This master thesis concerns the development of a refilling position and solution, for washer fluid. As well as a study and development of the use of a secondary washer fluid for winter and summer use. The focus of this work, however, has been on the development of the regular washer fluid with regards to creating a user-friendly ergonomic solution with a premium feel, that improves the user experience and simplifies the refilling process for the user. The automotive industry today is constantly evolving and always strive to improve their products in most areas when it comes to the environment and their clients, etc. Despite this, the process of refilling washer fluid has not been developed in the modern automotive history. The refilling of washer fluid today, looks the same as it ”always” has done. This takes place under hood in a small dirty compartment, with a relatively small tube opening where the user must aim the washer fluid when pouring. To get there, the user must carry out several unnecessary steps to get under the bonnet, where the user does not necessarily have anything to do. This, even though other areas around the washer fluid has evolved a lot, in terms of wiper blades and washer fluid nozzles. The work is done with Volvo Cars Cooperation as clients. Volvo Cars is a Swedish car manufacturer that manufactures passenger cars, which they have done since 1927, when the company started. They are aiming to become the world’s most modern and attractive premium car brand, a leader in innovation and people-centered development. They strive to make the life easier and more enjoyable for their users. Since Volvo has the intention to always improve their products to their users and make life easier for them, this project has used a human-centered design process. The work was done together with the demands and requests from the involved departments at Volvo Cars as well as customer surveys and interviews with mechanics. To find a solution that satisfies all stakeholders and Standards it required an iterative approach and design work.  The work resulted in two concepts where both ordinary and secondary washer fluid can be filled, these prototypes were made and built into a Volvo XC60, 3D renderings of these, as well as an interface for the secondary washer fluid. These solutions have made the process of refilling washer easier with less steps for the and gives a feeling of a premium and innovative solution.

O objetivo deste trabalho é apresentar, analisar e propor, de forma detalhada, o processo de otimização do valor do produto aplicado em componentes automotivos atuais de produção na indústria automobilística, onde os requisitos necessários de qualidade, desempenho e redução de custos são priorizados. O assunto é introduzido com uma descrição das justificativas técnicas e econômicas do tema. A seguir são enfocadas e detalhadas duas metodologias: a tradicional do desenvolvimento do produto e a da engenharia de otimização do valor do produto, a EOVP, pois uma análise conjunta das duas metodologias mostra com clareza as vantagens de otimizar o valor do produto. Visando uma melhor compreensão dos conceitos abordados, na sequência são apresentados estudos de casos de aplicação da EOVP em componentes de veículos com e sem a percepção direta do cliente final (consumidor). Os resultados obtidos mostram: a economia anual para a montadora de veículos, os índices de qualidade interna (na fábrica após a implementação dos produtos na linha de produção) e qualidade externa (opinião do consumidor após período de exposição dos componentes no campo) e principalmente as lições aprendidas para serem aplicadas aos novos desenvolvimentos de projetos de produtos automotivos. / The objective of this project is to present, analyse and propose, in detail form, the product value optimization process applied to current production components in automotive industries, wherein the necessary requirements of quality, performance and cost reductions are priority. The subject begins with a description of technical and economical apologies of the theme. Next, in the context, are emphasized and detailed two methodologies: the current product development and product value optimization engineering, the PVOE because an analysis of both methodologies clarifies the advantages of optimize the value of product. In order to have a better comprehension of described concepts, in sequence case studies of PVOE are presented applied in automotive components with and without direct client perception (customer). The acquired results show: the annual saving for car makers, the internal quality (inside the factory after the implementation of products at assembly line) and outside quality indexes (customer opinion after a period of field exposition of components) and lessons learned in order to address for new design developments of automotive products.

