Erin F. MacDonald

Preference Inconsistency in Multidisciplinary Design Decision Making

Research from behavioral psychology and experimental economics asserts that individuals construct preferences on a case-by-case basis when called to make a decision. A common, implicit assumption in engineering design is that user preferences exist a priori. Thus, preference elicitation methods used in design decision making can lead to preference inconsistencies across elicitation scenarios. This paper offers a framework for understanding preference inconsistencies, within and across individual users. We give examples of three components of this new framework: comparative, internal, and external inconsistencies across users. The examples demonstrate the impact of inconsistent preference construction on common engineering and marketing design methods, including discrete choice analysis, modeling stated vs. revealed preferences, and the Kano method and thus QFD. Exploring and explaining preference inconsistencies produces new understandings of the relationship between user and product.Copyright

Considering Landowner Participation in Wind Farm Layout Optimization

Current wind farm layout optimization research assumes a continuous piece of land is readily available and focuses on advancing optimization methods. In reality, projects rely on landowners’ permission for success. When a viable site is identified, local residents are approached for permission to build turbines on their land, typically in exchange for monetary compensation. Landowners play a crucial role in the development process, and some land parcels are more important to the success of project than others. This paper relaxes the assumption that a continuous piece of land is available, developing a novel approach that includes a model of landowner participation rates. A genetic algorithm (GA) is adopted to solve the nonlinear constrained optimization problem, minimizing cost and maximizing power output. The optimization results show that, given a projected participation rate, we can identify the most crucial plots prior to the negotiation process with landowners. This will ultimately increase the efficiency of wind farm development. [DOI: 10.1115/1.4006999]

The construction of preferences for crux and sentinel product attributes

Designers often attempt to find preferences that users have for products and their attributes. Applying theory from behavioural psychology, we demonstrate that product preferences are not ‘found’ in people, but rather constructed by people on an as-needed basis. The demonstration explores the relationship between crux product attributes, which are both important and difficult for people to assess, and sentinel attributes, which are easy to assess and have a perceived association with a crux attribute. A relationship between crux and sentinel attributes is proposed, supported by the results of a case study involving design of paper towels, where a discrete choice survey is analysed using a new technique called the full factorial marketplace. We generalise our approach to a constructed preferences design method that can be used to identify crux/sentinel relationships between product attributes.

A New Model for Wind Farm Layout Optimization With Landowner Decisions

Current wind farm layout optimization research focuses on advancing optimization methods. The research includes the assumption that a continuous piece of land is readily available. In reality, wind farm development projects rely on the permission of landowners for success. When a viable wind farm site location is identified, local residents are approached for permission to build turbines on their land, typically in exchange for monetary compensation. Landowners play a crucial role on the development of a wind farm and some land parcels are more important to the success of the project than others. In order to advance the research on wind farm optimization, this paper relaxes the assumption that a continuous piece of land is available, developing a novel approach that includes landowners’ decisions on whether or not to participate in the project. The optimization results of this new approach show that, for a specific wind farm layout case, we can identify the most crucial landowners and the optimal positions of turbines prior to the negotiation process with landowners. Using this approach, a site developer can spend more resources on persuading these most-important landowners to take part in the project, or approach them in a personalized manner. This will ultimately increase the efficiency of wind farm projects, saving time and money in the development stages.Copyright

Impact of Product Design Representation on Customer Judgment

When researchers ask customers to judge product form during the design process, they often manipulate simplified product representations, such as silhouettes and sketches, to gather information on which designs customers prefer. Using simplified forms, as opposed to detailed realistic models, make the analysis of gathered information tractable and also allows the researcher to guide customer focus. The theory of constructed preferences from psychology suggests that the product form presented will influence customer judgments. This paper presents a study in which subjects were shown computer sketches, front/side view silhouettes, simplified renderings, and realistic renderings to test the extent to which a variety of judgments including opinions, objective evaluations, and inferences are affected by form presentation. Results show a variety of phenomena including preference inconsistencies and ordering effects that differed across type of judgment. For example, while inferences were consistent across form, opinions were not. An eye tracker identified differences in viewing strategies while making decisions. Associated data, such as fixation times and fixation counts, provide additional insight into findings.

