Front End Industrial Design (FE-ID) - Developing New Tools and Models for Industrial Designers to Operate at the Front End of New Product Development

Abstract

The front end of new product development is often a focus for discussion about innovation. This paper presents a new model for how the role and place of industrial design can be re-positioned so that it has influence and impact at this front end. The aim of this is to develop the capability for industrial designers to generate creative ideas, or opportunities, that have resonance and relevance within the context of new product development, but that are made explicit before a design brief exists. A front end industrial design process model, developed for undergraduate designers and evaluated by industry, is described in detail.