The Proceedings of - University of Wales Institute Cardiff

The Proceedings of 

The 2nd PED - Design Symposium 

Wednesday 19th July 2006, National Centre for Product Design & 

Development Research, UWIC 

Edited by S. Gill & R. Bibb

The 2 nd PED – PDR Symposium on Design 

Published by UWIC Press, UWIC, Cyncoed Road, Cardiff CF23 6XD 

Tel 029 20 41 6515 e-mail cgrove@uwic.ac.uk 

ISBN 978-1-905617-30-2 

© UWIC 2006 

Edited by S.Gill and R.Bibb 

Additional material by Alex J Woolley, Bethan S Gordon, Paul M Wilgeroth, Dominic Eggbeer, Nicholas 

I Evans, Anthony M Whyman, Rachel L Murphy, Simon O’Rafferty, Dr. Frank O’Connor. 

These materials are copyright and may not be reproduced or published without the permission of the 

copyright owner. 

Cardiff School of Art & Design & PDR, University of Wales Institute, Cardiff Page 2


Preface 

This volume is a collection of papers presented at the 2 nd PED - PDR Symposium held at the National 

Centre for Product Design & Development Research, Cardiff on the 19 th of July 2006. The conference 

was organised by Steve Gill and Richard Bibb. 

The placing of the papers in the volume is random. The range of topics covered demonstrates the 

growing maturity of design research. 

Steve Gill & Richard Bibb 

Editors 



Table of Contents 

INTERACTIVE PROTOTYPE TESTING IN THE CONTEXT OF USE..............................................5 

EMULATION OF REAL LIFE ENVIRONMENT WHEN PROTOTYPE TESTING. .......................11 

TOWARDS IDENTIFYING SPECIFICATION REQUIREMENTS FOR DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES IN 

FACIAL PROSTHESES DESIGN AND FABRICATION...................................................................16 

THE LEGACY OF THE SCHRODER HOUSE....................................................................................23 

WHAT FUTURE TECHNOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS MIGHT MOTHERS AND TODDLERS BENEFIT 

FROM?......................................................................................................................................................30 

ECODESIGN STRATEGIES FOR GOOD BUSINESS PRACTICE: AN OVERVIEW..................42 



Interactive Prototype Testing in the Context of Use 

Alex J Woolley 

School of Product Design and Engineering, University of Wales Institute Cardiff 

Cardiff, Wales 

1. ABSTRACT 

The PAIPR (Programme for Advanced Interactive Prototype Research) group at the 

University of Wales Institute, Cardiff (UWIC), has created a set of tools to enable industrial 

designers to create and test interactive Information Appliance prototypes. Combining both the 

digital and the industrial design in a single prototype creates a powerful test object that allows 

the designer to explore the interconnected issues of input devices and interface navigation. 

The portable nature of Information Appliances presents significant challenges for usability 

testing, as the environment in which an appliance is used will affect the user experience 

dramatically. Human Computer-Interaction (HCI) lab-based usability testing is often 

appropriate for testing computer applications, but is it really appropriate for testing oftenportable 

Information Appliances? This paper explores some of the challenges of testing an 

Information Appliance prototype in its intended context at the early stage of design 

development, and outlines the importance of context and environment when testing. 

Keywords: Contextual Testing, Information Appliance, Human-Centred design, Prototyping. 

2. INTRODUCTION 

The design of Information Appliances is at the crossroads of a series of design disciplines. 

Designers ‘are no longer bound by the generic technology offerings of a PC’ [14] and there is 

immense freedom available to the designer in the way product interfaces are controlled and 

displayed. Information appliances differ from personal computers in that they combine 

bespoke hardware with an integrated Graphical User Interface (GUI). Norman [18] defines 

Information Appliances as ‘an appliance specialising in information … designed to perform a 

specific activity’ and marks out a distinguishing feature of Information Appliances as ‘the 

ability to share information among themselves.’ 

As a consequence of the conversion of digital and physical, Information Appliance design 

presents new interaction design challenges. Input is needed from industrial designers, GUI 

designers, software engineers, mechanical engineers and electronic engineers – making 

Information Appliance design a multidisciplinary process. To solve interaction design 

challenges across the physical and digital domains, industrial designers and GUI designers 

(along with usability specialists as well as others) need to be working closely to provide 

integrated solutions. 

Just as design disciplines converge at Information Appliance design, prototyping and 

evaluation methods from both areas have converged in a similar manner. This presents a 

problem for Information Appliances, as it is often not until very late in a project that an 

interactive prototype is developed [5] that combines both the industrial and digital design. 

Having access to interactive prototypes only at the latter stages of the process makes early 

stage contextual testing difficult to integrate and reduces its impact. Rubin [23] discusses how 

information from field tests where the product is set in its natural setting generates information 

that is ‘rarely used to make significant changes, although the data can be extremely valuable 

when used for future releases’. By moving contextual testing to an earlier stage in the design 

process it would be possible to feed more of this valuable data back into the current product. 

