Training designers of real-world products: Scenario approach in industrial design curriculum

Abstract

This paper aims to explore the use of scenario approach in training curriculum for industrial design students. Over-reliance on internet and ignorance of user's need are critical issues to be addressed among design students. It is of interest to incorporate Scenario Approach to education content to overcome students' failure to grasp the key points of a design. We investigated differences in views on scuba lighting equipment between design students and expert users. Two groups of 23 participants respectively from the Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI) and an industrial design department were recruited. Questionnaire was used for collection of data in this study. Narrative statistical analysis and independent variable t-tests were used to interpret the raw data. The findings indicate that design students and expert divers place their primary focuses on completely different factors. Overall, the students put a great deal more emphasis on appearance of lighting equipment than did the expert divers. Divers rated multiple functionality and weight among the most important factors in design. The students sampled largely overlooked these two key points. Results of this study are critical to industrial design instructors. It is suggested that students must come to understand usage patterns and cognitions of users prior to preparing a design project. Students can gain such understanding through application of Scenario Approach combined with real-life experience of the equipment. In addition, due to the wide range of materials available on the Internet, and their unregulated nature, the quality of information that design students access online varies wildly. Furthermore, because the Internet is convenient, online information may be overused and misapplied by design students. © 2011 Springer-Verlag.