Embodied Cognition and New Product Design: Changing Product Form to Influence Brand Categorization*

This article explains how embodied cognition and perceptual symbol systems enable product designers to influence consumers by communicating key perceptual features through subtle changes in product design elements. In this way, managers can change perceptual design elements to support line extension strategies. More specifically, design changes can be used as a tool to help evolve consumer perceptions of a product's uses and brand category membership. The role of perceptual symbols in product design is illustrated by a well‐known off‐road motorbike brand that planned to extend into the street motorbike segment. In order to facilitate consumer acceptance of a street motorbike from this off‐road brand, the firm gradually introduced models containing an increasing number of elements of street motorbikes over a period of several years. The authors use this example to show how typical design elements of the target product category can be effectively integrated with design elements of the current product category by simply modifying key characteristics of product‐shape attributes. This process is further tested in an experiment, where motorbike models differing slightly in key product features (e.g., product shape) were rated on their resemblance to street or off‐road motorbikes. The results show a strong effect of these design changes on brand‐category membership. Managerial implications of this approach and future research directions are discussed.     

和服纹样在现代服装设计中的应用

日本和服上的染织纹样有浓郁的日本民族传统艺术的审美特征,本文以这些传统的和服纹样为研究对象,对它们进行整理和分析,从众多表象中总结出其本质特征。以多样的设计方式将这一传统的文化元素应用于现代服装设计上,表达现代设计的原理,使之适应人们对现代服装的审美需求。     

Identifying and analysing the drivers of heterogeneity among ecosystem builder accelerators

In response to convergent and dynamic market developments, established firms use corporate accelerators to open their innovation processes to start‐ups. Among different accelerator themes, the ecosystem builder theme introduced by recent research plays a crucial role in furthering our understanding of the heterogeneity of accelerators due to its broad objectives. By interviewing 20 leading experts from 16 German corporate accelerators, we first identify heterogeneity among different ecosystem builder accelerators based on the differences in the process of selection, business support, and graduation. Second, we further structure the observed heterogeneity by depicting five different ecosystem builder accelerator types instead of a single ecosystem builder theme. These ecosystem builder accelerator types show important differences and similarities in terms of strategies, design elements, and processes within each of the process steps. Our findings hold meaningful research and managerial implications by providing (1) a consistent and systematic conceptual understanding about ecosystem builder accelerators, their strategies, design elements, and processes and (2) guidance to design and position ecosystem builder accelerators with regard to a long‐term corporate strategy.     

Perception evaluation kit: a case study with materials and learning styles

International Journal of Technology and Design Education - Materials are elements that configure our built environment and are key components in design and engineering education. This research aims...     

Research on Basic Design Education: An International Survey

This paper reports on the results of a survey and qualitative analysis on the teaching of ‘Basic Design’ in schools of design and architecture located in 22 countries. In the context of this research work, Basic Design means the teaching and learning of design fundamentals that may also be commonly referred to as the Principles of Two- and Three-dimensional Design. The body of knowledge associated with Basic Design may be regarded as part of the general theory of teaching and learning design as practiced in many design schools and which has its origins in the classical design schools such as the Bauhaus. In the author’s perception and practice, the pedagogy of Basic Design promotes a holistic, creative and experimental methodology that develops the learning style and cognitive abilities of students with respect to the fundamental principles of design. This includes an understanding of the elements of shape, colour, texture, light, and rhythm in a manner complementary but usually unrelated to the common design methods teaching approach. As is well known among design practitioners, including architects and industrial designers, a deep understanding of the purpose of these fundamental design elements and principles is still relevant to contemporary design practice. The main objective of the research described in this paper was to determine the status and development of Basic Design pedagogy in a significant number of contemporary design schools. On the basis of the results of two surveys conducted in 2001–2002, this paper will identify and illustrate interesting aspects concerning the programmes and organisation of courses delivered by teachers of ‘Basic Design’. This work will also survey the viewpoints of Basic Design teachers in elementary years of design courses and of those teaching design through projects during the subsequent years of the same courses. Interestingly, the design project teachers surveyed in this research expressed a desire to be more involved in the teaching of Basic Design fundamentals which indicates strongly that Basic Design principles are still relevant in contemporary design education terms as they have ever been and that more research is needed in order to better understand and apply the related pedagogy.     