3. THE IMPORTANCE OF THE CONTEXT OF USE 

Buchenau and Suri [2] state that ‘the experience of even simple artefacts does not exist in a 

vacuum but, rather, in dynamic relationship with other people, places and objects’. Sherry [27] 

adds weight to this argument stating that ‘we are living in an experience economy’. Therefore, 



if it is experiences that are being sold, it is necessary to ensure that the correct user 

experience is created; and that means testing the product in context. 

Studying the context of use and how a product fits into a user’s life and values constitutes part 

of a user-centred design process, where data is gathered throughout the project to inform the 

design process. Norman [18] describes this as human-centred product development, where a 

product starts with the user and not technology. Holtzblatt [9] describes the customer-centred 

approach as contextual design. These approaches put the user at the heart of the design and 

encourage constantly gathering user data to both inform the initial design requirements and to 

iterate towards a solution. User-centred design advocates studying the user in their correct 

context to discover their needs. 

Schrage [25] adds a further element to this argument, quoting David Kelly of IDEO as saying 

innovation cultures need to ‘move from spec-driven prototypes to prototype-driven specs’. 

This brings forward the idea that prototypes should actually form part of the requirements’ 

study of a user-centred process. The problem with this approach to Information Appliance 

design is that an interactive prototype appears so late in the process that the influence of the 

testing data is restricted to discovering bugs and fixes, rather than becoming a part of 

exploring what the product should actually be. 

Contextual testing has the potential to capture much wider issues than simply interface bugs 

and fixes. Issues such as how the location, interactions with other objects and people, and 

how stresses on the user affect the performance of the product can be investigated. Norman 

[19] describes how users who are stressed are less likely to solve problems creatively and are 

likely to approach them in a linear fashion. Ware [30] discusses how under stress the user’s 

useful field of vision becomes restricted, limiting the awareness of other events. Factors such 

as these have important implications for interface design, particularly in the case of devices 

where correct performance is critical and/or the environment is extreme. 

Studying interactive prototypes in the context of use earlier in the design process presents 

many challenges. These are not simply the technical challenges of how to create a functional 

and interactive device quickly and early on in the design process; there are also challenges of 

methodology, how best to gather and analyse data, how to present it and to whom in the 

design team. 

4. DATA GATHERING 

There are many different techniques for studying user performance with prototypes and also 

investigating the context in which a prototype will be used. Design has recently seen a rise in 

the use of ethnographies to generate a picture of the consumer [18]. This is often turned into 

a literal picture forming a persona [3] to create a personality with a set of values that typifies 

the target consumer. These methods can be used with or without a product prototype and can 

provide a set of design rules and requirements to inform design. Sacher and Loudon [24] 

emphasise the use of ethnographic methods as part of culture-based design where 

development starts by uncovering shared values and beliefs of a culture group. At present, if 

a product prototype is used at these very early stages, it is likely that it will have a minimal 

level of interactivity, if it is interactive at all, and will simply be used to gauge user reaction to 

the product concept. 

Once an interactive prototype has been generated as part of the design process it is possible 

to conduct testing such as Error Analysis and Verbal Protocol analysis [17] to assess the 

interface architecture and the communication of mental models used. This is often conducted 

in a usability lab to provide a controlled environment to ensure that the statistical data is valid. 

Many of the prototyping tools available at the earlier stages of the design process are suitable 

for lab-style usability testing. At the very early stages of the design process the data from lab 

tests has limitations. As the tests use scripted tasks, the nature of the product and its context 

has already been defined and not explored. Whilst this is appropriate for late stage testing, it 

limits insights into how a product fits, or could fit, into its intended context. 



If the testing methodology is to take the prototypes outside of the lab there are several 

challenges with doing this: how to observe a user in an uncontrolled environment without 

influencing the data and also technical challenges of creating a prototype that is suitable for 

contextual testing. So why leave the lab at all? Whilst studying users interacting in a strictly 

controlled environment provides repeatable data suitable for statistical analysis, testing a 

mobile product out of context when it is intended to be used in an inherently uncontrolled, 

changeable environment can provide misleading data. 

5. A REVIEW OF SOME PROTOTYPING APPROACHES 

There are many different approaches to prototyping Information Appliances, ranging from 

very quick, low fidelity methods to fully integrated working product prototypes. As Information 

Appliance design encompasses several disciplines, designers have access to a combination 

of prototyping techniques used in both the physical and digital domains. Form prototyping 

methods traditionally used in industrial design range from sketch modelling in foam and card 

to high quality stereolithography and vacuum cast prototypes. In terms of digital prototyping, 

state transition diagrams, paper prototyping and high level coding programs such as DENIM 

[11], Hypercard [6], Macromedia Director [8] and Flash are often used to generate initial 

prototypes before development moves onto higher quality code in programs such as C++. 