O objetivo deste trabalho é apresentar, analisar e propor, de forma detalhada, o processo de otimização do valor do produto aplicado em componentes automotivos atuais de produção na indústria automobilística, onde os requisitos necessários de qualidade, desempenho e redução de custos são priorizados. O assunto é introduzido com uma descrição das justificativas técnicas e econômicas do tema. A seguir são enfocadas e detalhadas duas metodologias: a tradicional do desenvolvimento do produto e a da engenharia de otimização do valor do produto, a EOVP, pois uma análise conjunta das duas metodologias mostra com clareza as vantagens de otimizar o valor do produto. Visando uma melhor compreensão dos conceitos abordados, na sequência são apresentados estudos de casos de aplicação da EOVP em componentes de veículos com e sem a percepção direta do cliente final (consumidor). Os resultados obtidos mostram: a economia anual para a montadora de veículos, os índices de qualidade interna (na fábrica após a implementação dos produtos na linha de produção) e qualidade externa (opinião do consumidor após período de exposição dos componentes no campo) e principalmente as lições aprendidas para serem aplicadas aos novos desenvolvimentos de projetos de produtos automotivos. / The objective of this project is to present, analyse and propose, in detail form, the product value optimization process applied to current production components in automotive industries, wherein the necessary requirements of quality, performance and cost reductions are priority. The subject begins with a description of technical and economical apologies of the theme. Next, in the context, are emphasized and detailed two methodologies: the current product development and product value optimization engineering, the PVOE because an analysis of both methodologies clarifies the advantages of optimize the value of product. In order to have a better comprehension of described concepts, in sequence case studies of PVOE are presented applied in automotive components with and without direct client perception (customer). The acquired results show: the annual saving for car makers, the internal quality (inside the factory after the implementation of products at assembly line) and outside quality indexes (customer opinion after a period of field exposition of components) and lessons learned in order to address for new design developments of automotive products.

This research project focused on the development of an appropriate interior design proposal for the Hulme F1 supercar. The Hulme F1 supercar, originally designed by Hulme Supercars Ltd, draws exterior design references from contemporary Formula One Grand Prix race cars. In addition, the Hulme F1 supercar integrated visual design cues expressing luxury, high-performance and exoticness. The existing design established the package, window openings, basic controls and door architecture for this study. Based on this material, the interior study focused on an overall aesthetic and its integration with ergonomic, technical and functional requirements. The conceptual nature of this project allowed for the inclusion of speculative and experimental design proposals that were not constrained by local contemporary manufacturing and economic issues. Consequently, the project based itself on a technological forecast of five to ten years. Research first explored and defined several key design motifs central to the Hulme F1 supercar. This involved studies into supercars, luxury, high-performance, exoticness, contemporary Formula One Grand Prix racing and the existing exterior form language. The results from this research established initial themes for development of the interior design proposal. A review of contemporary theory in visual product communication and experience was undertaken to identify an appropriate framework for this investigation. The research of Monö (1997), Norman (2004a) and Warell (2007) was reviewed. Review focused on two areas; a structure appropriate for defining design criteria and a comprehensive framework for visual analysis of exemplars to identify visual design trends. The Visual Product Experience (VPE) framework by Warell offered the most appropriate visual framework for this investigation. Using the VPE framework, a visual analysis of contemporary luxury motorcars, professional race cars and supercars was undertaken. Analysis focused on interior and interior/exterior related design trends. Findings illustrated that luxury motorcars have simple aesthetic compositions with frequent interior/exterior form element repetition. Conversely, professional race cars have complex aesthetic compositions with minimal interior/exterior form element repetition. Meanwhile, supercar interior aesthetics and appear to vary between these two spectrums depending on their overall aesthetic expression. To this end, the analysis illustrated the opposing visual qualities between luxury and high-performance. This suggested the interior design proposal required a delicate balance between complex and simple aesthetic elements to obtain an appropriate overall visual expression. Consequently, the interior design proposal used a combination of flowing soft surfaces and complex detailing to express luxury and high-performance. Research also established criteria for the design of interior functional systems required within the interior design proposal. Interior functional systems included control, body-support, display, storage and safety systems. The development process for the interior design proposal consisted of iterative design methods. This included concept generation, concept development and three-dimensional form studies. Throughout the development process, concepts were screened against design criteria in order to further direct the iterative process. Contemporary Formula One race car illustrated an abundance of visual inspiration for the interior design proposal during the development process. Elements such as exhaust and aerodynamic wing details were referenced within the interior design proposal. The intent of this was to create visual harmony between interior and exterior aesthetics. Research into ingress and egress found a conventionally fixed steering unit impeded participants. As a result, the final design proposed a steering unit that swung towards the centre of the interior for greater entry/exit space. The interior design proposal was assessed by internal and external ‘ design evaluation’ methods. Testing indicated that the interior design proposal had fulfilled most of the experience and performance design criteria and achieved the aim of this research. Overall, this investigation designed an interior design proposal to compliment the exterior design of the Hulme F1 supercar. The interior design proposal was supported by visual framework developed from this research investigation. In addition, the investigation proposed functional and ergonomic solutions to support the interior design proposal.

