The specification of a consumer design toolkit to support personalised production via additive manufacturin

Matthew Sinclair (5749904)

English

Loughborough University Institutional Repository

CASE STUDIES IN THE USE OF DESIGN PRACTICE BY PHD RESEARCHERSFashion Graphic Industrial Interior S&J Textile Transport3D Printed prototype and working product Sketch designs for computer mouse engineered exclusively in Google SketchUpGoogle SketchUp CAD modelRESEARCHER: INSTITUTION: DATE OF AWARD: SUPERVISOR(S): EXAMINER(S):      Dr Matt SinclairLoughborough University, UK2012Dr. Ian CampbellDr. Richard Bibb Professor Deon de Beer THE SPECIFICATION OF A CONSUMER DESIGN TOOLKIT TO SUPPORT PERSONALISED PRODUCTION VIA ADDITIVE MANUFACTURINGCREATIVE DISCIPLINE: Industrial designRESEARCH METHODS: A mixed-methods strategy, primarily involving• case study of a project undertaken by my own professional practice• reflective practice, using design diaries to document work undertakenNUMBER OF DESIGN CASE STUDIES UNDERTAKEN BY THE RESEARCHER: 2LENGTH OF THESIS: 74000 wordsEXAMINATION FORMAT: Thesis and VivaDURATION OF STUDY: 5 years full-timeEXPERIENCE OF DESIGN PRACTICE BEFORE START OF PHD: BA (Hons) (Loughborough University), MA (Royal College of Art)1995 – 2001, Designer, Senior Designer, Nokia Mobile Phones (UK)2001 – 2003, Category Design Manager, Nokia (Finland)2004 – Present, Creative Director, Matt Sinclair DesignPERSONAL MOTIVATION FOR UNDERTAKING PRACTICE DURING PHD: I would not have been able to sustain interest in the research if it had not included an element of practice. And so I would not have undertaken the PhD if practice based research had somehow been precluded.AIM OF THE RESEARCH:In mass customisation literature, much of the work focusses on the needs and wishes of consumers engaged in customisation (which, often is called ‘design’). However it appeared to me that very little research had been done to understand how the equity tied up in a brand’s design language is affected when consumers begin to modify a product’s three-dimensional form. Thus the primary aim of the research was to investigate whether the opportunities for personalised products which additive manufacturing promises can be reconciled with brands’ requirements for recognition and control of image.RESEARCH QUESTIONS: • What were the new and emerging approaches to Industrial Design, and what degree     of consumer involvement was expected or advocated?• What were the limits of what was currently achievable in the customisation of     consumer electronics devices?• How were brands' product design languages managed, and what conflicts existed     between consumers' involvement in design and the maintenance of brand equity?• Which activities and processes were preferred by consumers engaging in the design     of their own products, and how were consumers best enabled to communicate     design intent?• What could be learned from existing consumer-oriented 3D modelling software?OBJECTIVES:• To review the literature and critically analyse the role of the consumer in design     processes outside of those traditionally employed by professional industrial     designers• To explore the process and outcomes of bespoke design and customisation, and     understand how these might be applied within a design toolkit• To understand how a product design language affects brand equity, how design     languages are developed and maintained, and what conflicts might arise from     consumers' interventions in design• To investigate, through user trials, non-designers' abilities and preferences with     regard to a number of design methods• To develop a specification for a toolkit capable of being used by consumer-designers,     which at the same time satisfies the requirements of professional designers and     brand managersFashion Graphic Industrial Interior S&J Textile TransportUlysse Nardin Chairman in rose gold and ceramicExploded view of the Ulysse Nardin Chairman, showing all customisable partsColour and Materials stage of the Consumer Design ToolkitDesign Practice Research Case Studies have been compiled by the Design Practice Research Group at Loughborough Design School. If you would like to work with us or contribute a case study, please contact the Design Practice Research Group Leader, Dr Mark Evans (M.A.Evans@lboro.ac.uk).     SUMMARY: The research stemmed from the future scenario that as additive manufacturing (AM)technologies become cheaper and more readily available, consumers without formaldesign training will begin to customise, design and manufacture their own products.Much of this activity is likely to infringe on brands' intellectual property. My researchexplores the feasibility of a situation in which, rather than attempting to prohibit suchactivity, manufacturers engage with consumers to facilitate it, thus retaining control(albeit reduced) over their brand's image and the quality of products offered.The PhD involved looking at existing and emerging approaches to industrial design,and understanding the difference between how designers and non-designersengage in design activity. It included a case study from my own professional practiceto document the state-of-the-art regarding the design-for-customisation ofconsumer electronics, together with a number of practice-based research tasksundertaken to analyse the strengths and weaknesses of consumer-oriented 3Dmodelling software. Findings from these key areas informed the design andspecification of a prototype Consumer Design Toolkit, which was tested using bothconsumers and senior design professionals.RATIONALE FOR THE INCLUSION OF DESIGN PRACTICE UNDERTAKEN BY THE RESEARCHER:Since much of my research involves those who are not trained as designers, testingand validation would have been problematic, and ultimately less useful, without theuse of designed prototypes. It is my belief that the quality of feedback derived fromtesting the prototype toolkit was a direct result of the quality of the design of theprototype – if the toolkit had been less well designed, more focus would have beenplaced on the toolkit itself, rather than the interactions it was demonstrating.The work undertaken for Ulysse Nardin was not intended to be part of the PhD whenit was instigated, though somewhat ironically the reason I was awarded the work waspartially because of my PhD research. However, as I worked on the project it becameincreasingly clear that by working on the project, I had unique access and insights intoa corporate design strategy that was highly relevant to the research.Finally a number of methods were considered for analysing the consumer-orientedmodelling software, however all those which included users (which initially seemedthe most obvious strategy) ran up against the problem of the amount of time neededfor the participant to become proficient in the software. Thus it was realised that tomaximise the value of the findings, the software should be tested by myself. A designtask (the modelling of a computer mouse) was devised as a way of pushing thesoftware to its limits in a way which simply following official tutorials would not.HOW THE PHD DESIGN PRACTICE DIFFERED FROM THAT OF COMMERCIAL PRACTICE:Arguing the validity of practice based research, and identifying how it differs to commercial practice, comprised a significant part of my methodology. The main differences as I perceived them were:• The degree of analysis required: the design diary method entailed writing up the     day’s work in significant detail, something I would never bother with professionally• Recording for review by others: for example when sketching, annotations were     required not just for myself, but so that others, external to the work, could     understand the process• Justification: as the creative director of a consultancy, at times the only justification     needed for a decision is my own authority. This was never the case in the PhD!• Learning ‘on the job’: particularly when analysing the modelling software, I was     required to learn skills whilst engaged in the design task. This would rarely happen in     my practice,  where existing skills would be called on to maximise output in a given     timeframeTHESIS AVAILABLE AT: https://dspace.lboro.ac.uk/dspace-jspui/handle/2134/11051CONTACT DETAILS: Loughborough University, UK (m.sinclair@lboro.ac.uk)     Images copyright Dr Matt Sinclair    This item was submitted to Loughborough’s Institutional Repository (https://dspace.lboro.ac.uk/) by the editor and is made available under the following Creative Commons Licence conditions.       For the full text of this licence, please go to: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/  