The challenge for creating prototypes for testing in the context of use is how to create a 

realistic representation of the product, combining the digital and the physical, which can be 

tested in a manner representative of how the user would interact with the real product. 

Totally virtual prototypes 

It is possible to prototype Information Appliances in an entirely virtual way by creating a 

software simulation on a touch screens and observe user interactions. Sharp [26] showed that 

virtual simulation on a touch screen was highly effective in predicting interaction performance 

for his studies of microwave ovens; however the PAIPR group [4] has recently collected data 

that suggests that the same is not true for hand-held products. By combining both the digital 

and physical interface of the prototype a more realistic representation is created. Purely 

virtual prototyping limits the study of the broader contextual issues as it essentially eliminates 

the physical presence of the product. 

Low fidelity prototypes 

Paper prototyping is one of the earliest stage prototyping methods available where it is 

possible to combine a physical prototype with an interface concept. This is achieved by 

swapping screenshots for a physical prototype. Using this technique, it is possible to examine 

some high level usability issues. However, these prototypes require a high level of input from 

the interviewer who must take the role of the computer, changing screens as the user makes 

inputs. Liu and Khooshabeh [12] found that even though paper prototyping is very flexible at 

the early stages, the level of support needed to use them made them ‘insufficient for formal 

user studies’ when compared to an automated digital interface. The level of support for paper 

prototyping raises questions for how well this method works for testing subtle product issues 

in the context of use. A similar criticism could be made of the Wizard of Oz [17] approach to 

prototyping, in that the reaction times of the system and the level of support needed could 

seriously affect some of the contextual issues being studied. 

Easily editable solutions 

Flexibility at the early stages of the design process is important if designers are to generate 

and experiment with divergent concepts. There are a number of solutions that offer a large 

amount of flexibility in this area. Pin and Play [29] and Switcheroos [1] allow physical inputs to 

be arranged simply by pushing buttons into a model, or, in the case of Pin and Play, a flat 

substrate. This makes the prototypes highly editable which is generally a very desirable 

attribute in a design tool. However, this may not be such a desirable quality if the prototype is 

to be used in an uncontrolled environment where editability can mean prototypes are not 

sufficiently robust. 

Making a more permanent test object 

The IE unit [5] and Buck device [20] offer more permanent solutions with switches embedded 

in a piece of hardware. The Buck is restricted to retrofitting old hardware, whereas the IE 



provides a more flexible solution enabling switches to be embedded in high or low fidelity 

models [31]. One of the potential difficulties with the IE and Buck systems is the lack of an 

integrated screen. PAIPR has recently gathered data that a model running an interface on a 

laptop screen provides similar usability data (using the approach recommended by Molich 

[15]) to a real product. However, when studying some of the more contextual product issues 

such as how the device is used as part of interaction with other people, this may become 

problematic. Nam and Lee [16] has developed a system along similar lines to the IE unit that 

includes support for projecting the display onto models. Although this is a very flexible way of 

solving the problem in terms of supporting many different screen sizes, there are limitations in 

taking the system outside of a usability lab – having to remain within a certain proximity to a 

projector, for example. 

Increasing functionality 

Tangible user interface solutions such as Phygets [7], MetaCrickets [13] and the Calder toolkit 

[10] allow experimentation with a large range of different inputs and sensors. The Calder 

toolkit in particular allows for a large range of digital and analogue inputs and even some 

wireless options. This provides the designer with more choice and the opportunity to generate 

‘smarter’ prototypes. The trade-off for this added complexity is that the designer needs to 

have more programming knowledge to implement the system and components tend to be 

physically larger due to more computational power being integrated into the input devices. 

This added load of size and coding may well prove to be necessary for generating prototypes 

that can be tested in the context of use for very complex products. However, one of the main 

aims of the PAIPR group is to make interactive prototyping tools accessible to industrial 

designers. One problem with this is that industrial designers are not software engineers. 

Norman [18] highlights that ‘it often takes three people to cover the capabilities required’ to 

produce interactive prototypes. This division of labour slows the prototyping process and 

inhibits the rapid iteration necessary for human-centred design. Raskin [21] states that: 

‘Programming language environments contain some of the worst human interfaces in the 

industry…the initial hurdle in terms of system and development environment has become so 

large that the beginning programmer is not encouraged to learn by doing.’ 

This is what makes the IE and Buck systems attractive in terms of making tools for industrial 

designers, in that the level of coding knowledge needed in order to integrate them with 

software is extremely low. Both systems work by simulating key press inputs and this enables 

them to interface with a large range of software, such as Macromedia Flash and PowerPoint 

with only very simple coding. This shortens the learning curve for designers to begin engaging 

with interaction issues. This extremely simple implementation can produce some surprisingly 

complex and powerful prototypes. However, there is a cost to using key presses as inputs; 

analogue components such as dials and sliders are difficult to integrate and need to be 

simulated. In some cases this restricts the performance of these systems. 