Designer stories: a commentary on the community of design practice

This research explores the design practice of three prominent New Zealand designers. It seeks to identify the key elements and methodologies they employ and to answer the research question: How do designers design? The need to gain understanding on how designers work, gave me occasion to visit and speak with designers about their approach to design. To look inside a designer’s practice has left me with an overriding impression that these designers know and trust their own way of working, they do not map their thoughts onto a pre-existing process; rather, each new work dictates its own direction. Their understanding has come about through a wealth of design experiences, a way of seeing, and perceptive reflection-in-action.     

基于改造衣可持续时尚的新旗袍创意设计研究

文章以旗袍为研究点,对后疫情时期产教融合合作企业的服装堆积库存进行解决问题式设计研究,从色、材、型这服装设计三要素对改良旗袍进行二次改造设计,将现有库存旧款服装改造为现代新式旗袍,旨在传扬新旗袍与改造衣服饰文化,缓解实体经济企业库存问题,同时响应可持续时尚发展.     

浅谈“亲宠”服装设计

从亲宠服装的概念出发,探讨亲宠服装设计的理念及元素表达。亲宠服装是基于人与宠物之间的和谐关系的情感表达,是情感系列服装一种形式,设计亲宠服装要以"情感"为核心,以舒适性为设计基础,从材料选择、色彩搭配、款式造型上表达亲宠服装设计。相关研究为亲宠服装的设计与研发提供理论的指导和参考。     

Exploring the differences in performance measurement between research and development: evidence from a multiple case study

Researchers and practitioners have recently paid great attention to research and development (R&D) performance measurement, although it is acknowledged to be a very challenging task because of R&D intrinsic uncertainty and complexity levels. In this paper, the problem of designing a performance measurement system (PMS) for R&D activities is addressed; specifically, we investigate if and how the design of the PMS is influenced by the type of activity it is applied to, namely Basic and Applied Research or new product development (NPD). We first develop a theoretical framework that comprises the main constitutive elements of a PMS for R&D. Then the framework is used for supporting a multiple case study analysis involving eight Italian technology-intensive firms. The research results show that the criteria for designing the constitutive elements of the PMS are radically different in Basic and Applied Research and NPD. The reasons behind the observed dissimilarities in the design criteria are widely discussed in the paper, as well as their implications for R&D managers.     

Exploring the Appeal of Product Design: A Grounded,Value‐Based Model of Key Design Elements and Relationships*

Product design is increasingly being recognized as an important source of sustainable competitive advantage. Until recently, the domain of design has been loosely categorized as “form and function” issues. However, as this paper will explore, product design deals with a much richer range of issues, many of which have not been considered in the marketing literature. To explore the domain and elements of design, the paper begins with two major goals: (1) to elicit the key dimensions of design and to develop an enriched language for the understanding and study of design; and (2) to integrate the design dimensions within a broader model that ties initial design goals to eventual psychological and behavioral responses from consumers. To achieve these ends, grounded theory development is used by conducting an extensive literature review, in‐depth interviews, and an interactive object elicitation technique. Drawing from this rich source of qualitative information as well as diverse literature fields, a framework is proposed for the creation of design value in consumer products. This framework not only explores the domain of design but also highlights the important elements of design that go well beyond the clichéd form and function issues. The resulting model reflects specific marketplace and organizational constraints that may help or impede the conversion of designer goals to so‐called design levers. These levers are used to convey three types of values to consumers: rational, kinesthetic, and emotional. The framework then explains how and when these different values may be perceived by the consumer. Within this framework, testable research propositions and specific directions for future design‐based research are also offered. Beyond its potential to spur marketing and new product development (NPD) management thought, the framework offered here represents a significant contribution to the field of design, which has historically been represented as a highly fragmented body of knowledge. Formalizing this framework should help overcome perhaps the largest obstacle to date to marketing‐related and NPD‐related research in this area—the lack of a detailed and consistent nomological view of the scope of design dimensions including testable linkages. Design has become an important tool that can be used by managers to develop dominant brands with lasting advantages. This research lends the NPD manager and the marketing manager better insights in into how this increasingly popular focus can be used to influence consumer behavior and firm success. “Design may be our top unexploited competitive edge.” Tom Peters, 2004 (cover review of Norman, 2004 ) “We don't have a good language to talk about [design]. In most people's vocabularies, design means veneer.… But to me, nothing could be further from the meaning of design. Design is the fundamental soul of a man‐made creation.” Steve Jobs, Apple Computers     