Automobildesigner haben als Gestaltungsexperten die Aufgabe, die Identität und damit die Werte einer Marke in Formen zu übersetzen, welche eine Vielzahl von Kunden ansprechen (Giannini & Monti, 2003; Karjalainen, 2002). Für diesen Übersetzungsprozess ist es zielführend, ästhetische Kundenbedürfnisse zu kennen, denn die Qualität einer Designlösung hängt auch davon ab, inwieweit der Designer Kundenbe-dürfnisse und damit das Designproblem richtig erfasst hat (Ulrich, 2006). Eine Grundlage hierfür entsteht durch eine erfolgreiche Designer-Nutzer-Interaktion und den Aufbau eines gemeinsamen Kontextwissens (Lee, Popovich, Blackler & Lee, 2009). Zwischen Designern und Kunden findet jedoch häufig kein direkter Austausch statt (Zeisel, 2006). Zudem belegen Befunde der Kunst- und Produktästhetikforschung, dass der Erwerb von gestalterischem Wissen und damit die Entwicklung ästhetischer Expertise mit Veränderungen der kognitiven Verarbeitung ästhetischer Objekte einhergeht, die sich in Wahrnehmung, Bewertung und Verhalten manifestieren. Damit ist auch zu erwarten, dass die Präferenzurteile von Designern und Kunden bei der ästhetischen Bewertung von Design nicht immer konvergieren. Ziel der vorliegenden Arbeit war daher die systematische Untersuchung dieser expertisebedingten Wahrnehmungs- und Bewertungsunterschiede zwischen designge-schulten und ungeschulten Personen bei der Betrachtung von Automobildesign. Damit sollten Perzeption, Verarbeitung und Bewertung von Automobildesign durch design-ungeschulte Personen transparenter gemacht und mit der Verarbeitung designgeschul-ter Personen verglichen werden, um einen Beitrag zur gemeinsamen Wissensbasis und damit einer erfolgreichen Designer-Nutzer-Interaktion zu leisten. Die theoretische Einbettung der Arbeit basierte auf dem Modell ästhetischer Erfahrung und ästheti-schen Urteilens von Leder, Belke, Oeberst und Augustin (2004), welches konkrete Annahmen zu Verarbeitungsunterschieden von ästhetischen Objekten zwischen Experten und Laien bietet, die bisher allerdings noch nicht umfassend geprüft wurden. Den ersten Schwerpunkt dieser Arbeit bildete die Untersuchung von Unter-schieden zwischen Designern und designungeschulten Rezipienten bei der Beschrei-bung und Bewertung auf dem Markt vorhandenen Fahrzeugdesigns. Dabei sollte auch geprüft werden, ob eine lexikalische Verbindung zwischen Beschreibungsattributen von Fahrzeugrezipienten und den postulierten Markenwerten von Automobilmarken hergestellt werden kann. Diesem ersten Untersuchungsanliegen wurde in zwei Studien nachgegangen: Studie I diente der Erhebung von Beschreibungsattributen mittels Triadenvergleich in Anlehnung an Kelly (1955). Es wurde geprüft, ob designgeschulte Teilnehmer produkti-ver verbalisieren, dabei anteilig mehr symbolbezogene als formbezogene Attribute generieren und innerhalb ihrer Gruppe häufiger gleiche Attribute nutzen als designun-geschulte Teilnehmer. Hierfür beschrieben 20 designgeschulte Probanden und 20 designungeschulte Probanden mit selbst gewählten Adjektiven die Unterschiede zwischen vier präsentierten Fahrzeugen. Die Gruppen nutzten dabei entgegen der Annahmen sehr ähnliche Attribute und unterschieden sich somit auch nicht in ihrer Verwendung symbolbezogener und formbezogener Attribute. Die generierten Attribute wurden mittels Prototypenansatz (Amelang & Zielinski, 2002) den ermittelten und nachfolgend kategorisierten Markenwerten von 10 Automobilherstellern zugeordnet, so dass sechs Skalen zur Erfassung der ästhetischen Wirkung von Fahrzeugen entstanden. In Studie II wurde ein diese sechs Skalen umfassender Fragebogen an einer Stichprobe von 83 Designern und Designstudierenden sowie 98 Probanden ohne Designausbildung in einer Onlinebefragung hinsichtlich Skalenkonsistenz geprüft. Außerdem wurden erste Annahmen aus dem Modell von Leder et al. (2004) abgeleitet und durch einen Vergleich der beiden Teilnehmergruppen hinsichtlich der Bewertung der vier präsentierten Fahrzeugmodelle für die Skalen mit guter interner