Joint workshop with TU Muenchen, Dresden & Delft

1.  title of the workshop
Human-centered evaluation strategies for concepts and preliminary
design variants
 names of the organizers
Sandra Hirsch, TU München
Gavin Melles, University of Swinburne
Christian Wölfel, TU Dresden
Stella Boess, TU Delft
 description of the objectives, content and topic
Human-centred designers in product development are increasingly adopting
not only traditional quantitative but also qualitative research methods for
product usage and product experience evaluation. One issue that has been
discussed for a long time in engineering design, usability engineering and
other design-related disciplines is the evaluation of preliminary design variants.
While final evaluations are often conducted late in the process and with little
opportunity to influence design decisions, interim evaluation is less common as
yet. There are numerous methods for evaluating quantifiable phenomena such
as estimated production costs etc. However, methods are also needed for the
evaluation of usage and user experience during the product development
process. In order to be relevant to designing, such methods need to
be efficient and at the same time provide in-depth insight into design relevant
criteria such as product experience and other aspects of product contact and
use. The methods need to be human-centred and also provide teams with a
new mindset relating to their usefulness, in order to enable product developers
to integrate them in their development process.
Human-centred design research methods such as cultural probes,
contextmapping, experience prototyping and similar relatively recent
methods are interesting in this respect, because they focus on gaining
insights, inspiration and getting in conversation with potential users. But how
can the qualitative insights thereafter be systematically integrated into the
decision-making process - bearing in mind that human needs are only one of
several aspects manufacturers have to face?
Not only in industry, but also in the academic field, where practice-based
design research and design-inclusive research is constantly growing, there is
increasing demand for the deployment of reliable qualitative and mixed-
methods evaluation strategies for the assessment of concepts and preliminary
design variants.
Within the workshop - based on some product prompts - we wish to examine
evaluation approaches that incorporate a human-centered approach while not
excluding quantifiable measures. In discussion with the participants we aim to
develop some general principles for systematic qualitative assessment that is

2. appropriately rigorous and relevant for the problems and context of user
experience and usage research in product development.
 description of the format (lecture, exercise, presentations, discussion, etc)
The workshop consists of short introductory presentations, a short hands-on
group work session with a sample case, and a longer structured discussion in
which the participants are invited to contribute and share their experiences
and develop some shared criteria for useful approaches and their integration
into product development processes.
 required facilities
projector, studio space, flip-over sheets, moderation case
 duration (half day or full day)
half day
 maximum number of participants
20
 whether and how you wish to select participants (e.g., registration open to
all, on the basis of a position paper)
Registration open to all but participants should either bring knowledge about
decision-making in product development processes or be experienced in
working with methods for evaluation. Proposals for 5-minute introductory
presentations with examples and experience reports are appreciated but not a
precondition for participation.