The aim of this research was to determine the extent of use, by Australian manufacturers, of lean manufacturing techniques, and the current and future implications for industrial designers. A survey was conducted to gather data on organisation demographics, the role of the industrial designer, production techniques and product development. The survey was distributed to 220 manufacturing organisations undertaking product development in Australia. The number of surveys returned was 134, representing a 60.9 percent response rate. The surveyed organisations represented a broad cross-section of Australian manufacturers by size, location and industry. Manufacturing organisations were categorised into three groups: lean manufacturers, emerging users of lean manufacturing and non-lean manufacturers. It was concluded that lean manufacturing is being adopted by Australian manufacturers and that lean manufacturing is impacting on the role of the industrial design. In general, the data obtained in this research confirms views expressed in the literature that describes current changes in the manufacturing industry. This literature suggests that design will become the next competitive 'weapon', and become a central part of organisational strategy. However, the data also suggests the design profession has still some way to go to adequately grasp its full professional potential, particularly in the area of product development management. The results indicate that industrial designers underperformed in five functional areas that could be considered fundamental to the service normally provided by industrial designers and they have not exceeded expectations in any of the functions included in the survey. It was found that overall, industrial designers were not regarded highly by organisations as a source of new product ideas. Another troubling finding was that industrial designers were generally not perceived as being suitable to manage product development groups. The results of this research could be used to guide educational institutions in regard to curricula for industrial design courses so that future graduates may more effectively fulfil industry requirements.

Thesis (M.S.)--Auburn University, 2007. / Abstract. Vita. Includes bibliographic references (ℓ. 104-108)

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of New South Wales, 2002. / Also available online.

Thesis (Master)--İzmir Institute of Technology, İzmir, 2005 / Keywords: Industrial design, women designers, gender and design. Includes bibliographical references (leaves. 61-65).

Relationships between furniture and children s play are examined in this research paper, with the purpose of connecting features in furniture to specific play activities. The focus of the research is children between the ages of 4 to 8 years old in the context of indoor play at home. An image survey of furniture created for children s use displays a range of attributes and aesthetics designed into children s furniture. A collage study conducted with designers, parents and teachers reveals the perception of furniture s use and anticipated attractiveness to children by analyzing each item s characteristics. Trace observation of how children manipulate their home environment and home interviews with parents provide opportunities for a detailed description of children s play activities linked to specific pieces of furniture. Child interviews conducted for a National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) sponsored research project for the study of Inclusive Indoor Play provided information on children s preferences with respect to indoor play at home. This research paper discusses how the combined data of these four studies links distinct furniture features to specific play activities. The resulting data proposes an informative tool to be used by designers to create furniture more conducive to children s play.

Thesis (MTech (Design))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2016. / Economic recession and job scarcity has led to a decline in the demand for design services. Graduates in all fields are faced with the risk of unemployment beyond graduation, with youth unemployment rates in South Africa and globally at alarming levels. The evolving social and economic challenges of our times place increasing pressure on the responsibility of higher education institutions to design learning experiences that adequately prepare graduates for the world of work, whether in employment or in entrepreneurial self-employment. However, there is a significant gap between universities’ supply and industry’s demand for graduates with the desired attributes, which research shows include not only subject-specific knowledge and skills, but particularly ‘soft skills’ that make an employee effective at work. The paradox of students graduating without professional experience can be overcome through approaches such as work-integrated learning, which embed the lessons of professional practice into design education curricula. This research project examines a case study of work-integrated learning at a South African university of technology in order to develop an industry-responsive model of professional practice in Industrial Design education. The case examined is the “R5K project”, a year-long group project in BTech Industrial Design in which students are challenged – simulating the world of work - to design, develop, manufacture, market and sell a product, and earn at least ZAR 5 000. This research set out to assess the extent to which the project effectively prepared students for work.

Thesis (MTech (Design))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2016. / This research study investigates the level of awareness of, and engagement with Design for Sustainability (DfS) among three categories of actors within the Cape Town communication design fraternity: design educators, design students and design professionals. It focuses specifically on the degree of application of DfS within three selected Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in Cape Town, while also interrogating the local industry’s need for students who are knowledgeable and skilled in this subject. To successfully practice DfS, communication designers need to be responsive to the possible environmental, social, cultural and economic impacts of their work. This study argues for the early incorporation of principles of sustainability into communication design curricula in order to promote the uptake of DfS. An extensive review of literature facilitates the showcasing of practical examples of how communication designers can positively address sustainability through their design solutions. Further, it also unpacks the barriers and solutions to integrating DfS into both education and practice. The study employs a qualitative research approach. Using purposive sampling, rich data is gathered from the key informants through focus groups and semi-structured interviews. Activity Theory is used as an analytical lens through which to examine the dynamics between the three different actors who are involved in the activities of teaching, learning and practicing DfS in communication design. The findings identify major gaps in the teaching of DfS as the subject is typically considered to be applicable to environmental issues. There is also limited understanding of how to practically apply principles of sustainability. Along with proposing appropriate strategies and tools to enrich the education around DfS in a more holistic manner, the study highlights the need for proactive re-curriculation so as to effectively sensitise students to the responsibility of communication designers to tackle sustainability issues. A set of adaptable guidelines is proffered as a way of making DfS more accessible to students while training them to channel their unique skill set and enhance attributes of agility and resilience in preparation for professional practice and an ever changing world. Educators are seen as playing the most crucial role in effecting the proposed guidelines because they interface with both students and industry; as well as straddle the critical domains of research, pedagogy and professional praxis. Additionally, this study recommends establishing more robust, responsive and meaningful connections between academia and industry in order to develop contextually relevant industry standards that will promote and advance DfS best practice among the Cape Town communication design fraternity.

