In a case study of the development of three electronic consumer products, we traced the origins of usability issues. Based on the data collected, an initial, explanatory framework was induced of important drivers of usability in product design. We conclude that – while usability methods mostly focus on gaining knowledge about users and usability issues – in many instances the primary cause of usability problems seems to be a lack of design freedom to implement usability-improving design changes. In addition, the organisational context seemed to influence the design process considerably. Thus, it can be concluded that to conduct user-centred design effectively, the design process should be considered holistically and the organisational context should be taken into account.

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Current public lighting is predominately directed to reducing energy and often is understood as a technical issue rather than a human one, mostly based on photometric visual performance. By taking advantage of the inherent flexibility of current lighting technologies, this research aimed to contribute to a more sustainable lighting design practice, through the design of adaptive lighting solutions that improve the relationship between users, the space they inhabit and energy use. To confirm the hypothesis, it was developed a user-oriented method that considers a specific user-space relationship and the user’s perception of well-being. Tested via two outdoor field experiment in an urban space in the south of Portugal, qualitative and quantitative statistical analysis of the collected data, suggest that the method can provide data to aid the design of more tailored and flexible public lighting solutions that can balance the user-energy relationship, improving the overall sustainability of our cities.

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This study identified practitioner-reported barriers to and enablers of usability in the development of electronic consumer products. Barriers and enablers are properties, situations, or conditions in the product development process, team, or context that negatively or positively influence the usability of a product. Based on a review of literature on user-centered design and exploratory expert interview, central concepts for studying usability in practice were identified. This was used as input for the case study, which was conducted at 5 product development groups in large multinationals, making (a) portable audio/video players, (b) personal navigation devices, (c) cell phones, (d) laundry care products, and (e) home control products. Data were primarily collected through interviews with 31 product development practitioners. Based on the data collected, case descriptions were created and more than 1,500 barriers and enablers were identified, categorized, and analyzed. The results of the study are 23 sets of barriers and enablers, of which it is indicated in which of the cases they occur, and accompanied with illustrative quotations from the interviewees. In barriers and enablers, a predominantly “outside–in” relation was observed, from the more external properties of companies (market, company organization) to the more internal (process, team, project). This seems to indicate that the user-centeredness of a product development process is highly influenced by the context in which it is executed. The results also lead to the conclusion that if the goal is to make usable products, one cannot only address activities that are generally considered typical of user-centered design, such as conducting user research and user testing. One also has to take into account how these activities are integrated with and supported by the rest of the product development process, which in turn has to be supported by the product development organization.@en

The role and focus of the industrial designer has changed and broadened over time. A next design practice with growing attention from the design community is the design of Product-Service Systems (PSS). Within this paper we will discuss what the motivations are for the different stakeholders to move from Product Design to Product Service System Design, what makes designing a PSS different than designing a product, what the are the challenges for designers in developing PSSs and which role designers can play in this complex innovation process. These topics will be discussed based upon the outcomes of a range of recent research projects related to PSS and the Design Profession, which have been carried by or in collaboration with our Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering. This in order to better understand better the role of Industrial Designers in the development of PSSs as well as how future designers can be better prepared and equipped for this role (i.e. by embedding PSS in Design Curricula).@en

Teacher and student interaction in a design studio setting has always been the basis of design education. A fundamental difficulty of design education is that the content of these one-on-one meetings between teacher and students remains remarkably implicit. In this paper, we present an explorative study that uses the design grammar model (DGM) as an observational framework for teacher–student interactions. The DGM is rooted on the concept of design grammar that can be broadly defined as the visual language used to design. The study focuses on the industrial design junior students’ meetings with their teacher; our research proceeds from a protocol analysis of the transcripts that are coded according to the DGM. The resulting data are then used to develop a series of diagrams that are employed as a visual analysis tool. The diagrams synthesise and convey large amounts of data that permit immediate analysis and elicit new interpretations. The study resulted in encouraging results regarding the DGM’s potential as an analysis tool for teacher and student interactions, as well as a diagnostic tool for teachers.

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