A Conceptual Design Specification Based on User Aesthetic Information Analysis and Product Functional Reasoning

Abstract

User satisfaction with a product plays a direct role in the purchasing decisions. With the enrichment of material life and the growth of individual requirements, this satisfaction is derived from the requirement for functionality to aesthetics. Conventional product design methods normally focus on achieving the required functions where its design specifications are mainly related to certain functional or usability requirements. In recent years, researchers have made efforts to develop methods for supporting aesthetic design activities during the product conceptual design phase. However, most of these methods hardly consider product aesthetics or the consumers’ emotional needs. Therefore, this study proposed a user-driven conceptual design specification integrating functional reasoning with aesthetic information analysis. The method consisted of two tasks, the construction of a mapping model and the implementation of the mapping model. Firstly, the mapping model was constructed for capturing the relationships between initial design specifications and user experience (UX). Secondly, the proposed design specifications were selected, refined, and optimized based on the mapping model. A case study on digital camera design was carried out to demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed method. The results showed that, compared with the initial design specification candidates, the UX was enhanced by applying the improved design specifications.