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IOSR Journal of Mechanical and Civil Engineering (IOSR-JMCE)
e-ISSN: 2278-1684,p-ISSN: 2320-334X, Volume 14, Issue 2 Ver. VI (Mar. - Apr. 2017), PP 27-31
www.iosrjournals.org
DOI: 10.9790/1684-1402062731 www.iosrjournals.org 27 | Page
Application of user Centered Design for Customer Requirement
in Design Process for Automotive Manufacturing Organizations
AminuSaleh Mohammed1, Dr.Muhammad Iqbal Hussain2,
Prof. Dr.Zuraidah Bin Zain3
1(School of Manufacturing Engineering, University Malaysia Perlis, Malaysia)
2(School of Manufacturing Engineering, University Malaysia Perlis, Malaysia)
3(School of Manufacturing Engineering, University Malaysia Perlis, Malaysia)
Abstract: Recent developments in the automotive industry have witnessed a shift in paradigm from
technological centered design to more user-centered designs. Consumer demands vary, but most consumers
require that the products they purchase meet their needs in order to gain maximum value for their money.
Accordingly, this research project adopted user centered design approach which identifies customer needs right
from design stage before embarking on the real design. It has five broad stages. The five stages in designing
user-centered productswere proposed in this paper.They are; identification of the scope, analysis, design,
evaluation, and delivery. By following these steps, the research described a method of designing products that
meet user requirement.
Keywords: Customer needs, Design process, User – Centered Design
I. Introduction
The paper focuses on the customer requirementand needs using user centred design for product design
in automotive manufacturing organization. For a long time now, the automotive industry has concentrated on
technology and innovation in the development of high-tech products that met the competition requirement of
this highly competitive industry. However, technological competition has not yielded much in terms of product
differentiations because technology has inherent characteristics of being dynamic and uniform. The lack of
restrictions regarding the use of technology meant for the automotive products from different companies
remained significantly similar. Accordingly, there is need to change the status quo and develop products that are
not only differentiable but also meet the demands of consumers, the adoption of customer-oriented design in
automotive manufacturing, customer-based approaches to the design and manufacture of automotive products
focus on the sales and marketing aspects of automobile products [1].
Furthermore, consumer needs and preferences are increasingly gaining attention in the business world.
With an ever-increasing basket of products to choose from, consumers have grown increasingly cautious about
the products they purchase. More importantly, they demand maximum satisfaction from every purchase they
make in the increasingly competitive markets. For luxury products such as cars, meeting customer requirements
is a critical factor that has led engineers to design products that are not only technologically relevant but also
meet the demands of the end user.
Several customer-oriented approaches exist. Examples of this include emphasize on customer feedback
regarding the products, pre-order customer customization of the vehicle and the dependence of more customer
experienced sales agents. According to [2], this involves a combination the traditional technology push approach
and the complementary design pull approach with more emphasize on the customers perception of the product.
Other techniques of customer-centred design include design-driven innovation, user centred design and
emotional design [1].
The design of a new vehicle, from the initial perceived customer need through to its finalization for
manufacturing, continues to represent a major investment for automotive manufacturers. With research and
development costs reaching up to $6 billion U.S. [3] and ultimately determining 70% to 90% of total project
costs [2], the design process poses a significant financial risk. Similarly, manufacturers typically require
between 3.5-5 years of time to bring a complete vehicle to market [4]. This represents a significant investment
of company time, in the form of both employee working hours and the lost opportunities of alternative projects,
with success ultimately dependent on the design and development of a product that sells [5].
This research study looks at previous studies about the broad topic of meeting user requirement through
product design. First, the researcher examines the concept of user-centered design, its definition and implication
in automotive product development as well as the origin of the concept. Then,focused on the theoretical
frameworks
Application of user Centered Design for Customer Requirement in Design Process for Automotive
DOI: 10.9790/1684-1402062731 www.iosrjournals.org 28 | Page
II. User-Centred Design
User centred design refers to the techniques applied by developers and designers to ensure that final
products meet the needs of its intended users [6]. It focuses on the final product users throughout the planning,
design and development stages of a product (User Experience Professionals Association, 2014). Ideally, firms
often have a limited understanding of what their customers’ want, limited to what the observations that are
drawn from interaction with potential clients [7]. UCD in the context of business innovation that offers a chance
to establish relationships and better understanding with the potential customers, providing a longer-term
understanding of customer needs and requirements for driving companies’ competitive advantage [7].
