Design to connect: creative tools to design joining methods in products

Creativity is the main force behind design and innovation. Joining methods play an important role in product design and U+2018how to join partsU+2019 still is an important challenge today. For designers, joining goes far beyond selecting the right method. They design connections as an integral part of the total product. However, different forms of fixation can occur, which can preclude the creation of new joining solutions. Existing tools that consider connections are not optimal to stimulate the creativity of designers. On the other hand, existing creativity tools are holistic and do not focus on joining methods. There is an opportunity to create creative and inspiring tools that focus on the design of connections. Two inspiring and useful tools are introduced in this paper: First, a technique called U+2018product crossingU+2019, based on forced analogy, and second, a set of 46 tool cards to consider a joining situation from different viewpoints. Both tools were tested with a relevant sample of design students.

ISBN:9781904670407

Jaar van publicatie:2012

Toegankelijkheid:Closed