Trans RINA, Vol 157, Part C1, Intl J Marine Design, Jan - Dec 2015


EMOTIONAL DESIGN AND THE EXTERIOR STYLING DEVELOPMENT OF A WFSV (DOI No. 103940/rina.ijmd.2015.c1.43)


A Barrett, N Crea, and S McCartan, EBDIG-IRC, Coventry University, UK SUMMARY


Exterior styling is responsible for that visceral response of 'love at first sight'. The fact that styling is as important for a vehicle’s marketing success as its technical performance has been known since the 1930s. The recent exterior design developments by leading companies in the commercial vessel sector, shows that they are developing an appreciation of this realisation. In considering the relationship of commercial vessel exterior form language aesthetics and emotional design, it is useful to first consider the automotive industry where this relationship is firmly established. Perception of a new car by a potential customer usually happens from the outside to the inside through different levels of detail. The first characteristic of a car that catches a potential customer’s attention, engaging their emotional perception is the aesthetic appearance of its exterior styling. Studies from the defence sector indicate the implementation of Marine Design, which includes exterior styling, would represent about 2.5-4% of acquisition costs with a potential return on investment of between 40-60:1. This paper reviews current examples of exterior styling in the commercial vessel industry and the associated benefits to both brand and user (crew). Several exterior styling proposals for a WFSV are presented and reviewed.


1. INTRODUCTION


Extrapolating the European Wind Energy Association's (EWEA) growth scenario for the period up till 2030 employment in the installation,


operation and


maintenance, of offshore wind farms is expected to produce skilled employment of 851,400. To meet this demand it will be necessary to recruit land based technicians. Therefore, next generation WFSV will need to address the user needs and aspirations of a new generation of technicians, who may not have previous marine experience. The significant role that personality has in the well-being of offshore personnel, will be a challenge for


the recruitment of the next generation


offshore wind farm technicians. The majority of whom are expected to have no or limited marine experience. They may have a range of personality types more associated with office workers or land based technicians, who are used to normal working hours, after which they return to their home. To this population the standard exterior and interior of a commercial vessel would be an unfamiliar challenging working and living environment. In order to address the issues of staff recruitment [1], staff retention and gender imbalance [2] in the work force, given the exponential predicted growth in the sector, a User Centred Design approach to wellbeing is critical for a successful WFSV design outcome. These approaches are well established in the field of interior architecture.


The aim of Industrial Design is to improve the aesthetics, human factors and functionality of a vessel or system, and its' marketability. Where human factors includes ergonomics and usability. The role of an industrial designer is to create and execute design solutions for problems of form, usability, ergonomics, marketing, brand development, and sales. The objective of Industrial Design is to study both function and form, and the connection between product (vessel or system), the user


Good Human Factors can now make positive benefits to enhancing performance and safety and also adding value and reducing both operational and through life costs.


It


can make things ‘better’. Examples of this are already appearing in the military


domain. The key to


demonstrating the utility of Human Factors is not to count the cost of investing in it, but to demonstrate how it either adds value and/or calculate the savings that it makes on a through-life basis. In a structured analysis of Human System Integration it was observed that early implementation of Human Systems Integration activities in capability acquisitions could result in extremely large returns on investment across the life of the programme. Studies by the defence sector [4] suggest that if HSI comprises between about 2.5-4% of acquisition costs a return in investment of between 40-60:1 will be realised.


2. AESTHETICS AND EMOTIONAL DESIGN


In considering the relationship of commercial vessel exterior form language aesthetics and emotional design, it is useful to first consider the automotive industry where this relationship is firmly established. Perception of a new car by a potential customer usually happens from the outside to the inside through different levels of


© 2015: The Royal Institution of Naval Architects C-127


and the environment.[3] Although the process of design may be considered 'creative', many analytical processes also take place. In fact, many industrial designers often use various design methodologies in their creative process. Some of the processes that are commonly used are user research, benchmarking, sketching,


human


factors evaluation and CAD visualisation. Industrial Design may also have a focus on technical concepts, products and processes. It can also encompass the engineering of objects, usefulness as well as usability, market placement, and other concerns such as seduction, psychology, desire, and the emotional attachment of the user to the object. [3]


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