The global automotive industry is currently experiencing a shift as the sector converts from fossil fuels to electric vehicles (EVs). However, the existing infrastructure for EV charging is facing difficulties in meeting the growingdemand in terms of accessibility and technical performance. In response, companies such as Zpark EnergySystems are actively engaged in the development of chargers to cater to the needs of the next generationchargers. As part of their efforts, Zpark has introduced a new product segment specifically tailored to thegrowing market demand, by creating a fast charger for the residential market. This thesis aims to create anexterior design for the charger and battery storage unit (BSU) suited to Scandinavian residential environments.The project has been divided into three main focus areas. The first area concerns design where primarily formtheory, material science and ergonomics have been researched. To validate the theory which established thedesign elements and features of the charger and BSU, extensive user testing was performed. The second areaconcerns adaptation in terms of how the product design will suit the intended home market. Scandinavian-architecture, -design, -colours and -climate has been studied for this area. The final focus area concerns theinteraction between users and mainly the charger. Research has been conducted to explore the integration ofuser interactive features into the design. The usability of these features has also been thoroughly examinedthrough user testing. Which has been combined with theories related to colour, human-machine interaction, andform theory in order to create a user-friendly interaction experience.The project approach has been divided into the following steps; exploration, ideation, evaluation andimplementation. For the explore phase background theory to the project was researched and methods such asbenchmarking, white space analysis, customer journey, placement analysis, and user research were conductedto gain an understanding of the market and the current pain points. For the ideation phase the goal was togenerate a large number of design concepts for both the charger and BSU. This was achieved through variousinternal ideatios methods within the team as well as external methods at workshops. To narrow down betweenthe design concepts an evaluation matrix was used which resulted in a final concept that was brought forward tothe next project phase, namely the evaluation. The evaluation phase concerned testing the final conceptsthough user testing and making technical specifications according to theory. At the end of this stage a finaldesign was achieved where all details were specified and loose ends tied together. The last phase concerningimplementation was then performed in correlation with the specified design through producing digital 3Dvisualisations and creating an animation of the final designs.The project resulted in an exterior design for the charger as well as the BSU which fulfils the aims of the projectscope. The design incorporates the features found to be necessary in the background research. Further auser-friendly design was established through various user tests investigating the integrated features and revisingthem according to the user test results. Adaptation to the home market is achieved through customisablecolours and modularity of the BSU. The design incorporates the characteristics of Scandinavian design boththrough its form elements and by the use of materials which makes the charger and BSU suit a Scandinavianresidential environment in a visually cohesive and aesthetically pleasing way. / Fordonsindustrin genomgår en omfattande förändring då branschen konverterar från fossila bränslen tillelektriska fordon (EF). Branschen står inför utmaningar de kommande åren då den befintliga infrastrukturen förelbilsladdning har svårigheter att möta den ökande efterfrågan när det gäller tillgänglighet och tekniskprestanda. Därav är företag som Zpark Energy Systems aktiva i utvecklingen av innovativa laddare för atttillgodose dessa behov hos nästa generations laddare. I linje med deras satsningar har Zpark introducerat en nyproduktkategori specifikt anpassad till den växande marknadsefterfrågan genom att skapa en snabbladdaresom är skräddarsydd för bostadsmarknaden. Detta examensarbete syftar till att skapa en exteriör design försnabbladdaren samt tillhörande batterilagringsenhet (BLE) anpassad till Skandinavisk bostadsmiljö.Projektet har delats upp i fyra huvudsakliga fokusområden. Det första området centrerar kring design där främstformteori, materialvetenskap och ergonomi har studerats. För att validera teorin som designelement ochfunktioner för laddaren och BLE har baserats på så utfördes användartester. Det andra fokusområdet i projektetavser anpassning i form av hur produktens design ska anpassas till den avsedda bostadsmiljön. Teori gällandeskandinavisk arkitektur, design, färger