Although the IE and Buck systems are very simple, they both need separate screens to run 

the interface and both have a cable connecting them to the PC. This is true of nearly all the 

prototyping solutions discussed here; even the wireless solutions (Switcheroos and Calder 

Toolkit) have a severely limited range. Whilst this is not a particular problem in a controlled 

lab-based setting, once you leave the lab and wish to study how the device fits with its context 

problems begin to arise. 

6. CONCLUSIONS 

Rob van Veggel’s [28] description of the history of the shift in design towards ethnography 

provides some interesting insights into the implications for moving prototype testing away 

from the usability lab and into the real context of use: 

‘To fill in the gap in understanding users of new products, designers have turned to the 

sciences. Initially, they turned to psychology, which has limited application. First of all, 

psychologists develop their understanding by performing tests in controlled environments 

such as labs. The resulting knowledge often is too general, too abstract, and too much 



divorced from real life situations, and therefore difficult to apply in actual situations targeting 

specific customers. Second, psychologists primarily approach humans as individuals.’ 

The drivers behind the move to ethnography in design are important to consider in respect to 

the user testing of Information Appliance prototypes. Lab-based usability testing of 

Information Appliances, many of which are inherently mobile, provides data that is ‘divorced 

from real life situations’ and similarly treats users and indeed the Information Appliances ‘as 

individuals’. Talking of Information Appliances as individuals may seem like an overextension 

of the metaphor, but the Media Equation proposed by Reeves and Nass [22] suggests that 

this is not the case. Reeves and Byron present the case in compelling depth that 

‘Media = Real Life’, that we treat computers as real people, and that the same social rules 

apply. Therefore, isolating an Information Appliance prototype in a controlled environment and 

attempting to use it to generate product specifications is liable to produce generalised, 

unspecific data and not the rich insights needed for Schrage’s prototype driven innovation. 

The approaches to prototyping and testing Information Appliances discussed here have not 

yet fully solved the problems presented by integrating contextual testing earlier on in the 

design process. Many solutions are for use in a controlled lab setting and need revision 

before they can be taken outside of this environment. The data-gathering methodologies used 

also need careful consideration. Tightly scripted statistical HCI analysis methods are not 

suited for delivering insight into how a product fits into a consumer’s life. The more qualitative 

analysis methods of the social sciences present a more realistic avenue of enquiry into the 

context of use; however, which methodology to use with the prototype and how to implement 

it at these very early stages are areas that need further investigation. 

7. FUTURE WORK 

This paper has discussed many of the questions raised by testing Information Appliances in 

the context of use. What tools and methodologies should be used? What level of fidelity 

should the prototype be at for the testing? How much functionality should there be? How will 

data be gathered? What tools can be used to generate prototypes? To start answering some 

of these questions, studies will be undertaken of a large scale Information Appliance 

manufacturer and a design consultancy undertaking an Information Appliance design project. 

Initially these studies will be used to define the broader context of testing and prototyping and 

how it is used in real world situations. An Action Research approach will then be taken to 

develop, iterate and evaluate a methodology for testing prototypes in the context of use. 

8. REFERENCES 

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physical interactive products; In: Proceedings of the conference on Designing interactive 

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[3] Don, A. and Petrick, J. (2003) User Requirements; By Any Means Necessary. In: Laurel, 

B. (Ed.) Design Research; Methods and Perspectives, (pp.70 – 80). London: Cambridge, 

Massachusetts; The MIT Press 

[4] Evans, M. and Gill, S. (2006) Rapid Development of Information Appliances. In proc of: 

INTERNATIONAL DESIGN CONFERENCE - DESIGN 2006 Dubrovnik - Croatia, May 15 - 

18, 

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Proceedings of the 1 st Appliance Design Conference. Bristol, UK 

[6] Goodman, D. (1998) Complete HyperCard 2.2 Handbook; iUniverse 

[7] Greenberg, S. and Fitchett, C. (2001) Phidgets: easy development of physical interfaces 

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[8] Gross, P. (1999) macromedia DIRECTOR 7 and LINGO AUTHORIZED; Macromedia 

PRESS 

[9] Holtzblatt, K. (2005). Rapid Contextual Design: A How to Guide to Key Techniques for 

User Centred Design. San Francisco; Morgan Kauffmann 



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Calder toolkit: wired and wireless components for rapidly prototyping interactive devices. In: 

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methods, and techniques, Cambridge, MA, USA August 01 - 04 

[11] Lin, J., Newman, M., Hong, J., and Landay, J.A. (2000) DENIM: Finding a tighter fit 

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Factors and Computing Systems, The Hague, Netherlands 

[12] Liu, L. and Kooshabeh, P. (2003). Paper or interactive?: a study of prototyping 

techniques for ubiquitous computing environments. CHI’03 extended abstracts on Human 

factors in computing systems, April 05-10, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, USA 

[13] Martin, F., Mikhak, B. and Silverman, B. (2000) MetaCricket: A designer’s kit for making 

computational devices. In: IBM systems Journal, Vol 39, Nos 3&4 

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In: Bergman, E. (Ed.) Information Appliances and beyond, (pp.28 – 51). San Francisco; 

London: Morgan Kaufmann 

[15] Molich, R. www.dialogdesign.dk. (2002). 

