A NOVEL APPROACH TO INTEGRATE FUNCTIONAL AND AESTHETIC INFORMATION BASED ON USER EXPERIENCE IN PRODUCT CONCEPTUAL DESIGN

Abstract

Traditional conceptual design usually focuses on functional design, aiming to generate appropriate structures that would provide required functions. However, for today’s consumer products such as mobile phones, cameras, and other electronic products, the functional aspect of a product is no longer the only primary concern that leads to the purchasing decision of a user. The aesthetic aspect of conceptual design should be taken into account as well. In this regard, a novel approach is proposed to improve product conceptual design integrating functional and aesthetic design information based on user experience. The approach consists of two major tasks to improve both design specifications and design concepts accordingly. User experience is applied to compare and evaluate design information. The approach also provides a meaningful way of quantifying aesthetic design information based on emotion adjectives and aesthetic design principles. Design case studies of digital cameras are conducted to demonstrate the proposed approach.