Konsistenz (Attraktivität, Dynamik, Fortschritt, Qualität), sowie eines ästhetischen Gesamturteils, der benötigten Bewertungszeit und der Automobilaffinität überprüft. Hierbei vergaben Designstudierende und insbesondere ausgebildete Designer radikalere Bewertungen als Designlaien, benötigten mehr Zeit bei der Bewertung und waren automobilaffiner als die ungeschulten Befragungsteilnehmer. Den zweiten Schwerpunkt der Arbeit bildete eine konzeptionelle Zusammen-führung der Annahmen des Modells von Leder et al. (2004) und der Postulate zur Wirkung von Objekteigenschaften auf ästhetische Urteile (Berlyne, 1971; Martindale, 1988; Silvia, 2005b). Konkret sollte geprüft werden, welchen Einfluss marktrelevante Objekteigenschaften, wie z.B. das Ausmaß an Innovativität, auf die durch Expertise moderierte Bewertung von Design haben. In den Studien III und IV wurden hierfür systematisch bezüglich Innovativität und Balance gestufte Linienmodelle von Fahrzeu-gen präsentiert. In Studie III wurden die Modelle in einer Onlinebefragung durch 18 Designstudierende und 20 Studenten der Fahrzeugtechnik hinsichtlich Attraktivität, Innovativität und Balance bewertet. Im Einklang mit den Annahmen konnte gezeigt werden, dass sehr neuartiges Design von den designungeschulten Probanden als weniger attraktiv bewertet wird als von Betrachtern eines Designstudienganges. In Studie IV wurden neben den Ästhetikbewertungen zusätzlich das Blickverhal-ten und der affektiver Zustand der Versuchsteilnehmer in einem Messwiederholungs-design mit einer zwischengelagerten Phase elaborierter Designbewertung, in welcher der in Studie II geprüfte Fragebogen eingesetzt wurde, erhoben. An der Laborstudie nahmen je 11 Designer, Ingenieure, und Geisteswissenschaftler teil. Wiederum wurde innovatives Design von den designungeschulten Gruppen als weniger attraktiv bewertet. Dieser Unterschied reduzierte sich jedoch nach wiederholter Bewertung der Modelle. Die Manifestation expertisebedingten Blickverhaltens konnte nicht beobach-tet werden, wie auch die durch eine angenommene bessere Bewältigung einherge-hende positivere Stimmung oder höhere Zufriedenheit in der Expertengruppe. Gemeinsam mit den Befunden aus den Studien II und III wurde deutlich, dass Designausbildung und, noch ausgeprägter, Designexpertise neben einer höheren Attraktivitätsbewertung innovativen Designs auch zu einer differenzierteren Beurtei-lung von Innovativität führt. Dies wurde mit der Erweiterung des mentalen Schemas für Fahrzeuge durch die Beschäftigung mit vielfältigen Modellvarianten bereits während des Studiums interpretiert. Es wurden Hinweise auf eine stilbezogene, elaboriertere Verarbeitung von Fahrzeugdesign durch designgeschulte Betrachter beobachtet sowie eine mit Expertise einhergehende Autonomität ästhetischer Urteile als Ausdruck einer hohen ästhetischen Entwicklungsstufe (Parsons, 1987). Mit diesen bei unterschiedlichen Stichproben beobachteten, stabilen expertisebedingten Bewer-tungsunterschieden wurde eine begründete Basis für die geforderte Sensibilisierung für ästhetische Kundenbedürfnisse im Gestaltungsprozess geschaffen. Der in dieser Arbeit entwickelte Fragebogen kann hierbei für eine elaborierte Messung von Fahrzeugdesignpräferenzen, zum Vergleich der ästhetischen Wirkung mit den intendierten Markenwerten sowie für die Diskussion von Nutzereindrücken eingesetzt werden. Die Ergebnisse der vorliegenden Arbeiten tragen somit zur Erweiterung und Präzisierung des theoretischen Verständnisses von Ästhetikbewertungen bei und lassen sich gleichzeitig in die Praxis der Designausbildung und des Designprozesses übertragen. / Car designers are experts in creating car exteriors that transport a brand’s identity by giving a form to its values which has to appeal to a multitude of customers (Giannini & Monti, 2003; Karjalainen, 2002). In this process of translating values into forms it is quintessential to apprehend the customers’ requirements, as the designers understanding of these needs and thus of