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[27] Sherry, J. F. (2002). (Foreword) Creating breakthrough ideas: the collaboration of 

anthropologists and designers in the product development industry. London; Bergin & Garvey 

[28] van Veggle, R. (2005) Where two sides of Ethnography Collide. In: Design Issues, Vol 

21, No 3, Summer 2005 

[29] Villar, N., Lindsay, A. T., and Gellerson, H. (2005) Pin & Play & Perform. In: Proceedings 

of the 2005 conference on New interfaces for musical expression, Vancouver, Canada 

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Limerick, Ireland 



Emulation of Real Life Environment when Prototype 

Testing. 

Bethan S Gordon 

School of Product and Engineering Design, University of Wales Institute Cardiff 


and 

Paul M Wilgeroth 

School of Product and Engineering Design, University of Wales Institute Cardiff 


1. ABSTRACT 

This paper explores the issues surrounding emulation of ‘real life environment’ via augmented 

reality when testing new product prototypes. 

User testing of product prototypes is currently conducted in a laboratory type environment due 

to accessibility, flexibility and rapid feedback. However, difficulties are often encountered in 

this artificial setting, such as the inability to convey the full reality of the environment that the 

product will be exposed to, for example, weather conditions, stress, or poor visibility. 

This paper presents the initial findings of this research. 

Keywords: Augmented Virtual Reality, User Testing, Environment, Presence. 


The success of a product is hinged on thorough development. Norman [9] relates the 

frustration faced by users of under-developed products in everyday life and identifies them as 

‘devices that lead to error’ and ‘products that are misunderstood’. Since Norman first 

expressed his views progress has been made in designing for intuitive use. This is 

predominantly achieved via User Centred Design (UCD), whose implementation during 

product testing has encouraged designers to improve the user ergonomics of everyday 

products. Rubin [11] describes UCD as an iterative process whereby modification and 

continual improvement is vital. Likewise, in one of their three Principles of Design, Gould & 

Lewis [3] highlighted that users need to be involved earlier in the development process of a 

product, so that their behaviours and attitudes can be documented, analysed and then fed 

back into the development of that product. This paper addresses how to maximise the user’s 

experience in product testing, and how to gain prompt results that can be fed back into the 

development process at the earliest possible stage [8]. 

Bucheanu & Suri [2] of IDEO recognised that products do not operate in a vacuum and so 

user testing should not be conducted in a vacuum either. Product tests should exert and 

reflect the same conditions and 

environment that the product would face in 

the context of use. However, legislation 

and product confidentiality prior to launch 

often hinders the user testing of a product 

in context, and therefore testing is 

frequently conducted in in-house 

laboratory settings (fig 1). As a result, the 

testing conditions do not truly represent 

the conditions in which the product will be 

used. Cost and time can also hinder the 

proper testing of a design and so change 

is only implemented when the next product 

in the series is produced. Norman [9] 

Figure 1. Laboratory User Test. 



supports this claim; ‘one negative force is the demands of time: new models are already into 

their design process before the old ones have even been released to the customer. Moreover, 

mechanisms for collecting and feeding back the experience of customers seldom exist.’ A 

virtual representation of the context of use might offer designers the opportunity to test the 

product in-house at low cost, yet with rapid and accurate feedback. This process, however, 

needs to be conducted as an integral part of the development process and not as an 

afterthought. 

The aim of this paper is to explore the requirements of a virtual (or augmented virtual) 

representation of a product’s intended environment so it can be emulated when user testing. 

This environment should, as far as possible, emulate the context of use and will be known as 

an Augmented Virtual Environment (AVE). 

3. AUGMENTED VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENT 

The recreation of an environment using fully immersive virtual reality has been proven to carry 

too high a cost [6] and may jeopardise the implementation of emulating an environment at the 

user testing phase, hence the proposed use of AVE. An AVE consists of a virtual 

representation of an environment accompanied by actual props. Kaur, Sutcliff & Maiden [5] 

describe virtual environments as providing ‘a computer-based interface representing a reallife 

or abstract 3-dimensional space’. An AVE goes one step further by supplementing virtual 

components using actual props to increase presence and context. 

To enhance the creativity process Keller & Stappers [6] explored the use of projected video 

collages to test whether the use of a projection was ‘accepted as an environment’. Their 

research proved that it was. 

The re-creation of an environment should, as far as is feasible, be simple, particularly as 

Boorstin [1] notes that the person who will be immersed in it will need to be focusing on the 

task at hand and not on the simulation. This should not be confused however with allowing 

the user necessarily to concentrate solely on interacting with the product. On the contrary, it is 

important to recreate the anxieties and natural distractions that would occur in real life. 

