Bringing the user experience to early product conception : From idea generation to idea evaluation
The User Experience (UX) has become a major concern for the design of consumer products. Today exist various tools for the evaluation of static properties of final products on their User Experience value. However, very few tools and methods are available that allow anticipating the future User Experience during the first stages of product conception. This thesis explores the wide range of design dimensions that potentially form the experience of the user. Dynamic product properties emerge as an important factor for User Experience. In the studies a software based on inspiration words and links, as well as the technique body storming are tested as a new means of User Experience generation. The produced early concepts and interaction gestures are then evaluated through a combination of questionnaires, behavioural and physiological measurements. The study results show firstly that a wide range of design dimension needs to be regarded to design for User Experience, secondly that it is possible to apply UX evaluations on early concepts and thirdly that UX evaluations can also be done on dynamic properties like interaction gestures. This thesis furthermore contributes design research and practice with a new model on the mechanism of User Experience and a list of design dimensions for early product conception.