Engineering

User-Centered Product Design

Taking users into account in the design of physical and digital products has become an essential field of applied research in engineering. Companies must innovate, but technological and industrial innovation is only part of the answer.

Skills

Business success is dependent on customers. But markets and users evolve; their needs, intentions and aspirations change. It is therefore necessary to develop a design approach in order to innovate sustainably.

To address this challenge, our group combines skills in ergonomics, design, and design engineering. We design products and interfaces iteratively through prototyping in order to validate their acceptability from the customers, optimize the user experience, and ensure the industrial feasibility.

Implementing approaches that allow the systematic integration of user needs and expectations at different stages of product design, based on the user-centered design (UCD) methodology

Understanding real needs through user research, iteratively designing and testing interactive devices with users, and creating attractive graphical interfaces (UI) for efficient, pleasant and safe experiences.

Observing uses, understanding contexts of use and integrating economic, social and environmental issues to help design innovative products that customers want.

Rapidly materialize concepts with the various actors of the product life cycle, using means such as digital mock-ups, 3D printing prototypes or physical-digital prototyping platforms.

Iteratively test and validate the relevance of a business model and the adoption of a product concept through discovery interviews and experiments with future users.

Supporting companies in their implementation of a human-centered innovation approach, for example through a pilot project, based on the design thinking methodology.

Team

Professors

Senior Researchers

Research Assistants

Services and Equipment

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Projects

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Group Leader:
Julien Roland
032 930 26 28
Julien.Roland@he-arc.ch

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