A product form design and evaluation model are proposed. In this method, the forms can be evaluated by three sub-evaluation models which can help designers to grasp consumers’ preferences. In the process, the overall shape is first disassembled into several shape elements, and a morphological chart is constructed. Then, the priority of shape elements is analyzed through the fuzzy analytical hierarchy process, and several required combinations are selected from a morphological chart. Moreover, the fuzzy comprehensive evaluation (I), preference questionnaire (II), and quadratic curvature entropy (III) of the selected combinations are analyzed. Finally, the results of I, II, and III are compared. In conclusion, the three sub-evaluation systems are consistent, which confirms the applicability of the proposed model.

For design education, although different international design organizations have developed design thinking models (DTM), these DTMs mainly focus on improving innovation but ignore the actual demands of users. This paper proposes a consumer-oriented DTM to implement innovation and evaluation based on accurately grasping users' demands. The consumer-oriented DTM consists of three phases, namely preparation, creation and evaluation. In the preparation phase, the evaluation grid method is used to obtain a three-layer demand chart from skilled users; this chart is then used to design questionnaires to get charm factors. In the creation phase, the concrete charm factors are taken as the design objectives to guide the innovative design. Several methods are integrated, including the objectives tree method, function analysis method, and finite structure method, to obtain a group of alternatives. In the evaluation phase, the original evaluation items are taken as the evaluation criteria, and then the best solution is selected. The highchair is considered a design case to elaborate on how students use the consumer-oriented DTM to carry out design practice. The final results verify that the new DTM applies to classroom teaching, which improves the commercialization of design concepts and cultivates students' ability to communicate with others.

With the spread of COVID-19 worldwide, various travel restrictions are becoming a significant trigger for anxiety. Although healing products could relieve anxiety, few scholars have proposed a practical design strategy. Therefore, we offer a design strategy for healing products that includes three phases: preparation, analysis, and verification. In Phase 1, 20 people with moderate or high anxiety are invited to rate 100 samples. Then, FCM is used to obtain representative samples. In Phase 2, a three-layer diagram (incl. the upper, middle, and lower layers) of healing products is obtained using the evaluation grid method. Subsequently, the middle layer is considered evaluation criteria. Additionally, 18 items in the lower layer are considered design guidelines. In Phase 3, we invite two teams to develop innovative designs based on design guidelines and personal experience, generating four alternatives. Finally, four alternatives and four healing commodities are evaluated using grey relation analysis and perceptual questionnaires. The consistency of both evaluations could confirm the validity of the evaluation criteria. The alternatives generated based on the design guidelines are better than other alternatives, demonstrating the effectiveness of the design guidelines. The design strategy is beneficial for developing and evaluating healing products to alleviate people’s anxiety during COVID-19.

City bicycles have become popular worldwide because they play an essential role in releasing urban traffic congestion and are environmentally friendly. Since wheelsets are the most prominent shape element in a bicycle, this research explores the influence of various wheel types on the visual image of a city bicycle. First, 10 wheelsets with a high market share in China were selected as the research samples. Meanwhile, vocabularies suitable for describing wheelsets were chosen from many vocabularies. Then, all vocabularies were summarized into six adjectives using factor analysis, and consumers were invited to evaluate all samples using the grouped adjectives. Finally, triangular fuzzy numbers were used to obtain the evaluation scores of 10 wheelsets on six adjectives, and the 10 wheelsets were divided into four groups based on the evaluation scores. The results show that the visual imagery evaluation of the 10 wheelsets had a significant difference in the “trimmed and stable”, “superior and presentable”, and “holistic and balanced” groups, but a slight difference in “novel and individualized”, “rhythmic and metrical”, and “mechanical and ordered.” The research results could serve as a reference for city bicycle operators and help improve product development efficiency, thereby promoting the sustainable development of city bicycles.