Business model design through a designer's lens: Translating, transferring and transforming cognitive configurations into action

Strategic managers are challenged to take advantage of digitalisation opportunities related to services of social media and web 2.0 technologies. Business innovations such as crowd sourcing platforms require a new way of integrating business to technology, articulated in a new business model designs (Afuah and Tucci, 2012; 2013). And also home healthcare monitoring platforms in the public and non-for profit domain of healthcare with impact on the care providing services, require such new business model designs (Hwang and Christensen, 2008; Mettler and Eurich, 2012; Lehoux et al., 2014). In response to the digitalisation opportunity, the high complexity of interconnecting multiple companies and clients in new ways of integrating business and information technology networks, the practice of strategic managers is in quest of design knowledge and methodologies to support the business model design challenge.Product Innovatie ManagementIndustrial Design Engineerin

Introducing a tool to support reflection through sketching and prototyping during the design process

Sketching and prototyping are parts of a 'reflective conversation with materials of a design situation' (Schön, 1992). To support this conversation, we developed a reflective tool -the Reflection Canvas- that facilitates reflection activities through sketching and prototyping on the one hand and verbalisation on the other. We introduced the reflective tool to design students. Based on observation and answers from a questionnaire data reveal that guided reflection structured the process in a helpful way. It also turned out students had difficulties to switch from visualisation to verbalisation.</p

The impact of aesthetic preference in product design-golden ratio and Korean's preference proportion

Background Over the past decades a considerable number of studies have been done on the golden ratio and the relation between their aesthetics and design. These studies, after analyzing design icons with the golden ratio, seem to prove that the golden ratio is an important principle for good design. However, these studies mainly focused on western products that were used in western countries. And thus, the majority of the products were designed by western designers and analyzed by western scholars. These factors raised a doubt whether the golden ratio is also the most aesthetically pleasing proportion in other countries, for example in Asia. Proportions are determined by mathematical logic; however preference and aesthetic judgment are aroused from individual's experience and environmental context. Questioning whether the golden ratio is the most commonly preferred proportion across cultures led to an empirical study to examine the differences between Western and Asian preferences on the golden ratio. Specifically, this study is focused on Koreans' preference and their traditional products. Methods First, the preference experiment on proportion was conducted in South Korea with 277 subjects. Second, this study continued to analyze the proportion of over 100 Korean traditional objects that exemplify the research results. Results The experimental data clearly reveals that Korean subjects have a significant preference for the root ratio (1:1.414). This result obviously contradicts previous studies conducted in western countries that showed a strong preference for the golden ratio, and their good design objects are also characterized by the golden ratio (1:1.618). This study continues to verify that Koreans' favorite ratio could be found in Korean traditional design objects reflecting their preference. Korean traditional design objects show a clearly shorter ratio (1:1, 1:1.333) than the golden ratio (1:1.618). Conclusions It is concluded that the golden ratio is not always the best proportion for a good design, but it may be a preferred proportion since this ratio can be found in everyday objects as one of the predominant design features. Specifically, this finding will evoke deeper insights in the correlation of an influential impact between aesthetic preference and the element of design form and shape.OLD Design Theory and Methodolog

The healthcare design dilemma: perils of a technology-driven design process for medical products

This paper reports an embedded single case study from a globally operating manufacturer for digital healthcare products. Based on nine semi-structured interviews, document analysis, and a diary study among employees, we were able to gain insights on the daily business routines and interactions of the design team, the UX research team, and the product management department. The results revealed several unexpected insights that indicate a practical mismatch between user-centred design processes learned from the textbook and design practice in the healthcare sector that warrant further research.</p

Industrial design sketching for concept generation sketching: A parallel thinking process

