Qualitative Design Research Group

The Qualitative Design Research Group focuses on the boundary between engineering design and industrial design in the design process. Interests include computational design concept tools and product design methodologies. Fully capturing consumer product preference is necessary to create new products that meet the needs, wants, and desires of the consumer market. Once quantified, computational design tools can automatically generate design concepts that match consumer preference and improve the probability of success in the marketplace. Our research gathers techniques from the fields of engineering design, industrial design, marketing, and economics to create new processes and tools that support new product development.