Proceedings of the Design Society: International Conference on Engineering Design
Automotive systems are changing rapidly from purely mechanical to smart, programmable assistants.... more Automotive systems are changing rapidly from purely mechanical to smart, programmable assistants. These systems react and respond to the driving environment and communicate with other subsystems for better driver support and safety. However, instead of supporting, the complexity of such systems can result in a stressful experience for the driver, adding to the workload. Hence, a poorly designed system, from a usability and user experience perspective, can lead to reduced usage or even ignorance of the provided functionalities, especially concerning Adaptive Driver Assistance Systems.In this paper, the authors propose a combined design approach for user behavior evaluation of such systems. At the core of the design is a mixed methods approach, where objective data, which is automatically collected in vehicles, is augmented with subjective data, which is gathered through in- depth interviews with end-users. The aim of the proposed methodology design is to improve current practices on ...
Today, when an industrial design concept is evaluated in an aesthetic manner, little or no consid... more Today, when an industrial design concept is evaluated in an aesthetic manner, little or no consideration is given to geometrical variation, i.e. the concept is evaluated with nominal geometry. If geometrical variation were considered as early on as in the concept phase, when industrial design concepts are evaluated, the possibility of discovering aspects that can influence the visual quality appearance would be enhanced. By using non-nominal models during the design process, important geometric aspects can be stressed and the need for physical prototypes and test series can be reduced. In the automotive industry, the relationships between different visible parts of the interior and exterior are critical for the overall visual quality appearance of the product. These relations should have a tight and parallel appearance. This thesis presents methods and a tool for predicting how geometrical variation affects visual quality appearance. The adopted approach has been to combine computer...
At the early stages of the product development, it is important to set up customer's requ... more At the early stages of the product development, it is important to set up customer's requirements and translate these into the technical specifications with the highest level of precision since the changes in the late design phases have extremely high cost. These requirements are directly dependent on the correct and complete definition of perceived quality attributes. Such attention to the details is vital for the luxury car manufacturers since they are seeking to fulfill customer requirements with the high level of personalization. This research based on the perceived quality framework and presents findings from the empirical study of leading Italian luxury vehicle manufacturers. This research contributes to the existing debate regarding the correct definition of the customer's requirements and communication strategies. Moreover, it highlights possible ways to reduce information asymmetry between car manufacturers and customers.
ABSTRACT Perceived Quality clusters different aspects that influence the perception of high quali... more ABSTRACT Perceived Quality clusters different aspects that influence the perception of high quality in a product for a customer. Some aspects of Perceived Quality are strongly dependent on geometrical variation. It is important not only to evaluate Perceived Quality with nominal CAD data but also to use non-nominal data in order to find all issues that occur due to variation. This paper presents experience and knowledge from several years of industrial use of non-nominal evaluations as a basis for decisions in the automotive industry. It includes a newly developed and implemented strategy for navigation in virtual environments.
Perceived quality is one of the most important factors underlying success of car manufacturers to... more Perceived quality is one of the most important factors underlying success of car manufacturers today. There is a significant amount of literature regarding perceived quality from a marketing research perspective, applied psychology and consumer research. From an engineering viewpoint, perceived quality is represented in the literature mainly by the work that assesses different aspects of perceived quality in order to evaluate them in the early design stages. As a result of this no theoretical framework has yet been compiled that combines customer view on perceived quality and the engineering prospects of this broad term. Consequently, terms regarding perceived quality components and elements often have multiple meanings or meanings similar to each other. There is a need to standardize the terminology and definitions related to perceived quality more concretely. This paper presents the basis of a theoretical framework in an attempt to build a model, including different aspects of perceived quality regarding automotive industry needs. Based on the literature review and industry examples, the authors propose a common terminology and perceived quality definition in the field of the automotive industry.