the design problem itself has a major impact on the quality of the design (Ulrich, 2011). One basis for this apprehension is shared contextual knowledge stemming from a successful interaction between the designer and the user (Lee, Popovich, Blackler & Lee, 2009). Unfortunately, there often is no direct exchange between designers and users (Zeisel, 2006). What is more, findings from research on the fine arts and product aesthetics prove that acquiring design knowledge and aesthetic expertise distinctly alters one’s cognitive processing of aesthetic objects, which also manifests in one’s perception, assessment, and behaviour. One should also expect experts’ preferential assessments to differ from the ones of users as far as aesthetic assessment is concerned. Considering these propositions, the goal of this doctoral thesis was to systematically examine these expertise-induced differences between design experts and laymen in perceiving and assessing automotive design. This thesis also contibutes to furthering the interaction between designers and users by establishing a shared knowledge basis and does so by analyzing the perception, processing, and assessment of car design by designers and laymen. Theoretical assumptions are based on the model of aesthetic appreciation by Leder, Belke, Oeberst and Augustin (2004), which provides detailed but hitherto untested assumptions on how experts and laymen differ in their processing of aesthetic objects. The thesis first focussed on examining the expertiseinduced differences in describing and assessing car design available „in the wild“, i.e. on the market. This and the lexical link between customers’ descriptive attributes and brand values as intended by the car companies were tested in two studies: Study I collected descriptive attributes by using Kelly’s (1955) method of triadic comparions. It also tested the assumption that experts verbalise more productively, generate a higher ratio of symbol-related to form-related attributes and are more homogenous in their use of attributes. In this study, 20 experts and 20 laymen were presented four cars and were to describe the differences between them using self-chosen adjectives. Contrary to the initial assumption, both groups used similar attributes and did thus also not differ in the ratio of symbol-related and form-related attributes. The attributes generated in this study were matched to the collected and categorised values of ten brands using a prototype approach (cp. Amelang & Zielinski, 2002), which resulted in six scales for covering the aesthetic impression of cars. Study II tested these scales for consistency on 83 designers and students of design and 98 design laymen in an online questionnaire. In addition, first predictions were derived from the model by Leder et al. (2004) and tested by comparing these two groups regarding their assessment of four cars on the scales that had shown a high level of internal consistency (attractiveness, dynamics, progressiveness and quality) as well as regarding their overall aesthetic appreciation, response time, and affinity for cars. In this study, the experts were more radical in their assessments, took more time working in the tasks, and cherished cars more than the laymen. The second focus of this work was to combine the assumptions of the model by Leder et al. (2004) and the postulations on how the characteristics of aesthetic objects influence aesthetic assessments (Berlyne, 1971; Martindale, 1988; Silvia, 2005b): Inhowfar do market-relevant characteristics such as innovativeness affect expertise-induced assessment of design? Study III and IV used line art models that were systematically graduated for innovativeness and balance to answer this question. In study III, 18 design students and 20 engineering students assessed these models in an online questionnaire regarding attractiveness, innovativeness, and balance. The results were in line with the assumptions and showed that laymen rated highly