Customer driven ideation : an exploratory study of empathic designs' impact on industrial design practice.

摘要

This research provides a study of practices of innovative ideation.The literature highlights the need for more radical innovation asdrivers for customer delight, and more innovative approaches tounderstanding customers. However, both the theory andapplication, including the resultant practise describe and present aproduct-centred approach to innovation as best practise. Using anAction Research methodology within the Advanced Product Group ofa well known automotive manufacturer; the technical centre ofanother well known automotive manufacturer and the industrialdesign department of a university, this exploratory and descriptivestudy contributes to the understanding and practise of moreinnovative approaches to customer driven ideation. Literaturesuggests that integrating customer understanding into the earlieststages of new product development was critical both to itseffectiveness and its ability to innovate. This study, therefore aimedto investigate innovative ideation by considering two key factors:1. Its integration into the early stages of the product design anddevelopment process2. Industrial design practises of customer understandingThe research concluded on Industrial Design practise as well as theevolving practise of Innovative Ideation.Industrial designers' participate in ideation processes and practicesin a unique way, not fully represented or accounted for in existingprescriptions for integrating customer understanding. They requirespecific types of information, usually general in nature andpresented visually. Information integrated into these practises isoften substantiated with case study and example-based evidence ordata. The potential to innovate is regarded as the single mostsignificant motivator for designers to participate in customerunderstanding. Paradoxically, designers' processes use and relyupon 'product' as a focus for innovation and communication ofdesign integrity. A designer's key role and most significantcontribution, is in creative and strategic thinking:(new ideas: IDEATION): that is the integration of the actions of ideageneration and the formulation of creative design responses; andthe proposal of new concepts, which place a strong emphasis onincreasing the desirability of 'product experiences' or newbehaviours. This orientation of design considerations and thequestions associated with them are particularly unique to industrialdesign disciplines.They are systems based and holistic in their approach in order toprioritise customer needs within the design brief. An important earlyaspect is the identification of customer attitudes and activities,which broadens the design considerations.This study relates these findings to an existing Empathic Designmethodology and Kano's model of delight (1995), as identified bestpractice drivers for ideation. This study also concludes that'Empathic Design' (it's theory, descriptions, definitions and practise)and product design as a discipline (its profile, uses and practise)need to evolve in order to embrace customer understanding as apathway to innovation.