Archives

BTH PDRL at the DESIGN’18 conference – awards and more

A shiny Dubrovnik welcomed researchers and practitioners to the 15th International DESIGN conference. DESIGN is a biannual event organised by the Design Society, being a main forum to exchange experiences and lessons learned about engineering design from a variety of perspectives, disciplines, and fields. BTH PDRL received one of the 3 ‘outstanding contributions’ awards for […]

Read More

Design and Frugal Innovations: Three roles of resource-poor people

ABSTRACT Design is imperative to satisfy needs of people in resource-limited societies. Many design studies have been carried out in the context of such societies in developing countries, and are discussed under names such as humanitarian engineering, frugal innovations, appropriate technology, design at the Base of the Pyramid, design for development, etc. In this paper, […]

Read More

Design creativity: refined method for novelty assessment

ABSTRACT Novelty is an important characteristic of a creative idea, forming a core component of creativity. Measurement of novelty is therefore essential to assess creativity. We found deficiencies in a frequently cited method of novelty assessment found in the literature. We refine this method by proposing four modifications, supported by drawing on examples of products […]

Read More

Intentions and Inspiration in Shaping Visual Appearance of Products: The Practice of Professional Industrial Designers in India

ABSTRACT Eliciting specific intentions and seeking inspiration are important activities in the process of shaping a product’s visual appearance. A survey of the professional industrial designers was conducted to identify intentions (e.g. attributes, emotions) that they attempt to elicit, and also to identify inspiration sources and their media that they prefer not only in generating […]

Read More

A shift from technical properties towards sensorial characteristics in product design education

ABSTRACT The aim of this study is to evaluate a new pedagogic approach implemented in a compulsory materials course for product design students at bachelors level at ABC University. When developing a new curriculum for the material course, a decision was made to teach materials and production methods in a contextualized setting with emphasis on […]

Read More

Frugal Innovation for global sustainable development

‘Frugal’ means making things simpler, in such a way that they are adapted to the local circumstances, or adapted to a resource constrained environment. Frugal innovations can be placed on the junction of affordability and good enough quality, while still having basic functionality. Sharing       

Read More

Material selection: A qualitative case study of five design consultancies

ABSTRACT This qualitative case study aims at understanding when and how industrial designers, working in design consultancies, engage in activities that will influence material selection in the design process. While the extant literature presents material selection processes as a sequence of activities aimed at finding candidate materials, there is paucity of research on material criteria […]

Read More

Design For Resource-Limited Societies: Informational Behaviour Of Designers

ABSTRACT There is a sharp contrast between High Resource Settings (HRSs), commonly seen in developed countries and Low Resource Settings (LRSs), typically found in the marginalised sections of societies around the world. Product design for LRSs is crucial to satisfy unmet or under-served needs of the people living in LRSs. Supporting designers to develop successful […]

Read More

DESIGN METHODS AND FACTORS INFLUENCING THEIR UPTAKE IN PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT COMPANIES: A REVIEW

ABSTRACT Product development companies are under pressure to produce high quality products that satisfy requirements from different stakeholders including end-users. This requires them to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their product development processes. Design methods are necessary to support these companies to improve their product development processes, and thereby in producing high quality products […]

Read More