Creativity in Uncovering Customer Expertise for Affective Design

We analyzed customer expertise in purchasing a car that satisfies customer needs for affective design. The approach was based on a hierarchical patterns analysis. There is a hierarchy of requirements starting with simple marketing requirements and ending with final design details. We assume that there is a rationale for customer’s evaluation of cars, and that evaluations are connected to design details. The purpose of using a hierarchical pattern was to model how car buyers evaluate car appearance. In addition, a hierarchical pattern is helpful to establish a dialog between car buyers and designers and create a frame work, where customer requirements can be satisfied. The study examined five main roles of product appearance, namely: Aesthetics, Symbolic Meaning, Functionality, Ergonomics and Categorization. The functional and ergonomics role are described as semantic roles as they address user’s evaluation of the apparent utility and perceived quality of a design. Twenty-six sets of evaluations were obtained from interviews with 13 subjects. To arrive at hierarchical patterns, the data was analyzed in three steps: Step 1 involved classifying responses into three groups: “I like”, “I dislike” and “I want to modify”. Step 2 transformed the results into hierarchical patterns using questions such as “Why do you like this car?” Step 3 analyzed and generalized the hierarchical patterns into a few simple patterns. The analyses yielded seven different hierarchical patterns, which generally fit all the evaluations of cars. The results are discussed in the context of the product appearance roles.