Discovering Products in Contemporary Robotics: Toward a Theory of Product in Design

Thesis Defense in requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Design

Thesis Title: "Discovering Products in Contemporary Robotics: Toward a Theory of Product in Design"

Carl DiSalvo, PhD Candidate in Design

Tuesday, 18th April 2006, 3pm Margaret Morrison Carnegie Hall, Room 121

Abstract: Throughout the many fields and definitions of design products remain central because products are what designers create. But despite the fact that products are central to the practice and study of design, we lack substantive theories of products: coherent and comprehensive sets of principles to address and order products from the perspective of design. Put most simply we could ask, ?What are we talking about when we talk about products?? The aim of this dissertation is to contribute toward a theory of product that allows designers and those who study design to better characterize the varied nature of contemporary products, in order to produce more insightful and exacting descriptions, analyses, and critiques of contemporary products and of the practice of design.

I begin the dissertation by introducing a set of dimensions common to all products: expression, material, form, and function. I argue that it is along these dimensions that products are brought to serve common purposes and enable, engender, and thwart different experiences. The dimensions of the product are rarely, if ever, in balance with one another, resulting in different kinds of products. These product kinds may be characterized by the distributions of significance and influence across the dimensions and the skew of the relationships between them. In addition, each kind of product has the effect of configuring different agencies between the designer, the product, and the public. I propose four kinds of products ordered along the dimensions of expression, material, form, and function. These are: the authored product, the embodied product, the idealized product, and the performative product.

I proceed to examine each kind of product and its attendant agencies through the lens of contemporary robotics. I investigate a diversity of robotic products including SIG, PINO, and Posy designed by Tatsuya Matsui, the iRobot Roomba, NASA projects in human-robot interaction, the NEC PaPeRo, and MapMover, a robotic installation I collaboratively designed. I conclude the dissertation by revisiting the question ?What are we talking about when we talk about products?? and examine the importance of the product to the practice of design.