This paper describes an iterative approach to course design in an effort to improve the learner-centered conceptualization of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). The research team built a (design research) MOOC prototype and used three measurement tools to gather user feedback. The authors categorized this feedback and translated it into 57 improvement tasks, which they implemented in the public version of the MOOC. They discuss the protoMOOC iteration approach, underline its applicability, and suggest it as a method for fellow MOOC designers.

A component-orientated approach is commonplace in the automotive industry where the development focus lies on components. However, current challenges in the industry necessitates a mindset change in the development. Shifting the perspective from the components to functions can help with changing requirements, manage increasing complexity, support cross-disciplinary development, and foster innovation. To successfully implement this approach, it is essential to address not only the technical aspects of the solution, but also the human and organizational aspects affecting the process for its long-term success.

This paper investigates the function-oriented development methods of complex mechatronic products. A systematic literature review is conducted to analyse the current state of research. The existing function-oriented development approaches are summarized, the technological, human, and organizational perspectives are analysed, and the research gaps are highlighted. It is concluded that while function-orientation gains significance in industry and academia, and the importance of human and organizational factors are highlighted in the literature, they are not yet widely considered within the current function-oriented approaches.

Engineering design teams, particularly in academic courses, were no exception to the consequences of the unknown virus and the global pandemic. Forced online teaching has influenced the way of using communication technologies. The information flow architecture of engineering design is also transforming due to the remote activities and the dominancy of web-based technologies. This transformation creates different patterns of distributed cognition within design teams. In the course of full remote teaching, we studied the entire information flow of a small and dispersed engineering team through the early stages of design for one month using the ethnographic method and Distributed Cognition analysis techniques. Our analysis, of the interdisciplinary design team during a rocket engineering project and system engineering teaching, shows the considerable role of different online data sharing and communications technology platforms in distributed cognition and collaborative problem solving within the team. These new trends create new challenges and opportunities, and in order to enhance collaborative design, these emerged out of the box trends require more attention and updating of existing strategies.

Motor disorders are diseases affecting the muscle function of the human body. A frequently occurring motor disorder affects the lower leg muscles resulting in a pathological gait called foot drop. Patients have a higher risk of stumbling and falling. The most common treatment is the use of a passive ankle-foot-orthosis (AFO). However, the compensation of foot drop is only limited due to the non possible support of all rotational directions of the ankle joint. Therefore, a newly developed concept for a passive AFO is currently in work. To ensure a best possible treatment of the patient, the provided support by the AFO and required support by the patient have to be in accordance. Thus, in this contribution a method is presented that integrates model order reduced finite element analysis for computing the provided support of the AFO and musculoskeletal human models for representing the patients' gait behaviour. With the method, the design of the force generating structures of the AFO can be realized regarding the patients' requirements. The presented method is further evaluated with a specific use case. The main focus lies here in the principal functionality of the method and the provision of valid results.

Taking on the challenge of motivating users to drink water regularly, we designed a smart water bottle that can track water intake behavior and inform users about this behavior through ambient feedback. We then conducted two studies to explore the bottle's feedback design from the perspective of users and designers. First, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 10 prospective users and found that they would like to receive personalized, precise, gamified and reminding feedback. Second, we conducted a design workshop with 13 professional designers to explore the range of visualizations that can be used to give feedback. Analyzing these visualizations, we identified three reminder types (augmenting, restoring and balancing) and six visualization styles grouped according to three dimensions of ambient displays (representation fidelity, notification level, aesthetic emphasis). In this paper, we first explain our water bottle concept along with existing solutions. Then, we report the results of these studies. Finally, we discuss the potential implications of the results for our own work as well as for designing ambient displays aimed at supporting users' water intake tracking practices.

Scaled agile development of large systems has primarily followed the approach used in traditional systems engineering – system decomposition and static teams assigned to subsystems. However, this arrangement may result in an inefficient allocation of resources and uneven progress. This paper presents an alternative approach in which problem-based decomposition replaces system-architecture-based decomposition, and resources are flexibly allocated to problems for each sprint using ad hoc teams. Using a field study approach, we examine a mechatronic system development project utilizing these agile adjustments and discuss situations in which these methods may be successfully utilized in other projects and organizations.