innovative design less attractive than experts. Study IV collected data on the aesthetic assessment, gaze behavior, and the participants’ affective state in a repeated measures design that included an intermediary phase of elaborately assessing design by using the questionnaire developed in study II. The sample consisted of 11 designers, 11 engineers, and 11 humanities scholars. Although highly innovative design – as in study III – was rated less attractive by the laymen, repeated measurement decreased this group difference. The study assumed but could not show effects of expertise-induced gaze behaviour, and an expertise-induced better coping with the task resulting in a greater satisfaction with one’s task performance. The findings of this thesis demonstrate that experience with design and – even more pronounced – expertise in this field result in a greater appreciation for innovative design and a more nuanced assessment of innovativeness. Probably, designers constantly enhance their mental schema due to being confronted with various variations of and solutions for a design problem. The studies suggest that experts process car design in a more style-related, elaborate manner and also that designers, due to their more advanced aesthetic level of development (Parsons, 1987) and expertise, are more autonomous in their assessment. These stable expertise-induced differences in assessment between laymen and experts could be demonstrated for various samples. Thus, they are a valid basis for dealing more sensitively with customers’ requirements in the design process. The questionnaire developed in this thesis can be applied to measure design preferences in detail, to compare the aesthetic impact to the intended brand statement, and to discuss users’ impressions. To conclude, the results presented in this thesis contribute to the theory of aesthetic assessment in providing a more precise understanding of aesthetic assessments and can also be applied to design education and design processes.

The implementation of In-Vehicle Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) is becoming a common occurrence in modern vehicles. Automobile manufacturers are releasing vehicles with many forms of sophisticated technologies that remove much of the responsibility of controlling an automobile from the driver. These In-Vehicle Intelligent Transport Systems have stemmed from a genuine need in regards to road safety, however there are advantages and disadvantages associated with ITS. Each different form of technology has its own inherent compromises in relation to road safety, driver behaviour and driver comfort. This thesis outlines the benefits and detrimental effects associated with current In-Vehicle Intelligent Transport Systems and details the development and user interface testing of an adaptive brake light. The adaptive brakelight concept aims to provide drivers with the advantages of an In-Vehicle ITS whilst removing the disadvantages. The technology will help drivers judge the braking pattern of the car in front, thus allowing them to react appropriately and potentially reducing the occurrence of rear-end crashes. The adaptive brake light concept was tested in comparison to a standard brake light and BMW inspired brake light in a series of user interface tests. The adaptive brake light was shown overall to be an improved method of displaying the varying levels of deceleration of a lead vehicle. Whilst different age and gender groups responded differently to the adaptive brake light, it was shown to be of benefit to the majority and the most at risk groups responded positively to the adaptive brake light. This research shows that an adaptive brake light can provide a benefit in regards to road safety when compared to a standard brake light interface. It is hoped that further development of variable brake lights will result from this research and possibly lead to the implementation of the technology to automobiles and other forms of transport.

