Visual assessment methods used by designers in industry

This thesis concerns visual assessment methods that occur in the dealings of the Consultant Industrial Designer with his industrial clients. The present situation of Industrial Design consultancy in the United Kingdom is outlined in the introduction. This is followed by information on visual assessments. This information is presented from field data in the form of case studies from the personal files of the author. There are twenty case studies from six different companies, all trading in electronic goods. There are thirteen case studies of engineering goods, and seven case studies of consumer goods. In all case studies presented, the author was the principal Industrial Designer involved. In the reporting of the case studies all occasions of visual assessment are prominently noted. Supplementary information is presented from desk data in the form of published works. This data is classified into subjects on designers, the design process and techniques of visualisation, presentation and assessment. This information is analysed into the main constituents that contribute to the visual assessment methods, organised into a simple form and summarised. This summary is then synthesised into a number of models that describe the contributing constituents of visual assessment. The conclusions are presented as a series of models that describe the visual assessment methods under consideration. In the appendices are listed the formal academic submissions that supplement this thesis (Figs. 1 and 2).