Optimising Presence 

Marsh [7] defines presence as the experience of ‘being there’ or ‘being in’ a virtual 

environment. It is important to optimise presence so the virtual experience feels as realistic as 

possible. The use of olfactory, lighting, audio, narrative, pace [1] etc. helps set any scene and 

increase presence, and may be particularly useful in re-creating feelings of stress and anxiety 

for the purposes of enhanced realism. The psychological hindrances triggered by these 

emotions in the product’s real environment are very important if designers are to gather 

accurate data. For example, a medical device used in a high stress environment but tested in 

a low stress lab environment may give very misleading usability test results. When testing the 

product stress the real environment must be emulated so truer test results could be yielded 

from the user testing experience. Walshe [12] conducted research with phobia patients and 

found that increasing the presence in a virtual environment increased anxiety and 

consequently stress levels were heightened. In the same vein (albeit referring to extreme 

situations), Ware [13] discusses how stress causes tunnel vision whereby the user’s ‘useful 

field of vision is narrowed so that only the most important information, normally the center of 

the field of view, is processed.’ Ware then goes on to explain this theory in the context of a 

disaster situation. Thus the element of stress would change the way a user interacts with a 

product, say a fire extinguisher or life raft. Without exerting stress of this type in user testing 

dangerous products might result. James [4] conducted research on ‘the extent to which social 

anxiety can be generated within a virtual environment’, and his research concluded that social 

anxiety can be generated in this context even though the virtual environment used in his 

particular case was not lifelike. 

It is evident from the above that optimising presence does not necessarily mean creating a 

complicated virtual environment. Both Keller & Stappers [6] and Reeves & Nass [10] discuss 

optimum presence in simple low tech environments. Reeves & Nass go on to note that ‘rather 

pathetic representations of real life; simple textual and pictorial material shown’ can still 



produce realistic emotional reactions in users. Keller & Stappers were inspired in their 

approach to simplification by David Hockney’s photographic collages. Hockney uses partial 

and interrupted views to give the viewer’s brain enough information to complete and compute 

the image. Similarly the use of lifelike (high fidelity) imagery in an augmented environment is 

not actually necessary since presence is achieved at low fidelity levels. Ware uses similar 

principles: ‘when data is presented in certain ways, the patterns can be readily perceived’. 

4. SIMILAR WORK 

Analogous development methods currently exist, but all of them either use different methods 

than AVE or use AVE in a different environment to the one which we plan. IDEO’s Experience 

Prototyping method for example uses low tech methods to emulate day-to-day user 

experiences. Bucheanu & Suri [2] describe how Experience Prototyping uses role play for the 

design development of products. Scenarios are created and observed by the design team 

who learn from users’ reactions to a given sequence of events and experiences. The 

approach involves the use of props but no media. One example discussed describes 

emulating air travel experiences by mocking up the interior layout of a plane. Simple chair 

arrangements meant that the ‘physical and social issues could be experienced’ and the 

authors go on to discuss the importance of ‘social circumstances; time pressure, 

environmental conditions’ etc. An augmented environment would aim to explore and exploit 

similar issues with some of the same techniques, but might enable more complex Human 

Computer Interactions (HCI) to be observed and recorded. 

Walshe [12] has developed an AVE as we wish to develop one, but for different purposes. He 

explored the use of a virtual driving environment in dealing with exposure therapy for accident 

victims. Also, Keller & Strappers [6] tapped into the recreation of the ‘context of use’ via video 

collages as a tool to gain an understanding of the product’s requirements to inspire and 

inform the design process. These existing practices have proven extremely valuable when 

researching the needs of an AVE as the research has served to eliminate the need to conduct 

certain tests on the differences and effectiveness of high and low fidelity virtual environments. 

Walshe’s research has much in common with the intentions of an augmented environment for 

user testing products. He discusses how he projected an image onto a large surface, (virtual 

element) augmented by props such as car seats to create an Augmented Virtual Reality 

(AVR). The aim of Walshe’s research was to generate a virtual environment with high 

presence. If he could achieve presence he reasoned that therapy could be conducted 

effectively. He describes augmenting the therapy environment by using a projection of a 

driving computer game; a windscreen through which the patient views the projection as they 

would in a car, and two car seats placed side by side to simulating a driver and a passenger 

seat. To increase presence sub-woofers were placed beneath the driver’s feet to re-create 

road vibration. Presence was monitored via heart rate monitors and verbal feedback 

throughout the experience. Results were positive and the environment was considered a 

success. 

Keller & Strappers [6] describe their intentions: 

‘Product designers can use these video collages to re-experience their observations in the 

environment in which a product is to be used, and to communicate this atmosphere to their 

colleagues and clients. For user-centred design, video collages can also provide an 

environmental context for concept testing with prospective user groups.’ 

