4. Using specifications as a guide for creativity and concept evaluation

The detailed CDCD is used as the basis for concept generation and evaluation. Once the design objectives have been translated into specifications for the future product/service, the CDCD is used as a kind of dashboard. This dashboard is used to guide creativity in generating concepts. It is then used to evaluate how well these concepts match the project's objectives. The extent of the evaluation stage depends on the resources and means available to the project. It can range from a simple multi-criteria analysis carried out intuitively by the design team, to more in-depth evaluations with a panel of users. In the latter case, the panel is generally asked to express their opinions on all the concepts proposed. Likert scales are used to evaluate functional, semantic, sensory, emotional and usage dimensions. The results are then statistically processed to visualize and interpret the analysis...