Why do students present different design objectives in engineering design projects?

Engineering design practice has been recognized as an effective approach to engage students in STEM learning. However, we noticed that students who possessed strong STEM knowledge did not necessarily perform well on their design projects. Thus, this study sought to explore factors that shaped students’ design objectives and means. A design-based research was adopted using a single group teaching experiment, in which students’ performance in relation to conceptual knowledge, engineering design practice, and their STEM attitudes were assessed in different design complexity groups. Based on the findings of this study, we concluded that students’ interest and metacognitive skills might be the key factors affecting their motivation during the engineering design process. Their abilities in predictive analysis and testing/revising were core elements affecting their design thinking. Our work provides preliminary evidence on how students form and present different design purposes and objectives in an engineering design project.     

Your new product development (NPD) is only as good as your process: an exploratory analysis of new NPD process design and implementation

Given industry competitiveness, how do firms' new product development (NPD) process designs differ when responding to an innovation mandate? How do NPD design elements differ across firms when implementing NPD processes? These design elements are strategic business unit (SBU) senior management involvement, business case content, customer interactions, and cross‐functional integration. What are the consequences of different combinations of NPD process design elements for innovation productivity? We explore these questions via a collective case study of newly implemented NPD process designs at three different SBUs of a major US‐based international conglomerate, 1 year after receiving the mandate to grow through innovation. Our analysis suggests that industry competitiveness and firm characteristics influence the NPD process design as SBUs employ distinct combinations of NPD design elements. The differential emphasis on design elements leads to variation in process design and divergence in innovation productivity.     

A method to improve response to industrial mail surveys

Mail surveys play a critically important role in industrial marketing research. This article reviews previous literature, presents a process model of the major elements involved in constructing industrial mail surveys, and overviews a comprehensive approach to mail survey design known as the Total Design Method (TDM). The TDM is relatively exhaustive and covers all facets of questionnaire design and implementation. The value of the TDM is illustrated by reviewing two industrial marketing studies that attempted to follow the TDM guidelines. The results of a cost-benefit analysis indicate the TDM can provide excellent value to industrial marketing researchers.     

Development of a Design Audit Tool for SMEs*

There is strong evidence of the importance of good design to company success. However, it is apparent that despite this evidence, design skills are often marginalized in small and medium‐size enterprises (SMEs). This article presents a design audit tool that captures good design principles in a form accessible to industry. Previous audit approaches have focused extensively on the management of new product development (NPD). In this research, the audit tool is based on process maturity principles and explicitly targets the design related activities in NPD—specifically in small firms. The design audit has been developed iteratively by application in action research mode and is supported by evidence from literature and exploratory cases. This inductive development enabled the generation of a robust audit tool through intervention in small firms to improve design practices. The resulting audit tool is designed for use in a multifunctional workshop setting. Typical outputs from application include the generation of action plans for improvement in future performance. This audit tool is based around a model of good design that explicitly distinguishes between management and design related activities in NPD. The audit tool has succeeded in encouraging managers to pay greater attention to the design related elements of NPD. This complements the satisfaction of managerial goals typically emphasized in many NPD processes.     