Emerging visualisation tools based on eXtended Reality (XR) platforms offer designers new possibilities and benefits, attracting increasing interest from academia and industry. However, as the users and consumers of these tools, practising designers' perceptions of XR visualisation tools need to be further verified as they shape the tools' acceptance and integration in the industry. This paper investigates industrial designers' acceptance of VR visualisation tools using the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) model. Semi-structured interviews were undertaken with 12 designers from 3 countries to discuss their attitudes, motivations, experiences, and expectations regarding adopting VR visualisation tools as professional tools. The study highlights key opportunities to promote VR integration in industrial design as the tools' practical capabilities to support design performance and the social influence of stakeholders and peer designers on the professional use of VR. The main barriers lie in designers' expected effort to learn and use the tools and the investment and upkeep of VR systems and facilities in the industry. The paper concludes with recommendations for reaping benefits and overcoming barriers.

The concept of Industry 4.0 has motivated large engineering sectors towards a common focus for improvement. Academics have capitalised on the common language, shared motivation and marketability of Industry 4.0. The potential and perceived benefits of Industry 4.0 are clear within academia and beyond. However, are engineering companies ready for the digital transformation associated? and, can Industry 4.0 be achieved by SMEs? In this paper, we investigate these questions through activity on project road mapping with 4 Scottish companies to reveal Industry 4.0 readiness and literacy.

Reflection is understood as an integral part of designing and design processes. Despite the high relevance and an ongoing discussion about agile engineering, we found that reflection is rarley established in industrial practice. There is a need for an approach structuring the wide range of levels, stakeholders, objects and timing of reflections. The introduced RECAP framework is an important step towards a guideline (heuristic) for reflection in engineering projects. Based on the four dimensions objectives, stakeholders, objects, and processes it supports structured planning of reflection.

Developing autonomous functions for complex systems leads to high demands on the consideration of dependencies to external actors in the usage phase. In Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE), this can be achieved by modelling operational aspects. Operational aspects are model elements and their relationships to each other. In this contribution, modelling of operational aspects with a MBSE-approach will be demonstrated exemplary on a case study related to the development of a yacht with an autonomous docking assistant. Currently modelling operational aspects is not common in the civil sector.

This study aims at revising the history of knowledge management in service design organizations to discover what sources, technologies, tools, and users have been used and how knowledge management may thus help to improve consultants’ performance. Also, this study sheds light on the importance of decomposing knowledge (knowledge-leveling being said in this article) before tackling knowledge management. Moreover, this study provides a real case study investigation of knowledge management in a service design organization. Through this investigation, the authors propose their knowledge-leveling classification model and how knowledge management activities satisfy each class. Thus, the authors showcase the essentiality of knowledge leveling in knowledge management.

The sentence “form follows function” is the best expression of the relationship between form and function of a product in modern product design. This implies that the form is essential to implement the function while it should be optimized and minimized for the function. Unlike general products, transformable products are designed with the intention to change the function and form of the product according to the situation. This paper presents the types and characteristics of transformable products determined by Phase Model we introduced. We collected 147 transformable product cases and analyzed them according to the change of functions and forms in each product. As a result, we classified the transformable products into four types: partial transformable product, multi-form product, multi-function product and full transformable product. We found that each type has unique characteristics with potential to drive innovation in product design field.

Data-driven design is expected to change design processes and organizations in significant ways. What actions should design managers take to ensure the best possible outcomes in this new data-driven design environment? This paper employs an interdisciplinary literature survey to distill key impacts that data-driven design may have on designers, design teams, organizations and product users. Findings reveal that designers may need a broader set of skills to be successful. For data-driven design to be most effective, design managers will be challenged with many integration tasks, including the integration of AI-based tools into design teams, the closer integration of interdisciplinary teams, the integration of qualitative design thinking methods with new data-driven design paradigms, and the integration of data and algorithms into traditional human-centred design practice, in an effort to overcome cognitive limitations and augment human skill. This paper identifies gaps in the literature at the intersection of data-driven design and design management, design thinking, and systems thinking.

