Abilia utvecklar, tillverkar och säljer tekniska hjälpmedel till personer som antingen har en fysisk eller psykisk begränsning som påverkar deras vardag. För att dra ner på kostnaderna och få en bättre enhetlighet vill Abilia att ytterförpackningarna ska standardiseras samt att ett flexibelt inrede som ska kunna anpassas till många av företagets produkter utvecklas. En förstudie lade grunden för projektet där många olika områden och metoder undersöktes. De existerade förpackningarna utvärderades, deras och produkternas livscykel kartlades varpå det framgick vilka som var projektets huvudanvändare. Dessa intervjuades och en kravspecifikation kunde sedan fastställas. Förstudien resulterade i att det fanns två grupper av produkter som lösningen måste kunna anpassas till. Lösningen måste även vara flexibel både för produkterna och för dess tillbehör. Hjälpmedelscentralerna som visade sig vara projektets huvudanvändare hade krav att lösningen skulle vara hållbar och ge förpackningen en strukturerad insida. Koncept genererades med hjälp av en praktisk idégenerering som resulterade i olika former och konstruktioner. Konceptval genomfördes genom diskussion med personal från Abilia samt genom en viktad konceptvalsmatris. Projektet resulterade i ett flexibelt och hållbart inrede i två lösningar. En produktpresentationsdel som har en konstruktion med nedvikbara flikar som gör det möjligt att kila fast produkter oberoende av storlek samt en flexibel tillbehörsdel som både kan regleras i höjdled och sidled. Lösningen uppfyller kraven från kravspecifikationen och har verifierats av experter inom området att den fungerar i verkliga situationer. Materialet i lösningen är det bäst anpassade för funktionen och är även det material som har lägst miljöpåverkan av de som undersöktes i projektet. / Abilia develops, manufactures and sells aids for people who have either a physical or mental limitations that affect their everyday lives. In order to save money and get a better uniformity Abilia want to standardize the packaging and develop a flexible interior that can be adapted to many of the company’s products. A pilot study laid the foundation for the project where many different areas and methods were examined. The existing packages were evaluated, and their and the products lifecycles were identified and that made it clear who the projects user was. They were interviewed and a product specification could be established. The pilot study resulted that it was two groups of products and the solution must be able to adapt to both. The solution must also be flexible to the products and their accessories. The Hjälpmedelscentralerna turned out to be the users in this project and they had requirements that the solution must be sustainable and provide a more structured inside of the packaging. Concepts were generated with a practical idea generation that resulted in different forms and constructions. The concept selection was made after discussion with the staff from Abilia and through a balanced concept selection matrix. The project resulted in a flexible and durable interior in two parts. A product presentation part which has a design with folddown flaps that allows the product to get stuck no matter which size and a flexible accessory which can be adjusted both vertically and horizontally. The solution fulfills the requirements from the product specification and has been verified by expert that it would work in real situation. The material in the solution is the best suited for the function and it is also the material with the lowest environmental impact of those surveyed in the project.

Manufacturing globalization and sustainable development compel production enterprises to continuously seek improvements in their products performance, customization, environmental friendliness, cost, and delivery time. The challenges of this competition cannot be completely addressed through improving production processes because some issues can only be solved through more innovative design. This thesis investigates a new design paradigm called Design for Adaptability or Adaptable Design (AD) to address some of these challenges. The purpose of AD is to extend the utility of designs and products. An adaptable design allows manufacturers to quickly develop new and upgraded models or customized products through adapting existing designs with proven quality and costs. An adaptable product can be utilized under varying service requirements thus prevents premature product replacement. Design adaptability and product adaptability provide economical and environmental benefits of AD. <p> To make a product adaptable, its adaptability must be built-in during the design stage. Methods of design for predetermined adaptations are categorized as Specific AD; these methods design products for versatility, upgrading, variety, and customization. Several of these methods such as modular/platform design and design for upgrading have been studied for mechanical design. In the absence of predetermined adaptations, AD aims to increase the general adaptability of products. General AD involves fundamental research in design theory and methodology in order to develop practical design methods and guidelines. This thesis introduces several original concepts and proposes the subordination of a system to a rational functional structure as an approach for increasing general adaptability. Such a system would consist of a hierarchical assembly of autonomous functional modules, emulating the adaptable architecture of a rational functional structure. Methods and guidelines are proposed for making the design of mechanical systems closer to this ideal architecture. <p> Accordingly, the thesis proposes a methodology for AD in which specific AD is performed first to take advantage of available forecast information, and then general AD is performed in order to increase adaptability to unforeseen changes. Also, a measure has been defined for the assessment of adaptability. The application of this methodology has been demonstrated through several conceptual design examples.