The exterior design of an assembled car body consists of a number of components, which are in spa... more The exterior design of an assembled car body consists of a number of components, which are in spatial relation to each other. These relationships have a significant impact on the overall perceived Visual Quality Appearance, (VQA) of a car body exteriorly. The automotive industry has the ambition to produce products with high VQA. For companies, which are producing products composed of several components, it is costly and time-consuming to consider and control the impact of geometric variation. This paper investigates the industry's and the customers' attitude regarding VQA of split lines, by use of an emperical study. It also investigates if there is a correrlation between the car brand that customers think possesses the best VQA regarding split lines and measurement data of the geometrical variation of split lines of those car brands.
This study explores how professionals from the Volvo Car Group and Volvo Group Truck Technology u... more This study explores how professionals from the Volvo Car Group and Volvo Group Truck Technology understand their company's core values and transfer these into perceived quality attributes. Traditionally, both of the companies share the same core values: Quality, Safety, Environmental Care, but they transform these values in different ways due to different customer needs. In general, technical quality has been one of the key features in the automotive industry premium segment for many years, but in recent years it has shifted from being the main purchasing criterion into being a basic requirement. Today, maintaining a forefront position in the premium segment of the car industry can only be achieved by delivering products that are perceived by the customers as high quality products. Perceived quality becomes a cutting edge in the competition between car manufacturers. The purpose of this study is to investigate emerging industry trends and make steps towards elicitation, objectification and distribution of issues regarding perceived quality.
Ds 61 Proceedings of Norddesign 2010 the 8th International Norddesign Conference Goteborg Sweden 25 27 08 2010, Aug 25, 2010
Within the automotive industry, Perceived Quality group different aspects that influence the cust... more Within the automotive industry, Perceived Quality group different aspects that influence the customer perception of high quality on a product. Accordingly, Perceived Quality is not about functional quality but about aspects that the customer perceive through senses like feeling and appearance of materials, width of split lines, finish of painted components, the sound and feeling of movable and fixed components, absence of build defects etc. All together those aspects and the harmony between them reflect the producer's ability to control product parameters and thereby also mirror the functional quality of the product. Non-nominal visualization has been proposed by several authors as a method to evaluate Perceived Quality. However, focus has mainly been on simulation and visualization capability and tool development. Very few publications have concentrated on industrial experience and evaluation of proposed tools and methods. This paper present a retrospective analysis and evaluation of methods and tools for nonnominal visualization that has been implemented, further developed and continuously used at Volvo Car Corporation (VCC) during the last five years. Implemented methods and tools are based on the work presented by Wickman . The purpose with the study is to evaluate whether proposed methods and tools really worked as intended. The retrospective analysis and evaluation covers the use of non-nominal visualization in eight vehicle projects. Data for the analysis has been collected from VCC by studying different types of information sources. The two main sources have been non-nominal visualization presentations and visualization-and simulation models. Project team minutes and working logs related to nonnominal evaluations have also been used. The retrospective analysis clearly shows that those parts of methodology that has been implemented do work as intended. It is also clear that implemented methodology has increased concurrent engineering in several aspects and also enables the possibility to take decision virtually in the concept phase that previously was taken during physical built phase.
ABSTRACT In the automotive industry it is of great importance to manage the impact of part and as... more ABSTRACT In the automotive industry it is of great importance to manage the impact of part and assembly variation as it affects aesthetical aspects of the final Perceived Quality, such as the appearance of flush, parallelism and gaps in split-lines. By using a CAT (Computer Aided Tolerancing) software simulating tolerances, in combination with a high-end visualization tool, evaluations are made to judge a predicted outcome of the final Perceived Quality. When a new styling concept needs to be evaluated the data used for analysis and visualization will be less mature and the fact that several vehicle components are non-rigid will further complicate the realization of non-nominal visualization. The deformation behavior of non-rigid components is dependent on several parameters such as part shape, position of reference points, flanges, reinforcements etc. Such information is most likely not available when evaluating a new styling concept, represented only by a surface skin. This paper discusses the possibility to use this limited information, defined as styling data, as a basis when performing non-nominal visualization and evaluation of Perceived Quality based on deformable non-rigid components. The insufficient information is supplemented by collecting and comparing data from prior projects to enable non-rigid behavior prediction of components as such.
