Vision concepts are tangible prototypes used by organizations to explore ideas about the interplay between products and users in future contexts. They represent non-functional or fully working models that demonstrate key features. Examples include concept cars and kitchen concepts presented as vehicles or product systems. Vision concepts are outputs of research exploring questions like how people will interact with food in 2025. They are shared internally through workshops and presentations, and publicly at international events. The design process involves research set-up, future exploration, concept design, prototyping, and developing future messages for exhibition.

1. Challenge the future
Design of Vision Concepts to explore the
future: nature, context and design
techniques
Ricardo Mejia (PhD candidate) & Lianne Simonse (assistant professor)
PhD promotors: Prof. dr. P.J. Stappers & Prof. dr. H.J. Hultink,
and daily supervisor: Dr. G. Pasman.
Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering
Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands
5th CIM Community Workshop / 2015

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Content
Theoretical Background
• Sharing product vision
• Designing the future (concept cars, concept products, vision concepts)
Research questions
Method
• Qualitative inductive research
• Video documentation
Results
• The nature of Vision Concepts
• Sharing context in concept visioning
• Design techniques for concept visioning
Discussion
• Theoretical contribution
• Limitation and future research directions
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Constant dilemma
exploiting old ideas exploring new ideas
(Schreyogg and Kliesch-Eberl (2007) & Cornella (2013))
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Design and the future
• Design is closely linked with the exploration of the future (Buijs, 1987;
Morello, 2000; Evans, 2011; Hekkert, Van Dijk, and Lloyd, 2011)
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Concept Cars as a way to explore the future
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Rs P.: Although concept cars are in the automotive industry since 1938,
only a few scholars have studied them (Styhre, Backman, and Börjesson, 2005;
Backman and Börjesson, 2006; Backman, Börjesson, and Setterberg, 2007; and Buijs, 2012)
Concept Cars are “experimental artefacts” (Styhre, Backman, & Börjesson, 2005)
made by car manufacturers in order to explore the future.

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Concept Products a Concept Car in other branches of the
industry
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Concept Products are located outside the ordinary product portfolio,
and should express a certain competence within the company’ (Ny, & Thott,
2005).
Rs P.: CPs are emerging but a little is known about them

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Vision Concepts
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Different kind of Concept Products (Keinonen, & Takala, 2010):
(i) product -development- concepts,
(ii) emerging concepts, and
(iii) vision concepts

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Sharing context in product visioning
• a vision is described as “conditions as we would like them to be”
(Stokes, 1991)
• research results determined that product visions exert a large
influence on a new product´s success (Lynn and Akgun, 2001; O´Connor and
Veryzer 2001; and Reid and Brentani, 2012)
Rs P.: Lack of underestanding in sharing in product visioning
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Design techniques of concept visioning
• e.g. Vision in Product (VIP)
approach (Hekkert, Van Dijk, and
Lloyd, 2011)
Rs. P. : It is not clear if the
design process is a simplified
NPD process (Styhre, Backman, &
Börjesson, 2005) or it is a specific
and unique process (Berlitz & Huhn,
2005; Lv & Lu, 2012; and Santamala, 2006)
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Research questions
Therefore, in this paper we investigate the following research questions:
• What is the nature of a vision concept?
• How is the vision concept shared in the organization context?
• How is a vision concept designed - design technique?
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Method
• A qualitative inductive research (Eisenhardt, 1989) to unravel the
nature, sharing context and design techniques of the vision concepts
• A multiple case analysis that includes 5 cases, 3 concept cars and 2
concept products
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Your Concept Car 2004 by Volvo
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Citröen-Lacoste 2010 by Citröen and Lacoste
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F015 2015 by Mercedes-Benz
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Concept Kitchen 2025 by IKEA
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Bio-digester Kitchen Island at Microbial Home 2011 by Philips
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Method / video analysis
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Results / The nature of vision concepts, sharing context
and design techniques for concept visioning
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Vision concepts are tangible prototypes used by organizations to explore
and present new ideas of the interplay between -system of- products and
users in the future.
• The 3 concept cars are presented as vehicles (artifacts), different that
the concept products that are presented as systems of products.
• e.g. "CCs funtion as a test bed for new ideas" Volvo
• All of the vision concepts are deployed as prototypes, 1:1 models that
present the main features of the concept.
• representational, which are non functional prototypes, and
• fully working prototype (e.g. F015)
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The nature of vision concepts

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Vision concepts are outputs of research projects that explore -research-
questions
• e.g. how will we behave around food in 2025? (Ikea), how to enable
people to do what they want or need to do? (Mercedes Benz)
Vision concepts are part of a dedicated portfolio outside of the ordinary
portfolio
• e.g. Mercedes-Benz, F models (Concept Vehicles portfolio) established
in 1991
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The nature of vision concepts

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Sharing context in concept visioning
Vision concepts are shared in the organization context in three different
levels, in-company, team, and public.
• In-company sharing: Volvo, Ikea and Philips use the vision concept in
several internal workshops and presentations
• Public: all of the studied concept cars and concept kitchens are
demonstrated on an international event
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Design techniques for concept visioning
The cases analysis results in the identification of five activities to design a
vision concept:
• the research project set-up,
• the future exploration,
• the vision concept design,
• the vision concept making, and
• the future message on the exhibition.
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Discussion / Theoretical contribution
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Discussion / Theoretical contribution
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Thanks!
Ricardo Mejia
J.R.MejiaSarmiento@tudelft.nl
&
Lianne Simons
L.W.L.Simonse@tudelft.nl
Delft University of Technology
The Netherlands
2015

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