Sustainable product design is a challenge that must be met by industrial designers. Over the history of the discipline there are numerous occasions where industrial design has contributed to the pollution and degradation of the environment, and at this time they must take the responsibility of educating and encouraging both consumers and business to move to more sustainable consumption and production cycles. This thesis investigates communication of sustainable product attributes through product semantics. The goal of converging these two fields is to make sustainable products more visible in the marketplace and to educate and capture the interest of consumers. The research investigates various consumer product categories and how consumers react to them, with specific emphasis on the products' sustainable qualities. The end result of the research effort is a set of general guidelines for the sustainable designer to use in their design efforts.

The basic notion of this study is related with visual attributes of products which reflect the identity of the company as well as form and design consistency which is a factor forming corporate identity. The sub-notions of the topic are elaborated in the literature review. The efforts which aimed at finding out the distinguishing characteristics of products focused on certain sample products. Digital camera is selected for the field study. The objective of the study is to put evidence that firms can be distinguished from each other with the help of visual attributes of their products and to determine which factors are effective throughout this process.

This thesis is intended to help eliminate misconceptions and missing information over the realm of smart materials, by offering a newly structured &lsquo / Information Hierarchy for Smart Materials Communication for Industrial / Product Design&rsquo / . Industrial and product designers are invited to use the findings of the thesis to assist in developing a common smart materials language and culture, enriched by details, technicalities, opportunities, and creative and innovative material attributes. The study commences with the creation of a concise and compact reservoir of technical knowledge on smart materials and critically contrasts two established systems of classification for smart materials. Then, the subject of materials information appropriate to industrial design is discussed, highlighting channels through which smart materials information may be communicated at an optimum level so as to be amenable to exploitation by industrial designers. A sectoral analysis of smart materials use follows, including the presentation of factors that may hinder their more extensive exploitation in major industrial sectors. v The thesis concludes that smart materials have potential to initiate a breakthrough in the materials universe, and that industrial designers have a role in promoting smart materials knowledge, the capabilities of smart materials, and their innovation possibilities. It is recomended that since smart materials are a new generation of materials quite different from the conventional, they be promoted carefully through the proposed Information Hierarchy.

A key challenge facing designers creating innovative products is concept generation. Conceptual design is more effective when the design space is broadened by using an integrated design of product and material concepts approach. Conceptual design can also be accelerated by including problem solving and solution triggering tools in its structure. In this approach, structured analogy is used to transfer underlying principles from a solution suitable in one domain (i.e., product or mechanical domain) to an analogous solution in another domain (i.e., material domain). The nature of design analogy does not require as full of an exploration of the target domain as would otherwise be necessary; affording the possibility of a more rapid development. The addition of problem solving and solution triggering tools to a design method also decreases the design time and/or improves the quality of the final solution. This approach is formulated through a combination of the Theory of Inventive Problem Solving (TRIZ) proposed by Altshuller, and the systematic approach of Pahl and Beitz, for products that are jointly considered at the product and material level. These types of problems are ones where customer performance requirements are fulfilled through both the designed product and the designed material. The systematic approach of Pahl and Beitz is used as the base method through which TRIZ is used as a means of transferring abstract information about the design problem between the domains with the aim of accelerating conceptual design. This also allows for multi-domain design tools such as Su-Field-Model integration with design repositories for the transfer of information at different levels of abstraction; expanding the design space and effectively directing the designer. The explanation of this approach is presented through a simple example of a spring design improvement and validated through concept generation of a reactive material containment system.

The design of Assistive Technology (AT) products that are highly functional as well satisfactory is presents many challenges. Various types of input are used in design of AT products to help overcome them. A study was conducted to gather data on the impact that different types of input (from simulation tools, a professional therapist, and end users) during the design of an AT product has on the effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction of the final design. The results show that input from stakeholders (end users or a therapist) can be very effective. However, effectiveness of the input is influenced by many factors and its impact on the design can be highly variable. Input from simulation tools was also found to be equally effective. Implications of these findings for the process of designing AT products are discussed.