The uniqueness of their research lies in the ‘concept testing’ aspect. Their research describes 

how video collages are used in place of mood boards to focus the design team on the 

proposed product’s intended environment. In some ways the work is very similar to Bucheanu 

& Suri’s as the environments are intended to be used during the concept design phase of the 

product design process. Like Walshe, Keller & Strappers explored the viability of a projection 

to create a virtual environment and again the results were positive (although there was no 

mention of how they were collated). 



5. IMPLEMENTATION 

Results yielded from preliminary research have indicated that in order for an augmented 

environment implementation to be successful maximum presence is required, triggered by 

injecting ‘real life’ experiences such as stress and anxiety. Simple effects such as Walshe’s 

use of sub-woofers to create vibration are useful, but for accurate context of use simulation in 

product testing, it is likely that more random inputs would be required. Obviously it is 

impossible to foresee the exact ways in which a product might be used in context, but certain 

aspects can be foreseen. A professional using a product in an office environment for 

example, will be subject to countless interruptions. When augmenting a virtual office 

environment for user testing, increased presence could be achieved by the audio of a phone 

ringing or a knock at a door. This would give designers the opportunity to see how a 

distracted person would use the product in everyday life – something that is not currently 

achieved in a normal laboratory user test. Likewise, equipment being tested for a disaster 

zone could be user tested in an augmented virtual environment that was extremely loud, 

where further bombs and potentially dangerous hazards, etc, could be emulated and the user 

reaction and relationship with the product at that point could be gauged. 

The authors intend to develop and evaluate an AVE for accurate context of use simulations 

as part of product development. The first step will be to work on methods for the development 

of standard products but the eventual aim is to create an AVE-based methodology for the 

development of information appliances, customisable for different environments and 

situations. 

Techniques to evaluate the environment will include Kaur et al’s [5] ‘verbal protocol’, whereby 

the person experiencing the augmented environment ‘thinks aloud’. The purpose of this 

technique is to evaluate the environment rather than the product. Once the environment has 

been refined then appropriate user tests would be conducted on the actual product. Further 

evaluation methods will consist of background questionnaires [4] prior to the test, coupled 

with a task sheet. 


The aim of this paper was to explore the requirements of an AVE representation of a 

product’s intended environment so it could be emulated when user testing. Current product 

testing is predominantly based in a laboratory or similarly insular environment, but the user 

experience in everyday life is significantly influenced by external factors such as noise or 

emotional stress. User testing a product in an environment that represents its context of use 

allows for a truer representation of the usability issues: Poor usability and an inability to find 

the correct product functions are partly due to faults not being exposed at the test phase. 

The authors’ intentions are to develop an environment that will emulate a product’s context of 

use via augmented virtual reality. The environment should facilitate testing of concepts as 

early in the development process as possible [3], so that changes (even quite fundamental 

ones) can be implemented while it is economically viable to do so. The AVE’s development 

should be steered by a focus on UCD and so will involve users early on in the development 

process. 

The use of a projection and simple imagery helps to offer a user enough presence in a virtual 

environment, but further optimisation through appropriate audio, lighting and olfactory inputs 

is preferable. Lessons can be learned from similar work, particularly Bucheanu & Suri’s 

Experience Prototyping, Keller & Strappers’ video collages, and Walshe’s research into 

immersive therapy. All the work mentioned above uses replications of user environments in 

one form or another to explore relevant user-product issues. Although the applications 

described by these authors are all very different they all share the same aim: to demonstrate 

that a suitable environment can be created that achieves presence. 

Based on the findings of this paper an augmented environment will be created and initial trials 

conducted to illustrate the effectiveness of the environment’s design. The aim will be to 

achieve optimised presence for the purposes of effective product development. For the 



purpose of initial trials a scenario will be selected and an environment designed for one 

product. Future work will involve the creation of a platform that can be modified and used for 

a range of product user testing including information appliances. 

7. REFERENCES 

[1] Boorstin, J. (1995), Making movies work. Thinking like a filmmaker. Los Angeles; Silman- 

James. 

[2] Buchenau, M. Suri, J.F. (2000), Experience Prototyping, In: Proceedings of the conference 

on Designing interactive systems: processes, practices, methods, and techniques, New York 

City, New York, USA, (pp.424-433) 

[3] Gould, J. & Lewis, C. (1985) Designing for Usability: Key Principles and What Designers 

Think, Communication of the ACM, Vol. 28, No 3, 1885, (pp. 300-311). 

[4] James, L. Lin, C. Streed, A. Swapp, D. Slater, M. (2003) Social Anxiety in Virtual 

Environments: Results of a Pilot Study, CyberPsychology & Behavior, Vol. 6, No 3, 2003, 

(pp. 237-243) 

[5] Kaur, K. Sutcliff, A. Maiden, N, (1998), Usability Requirements for Virtual Environments, 

HCI. 

