Abstract
Today’s challenges in areas such as climate change, health technology, and digitization require adapted or even new products. Thus, product design gains higher importance since it defines human-centered solutions, leading to lower or higher acceptance of new design solutions. While the benefits of design seem to be compelling, previous research has shown that industry still faces challenges in prioritizing design along complex interdisciplinary development processes. In this paper, we aim to gain a deeper understanding of these challenges. Based on qualitative exploratory interviews with thirteen designers from the industry, three main and interrelated challenges were identified: A lack of knowledge about the concept of design, a lack of knowledge about the value of design, and the challenge of giving design a high priority. We also identified underlying causes and possible approaches. Based on this, we suggest possible future research directions to strengthen the role of design and designers in organizations.
Keywords
human-centered design; user-centered design; product design; design management
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2024.1001
Citation
Stoehr, B., Koldewey, C., Acar, Y., and Dumitrescu, R. (2024) Challenges for design and designers in interdisciplinary product development: A qualitative interview study in industry, in Gray, C., Ciliotta Chehade, E., Hekkert, P., Forlano, L., Ciuccarelli, P., Lloyd, P. (eds.), DRS2024: Boston, 23–28 June, Boston, USA. https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2024.1001
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Conference Track
Research Paper
Included in
Challenges for design and designers in interdisciplinary product development: A qualitative interview study in industry
Today’s challenges in areas such as climate change, health technology, and digitization require adapted or even new products. Thus, product design gains higher importance since it defines human-centered solutions, leading to lower or higher acceptance of new design solutions. While the benefits of design seem to be compelling, previous research has shown that industry still faces challenges in prioritizing design along complex interdisciplinary development processes. In this paper, we aim to gain a deeper understanding of these challenges. Based on qualitative exploratory interviews with thirteen designers from the industry, three main and interrelated challenges were identified: A lack of knowledge about the concept of design, a lack of knowledge about the value of design, and the challenge of giving design a high priority. We also identified underlying causes and possible approaches. Based on this, we suggest possible future research directions to strengthen the role of design and designers in organizations.