Research

Industrial Design was established in 1999 as a division of the newly formed Department of Design Sciences and as the core subject of the industrial design education.  In autumn 2003, research and research education in industrial design was initiated supported by faculty resources and donations from the Stichting IKEA Foundation.

The research at the Division of Industrial Design centers around three focus areas:

Design Management and Strategy: This concerns the commercial and strategic aspects of using design and its implications in businesses. In this area, aspects such as intellectual property rights, business development, design as competitive asset and strategic tool, innovation, and learning in individual and organizational contexts.

Product and User Experience: This area focuses on non-instrumental aspects of experiencing products from personal, social and cultural perspectives. Sensory, cognitive and affective experiences of products are considered, such as identity, function, attachment, aesthetics and semantics.

Form, Aesthetics and Form-giving: This are concerns the synthesis, analysis and understanding of form, design elements, geometry, structure, and surfaces of objects and products. For example, processes, tools and methods for form generation by designers and users are studied.

Across these areas, the research deals with design at the individual, company and community level, but also with product design and technology from a design perspective and methods to communicate with users

At the individual level research concern how we can understand the consumer experience of products, emotionally and culturally, but also how trends evolve and influence consumer behavior, user-friendliness and sustainable development. Design of products which can be used by a wide range of different consumers, for as long a period of life as possible.

At the enterprise level the research deals with questions like innovation for growth and how design and intellectual property strategies can lead to new business opportunities, e.g. through licensing.

Of relevance to the community level are the benefits that come from research at the individual and company level. Of particular importance are results that lead to greater social and environmental sustainability and improved health of people through products that contribute to increased activity and well-being.

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