Towards a common Approach in Kansei Engineering. A proposed model.

Abstract

Kansei Engineering is a method dealing with the design of affective values into prod- uct solutions. Many other methods are existing in this area but Kansei Engineering has proven to be one of the most powerful tools. In Japan, where Kansei Engineering was originally invented it is used frequently by researchers and companies in highly different purposes. Consequently, many different types, applications and philosophies exist. This paper gives a short overview on the area and proposes a common model on Kansei Engineering as an attempt to map a general procedure of Kansei Engineer- ing studies. Kansei Engineering has often been criticized for its heavy statistics mak- ing it difficult to apply for non-specialists. One solution is the development of expert software performing Kansei Engineering studies. This paper describes in brief two software tools developed at Linköping University in Sweden.