Thirteenth International Conference on Design Principles & Practices

Abstract

Designers address existing problems, create something new, or transform less desirable into preferable situations. Any existing design offers a purview of prevailing driving forces, societal needs, technological capabilities, and other design concerns that were considered while creating that specific design solution. This study addresses identification of design parameters that are outlined by contextual design concerns and expectations. The propensities of these design parameters indicate the driving forces that play key roles in designing desirable and successful products. This study explores established examples of successful products of the past and recent award winning products to identify underlying parameters that defined design drivers in their context. The study includes several categories of products varying in complexity to remove the bias or influence by any specific category. Over 1000+ unique differentiating parameters were analyzed and many important factors were observed: discovery of newer material properties, latest advances in technology realizability, socio-economic trends, cultural paradigms, etc. that were considered important for their desirability and subsequent success. These parameters are then consolidated into three broad categories- Human, Environment, and Technology. The framework identified in this study provides a means to compare key focus areas among various designs. Lastly, this study outlines potential ways of further inquiry to validate or consolidate the proposed framework.