Natural fibres and their composites have significant untapped potential for product designers and... more Natural fibres and their composites have significant untapped potential for product designers and are widely recognized as having good sustainability credentials. Nevertheless, applications for these materials are stifled because of low esteem and a generally low perceived quality compared with conventional materials such as plastics and metals. Current impressions of this material class are therefore not favourable, and their future acceptance in mainstream product design will depend on understanding how, particularly, the sensorial qualities of the materials may be modified to contribute positively to user experiences. This position paper outlines the motivations and methods for a planned research project into the perception and future acceptance of natural fibre materials for industrial product design.
Materials get different meanings in various products. Several aspects can be effective in how mea... more Materials get different meanings in various products. Several aspects can be effective in how meanings are attributed to materials. In this current study we focus on sensorial properties of materials (e.g. roughness, glossiness, transparency, etc.) and manufacturing processes (e.g. polishing, joining, molding, etc.) as effective aspects in meaning attribution. 25 participants were asked to select products expressing five given meanings in which materials predominantly play a role: aggressive, nostalgic, professional, sexy and toy-like. Then, they were asked to appraise materials of their products (1) verbally through interviews and (2) on paper through a list of sensorial properties and manufacturing processes presented by fivepoint scales. In total 125 products were collected and analyzed. The most effective properties in the overall evaluation were identified. Certain properties were found to be effective in attributing particular meanings to materials. For instance, while transparency and smoothness were very much used for conveying the meaning of sexy, hardness and dark colors were frequently used for expressing professionalism in materials.
There are several tools used in materials selection processes by designers. However, they are mos... more There are several tools used in materials selection processes by designers. However, they are mostly engineering based tools, which are dominated by numerical (or technical) material data that is mostly of use in embodiment or detailed design phases of new product development. On the other hand, product designers consider certain aspects such as product personality, user-interaction, meanings, emotions in their material decisions. In this regard, existing tools and methods do not fully support designers in their materials selection processes. This paper describes the development of a new materials selection tool holding the idea of [meaning driven materials selection]. In addition, the paper consists of a study conducted to create data for a dummy application.
Current design practices focus on eco-efficiency as the main approach in the field of sustainable... more Current design practices focus on eco-efficiency as the main approach in the field of sustainable product development. This approach mainly aims at improving existing products and services. Environmental product performance can be greatly improved using ecoefficiency but in many cases the improvements are incremental. Furthermore, the overall environmental impact the product causes is often not reducing, but rising instead. Strategies based on 'learning from nature' -Biomimicry, Natural Capitalism and Cradle to Cradle-offer opportunities to design in a radically different, goal-driven manner. These strategies, which are introduced in this paper as 'nature-inspired design strategies', provide pathways and principles aimed at developing designs that are in natural balance with their environment.
The competitive market rising from the increase in product consumption makes product designers co... more The competitive market rising from the increase in product consumption makes product designers consider more about materials than before. Materials, indeed, have been extensively studied in science and engineering for years. Existing materials selection sources can serve as useful function in giving up to date information on technical (physical, quantifiable) characteristics of materials. However, designers also use some intangible aspects with the aim of expressing their intentions; attributing some meanings to their products through their appropriate choices of material. The main objective of this paper is to evaluate materials selection process in product design in order to find out what kinds of aspects of materials are significant for product designers in their selections. This paper includes an experiment conducted with 20 professional designers. The findings from the experiment were used for establishing a required data table representing the material considerations of designers in materials selection. The crucial role of intangible characteristics of materials in their selections is emphasized.
Natural fibres and their composites have significant untapped potential for product designers and... more Natural fibres and their composites have significant untapped potential for product designers and are widely recognized as having good sustainability credentials. Nevertheless, applications for these materials are stifled because of low esteem and a generally low perceived quality compared with conventional materials such as plastics and metals. Current impressions of this material class are therefore not favourable, and their future acceptance in mainstream product design will depend on understanding how, particularly, the sensorial qualities of the materials may be modified to contribute positively to user experiences. This position paper outlines the motivations and methods for a planned research project into the perception and future acceptance of natural fibre materials for industrial product design.
Materials get different meanings in various products. Several aspects can be effective in how mea... more Materials get different meanings in various products. Several aspects can be effective in how meanings are attributed to materials. In this current study we focus on sensorial properties of materials (e.g. roughness, glossiness, transparency, etc.) and manufacturing processes (e.g. polishing, joining, molding, etc.) as effective aspects in meaning attribution. 25 participants were asked to select products expressing five given meanings in which materials predominantly play a role: aggressive, nostalgic, professional, sexy and toy-like. Then, they were asked to appraise materials of their products (1) verbally through interviews and (2) on paper through a list of sensorial properties and manufacturing processes presented by fivepoint scales. In total 125 products were collected and analyzed. The most effective properties in the overall evaluation were identified. Certain properties were found to be effective in attributing particular meanings to materials. For instance, while transparency and smoothness were very much used for conveying the meaning of sexy, hardness and dark colors were frequently used for expressing professionalism in materials.
There are several tools used in materials selection processes by designers. However, they are mos... more There are several tools used in materials selection processes by designers. However, they are mostly engineering based tools, which are dominated by numerical (or technical) material data that is mostly of use in embodiment or detailed design phases of new product development. On the other hand, product designers consider certain aspects such as product personality, user-interaction, meanings, emotions in their material decisions. In this regard, existing tools and methods do not fully support designers in their materials selection processes. This paper describes the development of a new materials selection tool holding the idea of [meaning driven materials selection]. In addition, the paper consists of a study conducted to create data for a dummy application.
Current design practices focus on eco-efficiency as the main approach in the field of sustainable... more Current design practices focus on eco-efficiency as the main approach in the field of sustainable product development. This approach mainly aims at improving existing products and services. Environmental product performance can be greatly improved using ecoefficiency but in many cases the improvements are incremental. Furthermore, the overall environmental impact the product causes is often not reducing, but rising instead. Strategies based on 'learning from nature' -Biomimicry, Natural Capitalism and Cradle to Cradle-offer opportunities to design in a radically different, goal-driven manner. These strategies, which are introduced in this paper as 'nature-inspired design strategies', provide pathways and principles aimed at developing designs that are in natural balance with their environment.
The competitive market rising from the increase in product consumption makes product designers co... more The competitive market rising from the increase in product consumption makes product designers consider more about materials than before. Materials, indeed, have been extensively studied in science and engineering for years. Existing materials selection sources can serve as useful function in giving up to date information on technical (physical, quantifiable) characteristics of materials. However, designers also use some intangible aspects with the aim of expressing their intentions; attributing some meanings to their products through their appropriate choices of material. The main objective of this paper is to evaluate materials selection process in product design in order to find out what kinds of aspects of materials are significant for product designers in their selections. This paper includes an experiment conducted with 20 professional designers. The findings from the experiment were used for establishing a required data table representing the material considerations of designers in materials selection. The crucial role of intangible characteristics of materials in their selections is emphasized.
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Papers by Elvin Karana