Controlled Appeal Product Design: a Life Cycle Role for Affective (Kansei) Engineering

Affective engineering case studies are reported that demonstrate the selection of shape, colour and surface texture to satisfy people’s preference ratings for products. It is proposed that these studies provide a basis for engineering product appeal. Products of a technically mature market sector could be engineered to encourage their long-lasting or cherishing appeal to their owners. Products in a market sector with a rapidly changing technology could be engineered for short-ownership appeal, for example to appeal to leasing rather than purchasing. First, the proposal is placed in the systems engineering business context of new product development processes.