Systematizing new value proposition through a TRIZ-based classification of functional features

AbstractIn recent years, several TRIZ practitioners have focused their attention on the application of TRIZ concepts for new business strategy definition. Among the others, the Blue Ocean Strategy has attracted the largest consensus. Nevertheless, this methodological approach proves to be very elegant to describe past business innovation successes, while it provides just general directions if a new profile of “values” is requested for a given product or service. The present paper analyzes with a TRIZ perspective 32 case studies from the BOS literature and shows that more prescriptive guidelines can be identified from these experiences

Designing the appearance of environmentally sustainable products

The study presented in this paper uses a mathematical model to measure the degree in which a product will be perceived as environmentally friendly from its physical attributes. A model based on genetic algorithms and neural networks was developed to predict the judgement of the users about environmental friendliness of different tables. Opinions of real users about a large set of tables were used to train the model. The results of the study suggest that, using this procedure in advanced stages of product design process, designers can determine the set of product's physical attributes that best convey the idea of environmentally sustainable to the customer. The analysis of the obtained model allows establishing how different product's attributes influence users' perception. From these results, the utilization of users' affective response models to design the appearance of environmentally sustainable products is discussed.Diego-Mas, JA.; Poveda Bautista, R.; Alcaide Marzal, J. (2016). Designing the appearance of environmentally sustainable products. Journal of Cleaner Production. 135(1):784-793. doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2016.06.173S784793135

A computer based system to design expressive avatars

Avatars are used in different contexts and situations: e-commerce, e-therapy, virtual worlds, videogames,collaborative online design... In this context, a good design of an avatar may improve the user experience. The ability of controlling the way an avatar convey messages and emotions is capital. In this work, a procedure to design avatar faces capable of conveying to the observer the most suitable sensations according to a given context is developed. The proposed system is based on a combination of genetic algorithms and artificial neural networks whose training is based on perceptual human responses to a set of faces.Diego-Mas, JA.; Alcaide Marzal, J. (2015). A computer based system to design expressive avatars. Computers in Human Behavior. 44:1-11. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2014.11.027S1114

Single users' affective responses models for product form design

This paper presents a neural network based approach to modeling consumers' affective responses for product form design. A theoretical framework for a single user's perception is developed. On the basis of this theoretical framework, a mathematical model which enables single users' responses to different products to be predicted was developed. The results obtained show that the mathematical models developed achieved highly accurate predictions. For the purpose of obtaining a global model various individual mathematical models were created, which were based on the opinions of users representing different groups of opinion. The results suggest that, under some conditions, the combined use of various models of individual users can perform as well as a single model generated on the basis of mean market responses.Diego-Mas, JA.; Alcaide Marzal, J. (2016). Single users' affective responses models for product form design. International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics. 53:102-114. doi:10.1016/j.ergon.2015.11.005S1021145

Product Planning techniques: investigating the differences between research trajectories and industry expectations

According to several literature sources, Product Planning is acknowledged as a primary driver of future commercial success for new designed products, and it is schematically constituted by the identification of business opportunities and the selection of most promising alternatives. Despite the recalled relevance of Product Planning, it emerges that a marginal quantity of companies have adopted formal methods to carry out this task. The paper attempts to provide a major understanding about such a limited implementation of Product Planning techniques and other open issues emerging from the analysis of the literature concerning the initial phases of engineering design cycles. The presented study investigates the claimed benefits of methods described in the literature, the level to which such tools are diffused through educational programs in Technical Institutes, the expectations and the demands of a sample of enterprises with respect to new tools supporting Product Planning. It emerges that, whereas existing methods strive to fulfil relevant properties according to the perception of the companies, limitations come out in terms of the transfer of the proposed techniques and their perceived reliability

A FRAMEWORK FOR CONCEPT VALIDATION IN DESIGN USING DIGITAL PROTOTYPING

Ph.DDOCTOR OF PHILOSOPH