The paper concerns the Finnish product development teacherś perceptions on their pedagogical content knowledge in higher education settings. The aim is to describe and analyse what kind of pedagogical content knowledge the teachers have and, therefore, to provide a better understanding of the type of knowledge unique to product development teaching. The model of pedagogical content knowledge used here includes the components of product development content knowledge, pedagogical knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge. Based on seven teacher interviews, the main content knowledge concerns the process of product development, its different phases and methods as well as the usage of different software programs. The teachers use diverse teaching methods and their attitude towards educational technology is mostly positive. Course learning outcomes and working life are acknowledged when planning teaching, but only a few teachers take curriculum into account and participate in curriculum design. Even though the teachers use different evaluation methods in teaching, new ways of evaluation are needed. This may be something that innovative educational technology tools can make possible.

The design of various products is driven by requirements that describe extremes. In marine structural design, joint extremes of environmental variables like wave height and wind speed are used to define load cases. Similarly, in ergonomic design minimum and maximum values of anthropometric variables are considered to make sure a product is suitable for a wide range of users. Here, we present a method that supports designers to define requirements using joint extreme values: the requirements contour method. The method is based on structural engineering's environmental contour method and uses a dataset and statistical methods to specify a region in the variable space that must be considered in the design process. That region's enclosure is the requirements contour and holds the joint extremes. After formally describing the method, we give an illustrative example of its usage: we use it to define requirements for the design of an ergonomic handle for a power tool. The requirements contour method is a field-independent approach to design for extremes. In the tradition of design for X, we think that a design project can benefit from applying methods that focus on different 'X's.

The quick and accurate estimation of design effort can be make or break for all but the largest of product design consultancies. Traditional design project planning see designers being taken away from the metaphorical drawing board to spend time assessing project briefs and estimating workloads. Typically these designers base these estimates on their tacit knowledge and experience, and for the most part, they are accurate. However, this is time-consuming and therefore (indirectly) costly, as time spent planning, is not time spent designing. Many more sophisticated approaches for estimating design effort have been developed, but many require large bodies of past data and sophisticated analysis, such as artificial neural networks; and others have highly-specific use cases.

This paper proposes a new method to develop a design effort estimation tool for product design consultancies. This method captures the tacit knowledge and experience of design team members and the tool replicates it quickly and effectively; graphically modelling factors that influence design effort needs in product design projects.

Shortening product development cycles while improving cost efficiency and quality epitomize a key challenge in today's competitive market environment. Integrated approaches simultaneously taking into account a conceptual design, material and processing definition methodologically facilitate the progress of promising product solutions most effectively. However, assorted approaches in the field of lightweight design as well as material selection mostly trying to cover alternative solutions on a component-specific level exclusively, yet.

Thus, this contribution outlines a cross-component material selection for function-based lightweight design within the Extended Target Weighing Approach covering the identification and evaluation of lightweight design potentials. The developed method is based on Ashby's material selection additionally taking into account project objectives for mass, costs and CO2 emissions in individual functional design spaces. Resulting in material combinations fitting to clearly stated project targets, the product engineer is already supported in an early phase of product development when initially assessing feasible materials for the overall system development.

There is a growing interest in design research to explore sustainable consumption via products that are cherished as they age. This paper presents an empirical study exploring the influence of patina (signs of surface aging) on consumers’ willingness to discard products and aesthetic appreciation. Results show participants are predisposed to discard everyday products regardless aesthetic qualities (patina). This implies designers should look beyond the presence of pure aesthetic qualities of aging and emphasise symbolic qualities of aging to stimulate appreciation as products age.

This paper proposes that safety footwear manufacture shifts towards a sustainable Product-Service System (PSS). The PSS consists of seven stages from identification of requirements through to disposal or replacement. Through this, designers and manufacturers can realise safety footwear that is customised to end user sizing, function, industry and aesthetic requirements. For end users, this PSS leads to the creation of more comfortable and practicable footwear, addressing the underlying level of acceptance of uncomfortable safety footwear, reducing waste and providing sex specific offerings.

