell Floral scents act as long-distance signals to attract pollinators, choice [1,2]; thus in this review we focus on recent but volatiles emitted from the vegetation and neighboring plant progress in understanding the behavioral and neural community may modify this mutualistic communication underpinnings of the olfactory channel in plant–pollinator system. What impact does the olfactory background have on communication, with an emphasis on how context and pollination systems and their evolution? We consider recent background influence the detection and perception of behavioral studies that address the context of when and where floral volatile signals. We begin with an overview of the volatile backgrounds influence a pollinator’s perception of floral insect olfactory system relevant to distinguishing com- blends. In parallel, we review neurophysiological studies that plex volatile blends from a noisy background. Here we show the importance of blend composition and background in discuss how environmental factors influence how insect modifying the representation of floral blends in the pollinator brains process floral scent bouquets. Next, we explore brain, as well as experience-dependent plasticity in increasing how experience modifies olfactory processing. Finally, we the representation of a rewarding odor. Here, we suggest that conclude with an exciting topic for future research by the efficacy of the floral blend in different environments may be examining how signal efficacy — the interplay between an important selective force shaping differences in pollinator signal composition and environmental background — olfactory receptor expression and underlying neural may feedback on the speciation process in plants, through mechanisms that mediate flower visitation and plant reproductive isolation and reinforcement.
  • Using Floral Scent to Explain Shifts in Pollinator Attraction1

    Using Floral Scent to Explain Shifts in Pollinator Attraction1

    Applications in Plant Sciences 2017 5(6): 1600123 Applications in Plant Sciences REVIEW ARTICLE THE SMELL OF ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE: USING FLORAL SCENT 1 TO EXPLAIN SHIFTS IN POLLINATOR AttRACTION LAUra A. BURKLE2,4 AND JUSTIN B. RUNYON3 2Department of Ecology, Montana State University, Bozeman, Montana 59717 USA; and 3Rocky Mountain Research Station, USDA Forest Service, 1648 S. 7th Avenue, Bozeman, Montana 59717 USA As diverse environmental changes continue to influence the structure and function of plant–pollinator interactions across spatial and temporal scales, we will need to enlist numerous approaches to understand these changes. Quantitative examination of floral vola- tile organic compounds (VOCs) is one approach that is gaining popularity, and recent work suggests that floral VOCs hold substan- tial promise for better understanding and predicting the effects of environmental change on plant–pollinator interactions. Until recently, few ecologists were employing chemical approaches to investigate mechanisms by which components of environmental change may disrupt these essential mutualisms. In an attempt to make these approaches more accessible, we summarize the main field, laboratory, and statistical methods involved in capturing, quantifying, and analyzing floral VOCs in the context of changing environments. We also highlight some outstanding questions that we consider to be highly relevant to making progress in this field. Key words: climate change; flower; headspace sampling; multivariate analysis; plant–pollinator interactions; volatiles. Historically, pollination biologists have focused on visual based perspectives in research approaches to understand plant– plant traits to help explain patterns in plant–pollinator interac- pollinator interactions (Raguso, 2008a, 2008b). tions. These plant traits include flower color, size, symmetry, Although the field of plant–herbivore interactions has bene- and reward type, among others.