Proceedings of the Design Society: International Conference on Engineering Design
Automotive systems are changing rapidly from purely mechanical to smart, programmable assistants.... more Automotive systems are changing rapidly from purely mechanical to smart, programmable assistants. These systems react and respond to the driving environment and communicate with other subsystems for better driver support and safety. However, instead of supporting, the complexity of such systems can result in a stressful experience for the driver, adding to the workload. Hence, a poorly designed system, from a usability and user experience perspective, can lead to reduced usage or even ignorance of the provided functionalities, especially concerning Adaptive Driver Assistance Systems.In this paper, the authors propose a combined design approach for user behavior evaluation of such systems. At the core of the design is a mixed methods approach, where objective data, which is automatically collected in vehicles, is augmented with subjective data, which is gathered through in- depth interviews with end-users. The aim of the proposed methodology design is to improve current practices on ...
Today, when an industrial design concept is evaluated in an aesthetic manner, little or no consid... more Today, when an industrial design concept is evaluated in an aesthetic manner, little or no consideration is given to geometrical variation, i.e. the concept is evaluated with nominal geometry. If geometrical variation were considered as early on as in the concept phase, when industrial design concepts are evaluated, the possibility of discovering aspects that can influence the visual quality appearance would be enhanced. By using non-nominal models during the design process, important geometric aspects can be stressed and the need for physical prototypes and test series can be reduced. In the automotive industry, the relationships between different visible parts of the interior and exterior are critical for the overall visual quality appearance of the product. These relations should have a tight and parallel appearance. This thesis presents methods and a tool for predicting how geometrical variation affects visual quality appearance. The adopted approach has been to combine computer...
At the early stages of the product development, it is important to set up customer's requ... more At the early stages of the product development, it is important to set up customer's requirements and translate these into the technical specifications with the highest level of precision since the changes in the late design phases have extremely high cost. These requirements are directly dependent on the correct and complete definition of perceived quality attributes. Such attention to the details is vital for the luxury car manufacturers since they are seeking to fulfill customer requirements with the high level of personalization. This research based on the perceived quality framework and presents findings from the empirical study of leading Italian luxury vehicle manufacturers. This research contributes to the existing debate regarding the correct definition of the customer's requirements and communication strategies. Moreover, it highlights possible ways to reduce information asymmetry between car manufacturers and customers.
ABSTRACT Perceived Quality clusters different aspects that influence the perception of high quali... more ABSTRACT Perceived Quality clusters different aspects that influence the perception of high quality in a product for a customer. Some aspects of Perceived Quality are strongly dependent on geometrical variation. It is important not only to evaluate Perceived Quality with nominal CAD data but also to use non-nominal data in order to find all issues that occur due to variation. This paper presents experience and knowledge from several years of industrial use of non-nominal evaluations as a basis for decisions in the automotive industry. It includes a newly developed and implemented strategy for navigation in virtual environments.
Perceived quality is one of the most important factors underlying success of car manufacturers to... more Perceived quality is one of the most important factors underlying success of car manufacturers today. There is a significant amount of literature regarding perceived quality from a marketing research perspective, applied psychology and consumer research. From an engineering viewpoint, perceived quality is represented in the literature mainly by the work that assesses different aspects of perceived quality in order to evaluate them in the early design stages. As a result of this no theoretical framework has yet been compiled that combines customer view on perceived quality and the engineering prospects of this broad term. Consequently, terms regarding perceived quality components and elements often have multiple meanings or meanings similar to each other. There is a need to standardize the terminology and definitions related to perceived quality more concretely. This paper presents the basis of a theoretical framework in an attempt to build a model, including different aspects of perceived quality regarding automotive industry needs. Based on the literature review and industry examples, the authors propose a common terminology and perceived quality definition in the field of the automotive industry.