I dagsläget är en stillasittande livsstil med inget eller endast litet inslag av fysisk aktivitet vanligt förekommande. Med sin slogan – Inspiring all generations – vill HAGS Aneby AB bjuda in alla generationer till fysisk aktivitet genom sina produkter inom lek, sport och fitness. Genom att styrka idén om utomhusgym kan den fysiska aktiviteten ökas – användare ska vilja använda utomhusgym och kunder ska vilja köpa in utomhusgym. Önskemålet är att skapa attraktiva platser som stödjer fysisk aktivitet och som också gör det roligt och trivsamt att röra på sig. Detta examensarbete utförs med syfte att undersöka hur HAGS Aneby AB kan erbjuda en träningslösning med utomhusgym för offentlig utemiljö, samt undersöka vilka önskemål om utomhusgym potentiella användare har. Målet med arbetet är att formulera en kravställning baserad på insamlade användarönskemål för utomhusgym, för att med hänsyn till denna kravställning ta fram ett koncept för en ny träningslösning. Konceptet innehåller förslag på utformning av ett nytt utomhusgym med träningsredskap för den i arbetet valda målgruppen motionären samt därtill förslag på tillbehör, tjänster och samarbetsmöjligheter med aktörer relaterade till utomhusgym. Genom en användarundersökning samlas potentiella användares önskemål om utomhusgym in. Önskemålen analyseras och formuleras till krav. Med hjälp av experter inom områdena träning och hälsa tas förslag på träningsredskap fram för att passa motionären. Redskapen utvärderas med hjälp av personer från den avsedda målgruppen. Redskap som kan finnas på ett utomhusgym utformat för motionären är: boxar, slyngor, dragapparat, lyftredskap, joystick, chinsredskap, dipsredskap, armgång, balansplatta, klätterställning, magbänk och låga stänger. Ett förslag på en helhetslösning som inkluderar utomhusgym och tjänster tas fram för att möta de identifierade behoven hos användarna. Genom tjänster riktade mot användarna tillhandahålls information och olika funktioner genom mobilapplikationer, hemsidor, webbportaler och fysiska skyltar på utomhusgymmen. Dessa tjänster utformas i samarbete med de experter inom träning och hälsa som användarna litar mest på. Därtill föreslås servicetjänster riktade mot HAGS kunder som en möjlighet för HAGS att garantera kvalitet och säkerhet på sina utomhusgym. / Today a lifestyle with little or no physical activity is very common. With the slogan – Inspiring all generations – HAGS Aneby AB want to invite all generations to physical activity and movement with their playgrounds and sport and fitness products. By strengthening the idea of outdoor gyms the amount of physical activity can be increased. Users shall want to use outdoor gyms and customer shall want to buy outdoor gyms. The desire is to create attractive places which support physical activity and which also makes it fun and anjoyable to be physically active. This master thesis has been executed with the purpose to investigate how HAGS Aneby AB can provide a training solution for outdoor gyms in public outdoor environments and also to investigate what demands potential users of outdoor gyms have. Tha aim of the thesis is to formulate a specification of requirements based on collected user demands for outdoor gyms, and with consideration to the specification develop a concept for a new training solution. The concept contains suggestions on the development of a new outdoor gym with training equipment for a chosen target group as well as suggestions on accessory equipment, services and potential cooperational opportunitys with other actors on the market. By executing a user study, users demands about outdoor gyms are collected. The demands are then analysed and formulated to requirements. With help from experts in the field of training and health, suggestions on equipment for training at an outdoor gym is generated to fit the chosen target group. The training equipment is evaluated with help from people from the user target group. Training equipment that could be in an outdoor gym for the chosen target group is: boxes, suspension training straps, cable machine, lifting equipment, joystick, chin rack, dips rack, monkey bars, balance board, climbing equipment, sit-up bench and low bars. A concept for a holistic solution which includes outdoor gyms and additional services is developed to meet the identified user requirements. By services developed with the users in mind, information and different functions is provided through mobile applications, web pages and signs at the location of the outdoor gym. These services are developed in cooperation with the experts in training and health that the users trust the most. By maintenance services offered to their customers HAGS can guarantee quality for and safety at their outdoor gyms.

Sharing components in a product family requires a trade-off between the individual products' performances and overall family costs. It is critical for a successful family to identify which components are similar, so that sharing does not compromise the individual products' performances. This research formulates two commonality identification approaches for use in product family design and investigates their applicability in a generic product family design methodology. Having a commonality identification approach reduces the combinatorial sharing problem and allows for more quality family alternatives to be considered. The first is based on the pattern recognition technique of fuzzy c-means clustering in component subspaces. If components from different products are similar enough to be grouped into the same cluster, then those components could possibly become the same platform. Fuzzy equivalence relations that show the binary relationship from one products' component to a different products' component can be extracted from the cluster membership functions. The second approach builds a Bayesian network representing the joint distribution of a design space exploration. Using this model, a series of inferences can be made based on product performance and component constraints. Finally the posterior design variable distributions can be processed using a similarity metric like the earth mover distance to identify which products' components are similar to another's.

This thesis presents results from a qualitative case study on environmentally minded technology designers, and provides an account of how these designers think, differ and behave. Through semi-structured interviews, we interview designers at a large mobile phone manufacturer. The responses of environmentally minded designers are contrasted with traditional designers. The findings lead to a discussion on the differing roles, tradeoffs and standards between these two groups of designers.