The specification of a consumer design toolkit to support personalised production via additive manufacturing

This thesis stems from the future scenario that as additive manufacturing (AM) technologies become cheaper and more readily available, consumers without formal design training will begin to customise, design and manufacture their own products. Much of this activity is likely to infringe on brands' intellectual property. The research explores the feasibility of a situation in which, rather than attempting to prohibit such activity, manufacturers engage with consumers to facilitate it, thus retaining control (albeit reduced) over their brand's image and the quality of products offered.

The research begins with a literature review encompassing AM technologies and their adoption by consumers; mass customisation (MC) and the management of variation in product offering; and traditional models of industrial design (ID), including user-centred design and co-design. It finds that conventional definitions of MC and ID are unable to provide for the possibility of consumer intervention in the shape and non-modular configuration of products. Further research was then conducted in the areas of Open Design (including crowdsourcing, open sourcing and 'hardware hacking') as well as bespoke customisation, which were found to be much more accommodating of the scenario proposed. A new term, 'consumer design', is introduced and defined, together with the hypothesis that in future, the role of the industrial designer may be to design 'unfinished' products. An original classification of consumer involvement in ID is presented.

Empirical research, undertaken with consumers using an iterative design software package (Genoform), demonstrated a preference for designing within pre-determined boundaries. Action research was conducted to assess consumer-oriented 3D CAD software, and compare its capabilities with that of MC toolkits. A survey of senior designers and brand managers revealed strategies for implementing and managing a brand's product design language, and a guide was created to show the relative importance of designed features. Using these findings, a prototype toolkit was created to demonstrate how a brand might facilitate consumer interaction with the shape design of a complex consumer electronics product (in this case a mobile phone). The toolkit was tested with both consumers and experienced designers to assess its viability.

The research finds that it is possible to create a consumer-design toolkit which enables untrained users to change the form of a product, whilst maintaining brand equity and ensuring the product's functionality and manufacturability

https://repository.lboro.ac.uk/articles/The_specification_of_a_consumer_design_toolkit_to_support_personalised_production_via_additive_manufacturing/9360401/files/16970648.pdf

The specification of a consumer design toolkit to support personalised production via additive manufacturing

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Loughborough University Institutional Repository

Loughborough University Institutional Repository