W-12 User-centered Product Design Course by Tokyo Tech Mechanical Engineering and Science Department

Abstract

Department of Mechanical Engineering and Science, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan, has offered PBL course to junior students for years. In this course, student groups are supposed to solve problems in real world, which may have various solutions. On the basis of a popular design methodology “Design Thinking”, students repeat the following process to develop what the targeted users really need; 1) to research users and environments with interview and field-research, 2) to build concepts with brain-storming and group discussion, 3) to build 3D mockups and evaluate the concept, 4) to find problems of the proposed idea and improve the idea, and 5) to draw mechanical and electrical design and to machine a product. This paper explains its pedagogy of this course, and shows the development process.