The exterior design of an assembled car body consists of a number of components, which are in spa... more The exterior design of an assembled car body consists of a number of components, which are in spatial relation to each other. These relationships have a significant impact on the overall perceived Visual Quality Appearance, (VQA) of a car body exteriorly. The automotive industry has the ambition to produce products with high VQA. For companies, which are producing products composed of several components, it is costly and time-consuming to consider and control the impact of geometric variation. This paper investigates the industry's and the customers' attitude regarding VQA of split lines, by use of an emperical study. It also investigates if there is a correrlation between the car brand that customers think possesses the best VQA regarding split lines and measurement data of the geometrical variation of split lines of those car brands.
This study explores how professionals from the Volvo Car Group and Volvo Group Truck Technology u... more This study explores how professionals from the Volvo Car Group and Volvo Group Truck Technology understand their company's core values and transfer these into perceived quality attributes. Traditionally, both of the companies share the same core values: Quality, Safety, Environmental Care, but they transform these values in different ways due to different customer needs. In general, technical quality has been one of the key features in the automotive industry premium segment for many years, but in recent years it has shifted from being the main purchasing criterion into being a basic requirement. Today, maintaining a forefront position in the premium segment of the car industry can only be achieved by delivering products that are perceived by the customers as high quality products. Perceived quality becomes a cutting edge in the competition between car manufacturers. The purpose of this study is to investigate emerging industry trends and make steps towards elicitation, objectification and distribution of issues regarding perceived quality.
Ds 61 Proceedings of Norddesign 2010 the 8th International Norddesign Conference Goteborg Sweden 25 27 08 2010, Aug 25, 2010
Within the automotive industry, Perceived Quality group different aspects that influence the cust... more Within the automotive industry, Perceived Quality group different aspects that influence the customer perception of high quality on a product. Accordingly, Perceived Quality is not about functional quality but about aspects that the customer perceive through senses like feeling and appearance of materials, width of split lines, finish of painted components, the sound and feeling of movable and fixed components, absence of build defects etc. All together those aspects and the harmony between them reflect the producer's ability to control product parameters and thereby also mirror the functional quality of the product. Non-nominal visualization has been proposed by several authors as a method to evaluate Perceived Quality. However, focus has mainly been on simulation and visualization capability and tool development. Very few publications have concentrated on industrial experience and evaluation of proposed tools and methods. This paper present a retrospective analysis and evaluation of methods and tools for nonnominal visualization that has been implemented, further developed and continuously used at Volvo Car Corporation (VCC) during the last five years. Implemented methods and tools are based on the work presented by Wickman . The purpose with the study is to evaluate whether proposed methods and tools really worked as intended. The retrospective analysis and evaluation covers the use of non-nominal visualization in eight vehicle projects. Data for the analysis has been collected from VCC by studying different types of information sources. The two main sources have been non-nominal visualization presentations and visualization-and simulation models. Project team minutes and working logs related to nonnominal evaluations have also been used. The retrospective analysis clearly shows that those parts of methodology that has been implemented do work as intended. It is also clear that implemented methodology has increased concurrent engineering in several aspects and also enables the possibility to take decision virtually in the concept phase that previously was taken during physical built phase.
ABSTRACT In the automotive industry it is of great importance to manage the impact of part and as... more ABSTRACT In the automotive industry it is of great importance to manage the impact of part and assembly variation as it affects aesthetical aspects of the final Perceived Quality, such as the appearance of flush, parallelism and gaps in split-lines. By using a CAT (Computer Aided Tolerancing) software simulating tolerances, in combination with a high-end visualization tool, evaluations are made to judge a predicted outcome of the final Perceived Quality. When a new styling concept needs to be evaluated the data used for analysis and visualization will be less mature and the fact that several vehicle components are non-rigid will further complicate the realization of non-nominal visualization. The deformation behavior of non-rigid components is dependent on several parameters such as part shape, position of reference points, flanges, reinforcements etc. Such information is most likely not available when evaluating a new styling concept, represented only by a surface skin. This paper discusses the possibility to use this limited information, defined as styling data, as a basis when performing non-nominal visualization and evaluation of Perceived Quality based on deformable non-rigid components. The insufficient information is supplemented by collecting and comparing data from prior projects to enable non-rigid behavior prediction of components as such.
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Papers by Casper Wickman