A New Product Design Method based on Virtual Reality, Gaming and Scenarios

Through the years, many methods and tools have been developed that support designers in creating good products. Current trends, for example, are to use virtual reality (VR) simulation, gaming principles, and scenario based techniques during product design processes. Each of these methods and tools contributes to the potential effectiveness and efficiency of product design processes. However, in current practice, they are often applied in an ad-hoc manner. This paper presents a new product design method that integrates elements of a number of important trends in contemporary product design processes. Using VR simulation, gaming principles and scenarios, the new product design method gives non-designers (e.g. users, production engineers, marketing managers, maintenance workers) a proactive role in the design process. Within a dedicated design environment, all stakeholders are allowed to create their own designs and immediately test these in a wide variety of use scenarios. By letting stakeholders realistically interact with their personal creations, designers can quickly and reliably pinpoint their needs and preferences. At the same time, good designs are generated. The new product design method was applied to the design of a lane change support system; a system that supports the driver of a vehicle in performing lane change maneuvers. Using the design environment that was established for this case, the designer was able to get a consistent image of everyone's preferences as well as to draw a reliable conclusion about what would be a good design.