‘Design for Desirability’–Postgraduate Collaboration between Academia and SME Industry

This paper outlines two Master of Design projects that were undertaken as part of the ‘Design for Desirability’ project an innovation-focused design research collaboration connecting New Zealand manufacturing industry with advanced design thinking at AFFECT- the Centre for Affective Design Research at Massey University in Wellington. Contemporary design thinking considers that desirable products need to appeal to their users on emotional, social and intuitive levels, but small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) often lack the knowledge and resources to develop desirability-focused design conceptualization programs. Function and usability are still central issues for industrial design, but unless products appeal instantly and reward longer relationships, chances for success are slim. Academic researchers and five New Zealand companies have collaborated in a government-funded ‘Growth and Innovation Pilot Initiative’ scheme that aims to foster design for desirability thinking and capabilities by means of knowledge sharing, enterprise training workshops and design projects. Utilizing semi-structured interviews, workshops and research through design projects (e.g. Masters projects) the researchers fostered collaboration with the partner companies over a period of three years. Within this collaboration, two Master of Design projects, were undertaken that created visionary product concepts utilizing the Perceptual Product Experience framework of Warell (2008). This paper describes the process of the Design for Desirability project and highlights two Master of Design research projects. The paper presents and discusses an innovative, collaborative model for relationships between academia, postgraduate study and SMEs with the aim of improving the companies’ international competitiveness.