2.1UCD in the Automotive Industry
User-centred design originated from the software development Industry in the early 1980,s [8].
However, from the automotive point of view, the concept of user-centred design in the development of
automotive products is new. In practice, four major firms in the automotive industry recently adopted UCD
within their design process, although the degree to which the technique has been implemented varies. General
Motors sought to build deeper understanding of drivers interacted with their in-car entertainment systems, with
the aim of tailoring the systems to the demands of the users [9].
Likewise, BMW experimented with the social aspect of vehicle-user interaction, attempting to better
understand the potential for social media to influence the use and experience of their vehicles by prospective
customers [10]. Nissan’s trailing of UCD has only extended as far as contracting out research into current and
anticipated usage behaviour of certain customer markets, culminating in the compilation of personas given to
the in-house design team [11]. Finally, the fourthautomotive manufacturer to implement UCD or UCD tools is
Ford which has reached the closest to complete integration within the vehicle design process.
In an attempt to design Ford Fiesta design palatable in all their major markets, Ford centralized the
design process around the customer through the use of Personas and storytelling [12]. Through the compilation
and assessment of demographic research into the targeted Fiesta customers, Ford developed a handful of
Personas, complete with psychological profiles. These characters were used to “get everyone on the same page”,
in order to ensure the designers were not just designing for themselves but rather for the customer and end-user
[12]. However, in spite of the strong sales success of this UCD Ford Fiesta [12], the implementation of the UCD
approach appears to have been given solely into the hands of the designers in the Ford design studio.
In addition, such projects are predominantly design-centric, divorcing themselves from the reality of
the multi-disciplinary nature of automotive vehicle development, where designers and engineers are solely
responsible for vehicle manufacture. Although this may not always be the case, such articles highlight the
current absence of the engineer from the design process, at least from the perspective of automotive design. This
suggests that there is significant potential for further success if customer needs and requirements were to be
placed at the forefront of the engineering design process.
Furthermore, the adoption of personas by engineers in addition to designers at firms such as Ford
represents a first potential step towards a customer centred approach to vehicular design and development. This
problem represents a key issue for the 50, 4.0 User Centred Design successful implementation in automotive
manufacturing companies, and thus for their potential competitive edge in the global automotive industry.
The global automotive industry has evolved to become a pinnacle of technology driven innovation,
where companies are competing to produce marketable products that are not only high-tech but also appealing
to customers. Increasing competition has made automotive firms to focus on the need to develop customer-
based approach to automotive manufacturing. According to [13], customer centred approach to automotive
production allow companies to differentiate themselves from similar technology optimistic crowd. Focusing on
customer requirement which appears to be centred on sales and marketing strategy meant for improving market
share. In recent times, challenging economic and market conditions has forced majority of automotive
companies to question the status quo and come up with new methods of vehicle design that meets the
requirements of end users. According to [14], customer needs have become even more important than the
greatest technology integrated into their vehicles. This has led to the realization by some automotive
manufactures that increasing future competitiveness and sales, that could be determined by the ability to meet
customer needs and not just incorporating advanced technologies in the products.
Knobel et al. [10] investigated and promoted the importance of vehicles creating positive experiences
and fulfilling the psychological needs of users. They argued that technological product design should focus
primarily on the experience of the product providers and the user, rather than on its form and functionality.
Similarly, [9] explored the ways in which users interacted with their vehicles, specifically their infotainment
systems, in order to refine future designs to provide improved customer experiences. They opined that
companies in the automotive industry must focus on understanding the context in which customer’sneed, in
order to better understand and envision future products that are more likely to meet the needs of these contexts.
