An Agent-Based Market System Simulation for Design Education

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brendan E. Fay ◽  
Steven Hoffenson
Keyword(s):  
Product Design ◽  
Design Education ◽  
Market System ◽  
Agent Based ◽  
Engineering Economics ◽  
Design Variables ◽  
Market Driven ◽  
Marketing Team ◽  
The Look ◽  
The Cost

In product design, there is often a disconnect between the engineers creating the product and the marketing team determining the best characteristics for the product. The decisions of engineers in designing a product, such as dimensions, materials, and tolerances, affect the look and feel of the product as seen by the consumer. This paper presents a methodology for creating a simulation to demonstrate basic relationships between product design decisions and the predicted success of the product in the market. An agent-based model is used to simulate the interactions among producers and consumers in a market system, using analysis techniques from engineering, economics, and psychology. The effects of design variables on product attributes influence the cost and consumer utility of the product, which, along with price, affect market dynamics. The goal of creating this model is for use in design curricula to introduce the concept of market-driven product design and allow student design teams to assess the impacts of different design variables on the market success of a product. The model has been introduced in an undergraduate engineering design class to explore its effectiveness in teaching market-driven design.

Strategic Design Decisions for Uncertain Market Systems Using an Agent Based Approach

2011 ◽  
Vol 133 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Z. Wang ◽  
S. Azarm ◽  
P. K. Kannan
Keyword(s):  
Product Design ◽  
Theoretic Approach ◽  
Competitive Strategies ◽  
Market System ◽  
Design Decisions ◽  
Learning Behaviors ◽  
Agent Based ◽  
Strategic Design ◽  
Game Theoretic ◽  
Design For Market Systems

Market players, such as competing manufacturing firms and retail channels, can significantly influence the demand and profit of a new product. Existing methods in design for market systems use game theoretic models that can maximize a firm’s profit with respect to the product design and price variables given the Nash equilibrium of the market system. However, in the design for uncertain market systems, there is seldom equilibrium with players having fixed strategies in a given time period. In this paper, we propose an agent based approach for design for market systems that accounts for learning behaviors of the market players under uncertainty. By learning behaviors we mean that market players gradually, over time, learn to play with better strategies based on action–reaction behaviors of other players. We model a market system with agents representing competing manufacturers and retailers who possess learning capabilities and based on some prespecified rules are able to react and make decisions on the product design and pricing. The proposed agent based approach provides strategic design and pricing decisions for a manufacturing firm in response to possible reactions from market players in the short and long term horizons. Our example results show that the proposed approach can produce competitive strategies for the firm by simulating market players’ learning behaviors when they react only by setting prices, as compared to a game theoretic approach. Furthermore, it can yield profitable product design decisions and competitive strategies when competing firms react by changing design variables in the short term—case for which no previous method in design for market systems has been reported.

Strategic Product Design Decisions for Uncertain Market Systems Using an Agent Based Approach

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Z. Wang ◽  
S. Azarm ◽  
P. K. Kannan
Keyword(s):  
Product Design ◽  
Theoretic Approach ◽  
Competitive Strategies ◽  
Market System ◽  
Design Decisions ◽  
Learning Behaviors ◽  
Agent Based ◽  
Time Period ◽  
Game Theoretic ◽  
Design For Market Systems

Market players, such as competing manufacturing firms and retail channels, can significantly influence the demand and profit of a new product. Existing methods in design for market systems use game theoretic models that can maximize a focal manufacturing firm’s profit with respect to product design and price variables given the Nash equilibrium of the market system. However, in the design for uncertain market systems, there is seldom equilibrium with players having fixed strategies in a given time period. In this paper, we propose an agent based approach for design for market systems that accounts for learning behaviors of the market players under uncertainty. By learning behaviors we mean that market players gradually, over a time period, learn to play with better strategies based on action-reaction behaviors of other players. We model a market system with agents representing competing manufacturers and retailers who possess learning capabilities and are able to automatically react and make decisions on the product design and pricing. The proposed approach provides strategic design and pricing decisions for a focal manufacturer in response to anticipated reactions from market players in the short and long term horizons. Our example results show that the proposed agent based approach can produce competitive strategies for a focal firm over a time period when market players react only by setting prices compared to a game theoretic approach. Furthermore, it can yield profitable product design decisions and competitive strategies when competing firms react by changing design attributes in the short term — a case for which no previous method in design for market systems has been reported.

scholarly journals Refine the Students’ Skills Through Design Education to Create Ethical Products

SAGE Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 215824402199836
Author(s):  
Tarek Ismail Mohamed
Keyword(s):  
Product Design ◽  
Interface Design ◽  
Visual Information ◽  
Design Education ◽  
Vital Role ◽  
Ethical Aspects ◽  
Product Features ◽  
Ethical Products ◽  
Appearance Design ◽  
Design Values

This article focuses on applying the ethics of the product features during the students’ design education. Good/Bad design term is a conventional approach to discuss the ethical/unethical design values of the products. It is noted that different aspects of the product design such as visual information design, interface design, and appearance design have a vital role in judging the levels of ethics in the product. So the students of product design everywhere need to practice the term ethical/unethical design during their study because designers influence society more than they could imagine. This influence can be done by creating an attractive organized appearance and perfect functions that support the ethical brand’s image to the customers. The interviews and discussions were held as a research method with the students of product design in some institutions in addition to some design experts and customers to find out their opinions about the design values that achieve the ethical dimensions in the product design. They can end up with products that carry ethical values in their design. The final article’s results are in the descending order of the different design values according to their importance in emphasizing the ethical aspects of the products, in addition to a checklist including some important questions that can help the designers to be more aware of ethics’ considerations in the product design because ethics is a process of learning, not a process of obedience, and to highlighting the term of ethical designer which in turn reflects on the ethics of customers and societies.

An agent-based web services solution to collaborative product design

2004 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chun-Che Huang ◽  
Tzu-Laing (. Tseng ◽  
Yongjin Kwon ◽  
Yen Yi Chou
Keyword(s):  
Web Services ◽  
Product Design ◽  
Agent Based ◽  
Collaborative Product Design

Globalization and Product Design Education: The Global Studio

2010 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 53-68 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erik Bohemia ◽  
Kerry Harman
Keyword(s):  
Product Design ◽  
Design Education

Sustainability and Design Education: The Current Status of Product Design Higher Education in the UK

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emelia Delaney ◽  
Wei Liu
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Product Design ◽  
New Product Development ◽  
Design Education ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Design Stage ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Future Research Directions ◽  
Area Of Concern ◽  
The Uk

Abstract The aim of sustainability is to fulfil the needs of current generations without compromising the needs of future generations. It is also a rising area of concern within industry, it is therefore important that graduate designers are equipped with the skills to accommodate sustainability issues as well as demands from industry. Additionally, the product design stage during New Product Development has been identified to have the greatest impact on the sustainability of the entire product, however how educated designers are on the topic of sustainability is unclear. An initial literature review has been conducted to investigate design education on sustainability as well as teaching styles. Following this the study identifies and reviews UK Product Design courses to establish the current status of sustainability integration in higher education. The exploration into university prospectuses has found that around half of UK universities implement sustainability in some way, however there are limited courses which dedicate specific modules to sustainability. Additionally, links with industry and accreditation organizations between UK product design courses have been confirmed, but there is no definite information to suggest that the universities use this to aid in the implementation sustainability education. From this review future research directions have been outlined.

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