This thesis project uses various Industrial design methods to create a concept that will evolve a sandbox into a more versatile and interesting playing area. By using parts that can be attached to the frame of the sandbox many different versions can be built to suit different demands and needs. The concept also uses lights and decorated panels to make the sandbox more interesting and visible in today's colorful playgrounds. The project is based on the meaning different stakeholders could have in the product. Research has shown that products made with the help of stakeholders has a better chance to be realized. The findings from research by interviews, fieldtrips and library studies were used as reference when sketching and building sketch-models. Sketching is used both for ideation and for explanatory pictures and has been a big part of the project. Many of the sketches and photos can be seen in the report and in the attachments.

The thesis consists of the design of an electric bike. Based on the analysis of the needs arising from urban transport in Sweden and its people.We wanted to develop a bicycle that could be manufactured in the coming years and be widely accepted by the Swedish population and later also in Europe.

Critical steps in the design process is the gathering of data, processing the data into a useful form of information (a design concept) which meets specific needs, passing this refined design solution down the path to production, where it is released into the larger environment. With in the designing process there are multiple feedback loops as the solution becomes more refined. Even as it reaches the final end user, other design refinement feedback loops continue as new and improved products or systems. Along with the interdisciplinary teams involved with the product/system development, the more complexity the product or system becomes the more critical the organization of the data becomes. This paper will present and test a concept of a design feedback and feed forward communication tool for product/system design that uses Dr. Walter A. Schaer s Three Functions of an Artifact as the methodological structure for design development. The essence of this design tool is the merging of a new communication system within an existing methodology of organizing complex systems into a morphological matrix, developed by Dr. Walter A. Schaer, based on the Charles Morris s work on semiotics. This communication tool is a new feedback / feed forward mechanism which correspond with the semiotic structure in a morphological matrix to assist the designer develop design solutions. The research will measure the success rate of the tool in the design process, examine of how the designers took advantage of the new tool, and evaluate their perception of its usefulness.

This study aims to present the state of outsourcing design in the Turkish manufacturing industry, which, in the past, has been scrutinized in a limited sense. An investigation has been carried out in order to reveal the reasons for and procedures of hiring product design services from outside resources and to explore -if any- the benefits gained from this collaboration through a survey conducted with either design or production managers from a sample selection of firms manufacturing and/or marketing products in Turkey. Findings regarding the processes of outsourcing design have been recorded as well as an evaluation of the advantages and disadvantages of external design resources.

Manufacturing companies are searching for new techniques day by day to launch qualified products with a competitive price to the market. Companies believe in the importance of teams which have members coming from different disciplines who use their knowledge, experiences, and creativity for achieving the goals of their teams. The purpose of this study is to explore the effectiveness of teamwork for successful product development process by focusing on the relationship between the team members &ndash / especially engineers&rsquo / and industrial designers&rsquo / relation. After a broad literature survey, a descriptive-survey study that aims demonstrating the relationship between engineers and industrial designers in manufacturing companies in Turkey is held in order to investigate the effectiveness of teamwork in product development process. A twelve item questionnaire which has four open-ended questions and eight Likert-scaled statements has been prepared. As the result of this study, a positive relationship is found between the performance of product development team and the effects of cooperation, social and professional communication, having clear and common goals, sharing knowledge and experiences, leadership, coordination and cooperative problem solving and decision making processes to the relationship between engineers and industrial designers.

Design consultancy is a service that is given by professional designers to clients to respond to their design requirements. In Turkey, design consultancy services are given through design firms since the 1980s, mostly founded by the early graduates of industrial design. This thesis is carried to recognize the firms that give service in design consultancy sector, to identify the given services as design consultancy and to determine the conditions of design consultancy sector in Turkey through a survey made on the design consultancy firms in Turkey. A questionnaire is prepared to investigate the history of design consultancy firms, their profession fields, their client firms&rsquo / sector types, scope of services, the profession&rsquo / s advantages and disadvantages, the problems and opinions consultancy is carried out in Turkey. The survey also investigates the structure of design about the future of industrial design sector. This survey also inquires how design consultancy firms, given service types and sectors of client firms in detail. Twenty design consultancy firms responded to the questionnaire. The study indicates that, design consultancy service types by the firms are mostly product design, concept development, project drawing, project management, interface design and field tests.

Exhibitions have played a significant role within the dynamics that have been effective in the development of industrial design in the West. Similarly, exhibitions have recently become a significant issue in the history of industrial design in Turkey. This study first looks into the exhibitions in the West and the dynamics that have been effective behind them, and draws an analytical framework accordingly, then presents the historical development of industrial design in Turkey. Through the key factors that have been effective in the development of industrial design in Turkey, this study aims to analyze the relationship between design exhibitions and the development of industrial design in Turkey.

Problems that the earth has faced with such as the depletion of natural resources, contamination of water, air and land, extension of species, and the global warming have brought up the sustainable development to the agenda. This state of affairs has elicited the undeniable role of industrial design activity on the sustainable development / sustainability has become an important concern of industrial design education. The purpose of this study is to determine the state of sustainable design education in the undergraduate industrial design programs in Turkey &ndash / especially in the Department of Industrial Design at Middle East Technical University (METU) &ndash / by exploring the relation between industrial design education and the concept of sustainability with regard to the examples from all around the world. With reference to the arguments collected by the literature review study and findings of the field study about the opinions of industrial design students and educators, suggestions will be made on how sustainability can be integrated in the curricula of the undergraduate industrial design programs in Turkey.

Design juries are one of the assessment practices that enable evaluation and criticism of students&rsquo / projects in studio based courses. This study explores the aims and attributes of design juries from students&rsquo / and jurors&rsquo / perspectives. The thesis is constructed upon a field study which consists of an observational study on design juries, a focus group study with students and interviews with the jurors of METU Department of Industrial Design. The findings of the field study indicate that design juries in their current form exhibit several issues to discuss / delivery of comments to students, duration of discussions, organization of the jury and assessment criteria are important factors to consider in design juries.

The aim of this study is to find out the reasons of progressive obsolescence and product non-use in small kitchen appliances and to examine the relation between the consumer&rsquo / s pre-purchase expectations and post-purchase experiences with these products to understand the deficiencies of kitchen appliances which cause consumer to stop using them. The reasons of progressive obsolescence and product non-use might be informative for further studies on this subject. Throughout the study, the general issues of need, want, purchase motivations, pre-purchase consumer expectations and post-purchase experience, satisfaction/dissatisfaction were discussed through the literature survey. Progressive obsolescence and product non-use were analysed both through literature survey and a field study which was conducted as in-depth-interviews among kitchen appliance users. It has been seen that progressive obsolescence and product non-use is mostly affected by usability of products, by the changing needs and changing life style and by the emerging of new technologies.