Title: Child restraint systems: an analysis of their development from an evolutionary perspective

Authors: Huub Ehlhardt

Addresses: Industrial Design Engineering, Faculty of Engineering Technology, University of Twente, P.O. Box 217, 7500 AE Enschede, The Netherlands

Abstract: This paper investigates how development of artefacts can be described as an evolutionary process. For that purpose, the development of child restraint systems is analysed and described in an evolutionary context by looking at the development of different types through time, the rise of dominant designs and the role of the environmental context or ecosystem in this development. Graphically, the development is mapped in a product family tree and related to the ecosystem in conjunction with which the artefacts have been developed. The evolving artefact and ecosystem prove to have a mutual influence on each other. Both systematic forces and coincidence influence their evolutionary path.

Keywords: child restraint systems; CRSs; innovation; product development; evolution; ecosystem; product family tree; dominant design; design research; product families; vehicle safety; product design; child car seats.

DOI: 10.1504/JDR.2012.051162

Journal of Design Research, 2012 Vol.10 No.4, pp.324 - 343

Received: 09 May 2011
Accepted: 28 Feb 2012
Published online: 30 Aug 2014 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article