Pontus Engelbrektsson

The use and perception of methods and product representations in product development: A survey of Swedish industry

The identification and implementation of customer requirements in the early stages of product development are significant issues for successful product development. Two important factors in this context are: (i) the use of methods to identify customer requirements, and (ii) the use of product representations to support the communication with customers in early product evaluations. The aim of this study has been to investigate the use and perceptions of methods and product representations in Swedish companies, and its possible impact on problems associated with late-discovered customer requirements. The survey shows that most companies have good knowledge of different methods and that several different methods for identifying and analysing customer requirements are used. In addition, traditional product representations, such as construction design drawings and hand-made sketches, are commonly used. The number of companies that use rapid prototyping is surprisingly high. Furthermore, the study reveals that late discovered product requirements are fairly common. There are indications that the use of certain methods and product representations may reduce this problem. However, the study also shows that product development processes tend to be focused on time-related efficiency rather than customer-related activities for improved product quality.

Effects of product experience and product representations in focus group interviews

Although the need for methods for elicitation of customer requirements in the early phases of the product development process is apparent, and many different methods or approaches have been proposed, very little systematic and comparative research has been carried out that evaluates different approaches. The aim of this article is to describe the effects of the choice of participants and product representations as mediating objects in focus group interviews. Four focus group interviews were performed with different categories of participants and different product representations. The interviews were transcribed and analysed for differences in volume and character. The results showed that participants with product experience were able to provide more information than inexperienced users and were less dependent on the information provided by the product representation. The study also showed that different product representations emphasized different aspects of the product.

Exploring children's foodscapes

In this article, we discuss childrens becoming as food consumers in the intersection of various foodscapes. We draw from a project, Children as co-researchers of foodscapes, where we have been working with children as co-researchers, using basically ethnographic methods, and as co-designers in a collaborative design effort. This article focuses on the findings from a theoretically inspired perspective, using the concept of foodscapes. These are food-related structures of different kinds, which evolve as the child explores them and where children as food consumers are generated. In this article, we highlight the scapes of taste, routines, people, things, commerce, child (as opposed to adult) and health and give brief accounts of the way the children related to them. Finally, we turn to the benefits of working with foodscapes for a better understanding of childrens becoming as food consumers in the intersection of various foodscapes. This article is based on data gathered by the children, but also on our fieldwork notes and observations following the children in their foodscapes.

Developing a navigation aid for the frail and visually impaired

This paper describes the development of a new navigational aid for the frail, elderly, and visually impaired person. The users were involved both in the user requirements study and in the evaluation of different prototypes. The results show that the users were able to provide information on their current aid, the use situation, and their preference regarding different solutions, but they had difficulties to provide the detailed answers on technical solutions required by the technical development team. Further, prototype evaluations with users enabled the technical team to understand the users and their use situation.