Towards Remote Assessment of User Experiences of Visual Product Representations

Understanding consumer experiences of products is becoming increasingly important for producers acting on the global market. This paper presents a pilot study done as part of the development of a VIPET (Visual Internet Product Experience Tool), a future tool for remote user assessment of product experiences. The aim of the tool is to provide users with a convenient and intuitive approach to assess visual representations of products by allowing respondents to place visual representations of products in the form of images in relation to each other on a type of bipolar visual analogue scales in the form of 2x2 charts. The purpose of the study was to evaluate a prototype version of the visual interface of the tool using international respondents. The prototype tool was emailed to respondents in five countries, asking them to assess an everyday type of product, food packaging containers, against six parameters, measuring types of perceptual experience. The results of the study indicate that remote assessment of visual representations of products using a tool of this type is a promising approach. Even though some test results are presented the major interest of this paper is not in the assessments of the specific products as such, but rather the characteristics and quality of the assessment method itself and the implications for the development of a tool for assessing consumer experiences

Design for the BOP and the TOP: Requirements handling behaviour of designers

The base (BOP) and the top (TOP) of the world income pyramid represent the people living in poverty and the people from developed countries, respectively. In the approach of business development combined with poverty alleviation, the design of products for the BOP plays an important role. There is an urgent need to develop an understanding of the process of designing products for the BOP. Requirements handling is an important ingredient of a design process. This research, using a protocol study, examined the differences between the requirements handling behaviour of designers when they design a product for the BOP and TOP markets. We found differences between their requirements handling behaviour in terms of their attention to different topics of requirements, and their handling of solution-specific and solution-neutral requirements

Multi-modal visual experience of brand-specific automobile design

Purpose – This paper presents a questionnaire study of brand-specific perceptions of automotive design using subjective rating methods. The purpose of the paper is to explore the multiple modalities of the visual product experience of automobile design as perceived by the general public. Furthermore, the experiences were analysed using a framework for visual product experience (VPE). Design/methodology/approach – Respondents were asked to assess the design of two car models at an international car show in relation to brand perceptions and visually perceived attributes using, among other tools, visual analogue scales. Analysis was done using a qualitative technique. Findings – Results from the study indicate that there is a correlation/relation between experiential modes, in that respondents tended to rate attributes consistently high or low across modes. This implies that if the aesthetics are not perceived as favourable, neither is the expression of the car. Furthermore, respondents’ assessments of aesthetic appeal and expression are on an average strikingly similar, suggesting that the level of aesthetic appeal correlates with the level of semantic understanding of the design. The general rating of emotional response follows a similar consistent pattern for the two studied cars. Originality/value – Study approach as a way to gain insights into subjective perceptions of products based on appreciation and interpretation of visual product form. VPE framework recognising, mapping and clarifying the multiple modes of the visual experience

Multi‐modal visual experience of brand‐specific automobile design

PurposeThis paper presents a questionnaire study of brand‐specific perceptions of automotive design using subjective rating methods. The purpose of the paper is to explore the multiple modalities of the visual product experience of automobile design as perceived by the general public. Furthermore, the experiences were analysed using a framework for visual product experience (VPE).Design/methodology/approachRespondents were asked to assess the design of two car models at an international car show in relation to brand perceptions and visually perceived attributes using, among other tools, visual analogue scales. Analysis was done using a qualitative technique.FindingsResults from the study indicate that there is a correlation/relation between experiential modes, in that respondents tended to rate attributes consistently high or low across modes. This implies that if the aesthetics are not perceived as favourable, neither is the expression of the car. Furthermore, respondents' assessments of aesthetic appeal and expression are on an average strikingly similar, suggesting that the level of aesthetic appeal correlates with the level of semantic understanding of the design. The general rating of emotional response follows a similar consistent pattern for the two studied cars.Originality/valueStudy approach as a way to gain insights into subjective perceptions of products based on appreciation and interpretation of visual product form. VPE framework recognising, mapping and clarifying the multiple modes of the visual experience.</jats:sec

Design Syntactics: A Functional Approach to Visual Product Form Theory, Models, and Methods

In line with the increasing importance of high quality appearance and aesthetic appeal in the design of consumer products, there is a growing need for enhanced understanding and ability to handle visual product form in industrial product development. In an approach for meeting that need, this thesis concerns the nature and development of visual design aesthetics in product form design. The contributions provide a means for enhanced reasoning about the structure and function of form design. The aim is that the findings will provide support for the specification, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation of visual product form in relation to technical aspects in the area industrial design and engineering design interaction. In the thesis, theory, models and methods supporting the development of such product aspects are proposed. Based on theoretical elements from a number of fields, including engineering design science, design semiotics, form aesthetics, and visual perception, a hybrid theory for visual design aesthetics is proposed, which links the aesthetic form of the product to functional reasoning. Through the theoretical framework of design syntactics, a descriptive model of the nature and workings of the visual product form is developed. The framework consists of three main conceptual elements; form functionality, concerning the purpose and function of visual product form; form syntactics, related to the structure and organization of the visual form; and design formats, associated with form content and design philosophy from a company perspective. Based on the modeling framework, methodology support for form design activities in industrial design development is proposed. The three suggested methods include approaches for analysis of technically and aesthetically determined functionality of form, for development of visual form aesthetics in product design, and for the creation of design formats for utilization in operative and strategic design development

Design Syntactics: A Functional Approach to Visual Product Form Theory, Models, and Methods

In line with the increasing importance of high quality appearance and aesthetic appeal in the design of consumer products, there is a growing need for enhanced understanding and ability to handle visual product form in industrial product development. In an approach for meeting that need, this thesis concerns the nature and development of visual design aesthetics in product form design. The contributions provide a means for enhanced reasoning about the structure and function of form design. The aim is that the findings will provide support for the specification, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation of visual product form in relation to technical aspects in the area industrial design and engineering design interaction. In the thesis, theory, models and methods supporting the development of such product aspects are proposed. Based on theoretical elements from a number of fields, including engineering design science, design semiotics, form aesthetics, and visual perception, a hybrid theory for visual design aesthetics is proposed, which links the aesthetic form of the product to functional reasoning. Through the theoretical framework of design syntactics, a descriptive model of the nature and workings of the visual product form is developed. The framework consists of three main conceptual elements; form functionality, concerning the purpose and function of visual product form; form syntactics, related to the structure and organization of the visual form; and design formats, associated with form content and design philosophy from a company perspective. Based on the modeling framework, methodology support for form design activities in industrial design development is proposed. The three suggested methods include approaches for analysis of technically and aesthetically determined functionality of form, for development of visual form aesthetics in product design, and for the creation of design formats for utilization in operative and strategic design development