Eye-Tracking Data Predict Importance of Product Features and Saliency of Size Change

Features, or visible product attributes, are indispensable product components that influence customer evaluations of functionality, usability, symbolic impressions, and other qualities. Two basic components of features are visual appearance and size. This work tests whether or not eye-tracking data can (1) predict the relative importances between features, with respect to their visual design, in overall customer preference and (2) identify how much a feature must change in size in order to be noticeable by the viewer. The results demonstrate that feature importance is significantly correlated with a variety of gaze data. Results also show that there are significant differences in fixation time and count for noticeable versus unnoticeable size changes. Statistical models of gaze data can predict feature importance and saliency of size change. [DOI: 10.1115/1.4027387]

Market-System Design Optimization With Consider-Then-Choose Models

Design optimization in market system research commonly relies on Discrete choice analysis (DCA) to forecast sales and revenues for different product variants. Conventional DCA, which represents consumer choice as a compensatory process through maximization of a smooth utility function, has proven to be reasonably accurate at predicting choice and interfaces easily with engineering models. However, the marketing literature has documented significant improvement in modeling choice with the use of models that incorporate both noncompensatory (descriptive) and compensatory (predictive) components. This noncompensatory component can, for example, model a “consider-then-choose” process in which potential customers first narrow their decisions to a small set of products using noncompensatory screening rules and then employ a compensatory evaluation to select from within this consideration set. This article presents solutions to a design optimization challenge that arises when demand is modeled with a consider-then-choose model: the choice probabilities are no longer continuous or continuously differentiable. We examine two different classes of methods to solve optimal design problems–genetic algorithms (GAs) and nonlinear programming (NLP) relaxations based on complementarity constraints–for consider-then-choose models whose screening rules are based on conjunctive (logical “and”) rules.

Product semantics and wine portfolio optimisation

Semantics is an important aspect of product design. Quantitative models of product semantics can enhance product decisions and positively contribute to a products market position. This paper demonstrates the value of linking product semantics, design, pricing and manufacturing decisions in a wine-making optimisation problem. A manufacturing model of the wine-making process allows manipulation and optimisation of wine flavours. Wine bottle shapes are designed using conjoint analysis to convey semantic messages of wine flavour. The shape and flavour models are combined to maximise profitability of a portfolio of wines with different flavours, price points, quantities produced, and matching bottles. Semantics are shown to enhance the portfolio, including profitability.

Recrystallization textures in tantalum sheet and wire

Abstract This paper presents a study of the evolution of recrystallization texture in tantalum. Both rolled sheet and drawn wire are considered. The rolled product developed a recrystallized texture in which the rolling plane normal was parallel to 〈1 1 1〉 . There was no specific direction parallel to the rolling direction; rather this direction varied so that the rolling plane orientation could be accommodated. In the drawn wire, the recrystallized texture was one in which 〈1 1 0〉 was parallel to the deformation direction.

Priming Designers to Communicate Sustainability

A prime is an artifact, exposure, or experience that stimulates increased cognitive accessibility of mental content. Priming designers has thus far focused on generating more features, novel features, relevant features, and addressing latent customer needs. This article presents a design method that uses priming specifically to help designers to communicate sustainability via design at an early stage in the design process. The authors have determined that sustainable products face a special challenge in the market because many of their best features, such as decreased energy usage, recyclability, or material selection, are hidden from the customer. Marketing messages are not always trusted. Designers need to communicate sustainability to the customer through product features that customer will identify as sustainable. We propose and test a new design method that designers can use to generate product features that communicate sustainability to the customer. The method involves priming the designer with a sensory-heightening activity before generating ideas for sustainable features. We investigate primes in the form of a questionnaire or a collage activity. The design method significantly helps designers to generate product features that communicate sustainability.