Designers largely use freehand sketching as the one way of communicating their ideas during the design process. This research aims at investigating the sketching in the conceptual design stage and to explore what measures and procedure might be appropriate method to improve the positive influence of sketching during the design process. A quasiexperiment study has been conducted with Masters students of Industrial Design Engineering at Delft University of Technology, the Netherlands. 3 control groups and 3 experimental groups consisting of 3 students underwent a design task in a given time. Whereas the experimental groups were not allowed to talk during the design process, the control groups did not received any restrictions. The experiments were recorded, observed and analyzed. This research shall contribute to a better understanding of how sketching affects creativity and quality of the final outcome, and in how far sketching enhances the value of idea development in design for Industrial Designers.Product Innovation ManagementIndustrial Design Engineerin

Creative space: A systematic review of the literature

This paper provides an overview of the state-of-the-art research about creative work and learning environments. We conducted a systematic literature search within the Scopus database and identified a total of 70 relevant sources discussing creative spaces within academic, practice, or other innovation environments. Among the included sources are 48 academic publications and 22 sources from company research and illustrative coffee-table books that are discussed separately. We analyse the academic sources regarding their theoretical contribution, as well as regarding their scope. Finally, the included sources are categorized according to three areas of interest: (1) the addressed space types for different creative activities, (2) abstracted requirements for creative spaces, and (3) concrete characteristics and configurations of a creative space. The results provide an in-depth insight into the current state of research on the topic of creative spaces. Practitioners, educators, and researchers can use the presented overview to investigate the possible impact of creative workspace design and to identify research gaps for conducting further research in the field.Design AestheticsMethodology and Organisation of Desig

From bauhaus to design thinking and beyond: a comparison of two design educational schools

This paper compares two pioneering design educational approaches: the historic Bauhaus school founded in 1919 in Germany, and contemporary design thinking education, based on the example of the HPI School of Design Thinking. We compare both approaches according to six emerging categories: (1) curriculum, (2) multi-disciplinarity, (3) mind-set and culture, (4) study environment, (5) conditions for innovation, and (6) socio-economic context. We outline differences and similarities and discuss the possible impact for future design education.</p

The healthcare design dilemma: perils of a technology-driven design process for medical products

This paper reports an embedded single case study from a globally operating manufacturer for digital healthcare products. Based on nine semi-structured interviews, document analysis, and a diary study among employees, we were able to gain insights on the daily business routines and interactions of the design team, the UX research team, and the product management department. The results revealed several unexpected insights that indicate a practical mismatch between user-centred design processes learned from the textbook and design practice in the healthcare sector that warrant further research.Methodologie en Organisatie van DesignDesign Aesthetic

Framework of awareness: For the analysis of ergonomics in design

The present paper introduces the Framework of Awarenessto the analysis of ergonomics in design. The framework is part of a doctoral research that took the Lean Thinking perspective by adopting the concept of MUDA and its set of principles as dimensions to study designers’ behaviour in industry.Results were integrated into a Framework of Awareness to critical situations and crucial actions in design, with application in the research field of design and product development for managerial support, and of particular interest for the analysis of ergonomics in design. The framework is the result from detailed non-participatory researchacross five design disciplines. The framework proposes a mindful approach to the analysis ofcritical situations through a structured procedure but without requiring specific technical knowledge. The framework aims to support designers and developers totheawareness of critical situations and opportunities, through a set of principles-based, iterative and momentarily application. The ramework is proposedto the design practice to nurture a culture of awareness andprovide guidelines to support designers’ framing their interventions and eventually change previously identified less successful behaviour.Product Innovation ManagementIndustrial Design Engineerin

Creative environments for design education and practice: A typology of creative spaces

This article presents a typology of creative spaces that is relevant to facilitating creative working and learning processes for designers. Drawing on qualitative user research with cultural probes in a design thinking institution, this typology identifies five different types of creative spaces along with five related spatial qualities. The paper suggests characteristics and criteria for each type and quality and summarizes the results in a framework. A second study in a practitioner's context validated these findings. The work presented in this article contributes to a better understanding of the impact of the built environment for creative design in education and practice and might inspire designers and educators to improve the design of their work environments.Accepted author manuscriptOLD Design Theory and MethodologyDesign Aesthetic