Product design of novel technology-based products - The importance of users

Abstract

Terms such as product design, engineering design, and others, have been used to represent specific ways to look at Product Design and Development (PDD). Each of them features specific methods and techniques and, despite the evolution of PDD, most processes remain unchanged. Moreover, as products incorporate more technology, with emphasis on microelectronics, it becomes obvious that improvements of the traditional PDD processes are required. Incorporating microelectronics in products, without the user being able to perceive them, while simultaneously ensuring their functionality, is not a trivial task. Therefore, improving a user-centered design (UCD) approach is paramount. In this framework, 6 design processes proposed by different authors and the UCD standard were analysed by comparing the phases of each process, and their methods, techniques, and tools were explored. Finally, a case-study is described, which enables studying how the different processes can be applied and, how the user could be linked to the process. This opens the path for the optimization of PDD to meet the needs of novel products by improving the importance of users' direct participation in the process.