Product Validation in Creative Processes: A Gender Perspective in Industrial Design Projects

Design education and practice are continuously evolving. Educational institutions must include intellectual complexities and new curriculum to support good design education. The design education future emerges multidisciplinary knowledge, teaching innovation and employment necessities. This paper describes a methodology centered in product validation with industrial design students. Focusing on discovering the student experience during the project execution, in addition to observing closely the female design student’s perception on the methodology and process developed. The academic project was the design of a novel tool board. The students developed the proposed project in a period of eight weeks. Sixteen students participated as a sample of this research. The methodology consisted of eight phases that spanned from project brief to project conclusion, introducing two phases focused on validation exercises for the elements created to reach the solution of the tool board. During the end of the two evaluation phases, two surveys were applied asking for information on his previous experience during his design education and three elements that assessment the design methodology implementation: utility, novelty, and relevance. Using multiple choice and Likert scale answers the students answered the surveys. The survey’s findings revealed relevant information on the project implementation focused on evaluation phases during the product design. The results revealed how students reflected on their previous experience developing projects, and how the design tool board integrate important phases like validation. Also, the students evaluated with a positive value the utility, novelty, and relevance of the developed project. However, the most important finding was the female perception comparing male students. The female assessment of novelty and relevance increased during project implementation, highlighting novelty as a perceived element to a greater range than men. This research results allowed us to discover more information about female students experience with creative and validation processes.