The research presented in this paper explores features of temporal design neurocognition by comparing regions of activation in the brain during concept generation. A total of 27 engineering graduate students used brainstorming, morphological analysis, and TRIZ to generate concepts to design problems. Students' brain activation in their prefrontal cortex (PFC) was measured using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). Temporal activations were compared between techniques. When using brainstorming and morphological analysis, highly activated regions are consistently situated in the medial and right part of the PFC over time. For both techniques, the temporal neuro-physiological patterns are similar. Cognitive functions associated to the medial and right part of the PFC suggest an association with divergent thinking and adaptative decision making. In contrast, highly activated regions over time when using TRIZ appear in the medial or the left part of the prefrontal cortex, usually associated with goal directed planning.

A case study during pandemic revealed the major drawbacks of the traditional product development process for MedTech industry. Disruption of conventional manufacturing, urgent need for accelerated design and production, faster regulatory approval have challenged the industry. In this paper the conventional medical product development process is explored based on the intramuscular injector case study. The study revealed core areas for improvement of the medical devices development process. The paper proposes the Lean-Agile methodology with the incorporated elements of Concurrent Engineering.

Product-service systems (PSS) are one of the business models that can promote circular economy and sustainability; however, to design this kind of solution, holistic approaches must be used, integrating different areas of knowledge. Thus, this study proposes a conceptual solution based on the PSS business model to the problem of reverse logistics of coffee capsules, through the application of the Requirements Engineering method for Sustainable PSS design, with a focus on the initial phase. With an emphasis on the business model and value proposition, a conceptual solution was developed to promote the circularity of the capsule chain based on the analysis of the main stakeholders' needs. The value proposition of the PSS solution for the issue of coffee capsules was described as the “cocreation of sustainable value to stakeholders to foster the circularity of the chain”, considering consumer involvement through education and rewards in product disposal processes. The results reinforce the need to integrate critical stakeholders to add the desired value in creating a sustainable PSS solution and the need to pivot the business model during the solution development process.

Throughout time, the definition of sustainability has been interpreted differently and different philosophies have consequently emerged, each with its own vision of a sustainable society. At the same time, manufacturing firms have focused on environmental improvements, but social aspects have often been neglected. This study identifies 11 philosophies and 51 product design strategies contributing to sustainability awareness, cohesion, and equity, set to ensure social sustainability integration at a manufacturing firm level.

COVID-19 pandemic has continued to pose a challenge to the society for almost three years, adversely affecting all segments of population in a scale unseen in the recent decades. Over the course of COVID-19 pandemic, many people have lost their jobs and income. These social and economic impacts have disrupted the market, potentially altering people's attitudes towards different product features. Therefore, this paper investigates the changes in customer preferences on various features of different products, before and after COVID-19 pandemic, using online review analysis. The proposed framework consists of four stages. Firstly, product review data is collected and preprocessed. Secondly, customer interest in product features is explored using latent Dirichlet allocation. Thirdly, customer sentiment for these features is analyzed with Valence Aware Dictionary and sEntiment Reasoner. Finally, the importance of each feature is calculated based on interpretable machine learning. The proposed method is tested on two real-world datasets – smartphone and laptop reviews. The result reveals the changes in customer sentiments and preferences for product features, thus helping companies quickly establish strategies in rapidly changing market environments.

This paper reports an embedded single case study from a globally operating manufacturer for digital healthcare products. Based on nine semi-structured interviews, document analysis, and a diary study among employees, we were able to gain insights on the daily business routines and interactions of the design team, the UX research team, and the product management department. The results revealed several unexpected insights that indicate a practical mismatch between user-centred design processes learned from the textbook and design practice in the healthcare sector that warrant further research.

Requirements elicitation for assistive technology (AT) product development must be collaborative and systemic. This process must ensure that the needs of all different users are identified. For this, UCD methods introduce different tools that seek user involvement and their needs identification. One method commonly used in software development is User Stories. The aim of this paper is to analyse the use of User Stories for requirements elicitation in an AT product development project. This method was applied with three types of users: patients, companions and occupational therapists. For the involvement of these users, the method was customized and two main adaptations were adopted: the stories were written by the development team and all user needs were identified through observations of interactions between patients and prototype. As a result, the development team was able to identify numerous product requirements to be used in later development phases. These requirements were generated by the user needs identified with User Stories. Thus, the method with necessary adaptations, was efficient for requirements elicitation in the AT product development process.