Abstract
There is an emergent body of research linking the nature of form to design, functionality and user experience. This paper builds on these recent studies to propose a new approach connecting conceptual-design with advanced manufacturing techniques. Using the properties of work materials and advanced forming manufacturing processes, radical approaches to design and production could be open to designers and engineers, offering novel modes of user experience. By firstly reviewing the literature on product form and its bond with the concepts within the fields of user interaction and user experience, a number of “functional mechanisms” are introduced that could potentially be integrated into this new and more homogeneous manufacturing framework.
Keywords
Form, materials, interaction, manufacturing
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2016.78
Citation
Urquhart, L., and Wodehouse, A. (2016) Form as an abstraction of mechanism, in Lloyd, P. and Bohemia, E. (eds.), Future Focused Thinking - DRS International Conference 2016, 27 - 30 June, Brighton, United Kingdom. https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2016.78
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Form as an abstraction of mechanism
There is an emergent body of research linking the nature of form to design, functionality and user experience. This paper builds on these recent studies to propose a new approach connecting conceptual-design with advanced manufacturing techniques. Using the properties of work materials and advanced forming manufacturing processes, radical approaches to design and production could be open to designers and engineers, offering novel modes of user experience. By firstly reviewing the literature on product form and its bond with the concepts within the fields of user interaction and user experience, a number of “functional mechanisms” are introduced that could potentially be integrated into this new and more homogeneous manufacturing framework.