Fully autonomous vehicles are expected to revolutionize transportation, reduce the cost of ownership, contribute to a cleaner environment, and prevent the majority of traffic accidents and related fatalities. Even though promising approaches for achieving full autonomy exist, developers and manufacturers have to overcome a multitude of challenged before these systems could find widespread adoption. This multiple case study explored the strategies some IT hardware and software developers of self-driving cars use to adapt traditional vehicle design frameworks to address consumer and regulatory requirements in autonomous vehicle designs. The population consisted of autonomous driving technology software and hardware developers who are currently working on fully autonomous driving technologies from or within the United States, regardless of their specialization. The theory of dynamic capabilities was the conceptual framework used for the study. Interviews from 7 autonomous vehicle hard and software engineers, together with 15 archival documents, provided the data points for the study. A thematic analysis was used to code and group results by themes. When looking at the results through the lens of dynamic capability theory, notable themes included regulatory uncertainty, functional safety, rapid iteration, and achieving a competitive advantage. Based on the findings of the study, implications for social change include the need for better regulatory frameworks to provide certainty, consumer education to manage expectations, and universal development standards that could integrate regulatory and design needs into a single approach.

23% of passenger vehicle occupant deaths in 2019 was side-impact collisions and is a ongoing problem that continues to take people’s lives (IIHS, 2021a). IIHS (Insurance Institute for Highway Safety) is an organization based in USA, which performs vehicle crash tests with the goal of making cars safer and reducing deaths and injuries. In 2023, a new, tougher side crash test will be introduced by IIHS in the USA to tackle those crashes and save lives. The goal for IIHS with their vehicle tests is to urge the car manufacturers to make safer vehicles. Manufacturers in the automotive industry knows that the customers are using the ratings as a guide before buying a vehicle, which forces them to adapt the vehicles to pass the tests and have a good rating. In early crash tests with the updated side crash test, a lot of vehicles from a selection of different manufacturers struggled to pass the test requirements and it seems like the new test requires change of component strength and design.  This is a master thesis project in Industrial Design Engineering with the focus on Product Design, at Luleå University of Technology (LTU), and has been performed on behalf of Gestamp HardTech at their R&D department in Luleå, Sweden. The early parts project focused on finding which car components has the largest influence of the crash result, where the components might need to be reinforced or having less strength.  To help simulating the side crash, full vehicle side-impact crash simulations were used in this project with a virtual reference FEM car made by Gestamp, GLAB G3 EV. This project has been using the CDIO-design process, which stands for Conceive, Design, Implement and Operate.  In the first phase, Conceive, simulations were made and the current IIHS side crash test was compared with the new IIHS test. The left-side side-impact beams was chosen as the components to trying to improve in the project. Creative methods in the Design-phase were generated ideas, which was 3D CAD modeled in CATIA V5 and tested with three-point bending simulations in LS-DYNA.  The three-point bending simulations were analyzed and the best performing designs were chosen, to later be simulated with full vehicle side-impact crash simulations in the Implement-phase. The results from these simulations were used to develop ten different concepts of combinations of left-front and left-rear side-impact beams and ten final full vehicle simulations were conducted and analyzed on factors such as door intrusion, component weight and more. From these concepts, the two final concepts were selected with the use of the Pugh Decision Matrix, and these two concepts had the highest rating score from this matrix. These two concepts, Final Concept and Alternative Concept, are the final results of the project. Each concept has a