Product innovation based on Kansei engineering

• Main Author: Zeng, Jasmine Jia Min
• Other Authors: Chen Chun-Hsien
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2010
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering::Industrial engineering::Human factors engineering
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/40550
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

In today’s consumer product market, companies realize it is insufficient to compete based on a strategy of functional differentiation alone. Emotional value creation should be regarded as an equally important approach to product design. For this, Kansei Engineering has been developed as a technique that enables the design of products in accordance with consumers’ psychological feelings and demands. The vast scope of Kansei Engineering has spurned a wide variety of research into different areas. Yet, a huge challenge continues to lie ahead for its widespread use within new product development. Competition in the market dictates a ‘survival of the fittest’ mentality where product differentiation through innovation is key. The challenge for Kansei Engineering research lies in plugging this innovative gap. A framework with the purpose of increasing potential pathways for innovation was thus proposed. It identifies two sources of innovation, user-led innovation and technology-led innovation. The focus of this paper was on the conceptualization phase to demonstrate two possible pathways for innovation, stemming from users. A methodology involving the use of laddering based on the means-end theory was developed as a way to explore this conceptualization phase. Finally, a case study on e-book readers was used to demonstrate this methodology. Results of this were discussed and suggestions for further development were provided.