Products are designed to satisfy user needs. Thus, industrial designers are expected to have a thorough understanding of user needs and to incorporate those understandings into the design of products; however, it is not a straightforward task for designers to translate their conditional understanding into a product. The gap between product and user can be even wider when latent user needs, such as cultural ones, are calculated into the problem. Therefore the meanings and functions imbued in products by the designer may not be recognized and acknowledged by users, due to the differences in cultural preferences of designers and users from separate cultures. In spite of the fact that user satisfaction has been extensively supported in the design literature, it seems that such an approach allows only a passive role for designers, who actually act as cultural intermediaries; that is, the designers' role is merely presumed to catalyze the process and match user requirements to the end product. Thus, the impact of designers' cultural preferences is considered as incidental, or at least overlooked. A content analysis method was triangulated to collect and analyze diverse visual and textual data relating to the concept generation stage of the product development process. To collect data, professional industrial designers in the two culturally diverse countries of Australia and Iran were recruited to participate in half-hour design exercise sessions to sketch to a design brief, followed by responding to an interview questionnaire. The analysis of data revealed that: (1) designers' cultural preferences do influence their approaches toward tackling the design problem; (2) there are nexuses between the design aspects of the concepts generated and the cultural dimensions of the values of the societies in which the designers were born and has lived, and; (3)potential users can unconsciously comprehend the meaning invested in the product by the designer. This thesis breaks new ground for further advancing the study of the Designer-Precedent Approach (DPA) in other cultural and social contexts, while it challenges the conventional approaches of user-centered design (UCD) broadlyperceived as the ultimate method of incorporating users' wants into products.

Products are designed to satisfy user needs. Thus, industrial designers are expected to have a thorough understanding of user needs and to incorporate those understandings into the design of products; however, it is not a straightforward task for designers to translate their conditional understanding into a product. The gap between product and user can be even wider when latent user needs, such as cultural ones, are calculated into the problem. Therefore the meanings and functions imbued in products by the designer may not be recognized and acknowledged by users, due to the differences in cultural preferences of designers and users from separate cultures. In spite of the fact that user satisfaction has been extensively supported in the design literature, it seems that such an approach allows only a passive role for designers, who actually act as cultural intermediaries; that is, the designers' role is merely presumed to catalyze the process and match user requirements to the end product. Thus, the impact of designers' cultural preferences is considered as incidental, or at least overlooked. A content analysis method was triangulated to collect and analyze diverse visual and textual data relating to the concept generation stage of the product development process. To collect data, professional industrial designers in the two culturally diverse countries of Australia and Iran were recruited to participate in half-hour design exercise sessions to sketch to a design brief, followed by responding to an interview questionnaire. The analysis of data revealed that: (1) designers' cultural preferences do influence their approaches toward tackling the design problem; (2) there are nexuses between the design aspects of the concepts generated and the cultural dimensions of the values of the societies in which the designers were born and has lived, and; (3)potential users can unconsciously comprehend the meaning invested in the product by the designer. This thesis breaks new ground for further advancing the study of the Designer-Precedent Approach (DPA) in other cultural and social contexts, while it challenges the conventional approaches of user-centered design (UCD) broadlyperceived as the ultimate method of incorporating users' wants into products.

La thèse prend comme objet les enjeux de formation des futurs designers. Au croisement de la sociologie de l’éducation, du travail et des professions, il s’agit de rendre compte des différentes socialisations qui ont conduit des personnes à devenir designer. Il s’agit de comprendre qui et comment des personnes décident de devenir designer aujourd’hui. Cette thèse repose sur une enquête réalisée dans deux institutions de formation qui ont la particularité de se situer au plus haut niveau du champ de l’enseignement supérieur en design : une grande école publique et une grande école privée. D’autre part, il s’agit d’examiner les différentes voies professionnelles qui se dessinent pour les étudiants. Premièrement, à travers l’analyse des caractéristiques sociales des élèves admis dans ces des deux établissements, il s’agit de comprendre les processus communs de socialisation primaire qui ont conduit ces jeunes à s’orienter vers la profession de designer. Ensuite, nous verrons comment ces deux écoles, via leur mode de sélection et leur socialisation secondaire spécifique, s’opposent assez nettement sur la manière de concevoir le métier de designer et la nature des services qu’il peut être amené à accomplir au sein de l’entreprise. La méthodologie mise en œuvre rassemble des observations de longue durée ; une soixantaine d'entretiens réalisés avec des étudiants, des enseignants et des professionnels ; le dépouillement exhaustifs des archives des dossiers scolaires des deux écoles ainsi que les résultats d'une enquête quantitative menée auprès des étudiants en formation en 2010. / The thesis takes for object the training issues of future designers. At the crossroad of education sociology, of work and professions sociology, it consists in accounting the different socializations which led individuals to become designers. It consists in understanding who and how people decide today to become designer. This thesis is based on a survey led in two training institutions which have the particularity to be on the highest level of design superior teaching: one large public school and one large private school. On the other hand, it consists in examining the different professional paths existing for students. First, thought the analysis of the social characteristics of student admitted in these two establishments, it consists in understanding the common processes of primary socialization which led these young people to turn towards the designers profession. Then, we will see how these two schools, thought their selection way and their specific secondary socialization, oppose themselves quite vividly on the way to conceive the designers profession and the nature of the services a designer can be led to accomplish in a company. The methodology gathers long duration observations; sixty interviews carried out with students, teachers and professionals; the exhaustive analysis of the archives of scholar files from the two schools and the results of a quantitative survey led among students in 2010.