By applying data analytics to product usage information (PUI) from combinations of different channels, companies can get a more complete picture of their products’ and services’ Mid-Of-Life. All data, which is gathered within the usage phase of a product and which relates to a more comprehensive understanding of the usability of the product itself, can become valuable input. Nevertheless, an efficient use of such knowledge requires to setup related analysis capabilities enabling users not only to visualize relevant data, but providing development related knowledge e.g. to predict product behaviours not yet reflected by initial requirements.The paper elaborates on explorations to support product development with analytics to improve anticipation of future usage of products and related services. The discussed descriptive, predictive and prescriptive analytics in given research context share the idea and overarching process of getting knowledge out of PUI data. By implementation of corresponding features into an open software platform, the application of advanced analytics for white goods product development has been explored as a reference scenario for PUI exploitation.

In this paper, approaches for behavioral simulation of humans and human-artifact systems are reviewed The objective was to explore available knowledge for the development of a new method and system for the simulation of use processes of consumer durables in conceptual design. A key issue is to resolve the trade-off between minimizing the modeling and computing effort on the one hand, and maximizing the amount of valuable information obtained from simulations to facilitate improving the product. After drawing up review criteria, we reviewed existing simulation approaches, which we characterized based on the simulation models. We found that the surveyed approaches can only address limited, largely unconnected subsets of the various behaviors that can be simulated. For the most advanced approaches, the subsets can be clustered into three main groups: (i) kinematics and rigid-body kinetics simulated with non-discretized object models, (ii) mechanical-deformation behavior and non-mechanical physical behavior simulated with discretized object models and (iii) interpreted physical behavior (information processing) simulated with finite-state machines. No clear-cut solutions for integrated behavioral simulation of use processes have been found, however, we could identify opportunities to bridge the gaps between the three groups of behavior, which can help us to resolve the aforementioned trade-off. In the first place, it seems that the possibilities for using discretized models in kinematics simulation (especially with consideration of the large deformations that are common in biomechanics) have not been fully explored. Alternatively, a completely new uniform modeling paradigm, possibly based on particles, might also help to resolve the gap between the two distinct groups of physical behaviors. Finally, hybrid simulation techniques can bridge the gap between the observed physical behaviors and interpreted physical behaviors. Here, the combination with the object models commonly used for simulations in group (i) and (ii) seems to be largely unexplored. Our findings offered valuable insights as a starting point for developing an integrated method and system for modeling and simulating use processes. We expect that other researchers dealing with similar issues in combining seemingly disconnected simulation approaches could benefit as well.

The increased ubiquity of 360° video presents a unique opportunity for designers to deeply engage with the world of users by capturing the complete visual context. However, the opportunities and challenges 360° video introduces for video design ethnography are unclear. This study investigates this gap through 16 workshops in which experienced designers engaged with 360° video. Our analysis shows that while 360° video enhances designers’ ability to explore and understand user contexts, it also complicates the process of sharing insights. To address this challenge, we present two opportunities to support the use of 360° video by designers - the creation of designerly 360° video annotation tools, and 360° “screenshots” - in order to enable designers to leverage the complete context of 360° video for user research.

Now that all kinds of products are increasingly getting connected to the Internet, it is expected that it will become easier to collect data on how they are actually used during the middle-of-life stage of their product lifecycles. At the same time, a growing number of data analytics technologies offers opportunities to transform this data into actionable knowledge. Over the years, such knowledge extracted from usage data has already become a reliable input for managing maintenance and related services, but other uses such as feedback to design — where product data management systems have started to offer support for data collection practices — and providing advice to end users are now also being considered. Most data from sensors and other product-embedded information devices are collected in batches and analyzed retrospectively. In order for companies to further benefit from data collection in terms of efficacy and acceptance in society, two key challenges are (i) finding ways to effectively use data analytics techniques — which currently do not seem to be used to their full potential, and (ii) finding a good trade-off between respecting privacy and yet producing useful knowledge.