传统戏曲服饰的分类及其图案纹饰特点研究

中国传统戏曲服饰是我国民族艺术宝库中的精华之一,其图案纹饰具有特定的程式与寓意。阐述了传统戏曲服饰的分类研究现状,提出了基于款式特征对戏曲服饰进行分类的方法,分析了蟒、靠、褶、衣、盔头、鞋等戏曲服饰的类型特征和服饰图案特点。旨在通过对传统戏曲服装图案纹饰的研究,挖掘其设计元素和设计思路,将继承和创新并重,从而为传统戏曲服饰的创新改良设计奠定基础,为多元化格局中展现中华民族博大精深的历史文化底蕴而服务。     

服饰产品外观设计中的符号解析

造型、色彩、材质、图案等结构单元是影响服饰产品意义产生的基本元素,本文从产品语义学角度剖析了服饰产品设计元素内涵及意义,以及这些结构单元在不同存在状态下的语意构成。把感性的服饰产品设计过程纳入到理性化思维模式中,使设计过程透明化,将理性分析与感性经验有机地结合在一起,增强产品开发对市场的把握度。据此,设计师可结合目标消费群体的生活方式、价值取向、审美喜好、消费心理等,选择相应的的设计元素进行创作,增强设计的可控性。     

针织运动服装设计中功能性元素的合理性分析

基于运动服装特殊功能性的要求,从运动装的款式、色彩、面料、结构版型、辅料、细节等方面,采用人体工学、服装卫生学、心理学和环境工程学的方法分析总结了功能性元素在运动服装设计中运用,以更好地将设计与功能性结合运用到运动装的设计当中。     

How Ideation Portfolio Management Influences Front‐End Success

The front end of innovation is recognized as an important driver for successful new products and business prosperity. On the one hand, companies must generate a sufficient number and variety of high‐quality ideas to obtain a well‐balanced portfolio of potentially successful innovation projects. On the other hand, companies must strictly select and prioritize promising ideas and concepts because resource constraints do not allow for the pursuit of every idea. Therefore, companies must practice ideation portfolio management to simultaneously support the variety and selection of ideas and concepts before they enter the innovation project portfolio. To date, there is no research on how ideation portfolio management affects the performance of the front end and of the eventual project portfolio. The current study addresses this research gap in an empirical cross‐industry investigation of 175 medium‐sized and large firms in Germany using a double‐informant design. Ideation portfolio management is conceptualized with three elements: ideation strategy, process formalization, and creative encouragement. We find that all three elements independently and significantly contribute to front‐end success. The results also show that front‐end success mediates the relationship between the elements of ideation portfolio management and project portfolio success. More importantly, we find significant interaction effects between creative encouragement and process formalization and between creative encouragement and ideation strategy. The findings suggest that these elements of ideation portfolio management are complementary and should be balanced to maximize the performance of the front end and the eventual innovation project portfolio.     

湿球温度计算方法研究

电力设计中冷却塔的设计经常需要用到湿球温度这一参数,但是气象部门提供的气象数据缺少湿球温度参数,影响了工业冷却塔的设计优化。为了提高冷却塔设计的准确性以及计算效率,采用非线性曲面拟合方法以及二分法求解湿球温度,提供了拟合方法的详细公式以及二分法求解的源代码。在标准大气压下,两种计算方法的误差最小,气压越低,误差越大;相对湿度越高,两种计算方法的误差越小。计算结果表明,拟合法求得的湿球温度稍差,但能满足工程设计要求;二分法求解方法简便,精度高,计算源代码的可移植性高。研究结果可为相关工程设计提供参考,具有一定的实践意义。     

Standing out in the crowd: The effect of information clutter on consumer attention for front-of-pack nutrition labels

Whether and how information density on front-of-pack design affects consumers’ attention for nutrition labels is explored. The main manipulation concerned the number and type of nutrition labels (directive-, semi-, and non-directive), chromaticity (monochrome vs. traffic light color-coded scheme); number and type of additional design elements; and the distance between the label and additional design elements. Attention was measured by performance in visual search task. Performance was slower with increasing number of additional design elements, and when the label appeared in a dense rather than non-dense area. These effects were modulated by label type and chromaticity. The results show that information density is a key factor for consumer attention to (nutrition) information. Implications for policy makers and food producers who want to optimize package design layout and thus help consumers easily to find nutrition information displayed front of the pack are discussed.