Additive Manufacturing is doing its first steps in the production of spare parts. Usually the spares belong to legacy systems, and the tooling to produce them is no longer available. Re-designing spares that are designed for a previous industry mindset can be sometimes challenging. In this study a rather classic design approach is compared to a functional driven approach. Four case studies from different clients are reported, remarking the benefits and drawbacks of using design for additive manufacturing practices in Laser Powder Bed Fusion.

To help industries in their sustainable and circular transition from internal combustion engine production to electric motor production, the deployment of (i) a sound environmental impact assessment methodology, such as life cycle analysis, coupled with (ii) Design for Re-X tools, such as circularity indicators, is instrumental. To demonstrate the industrial relevance and complementary of both approaches, two consecutive workshops are conducted with a major original equipment manufacturer of recreational boats and their associated engines. On this basis, two circularity indicator-based tools were used to quantify and enhance (i) the circularity potential of the electric outboard as a whole, and (ii) the circularity performance of the two most impactful components, based on the LCA results: the electric motor unit and the lithium-ion battery pack. In all, the practice sessions supported the generation of strategic and operational ideas to improve the circularity of the electric outboard. As the industrial participants found both frameworks easy to use and efficient, all the details and resources used to conduct, replicate, or adapt such workshops in other industrial contexts are shared.

Sustainability is influencing the automotive industry. Car manufacturers are increasingly prioritizing sustainable materials. The production of these still pose environmental challenges. This paper addresses the trends related to sustainable car interiors. It emphasizes the importance of understanding how customers perceive these new materials. Seven in-depth interviews were conducted, followed by a survey with 106 participants to obtain generalized insights. The results will reduce the uncertainty regarding customer expectations for sustainable car interiors.

The influence of culture on design is reflected in many aspects, such as design creativity, communication within design groups, and individuals' creative performance. Culture has a profound impact on design. For example, studies have identified the positive effect of a higher individualism-collectivism value on design team performance. To examine the influence of individual cultural values on the experience of creativity in ideation, we experimented by recruiting participants from different counties to complete two ideation tasks. Moreover, we collected their cultural values and experiences of creativity through two questionnaires. We also examined the connections between individuals' cultural values and their experiences of creativity in ideation. The results show five correlations between individuals' cultural values and their experiences of creativity when the country setting was a control variable. Recommendations based on the findings include that explorations of cultural influence and the relationship between culture and design or other fields irrelated to the country or society level have to measure individual cultural values (with the country setting as a control variable) instead of adopting country cultural scores.

While products get more challenging to repair, the right-to-repair movement aims to empower consumers in their ability to “use, modify, and repair” a device “whenever, wherever, and however” they want. Here, the best design practices and remaining challenges of three industrial sectors – namely, consumer electronics, biomedical devices, and clothing industry – are investigated in light of the right-to-repair movement. Based on literature reviews and industrial surveys, a SWOT analysis is provided for each sector, and sustainable implications for product repair readiness are drawn. Concretely, recommendations to design, develop and sell products with right-to-repair in mind are given by sector. Future directions for a more quantitative assessment and implementation of design for product repair are discussed to ensure the augmentation of the circularity and sustainability performance of products.

Aluminum foam sandwich (AFS) is an innovative material for lightweight structures due to its various advantages (e.g. low specific mass). Today, many material properties (e.g. strength) are still not well researched, which is why AFS is not yet considered in current material selection processes. Therefore, AFS has rarely been used in the past and its application potential remains unused. This paper presents an approach toward an appropriate method for considering AFS in material selection processes to assist designers in evaluating whether the use of AFS in an application is profitable.

In this paper we use formal tools from category theory to develop a foundation for creating and managing models in systems where knowledge is distributed across multiple representations and formats. We define a class of models which incorporate three different representations---computations, logical semantics, and data--as well as model mappings (functors) to establish relationships between them. We prove that our models support model merge operations called colimits and use these to define a methodology for model integration.