och klimat har studerats för att skapa en akademisk grund för dettaområde. Det sista fokusområdet för projektet rör interaktionen mellan användare och främst laddaren.Användartester har genomförts för att utforska integrationen av interaktiva funktioner i designen och dessanvändbarhet. Detta har kombinerats med teorier relaterade till färgsättning, människa-maskin-interaktion ochformteori för att skapa en användarvänlig upplevelse under laddningsprocessen.Projektets tillvägagångssätt är uppdelat i tre huvudmoment: utforskning, idégenerering, utvärdering ochimplementering. Under utforskningsfasen undersöktes bakgrundsteori för projektet och metoder sombenchmarking, white space analysis, customer journey, placeringsanalys och användarstudier användes för attfå en förståelse för marknaden och befintliga utmaningar. Under idégenereringsfasen var målet att generera ettstort antal designkoncept för både laddare och BLE. Detta uppnåddes genom olika interna och externaidégenereringsmetoder och workshops. För att välja bland designkoncepten användes en utvärderingsmatrissom resulterade i ett slutgiltigt koncept vilket sedan togs vidare till nästa projektfas. Utvärderingsfaseninnefattade utvärdering av det valda design konceptet genom användartester och tekniska specifikationer enligtteorin. Vid slutet av denna fas uppnåddes en slutlig design där alla detaljer specificerades och lösa ändar knötsihop. Den sista fasen rör implementering och utfördes i enlighet med den specificerade designen genom attproducera digitala 3D-visualiseringar och skapa en animering av de slutgiltiga designerna.Projektet resulterade i en exteriör design för laddaren och BLE:n som uppfyller projektets mål: Designeninkluderar de funktioner som identifierats som nödvändiga i bakgrundsundersökningen. När det gällerfunktionaliteten skapades en användarvänlig design genom olika användartester som utvärderade deintegrerade funktionerna vilka reviderades utifrån resultatet i testerna. Anpassning till hemmamarknaden uppnåsgenom anpassningsbara färger och modularitet för BLE. Designen innehåller kännetecknen för skandinaviskdesign både genom sina formelement och genom användningen av material vilket gör att laddare och BSUpassar i en skandinavisk bostadsmiljö på ett estetiskt tilltalande sätt med hög funktionalitet.

This is a master thesis done during Spring 2022 within Industrial Design Engineering at the Royale Institute of Technology, KTH. The purpose of the project is to develop a new outdoor kitchen concept for the company Livsyta AB. The company focuses on selling holistic cooking experiences in the form of outdoor kitchens. The company owner, Petter Andersson, have a goal of scaling up his company with creating a new iteration of his previous outdoor kitchen designs. The new developed concept is meant to be modularized and based on Scandinavian and Japanese design and should include the necessary functions for a complete outdoor kitchen. The deliverable in the project is a new outdoor kitchen concept design presented in form of CAD models and renderings. In addition, another deliverable is technical drawings of the outdoor kitchen concept. The project work follows the double diamond method and is divided into three phases. An initial frame of reference was made to understand standardization within kitchen design as well as the characteristics of both Scandinavian and Japanese design. In the first phase, background research was made in order to get an understanding of today’s outdoor kitchen market where the research showed a potential gap in the range of products available. Together with the market analyzes, user studies were made in form of both a survey and interviews in order to understand needs and desires of outdoor kitchen users. The gained insights and conclusions were condensed into personas and a requirement specification. During the second phase, various idea generation methods were used together with an in-depth material analysis which led to three developed concepts being presented to the company. In the third phase, the final outdoor kitchen concept design was developed including its construction and choices of material and hardware. The final product is a modular outdoor kitchen design drawing inspiration from both Scandinavian and Japanese design. The kitchen was realized through CAD models, renderings and technical drawings. / Det här är en masteruppsats skriven under våren 2022 inom Teknisk Design vid Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan, KTH. Syftet med projektet var att utveckla ett nytt utomhuskökskoncept för företaget Livsyta AB. Företaget specialiserar sig på att sälja holistiska matlagningsupplevelser i form av utomhuskök. Företagsägaren, Petter Andersson, har som mål att skala upp sitt företag i samband med en ny iteration av hans tidigare utomhuskök. Det nya konceptet är menat att vara modulärt och grundas i skandinavisk och japansk