Application of user Centered Design for Customer Requirement in Design Process for Automotive
DOI: 10.9790/1684-1402062731 www.iosrjournals.org 29 | Page
2.2Disadvantages of User Centred Design
The degree to which UCD is implemented within any given business or project has been raised as a
potential cause for concern. Whilst not strictly a concern regarding UCD itself, if UCD is only informally
applied to parts of projects [7], this does raise the issue of the potential benefit of UCD to businesses if it is not
properly implemented. [3], argue that lack of proper implementation is ultimately due to a lack of understanding
of the benefits of UCD and how to apply the approach. They suggest that the proper implementation of UCD
ultimately requires the presence of knowledgeable UCD users who are capable of showing the benefits of UCD
within product design process in order to gain overarching support. Furthermore, this implementation needs to
gain the support of management in order to bring together operationaland strategic decisions for a holistic
approach to the process [15].
Despite the reservations and concerns about UCD raised in by different researchers, the general
consensus appears to be quite positive towards its use and successful implementation. One particular tool
frequently used within UCD has seen recent success in addressing these issues, especially in the automotive
manufacturing industry [16], and forms a key part of the foundations of the research upon which this research is
built.
III. Theoretical Framework
The focus of this research is mainly on the requirements of the customers by application of UCD in the
design process. [15], examined how a design technique, which includes experiments with individuals, could
incorporate customer experiences and conceptual ideas for future product development. More precisely, they
opined that the involvement of personnel within research and design teams made it possible to provide graphical
representation of customers and their needs hence making it possible to come up with ideas and unification of
multidisciplinary groups of employees behind this idea.The ability of personnel to facilitate role-playing by
employees from various disciplinary origins that helped to overcome individual employee perspectives and
understand the context of the problem from a user perspective.
Additionally, studies conducted by [17], examined the use of personnel as design tools to enable
engineers to have in mind the objectives they attempt to achieve when faced with technical projects with
numerous requirements. They argued that this presented an opportunity for the overall design to focus on what
the customer’s need, as opposed to the tools that might be used. Similarly, [14] argue that the most important
influence of personnel is their capabilities to focus product design teams on the actual goals of the target
customers. Moreover, they opined that personas enable design to concentrate design
Efforts on meeting customer needs and requirements, rather than basing design efforts on team ideas.
This is critical in addressing problems associated with self-reference while also helping to minimize potentially
undesirable design elements.
IV. Methodology
The present study will adopt the user centered design method proposed by the international standard
ISO 13407: The human centered design processes. This standard offers an effective approach to implementing
user requirements within a product development life cycle (International Organization of Standards 2010). The
process has five critical steps and the frame work is represented below.
Figure 1.1: User requirement design framework.
Below are the five steps discussed in details;
Application of user Centered Design for Customer Requirement in Design Process for Automotive
DOI: 10.9790/1684-1402062731 www.iosrjournals.org 30 | Page
4.1 Scope
During this phase, all parties in the design process including engineers, management, marketing and
sales persons were brought together to discuss and come up with consensus regarding the reference point of the
knowledge based product. According to [18], the common point of understanding is used to allow effective
communication between stakeholders during different stages of the development process. Ideally,
communication was effected by uniform expectations of the project outcome developed during the scoping
stage. In other words, the scoping phase enabled the setting of overarching goals and constraints for the project.
The goals were established as a group with the aim of achieving desired functionality, while also meeting the
target business outcome. In this sense, functionality is defined as the degree to which the system needs to be
designed i. e whether the product is to be a visual redesign or needs to be developed from the group up.
4.2Analyze
After establishing a common ground of what the final product should achieve, a more detailed analysis
of the end user follows as the next and equally critical stage [19]. The analysis stage was used to further
centralize stakeholder discussion concerning the needs of the actual user. According to [18], this phase is
important because it enables the team to avoid unnecessary arguments over design based purely on individuals
or disciplinary opinion. The analysis phase followed the completion of field studies in marketing and designers
in order to learn more about the needs of the target users.
