Point-of-Purchas(eP OP)d isplaysa ree ffectivet ools for increasings aleso f a product. However,C onsumePr sychologya nd marketingli terature containsli ttle theoretical developmenitn the areao f POP-displaysa ndi ts communicativee ffects.C onsequently the aim of this thesisw ast o exploret he phenomenono f POP-displaysw ith the objective of providing a foundation for a conceptual framework that shows how humansr espondt o ande valuatec ertaini n-stores timuli. The sort of questionsaddressedb y this researchre fers in particulart o how elementso f designa ffect aesthetice valuationso f POP-displaysa ndh ow this in turn may affect dwell time, productc ontacta ndp urchasep robability. The influenceo f designe lementsu pon aesthetice valuationi s of particulari nterest to designersa sr esearchh ass hownt hat peoplen o longerb uy productsf or their functionality but for their physical attributes which make the product meaningful. The outcomeo f the studiesc onducteds, howedt hat designe lementss ucha s colour ands hapec an be usedt o capturec onsumersa' ttentiona ndb e usedt o construct perceptuacl onceptss ucha s 'complexity'a nd' clarity', which in turn affectst he overall visual evaluation of a display. It was also found that design principles such as unity andf ocal point canb e utilised to increaseth e overalla esthetice valuation.M oreover aesthetice valuationw as foundt o be affectedb y hapticp ropertiesa sw ell as visual evaluation.D ependingo n the texturesu sedt he overall aesthetice valuationi s sometimesm ore influencedb y hapticp ropertiest han visual evaluation. Furthermoreit was foundt hat dwell time canb e influencedb y whethert he display is perceivedt o be 'mysterious','c omplex'o r'interesting, as well ast he texturesu sed on a product.

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The market in which engineering companies must operate is increasingly turbulent and unpredictable, largely due to the global nature of the engineering industry in the 21st century. This turbulent environment is further exacerbated by the increasing focus on customisation for individual consumers, rather than the mass manufacturing market of the past. In order to thrive in this turbulent environment companies are increasingly focussing on their core competences, and building strategic alliances with complementary partner companies to satisfy the overall needs of an individual project. This is true of the design as well as manufacturing stages of product development. The increasing levels of collaboration and the requirement for companies to be agile in their response to unexpected events are the background to this research. Specifically, this research addressed the ability of collaborating groups of companies to respond to unexpected events during the design stages of product development. The hypothesis was that through the specific implementation of a novel collection of tools and techniques the agility of collaborative design projects can be increased. A multi-method approach was adopted for the research, beginning with an industrial survey identifying those tools and techniques from the literature which are linked to an increased level of agility. These results form the basis for the definition of the Agile Design Framework which takes the form of a series of implementation steps carried out by a collaborative design team to put in place tools and techniques for increasing their responsiveness to unexpected events. The second stage of the research tested the Agile Design Framework in a controlled laboratory environment with both an experimental and control group undertaking the same collaborative design project. Unexpected events were introduced and the responses of both groups are analysed. The experiment group using the Agile Design Framework had a Key Agility Index score of 0.04 compared with a score of 0.13 for the control group. A low score on the Key Agility Index indicates a higher level of agility while high scores tending to 1 have a lower agility level. The results supported further calibration of the Agile Design Framework for the final stage of the research which was an implementation of the framework in industry for a real-life collaborative design project. This industrial implementation showed an improvement in the agility of the collaborative design project using the Agile Design Framework, improving the Key Agility Index from 0.54 to 0.43.The research makes three novel contributions to knowledge in this field. The first is the Agile Design Framework which is a set of tools and techniques with a specific implementation process, which has been shown to increase agility for collaborative design projects. Secondly, a four-level classification scheme for unexpected events will be presented which allows categorisation of unexpected events into Trivial, Minor, Major and fatal, based on specific criteria. Finally, through the use of easily obtainable data the Key Agility Index is validated as a meaningful quantitative metric for the measurement of agility at the project or departmental level.

Product appearance plays a significant role in generating appeal for consumers and subsequent commercial success for mass-market products. Associated with the design and manufacture of many mass-market products is significant financial investment and thus also significant risk. This risk is particularly severe for established or mature markets such as consumer electronics and vehicles where designs must retain a brand identity and differentiate from other products while still being easily identifiable, and avoid potential design right or trade dress infringement. Within the design process there is ‘styling’, the activity primarily concerned with the creation of products’ form and appearance. While appearance is the primary concern in styling there is a wide range of factors that must be considered alongside appearance when designers evaluate potential design concepts. While there exists many tools and methods to objectively evaluate and communicate factors such as cost, performance, manufacture or ergonomics, there are few strategies to assist designers in objectively evaluating and reasoning on appearance, despite its relative importance to the market success of products. The aim of this thesis is to improve the styling process by researching and creating a method to more objectively measure and compare product appearance. In proposing a method and achieving the aim three major areas of research are addressed. The first is to create an approach to visually decompose products into constituent features to explore their influence on overall appearance. The second is to create a method of measurement to analyse the geometry of features and enable comparison across product ranges. The third is to investigate how the measures can be applied to assist designers during the styling process and provide insights into the strategic use of visual branding. The progression through these research areas and the subsequent proposed method form the key contribution to knowledge of this thesis. Through the application of the method to various case studies and a comprehensive study in its complete form, the method is validated and its potential use to designers demonstrated.