Activities in selecting materials from the perspective of product designers Online publication date: Wed, 10-Oct-2007
by Ilse Van Kesteren, Prabhu Kandachar, Pieter Jan Stappers
International Journal of Design Engineering (IJDE), Vol. 1, No. 1, 2007
Abstract: A competitive market requires a materials selection approach that leads to products that stand out in functionality and user-interaction. Insights in how product designers select materials for new products are needed to find ways to optimise these approaches and to train product designers. In this paper, we present the creation of the Material Selecting Activities model (MSA model). This model organises activities product designers currently undertake to determine materials. Similar to general iterative design models, the MSA model shows a cyclic sequence of activities. Subsequent cycles narrow down the search. The MSA model emphasises the existence of three auxiliary activities that support the cycles, namely 'testing materials', 'gathering material information' and 'consulting materials experts'. It is in these activities that product designers depend on external sources in their materials selection approaches. The MSA model forms an effective basis to evaluate and optimise the communication between product designers and these external sources.
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