Perception and Deception: How Quantity and Quality of Sensory Information Affect Users' Perception of Office Chairs

Authors: de Rouvray, Alexander; Bassereau, Jean-François; Duchamp, Robert; Schneider, Jean-Séraphim; Charbonneau, Sylvie

Source: The Design Journal, Volume 11, Number 1, June 2008 , pp. 29-50(22)

Publisher: Berg Publishers

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Abstract:

This paper introduces an approach for designing products with added affective appeal. We first establish the necessity for such an approach, given the complexity of existing tools and methods, and the growing need to take into account users' affective preferences in the design process. Secondly, we expose the theoretical framework behind our approach, grounded in a transfer of tools from sensory evaluation to qualify and quantify a product's key attributes. We present the results of two studies that allowed us to assess and validate the approach by applying it to the preliminary design phase of an office chair for Steelcase, a leader in the office furniture industry. Office chairs were found to be useful vehicles as people have a prolonged and intimate sensory interaction with this product. A comparison of users' affective reactions to a group of office chairs in different sensory situations allowed us to assess the relative weight of each sense in the perception of the product. Critical product attributes were singled out by applying a free categorization approach to the group of office chairs; free categorization being the act of creating meaningful groups of products according to their perceived similarities or differences.

Keywords: PLEASURE; DESIGN PROCESS; MULTI-SENSORY APPROACH; AFFECTIVE ENGINEERING

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.2752/175630608X317896

Publication date: 2008-06-01

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