After completing field studies, a detailed, customer requirement data was converted into a more
detailed understandable form. User experience Professional Association (2014) argues that the conversion must
be done after developing personas that identifies actual customers and their demands. Ideally, creation of
personas enables development team to visualize the target customers together with their needs, user scenario,
and the user cases. User scenario represents a typical interaction of the target customers and is often achieved by
way of story about the interaction with real customers.
4.3Design
The main objective in this phase of designing products that meet user requirement was to transform the
goals, constraints and requirements from the scope and analysis phase into product. According to [18], this stage
predominantly involves designers and engineers and is made up of two separate phase: concept design and
detailed design. Designers are often in charge of concept design; the aim is to establish the initial layout of the
product and the desired method of interaction with the users. The personas and scenarios developed in the
analysis stage from the basis of the conceptual design. In addition, they are applicable in answering the question
how the product meets the functional and non-functional requirements of the customer.
This phase requires the specification of all individual components in the product. These components
are designed individually meet the required needs of the customer whilst fitting into the overall product concept
previously developed by the designers. As the detailed design is finalized, a high-fidelity prototype i.e. a model
of the proposed finished product is produced (Web Accessibility Initiative, 2008). This prototype is evaluated
via usability testing with potential customers and discussion with project stakeholders, and the detailed design
and evaluation process is iterated until a suitable detailed design is developed that meets customer and project
requirements.
4.4 Evaluation
The evaluation process occurs parallel to the design process. The prototype is evaluated via usability
testing with potential customers and discussion with project stakeholders, and the detailed design and evaluation
process is iterated until a suitable detailed design is developed that meets customer. This process ensures that the
prototype established during the design stage meets the objectives outlined earlier.
4.5Deliver
Representing the end of the UCD process, the finalized detailed design is subsequently passed onto the
product delivery team for implementation [18]. The design team works closely with the delivery team, ensuring
that adequate instructions are provided to allow for the appropriate reproduction of the detailed design as a
finished product. This concludes the UCD process, ideally culminating in a product that meets the functional
and emotional needs of the customer, and the business and technical requirements specified by the project
stakeholders [6].
V. Vdiscussion Of Findings
Despite numerous benefits associated with UCD in product design processes, some researchers argue
that the approach has certain weaknesses particularly touching on three critical aspects: Increased focus in user
demands can result in unnecessary complex and less functional design [20], possibility of self-reference and bias
of the designer on the customer specifications that are developed through UCD [20], and the actual implication
regarding implementation of UCD within businesses.
Application of user Centered Design for Customer Requirement in Design Process for Automotive
DOI: 10.9790/1684-1402062731 www.iosrjournals.org 31 | Page
While addressing the three weaknesses identified above, [18] suggested that UCD has developed to
become a standard approach when considering many new product designs. He suggested that the primary focus
of UCD on the user could lead to the production of products that are less functional. This is because of the
possibility that the designers could disregard the importance of the actual activity to be completed by the
product when focusing heavily on the customer during the design process. However, whilst this certainly has the
potential to occur, it can be argued that when UCD is part of a multidisciplinary approach to product
development, it must take into consideration a range of other requirements (such as technical, functional and
business)(User Experience Professionals Association, 2014). This is because designers and user-centred design
do not work in isolation but are important components of a larger organization looking to develop a new product
[18]. A second criticism of the UCD approach points to potential issues with those using UCD methodology
rather than with UCD itself. That is, the issue of designers unconsciously imparting personal bias and self-
referencing on the overall design under the guise of user-centrism [20].
Whilst certainly a valid concern, that UCD products are not actually user centred but rather designer-
centred due to designing for what they feel the users would want rather than the reality, this would only be a
problem if UCD methodology were not being adhered to. The Analyze stage of UCD specifically aims to
interact with real users and gather real-life data rather than assumed customer behaviour [18]. In light of this,
UCD could only fall prey to self-reference and bias if those implementing it were not strictly following the rules
and steps.
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