design samtidigt som det ska erhålla de nödvändiga funktionerna för ett komplett utekök. Leverabler för projektet är en ny design för utomhusköket i form av CAD-modeller och renderingar. Utöver det ska även tekniska ritningar göras. Projektets arbete följer double diamond metoden och är indelat i tre faser. Inledningsvis utfördes en litteraturstudie för att skapa en förståelse för standardisering inom köksdesign samt skandinavisk och japansk design. I den första fasen utfördes undersökningar i relation till hur utomhusköksmarknaden ser ut idag och den påvisade ett potentiellt glapp i nuvarande utbud. Tillsammans med marknadsanalyser gjordes även användarstudier genom både en enkät samt intervjuer för att skapa en uppfattning om behov och önskemål hos användare. Detta sammanfattades till personas och slutligen en kravspecifikation. Under den andra fasen påbörjades idegenereringsfasen där en kombination av idégenereringsmetoder användes samt en materialanalys utfördes. Det möjliggjorde att tre koncept kunde utvecklas och presenteras för företaget. I den tredje och sista fasen presenterades det slutgiltiga konceptet som inkluderar konstruktion samt val kring material och vitvaror. Den slutgiltiga produkten är ett modulärt utomhuskök med inspiration av både skandinavisk och japansk design. Köket presenterades genom CAD-modeller, renderingar samt tekniska ritningar.

In a world that only spins faster and where information is available in abundance, the need to multi task has grown bigger than ever before. The need to eat or work from the sofa is growing, while the trends say that the coffee table should be low. This conflict of interest forces people to make a choice, following the trends or being able to easily multi task from the sofa. Or do they have to? The thesis work described in this report may provide a solution to the problem. The work consists of 10 credits and is carried out by two students as a final stage of the bachelor’s degree in Industrial Design Engineering at Luleå University of Technology. The work is carried out in collaboration with the furniture manufacturer Tenzo AB. Tenzo is a, privately owned, Swedish furniture manufacturer with a business idea aimed at trendy furniture in the international market, according to Tenzo (2018), 95% is exported to Europe and major retailers in France, Germany and Switzerland. The goal has been to develop a conceptual lift top coffee table. With a user-centered design process, the user was involved continuously throughout the work, during a workshop and in interviews with the goal of exploring the question ”What is important in a coffee table?”, in evaluative interviews and in Virtual Reality (VR) to test the concepts and ideas. The final concept embraces a more classical table shape than the lift top tables available on the market today, but is also developed with future trends in mind. The trends identified are colors with more hue than the bright pastels we see today, rounder and softer shapes than the boxynes observed among today’s lift top coffee tables, and that the light wood is replaced by darker woods. The color options presented give the table both the ability to melt into an environment or stick out and demand presence in the room.

Cette thèse vise à répondre à la question L’entreprise d’ameublement IKEA peut-elle être envisagée comme les prémices de réalisation d’une œuvre d’art totale ? La réflexion est menée en deux grandes parties distinctes. La première se concentre sur le concept wagnérien d’œuvre d’art totale. Grâce à la littérature scientifique sur le sujet, il est montré l’importance du wagnérisme pour la culture occidentale du XXe siècle et l’intérêt du concept au sein du champ des études intermédiales. Puis, l’exposition des origines du concept et de plusieurs applications ou réappropriations, telle que celle du Bauhaus, permet d’en souligner la nature socioesthétique et d’en distinguer deux dimensions : une purement idéaliste, celle de l’utopie sociétale en devenir (l’œuvre d’art totale accomplie) ; et une dimension plus concrète, visant l’atteinte de cet idéal grâce aux arts, ce que je nomme les amorces partielles de l’œuvre d’art totale (outil de mise en place de l’œuvre d’art totale). Enfin, en vue de l’étude d’IKEA, l’attention se concentre sur la dimension concrète du concept et est ainsi proposée une liste de caractéristiques propres aux amorces partielles permettant d’évaluer l’objet d’étude. Celle-ci concerne : l’impact massif des actions de l’objet étudié, l’expression d’ambitions sociales, voire utopiques, par celui-ci, et sa capacité à représenter un « commun » du peuple. La seconde partie entièrement dédiée à IKEA vise à vérifier la correspondance entre l’entreprise (les actions de ses acteurs, ses produits et ses effets) et les trois caractéristiques identifiées des amorces partielles de l’œuvre d’art totale. Ceci est réalisé à partir de trois recherches différentes : une étude stylistique comparative entre certaines icônes du design du Bauhaus et du design scandinave avec les produits IKEA ; l’exposition du storytelling mis en place par l’enseigne et l’observation des déclarations de son fondateur, Ingvar Kamprad ; une étude des mises en scène d’aménagements intérieurs au sein des catalogues et des showrooms de la marque. Les résultats de l’ensemble semblent indiquer qu’IKEA est un élément socioculturellement structurant de notre rapport aux objets du quotidien et de notre domesticité . Et que, sous condition d’une authenticité des valeurs exprimées par l’entreprise et d’une correspondance de celles-ci avec les actions mises en place par ses acteurs, elle pourrait peut-être atteindre ses ambitions de créer « a better everyday life for the many people ». En ce sens, IKEA pourrait être considérée comme une manifestation d’une amorce partielle, tout en étant porteuse d’une évolution conceptuelle bien plus fondamentale qu’il n’y paraît. / This thesis aims to answer the question Can the IKEA furniture company be seen as the beginnings of a total work of art? The reflection is carried out in two main parts. The first part focuses on the Wagnerian concept of the total work of art. Through the scientific literature on the subject, the importance of Wagnerism for twentieth-century Western culture and the interest of the concept within the field of intermedial studies are shown. Then, the exposition of the origins of the concept and of several applications or reappropriations, such as that of the Bauhaus, allows us to underline its socio-aesthetic character and to distinguish two dimensions: a purely idealistic one, that of the societal utopia to become (the accomplished total work of art); and a more concrete one, aiming at the attainment of this ideal thanks to the arts, what we call the amorces partielles (partial triggers) of the total work of art (a tool for fulfillment of the total work of art). Finally, in view of the study of IKEA, attention is focused on the concrete dimension of the concept and a list of characteristics of the amorces partielles is proposed to evaluate the object of study. This concerns: the massive impact of the actions of the object studied, its expression of social, even utopian, ambitions, and its capacity to represent a "commun" (common) of the many people. The second part, entirely dedicated to IKEA, aims to verify the correspondence between the company (the actions of its agents, its products and its effects) and the three characteristics identified as amorces partielles of the total work of art. This is achieved through three different research projects: a comparative stylistic study between certain Bauhaus and Scandinavian iconic design objects and IKEA products; the exposition of the storytelling set up by the brand and the observation of the statements of its founder, Ingvar Kamprad; a study of the staging of interior design in the brand's catalogues and showrooms. The results of all these studies seem to indicate that IKEA is a socio-cultural element shaping our relationship with everyday objects and our domesticity. And that, provided that the values expressed by the company are authentic and correspond with the practices adopted by its agents, it could perhaps achieve its ambitions to create "a better everyday life for the many people". In this sense, IKEA could be seen as a manifestation of an amorces partielles, yet at the same time as the bearer of a much more fundamental conceptual shift than it appears.

The main purpose of this report is to analyze a practical method of design while doing an innovation project connected to a specific armchair. The aim is to re-vitalize the pre-existing product. This project is done within the context of a specific furniture producer. This report describes theories about practical methods of design and how the practical intellect is used in a creative process. It also contains background research about classics. The background research is based on a brief literature review on the subject as well as interviews with professionals within the field of furniture design.  A few factors that can be said to characterize what makes a classic are suggested. The development of a specific armchair is described. Earlier projects where practical methods of design have been used are also described. The practical methods of design used in this project are described. The main method for this is making physical models by hand together with hand sketching.  The design process of developing a new product is described and discussed. As a final result visualizations and a description of a suggestion of how one can re-vitalize the specific armchair are shown. The outcomes and learning from using a practical method of design are discussed. The final suggestion is analyzed according to the factors suggested in the background research to characterize what makes a classic.