combination of a left-front side-impact beam and a left-rear side-impact beam. The two final concepts are reducing the side crash intrusion on the side-impact beams compared to the reference simulations conducted with the new IIHS side crash test. The Final Concept were the best concept in the results from the matrix and is reducing the total side crash intrusion on the left-side of the car by 161 mm compared to the reference simulations The reason why an Alternative Concept to the Final Concept was selected was because it has very different design and thickness compared to the Final Concept, and even though it only has 94 mm total side crash intrusion  reduction on the left-side of the car compared to the reference simulation, it was looked on a potential alternative to the Final Concept with further work and development applied to it. / 23% av dödsfallen i passagerarfordon under 2019 var sidokrockar och är ett pågående problem som fortsätter att ta människors liv (IIHS, 2021a). IIHS (Insurance Institute for Highway Safety) är en organisation som är baserad i USA som utför fordonskrocktester med målet att göra bilar säkrare och minska dödsfall och skador. 2023 kommer ett nytt, tuffare sidokrocktest att introduceras av IIHS i USA för att tackla dessa krascher med målet att rädda fler liv. Målet för IIHS med sina fordonstester är att uppmana biltillverkarna att göra säkrare fordon. Tillverkare inom fordonsindustrin vet att kunderna använder betygen som vägledning innan de köper ett fordon, vilket tvingar dem att anpassa bilarna för att klara testerna och få ett bra testbetyg. I tidiga krocktester med det uppdaterade IIHS sidokrocktestet hade många bilar från ett flertal biltillverkare för att klara testkraven och det verkar som om det nya testet kräver förändring av styrka och design i bilens komponenter. Detta är ett examensarbete i Civilingenjör Teknisk Design med inriktning på produkt design vid Luleå Tekniska Universitet (LTU), och har utförts på uppdrag av Gestamp HardTech vid deras FoU-avdelning i Luleå, Sverige. Början av projektet fokuserade på att hitta vilka bilkomponenter som har störst inverkan på krockresultatet, ta reda på var komponenterna kan behöva förstärkas eller ha mindre styrka. För att hjälpa till att simulera sidokrocken användes helbilssidokrocksimuleringar i detta projekt med hjälp av en virtuell FEM-bil tillverkad av Gestamp, GLAB G3 EV. Detta projekt har använt CDIO-designprocessen, som står för Conceive, Design, Implement och Operate. I den första fasen, Conceive, gjordes simuleringar och det nuvarande IIHS sidokrocktestet jämfördes med det nya IIHS testet. De två sidokrock-skydden på vänstra sidan av bilen valdes som komponenter att försöka förbättra i projektet. Kreativa metoder i Design-fasen genererade idéer, som 3D CAD modellerades i CATIA V5 och testades med trepunktsböjnings-simuleringar i LS-DYNA. Trepunktsböjningssimuleringarna analyserades och de bästa presterande designerna valdes ut, för att senare simuleras med helbilssidokrock-simuleringar i Implement-fasen. Resultaten från dessa simuleringar användes för att utveckla tio olika koncept av kombinationer av sidokrockskydd till vänster fram och vänster bak av bilen och tio slutliga helbilssidokrock-simuleringarna genomfördes och analyserades på faktorer som intryckningen i dörrarna, komponenternas vikt med mera. Från dessa koncept valdes de två slutliga koncepten ut med hjälp av Pughs beslutsmatris, och dessa två koncept hade det högsta betyget från denna matris. Dessa två koncept, Final Concept och Alternative Concept, är projektets slutresultat. Varje koncept har en kombination av ett sidokrockskydd på vänster-fram och ett sidokrockskydd på vänster-bak. De två slutgiltiga koncepten minskar dörrintrånget på sidokrockskydden jämfört med referenssimuleringarna som genomfördes med det nya IIHS sidokrock-testet. Final Concept var det bästa konceptet i resultaten från matrisen och minskar det totala sidokrockintrånget på bilens vänstra sida med 161 mm jämfört med referenssimuleringarna. Anledningen till att ett alternativt koncept till det slutgiltiga konceptet valdes var eftersom den har väldigt olika design och tjocklek jämfört med det slutliga konceptet, och även om den bara har 94 mm total reduktion av sidokrockintrång på vänster sida av bilen jämfört med referenssimuleringen, såg man detta koncept som ett potentiellt alternativ till Final Concept med fortsatt arbete och utveckling tillämpat på detta koncept.