A quantitative assessment of product form and its impact on customer perception and design education
Open Access
Author:
Vasudevan, Nitish
Graduate Program:
Industrial Engineering
Degree:
Master of Science
Document Type:
Master Thesis
Date of Defense:
July 12, 2013
Committee Members:
Conrad S Tucker, Thesis Advisor/Co-Advisor
Keywords:
Product form complexity similarity engineering design
Abstract:
Quantifying the geometric form of a design artifact has vast implications in product design ranging from the ability to foster a better understanding of engineering design concepts to predicting customers’ perceptions of aesthetics qualities. In this research, the correlation between geometric product designs and the factors they influence is studied and an understanding of how they are connected is presented. In a company that manages a family of products, determining the design and performance requirements of next generation products is critical to overall market success. The proposed methodology employs design similarity and complexity metrics to help enterprise decision makers evaluate the impact of a product’s geometric form on i) customers’ aesthetic perception after product launch, and ii) design education. Many engineering students trained in design education, graduate to become world-class engineers and design products for the commercial market. Since a critical dimension that customers evaluate products on, is based on the aesthetics of design, it is paramount for students to understand the impact of their design decisions on the end user. The methodology also aims to refine the assessment of digital designs through an automated similarity evaluation process. A case study consisting of a database of coffee mugs is used to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed methodology in assisting next generation product design and development decisions.
