This research introduces a method to aid the design of products or parts to be made using Additive Manufacturing (AM), particularly the laser sintering (LS) system. The research began with a literature review that encompassed the subjects of design and AM and through this the need for an assistive design approach for AM was identified. Undertaking the literature review also confirmed that little has been done in the area of supporting the design of AM parts or products. Preliminary investigations were conducted to identify the design factors to consider for AM. Two preliminary investigations were conducted, the first investigation was conducted to identify the reasons for designing for AM, the need for a design support tool for AM and current challenges of student industrial designers designing parts or products for AM, and also to identify the type of design support they required. Further investigation were conducted to examine how AM products are developed by professional industrial designers and to understand their design processes and procedures. The study has identified specific AM enabled design features that the designers have been able to create within their case study products. Detailed observation of the case study products and parts reveals a number of features that are only economical or possible to produce with AM. A taxonomy of AM enabled design features was developed as a precursor for the development of a computer based design tool. The AM enabled design features was defined as a features that would be uneconomical or very expensive to be produced with conventional methods. The taxonomy has four top-level taxons based on four main reasons for using AM, namely user fit requirements, improved product functionality requirements, parts consolidation requirements and improvement of aesthetics or form requirements. Each of these requirements was expanded further into thirteen sub categories of applications that contained 106 examples of design features that are only possible to manufacture using AM technology. The collected and grouped design features were presented in a form of a database as a method to aid product design of parts or products for AM. A series of user trials were conducted that showed the database enabled industrial designers to visualise and gather design feature information that could be incorporated into their own design work. Finally, conclusions are drawn and suggestions for future work are listed. In summary, it can be concluded that this research project has been a success, having addressed all of the objectives that were identified at its outset. From the user trial results, it is clear to see that the proposed tool would be an effective tool to support product design for AM, particularly from an educational perspective. The tool was found to be beneficial to student designers to take advantage of the design freedom offered by AM in order to produce improved product design. As AM becomes more widely used, it is anticipated that new design features will emerge that could be included in future versions of the database so that it will remain a rich source of inspirational information for tomorrow s industrial designers.

This masters thesis is about how to enhance creativity and investigates the design process of interaction designers, in terms of the creative process, design support tools and especcially through a concept presented in this thesis. The concept is called DSTZ (Design Support Tool Z) and suggests ways in how to support a designer in the creative process. An empirical study was carried out in the thesis that consisted of a survey conducted on 8 "interaction designers" investigating how interaction designers work and if they require or need any design support. A design survey was later conducted on 18 "interaction designers" of which 9 were professionals and 9 were students, to investigate the concept DSTZ and the creativity enhancing aspect. The resuls from the empirical studies show that a design support tool is desired and DSTZ has features that are useful and can enhance creativity. The features consist of 8 palettes and 3 funtions that are manifested in DSTZ. Further investigation is required in order to find data that support the statement that creativity can be enhanced through a design support tool.

Les choix des matériaux et de leurs procédés de mise en oeuvre connaissent et vont connaître des évolutions marquantes dans le monde de l’architecture. A l’époque actuelle, les évolutions sont largement induites par les techniques, mais aussi les représentations et les préceptes qui apparaissent avec l’émergence de la notion de développement durable dans notre société.Les outils d’aide à la conception existants à l’échelle des matériaux portent principalement sur les dimensions physiques (thermique, cycle de vie des matériaux, consommations, etc.). Nos travaux se questionnent sur l’intégration des dimensions techniques, écologiques et sensibles des matériaux dans un outil d’aide à la conception basé sur l’utilisation de la référence. L’activité référentielle est une approche propre aux phases initiales de projet. Ces phases correspondent aux premières propositions décisives, qui restent peu assistées par les outils numériques.Nos travaux visent à mettre en évidence les différentes caractéristiques des matériaux, mais surtout leurs interactions. Cette étude se distingue des approches classiques des matériaux, où généralement les différentes solutions constructives sont présentées matériau par matériau. En effet, nous nous basons sur une structuration de données et de connaissances interdisciplinaires (architecture, urbanisme, paysage, aspects esthétiques, aspects techniques, aspects cognitifs, approche de la perception, approche environnementale, etc.).Ces recherches tendent vers une première proposition d’un outil d’aide à la conception nommé DILEM’MAtériaux qui prend en compte les différentes dimensions des matériaux dans leur contribution à la genèse d’idées fondatrices, à la définition d’un ou des parti(s), ou concept(s) propres aux phases initiales de projet / The choice of materials and way of implementation is known and will be known as a significant growth in the world of architecture. Actually, changes are largely induced by technical dimension, but also representations and precepts that appear with the emergence of the concept of sustainable development in our society.Design support tools about materials scale focus on the physical dimensions (thermal, life cycle, refreshments, etc.). Our work is questioning the integration of technical, environmental and sensible dimensions in a design support tool based on reference. The referential activity is a specific approach in the initial phases of designing on a project. These phases correspond to crucial choice, which remain poorly assisted by digital tools.Our work aims to highlight the different characteristics of materials, but also their interactions. This study differs from conventional approaches of materials, which generally, constructive solutions are presented material by material. Indeed, we rely on a data structure and interdisciplinary knowledge (architecture, urbanism, landscape, aesthetic, technical, cognitive, perception approach, environmental approach, etc.).This research tends to be a first proposal for a design support tool named DILEM'MAtériaux that takes into account materials in their contribution to origin of founding ideas and definition of concept, in the initial phases of designing on a project.