INDUSTRIAL DESIGN ENGINEERING

ADVANCEMENT

The need for evaluation and validation during the development of bionic design projects enabling
to measure product success in meeting efficiency targets and proposed requirements,
was one of the evident missing features of previously existing methodologies for bionic design
and which were met with the proposed methodology. Besides these aspects, the proposed
method is also intended to support an iterative approach in conducting design
projects in order to achieve optimal results and correct the detected deviations meeting the
proposed objectives and needs. Implementation of the proposed method in practice aims its
validation and also confirmation of the gains introduced in projects that follow the methodology
for the process of design with inspiration taken from Nature. This is explicit from the
results obtained during the two projects, which in addition to validate the method, serve as
a complement to present the method.
Bionic design, a discipline capable of enriching projects with gains in efficiency, aesthetics
and sustainability and with a wide margin for improvement and with a whole world where
inspiration can be reaped from, will certainly bring benefits to designers in the future development
of their concepts and their research. One of the studies included in this theme that
could be accomplished in the future, with the objective of its development and expansion,
would be an empirical study made by surveying designers in businesses that would allow
identifying the actors who make use of the bionic methodology, principles and approach in
everyday professional life. With the same objective, the application of a methodology for
comparative analysis of the gains brought by bionics to a wide range of products would be
equally interesting. It is also important to note that the method presented in this work, like
any other, is not considered perfect or timeless. The evolution of scientific and biological
knowledge, emerging technologies and the principles of sustainability provide new insight
Examples of application of the bi-directonal method of bionic design
In order to enhance and complement the method developed, its practical application is essential.
In this regard two design projects were developed that follow the method of bionic
design created and presented in this chapter. This was intended not only to validate and
prove its practical applicability, but also as a way to complement and in order to enhance
the dissemination of the method. The deployment of the method used to guide the development
of these projects is summarily shown in the following subsections, excluding steps C2
to C3. Step C1 concerns the validation stage of the method, and its content has previously
been shown by Versos and Coelho (2011-a). The first design case concerns the process of design
of a CD tower rack developed by the first author and following the proposed method
(following the direction of analysis A—from design problem to bionic solution) with a solution
inspired on the spider web. The second design example reported on, was developed
starting from the elastic structures of Nature arriving at a quad-cycle with frame integrated
suspension developed by the first author and following the proposed method (following direction
of analysis B – from the bionic solution to the design problem).
Design Thinking in Conceptual Design Processes: A
Comparison Between Industrial and Engineering Design
Students
Design thinking is one of the most important issues in the fields of design research, as design
expertise and creativity are mainly manifested through designers‘ cognitive processes when
they are undertaking design activities, in particular during conceptual design stages [1, 2].
Majority of the design research community tend to model design thinking as a style of thinking
underlining all design domains/disciplines, and complementary to scientific thinking and
other non-design thinking [3-6]. Designing in fact comprises of various activities of multifaceted
nature [7]. Variations of the thinking styles between different types of designers have been
reported in many empirical design studies [e.g., 8 - 10]. Literature suggests that tertiary
educational programs may contribute to the characteristics of thinking styles. Lawson’s study
indicates that design thinking may relate to learnt behaviors [7, 11]. Senior undergraduate
architecture and science students demonstrated distinct problem solving strategies, while such
disciplinary difference was not observed between first-year undergraduate architecture
students and high school students [11]. Following the same rationale, this paper is interested
in identifying possible effects of different design programs on shaping students’ design
thinking styles and the associated design strategies.

Product Sound Design:

Intentional and Consequential Sounds
In our daily life we are immersed in sounds that are generated by products. If one were to ask
someone to name sounds produced by products, often sounds are mentioned that alarm or
inform us (e.g., microwave oven beeps, telephone rings etc.). These are the sounds of which
we are consciously aware. However, many sounds subconsciously play an important role in
our interaction with a product. One hears if the battery of a toothbrush runs out of power; one
hears the power of a vacuum cleaner and one hears if the bag is full; etc. Although these are
all functional aspects, sound also plays a role in our aesthetic, quality, and emotional experience
of products. For example, one hears if the sound of a car door evokes a sense of quality.
Car manufacturers have acoustical engineers to make sure that a slammed door will evoke this
sense of quality. Sound quality and its relation to perception have been studied to some extent
(e.g., Blauert & Jekosch, 1997; Bodden, 2000; Lyon, 2003). Often, these methodologies cover
only one aspect of the design or evaluative process. Here we present a systematic approach to
the inclusion of sound in the design process and its use as an essential aspect of controlling
the quality of design and as a means of educating designers (and students) about the constituent
parts of a product.
In this chapter, we will distinguish between sounds that are generated by the operating of the
product itself and sounds that we intentionally add to a product. In the field of product sounds
the first category has been named consequential sounds and the second category has been
named intentional sounds (Van Egmond, 2007). This distinction is essential - both categories
of sounds will require different design methods and the use of knowledge of different
disciplines is needed. Intentional sounds are mostly composed which may be experienced as
musical sounds. One could state that the use of intentional sounds as feedback of alarm sounds
© 2013 Langeveld et al.; licensee InTech. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the
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is in fact creating a small musical composition (i.e., musical motives). Therefore, these sounds
can also be used to convey brand values of companies.
Consequential product sounds are experienced as “noisy”. It is very difficult for users, for
designers, and for acoustical engineers to verbally express how they experience a sound.
Several problems exist. In general, users lack the vocabulary to express themselves to explain
what is wrong or right with a sound. They normally will say the product makes a unpleasant
sound or noise. Designers also lack the vocabulary to express design concepts that may also
be used in the design of a sound. The acoustical engineers have a very technical vocabulary
from the disciplines of physics and sometimes psychoacoustics, which does not communicate
very well to designers and to users. In addition, to understand the aesthetic and emotional
experience of product sounds knowledge from the field of psychology (auditory perception,
cognition, and emotion theories) is needed. As stated before, product sounds are loud and
noisy. This inherent property makes it difficult to describe the sound in a structural manner.
The reason for this is, of course, that noise by itself is random and lacks structure. However,
product sounds do not produce completely random noise due to the resonance and engine/
boiler properties of products (of course, there are many sources that are responsible for the
generation of sound in domestic appliances). It is the aim of this product sound course of
Industrial design Engineering(IDE), Delft University of Technology (DUT) to try to relate
descriptive aspects from the physical, perceptual, and experiential domain to each other in
order to improve the sound of domestic appliances.