Tutorial: User participation in product design

In industry there is a growing interest in user-centred design approaches. User studies, focus groups, and user trials are often employed in product design and also participatory design actively involving potential future users are becoming more widespread. The design of industrial products does however pose new challenges to participatory design. Unlike design of information systems, product design typically involves the design of both hardware and software simultaneously. Furthermore, product design typically involves a large and diverse group of stakeholders ranging from end-user over retailers and installers to marketing, engineering and manufacturing. This means that the participatory design process must be organized to address a wider specter of design issues, and it must be firmly integrated within the overall context of product development.

Over the last decade the participatory design environment in Scandinavia has turned increasingly towards product design. In collaboration with companies producing such diverse products as pumps, hi-fi equipment, hearing aids, mobile phones and building controls, researchers and design practitioners have developed participatory approaches both to 'blue sky' concept design, to platform design for new product families, and to detailed design of products ready for the market. Characteristic for this environment is the cross breed of user participation in the exploration of possible use contexts, and the collaborative design of product prototypes (form and interface, marketing and manufacturing implications etc.).

Until now very little literature exists on user participation in product design and many design professionals have to adapt methods and techniques from participatory design of information systems to an industrial context of product design. Based on experience from more than ten years of participatory design of industrial products in the Danish company Danfoss, the organizers are co-authoring a book on user participation in product design. With a draft of this book as the basis the organizers offer tutorial participants a comprehensive model of the user-centred design process and a set of methods and techniques to engage users in product design.