Today's rapidly evolving and changing market dictates constant changes in design requirements during the development process of a product. If development teams are unable or unwilling to adapt to these changes, this will ultimately lead to an uncompetitive product. How the change in requirements will affect the development process depends on the complexity of the product and the development phase in which the change in requirements occurs. The principles of Agility and the methods that follow these principles help in the successful introduction of changes in the product development process. The paper provides guidelines for the development of complex physical products taking into account the principles of Agility. The guidelines were set based on a critical review of the e-bike drive development process.

Design education needs to be continually investigated and improved to stay relevant. The Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) is a leading university focused on all elements of technology-based design. The overarching motivation of our research is to enhance design education curriculum at SUTD. Our research objectives are (1) to understand how design competencies are implemented in SUTD's curriculum and courses (2) to identify gaps in teaching of design competencies at SUTD. We analyse competencies in 28 design courses at SUTD. We develop the visualization and analysis of 12 skills grouped under two abilities from the Design competency assessment framework. Our main contributions are: (1) We present an approach to map the design competencies that are taught across design courses at a university with an interdisciplinary curriculum, (2) We present an approach for mapping design competency progression based on ITAE (Introduced, Taught, Assessed, Expected) categorization, (3) Based on the above, we provide preliminary findings on two skill gaps in the curriculum, substantiated with insights from interviews with course coordinators.

Digitalization is one of the fundamental pillars of Industry 4.0. Within smart factories, Big Data Analytics systems play a key role in supporting the decision-making process of various stages of business processes. In this context, this research aims to identify solutions able to process large volumes of data from digital business processes with the final goal of adding value to the organisation. More specifically, the research deals with the implementation of a digital manufacturing tool able to digitize the workforce management process. The research has been applied in the case study of an Italian manufacturing company operating in the leather goods sector through the digitalization of the workforce management by a cloud-based platform. The implementation of the tool increases the efficiency of the production process, provides efficient management and integrates workforce data into one system. The implemented tool generates a large volume of data, the final goal is to make data user-friendly to support business decisions. Digitisation provides an exchange of information to support managers to make confident decisions.

Design is multi-modal, and depending on the current stage in the process, progress can be facilitated through working in either the physical or virtual domain with frequent iterations commonly required between. Traditionally, prototyping workflows are sequential, although current trends such as Digital Twinning and Mixed Reality (MR) enable decreased domain transition times, reducing the cycle time. This leads towards fully integrated digital-physical prototypes, enabling work in both domains simultaneously by increasing synchronicity of select variables. This paper considers those variables involved, the sensors that measure them and their rate of synchronisation, thereby investigating the feasibility of MR workflow interventions, and exploring the benefits that may be realised. The paper identifies four components of MR implementations in prototyping and myriad methods by which domain transition may occur and uses these in context of a case study to propose four levels of workflow synchronisation. It was found achieving some high rates of synchronicity is possible, but achieving the highest levels as prescribed by digital twinning is neither feasible nor pragmatic against current MR capabilities and design prototyping workflows.

Geographic distance between supply and demand reduces spatial accessibility. Vehicles have been contributing to improved spatial accessibility by offering transport services for people and goods. From traditional trucks to mobile health clinics, vehicles can offer a wide range of functionalities on wheels. To develop context-specific vehicles-based services, we propose a novel engineering framework based on a supply chain perspective. Requirements are derived from supply chain stakeholders and translated into vehicle-based services and vehicle components.

This paper presents an introductory review of methods to articulate strategy in design. Articulation is here seen as a process in which strategy is more or less strictly and explicitly identified and described, e.g. in relation to key ideas, directions to follow, goals and expected results. The paper surveys existing literature in design research and identifies two broad categories of methods for the articulation of strategy: (1) structured frameworks, and (2) vocabularies and principles.

Introducing more customized products causes complexity costs, which are hard to estimate and measure. Researchers and practitioners have therefore developed approaches to measure these costs. This paper reviews the current approaches and reveals a lack of a holistic view on the underlying problem and, hence, deficits to certain economic questions. We therefore suggest using the Extended Axiomatic Design (EAD) framework as an interdisciplinary model that adresses the economic consequences of variety-induced complexity.