how the next generation of products pushes to rethink the role of users and designers
DESCRIPTION
An emerging category of products, such as gadgets and smart devices, provides the user with high levels of customization but imposes to revise the roles of both users and designers. The Function-Behavior-Structure (FBS) framework has been proved to describe both designers perspective and customers use in a proper way. The paradigm has to be adapted when the high level of product customization enables all the users to reinvent the product itself. Researchers, amateurs, makers are now capable to fully interact with the electronic, the control software and even the shape of finished products. Main enablers of such change are several emerging technological solutions, both hardware (such as low cost 3D printers, programmable electronic boards, low cost sensors and actuators) and software (such as user-manufacturing web platforms). A design language that encompasses this new way of doing design becomes a priority. The paper investigates the role of FBS model as a practical response to this topic and presents a user-manufacturing web platform based on this theoretical framework. The design and development of a new smart object, performed through the introduced platform, is presented in order to support the description.TRANSCRIPT
HOW THE NEXT GENERATION OF PRODUCTS PUSHES TO RETHINK THE ROLE OF USERS AND DESIGNERS
Gabriele Montelisciani
University of PisaDepartment of Civil and Industrial Engineering
How the Next Generation of Products Pushes to Rethink the Role of Users and Designers
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Presentation Summary“How the Next Generation of Products Pushes to Rethink the Role of Users
and Designers”Proceedings of the 24° CIRP DESIGN CONFERENCE, Milan (Italy)
G. Montelisciani 1, D. Mazzei2, G. Fantoni1,2
1 Department of Civil and Industrial Engineering, University of Pisa, Italy2 Research Center "E. Piaggio", University of Pisa, Italy
• INTRODUCTION
• PRODUCTS CREATION THROUGH THE WEB and FBS
• A PLATFORM FOR DESIGNING SMART OBJECTS
• AN EXEMPLARY CASE
• CONCLUSIONS
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Introduction
The rise of Mass Customization
• Open Innovation• Crowdsourcing• Product Customization Platforms• Makers revolution
FROM USER TO
USER-AS-DESIGNER
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Creating products through the web
• Different Users
• Different Enabling Approaches:
1) User friendly web-based CAD environments for 3D design
SketchUp; Tinkercad; Shapeways
2) User-manufacturing web services
Ponoko, Vectorialism, Thingiverse, iMaterialize
3) Low cost 3D printers and other layered manufacturing tools
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Creating products through the web4) Open-source hardware and its synergies with digital fabrication.
• 5) Internet Of Things (IOT) as a new enabler towards mass creativity and growth of Smart Objects
- Objects
- Individuals
- Social Networks
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Research Question
Is it possible to develop a common design language that values both professional designers and users (as-designers)?
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Function-Behaviour-Structure Paradigm
• FUNCTIONS• What is the object for?
• BEHAVIOURS• What the object does?
• STRUCTURE• What the object is?
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Enabling people in designing through the FBS
3 KEY GENERATIVE FACTORS:
Structure: • Skin (Exterior and Structural characteristics)• Brain (CPU and Microcontrollers) and Peripheral Nervous System
(Sensors and Actuators)
Behaviours: • Brain’s Low level programming
Functions:• Functionalities through design and (high level) programming• Actions and Reactions defined through simple cause-effect logic
Þ Different levels of interaction based on measurable and less measurable reasons (skills, expertise, creativity, motivations,…)
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Enabling people in designing through the FBS
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Pro-Ams
Proficient Users
Mainstream users
Levels of Interaction with FBS Elements
An Investigation on the Field50 Potential Users
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A Platform for Designing Smart Objects
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3 Different Virtual Areas
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A Platform for Designing Smart Objects
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• Structured set of rules that contextualize the behavior of the smart object on the basis of the planned functions
• If-then logic described in natural language structure
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A Platform for Designing Smart Objects
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• Electronic Behaviours => Triggering Events through Low Level Programming• Physical Behaviours (Mechanics, Ergonomics, etc)
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A Platform for Designing Smart Objects
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Where the user can select or define the hard features of the smart device.
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A Platform for Designing Smart Objects
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FBS FEATURES LIBRARY
USERS-AS-DESIGNERS’ COMMUNITY
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An Exemplary Case: The Puzzle Lamp
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Pro-Ams
Proficient Users
Mainstream users
Pro-Ams
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An Exemplary Case: The Puzzle Lamp
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Conclusions• FBS has the potential to be an enabler of the user-as-designer era;
• Democratization of design through a holistic system that allows pro-active
collaboration among different profiles
LIMITNO features to proof the consistency of the designed productsÞ boost trial and error approaches and stimulates users’ learning by doing
FUTURE• Test on a wider set of users• Identification of approach’s unexplored layers to reinforce the FBS-based
framework. Þ ex-post FBS consistency check for product validation (without interfering
with the learning by doing)
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AcknowledgementsThe project started during the course “PhDplus: Creativity, innovation, entrepreneurial spirit”, University of Pisa.
Financial support by MISE Project “IoTPrise: Internet of Things: trasferimento di tecnologie e creazione d’impresa” (Bando RIDITT, DM 22/12/2009); EU LLP Programme – Leonardo Da Vinci (n° 2012-1-IT1-LEO05-02794): “EEC: European Enterpreuners Campus”.
Thank you for your attention!
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How the Next Generation of Products Pushes to Rethink the Role of Users and Designers
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