Abstract
Designers create messages that are encoded in the products’ design and consumers perceive
the products in an environment. Hence the product can be seen as a communication media between
the designer and different product stakeholders. The stakeholder’s response to the designer’s intent
embodied in the product design falls into three categories: cognitive, affective and behavioural. In
some cases, it is important to have an understanding of stakeholder response to product design. This
paper presents theories, approaches and methods for the understanding of stakeholder response to
designer intent embodied in product design and discusses them in relation to the extent to which they
are usable in a design project. The possible use and appropriateness of the theories and methods are
exemplified by the authors’ ongoing research projects. Since the perception of a product form is
subjective, there can be differences between designers’ and stakeholders’ responses to product
design. Therefore, in some cases, it is important to make designer intent and stakeholder response
explicit and to analyse the discrepancies. Using different approaches and methods to understand
stakeholder response can be used to improve a product design and for guiding the stakeholders’
choices of products to purchase.
the products in an environment. Hence the product can be seen as a communication media between
the designer and different product stakeholders. The stakeholder’s response to the designer’s intent
embodied in the product design falls into three categories: cognitive, affective and behavioural. In
some cases, it is important to have an understanding of stakeholder response to product design. This
paper presents theories, approaches and methods for the understanding of stakeholder response to
designer intent embodied in product design and discusses them in relation to the extent to which they
are usable in a design project. The possible use and appropriateness of the theories and methods are
exemplified by the authors’ ongoing research projects. Since the perception of a product form is
subjective, there can be differences between designers’ and stakeholders’ responses to product
design. Therefore, in some cases, it is important to make designer intent and stakeholder response
explicit and to analyse the discrepancies. Using different approaches and methods to understand
stakeholder response can be used to improve a product design and for guiding the stakeholders’
choices of products to purchase.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Nordcode 6th seminar “design semantics in use”, Helsinki, Finland |
| Publication status | Published - 2007 |
Subject classification (UKÄ)
- Production Engineering, Human Work Science and Ergonomics
Free keywords
- designer intent
- aesthetic impression
- semantic interpretation
- stakeholders’ cognitive response
- symbolic association