[6] Keller, I. Stappers, P, J. (2001) Presence for Design: Conveying Atmosphere through 

Video Collages, CyberPsychology & Behavior, Vol. 4, No 2, 2001, (pp.215-223) 

[7] Marsh, T. Wright, M,S. Smith, S. (2001) Evaluation for the Design Experience in Virtual 

Environments: Modeling Breakdown of Interaction and Illusion, CyberPsychology & Behavior, 

Vol. 4, No 2, 2001, (pp. 225-238) 

[8] Nielson, J. (1994), Usability Engineering. Los Angeles; Morgan Kaufmann 

[9] Norman, D.A. (1998) The Design of Everyday Things. London; MIT Press. 

[10] Reeves, B. Nass, C. (2002) The Media Equation. How People Treat Computers, 

Television, and New Media Like Real People and Places. California; CSLI Publications. 

[11] Rubin, J. (1994) Handbook of Usability Testing; How to Plan, Design and Conduct 

Effective Tests. New York; John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 

[12] Walshe, D. Lewis, E. O’Sullivan, K. (2005) Virtually Driving; Are the Driving 

Environments ‘Real Enough’ for Exposure Therapy with Accident Victims? An Explorative 

Study, CyberPsychology & Behavior. Vol. 8, No 6, 2005, (pp.532-537) 

[13] Ware, C. (2004) (2 nd Ed.) Information Visualization. Perception for Design. San 

Francisco; Elsevier 



Towards identifying specification requirements for 

digital technologies in facial prostheses design and 

fabrication 

Dominic Eggbeer 

PDR, University of Wales Institute, Cardiff, Wales 

1. ABSTRACT 

This research forms part of an on-going investigation into the application of non-contact 

scanning, Computer Aided Design (CAD) and Rapid Prototyping (RP) in the design and 

fabrication of soft tissue, facial prostheses. 

Facial prostheses provide cosmetic and psychological restoration to patients who have 

defects in their appearance as a result of surgery, trauma or a congenital abnormality. 

Prosthesis production is a highly specialised profession that requires artistic merit, an in depth 

knowledge of materials and processing, anatomy and surgery, clinical knowledge and more 

recently computer technologies. The attention to detail and custom-made, individual nature of 

prostheses make the production process extremely labour intensive. Recent research has 

focussed on improving process efficiency through the application of digital technologies. 

Research has identified some improvements in efficiency, but many shortcomings have also 

been identified and significant development is required before these techniques become 

viable as mainstream practice. 

It is important for any new technique and technology to meet quality, economic and clinical 

viability targets before they are adopted by healthcare systems. However, a review of 

literature in the area highlights a lack of clearly defined measures of success or comparisons 

against conventional techniques. Whereas in product development and engineering success 

may be clearly defined by quantifiable factors such as tolerance, surface finish and 

mechanical properties, measuring prosthesis success is highly reliant on subjective opinion. 

A more robust, objective and quantifiable method is therefore required. Without clearly 

defined measures of success and targets, this is extremely difficult. 

This research seeks to conclude the findings of literature reviews and case studies and 

begins to form a specification that may be used to aid technology selection and assessment. 

Where case studies have identified shortcomings, this specification will act as a target to 

direct technological development. Focus will be given to the quality and performance aspects 

of non-contact scanning, computer-aided design and rapid prototyping technologies. 

Keywords: facial prosthesis, design, digital technology, specification. 


The need to critically evaluate new technologies across the entire health service is recognised 

[1] and increasing emphasis is being placed on basing clinical decisions on scientific evidence 

[2]. The introduction of advanced technologies to a healthcare system must be justified in 

terms of quality, economics and clinical effectiveness. A lack of clearly defined success 

measures limits the ability to decide which technologies may be suitable. 

Technical specification requirements for non-contact scanning, CAD and RP technologies in 

facial prosthetics may be classified in quantifiable and subjective terms. This includes 

usability, clinical effectiveness, fit, aesthetics and comfort. Prosthesis success is currently 

judged subjectively and this traditional reliance on opinion based judgement, whilst valid, is at 

odds with arguments that demonstrate that these methods are subject to a high degree of 

bias. Good research attempts to minimise the affects of bias though careful control of 

extraneous factors [3]. 



Research to date has predominantly relied upon subjective assessment rather than bias 

controlled research designs. This makes it difficult to employ evidence-based practice when 

investigating the application of new technologies such as those discussed in this paper. 

This paper will categorise the findings of past literature and ongoing work in and related to 

this specialty and identify, where specifications may be concluded, where further work is 

required and suggest future research. This will concentrate on the quality criteria that make a 

prosthesis successful and the specifications of digital technologies required to achieve these 

criteria successfully. 

3. REVIEW OF SPECIFICATION REQUIREMENTS 

Quality aspects of prostheses are broadly defined by comfort, appearance, ease of use 

(application and removal). These subjective measures depend on a number of more 

descriptive and potentially quantifiable factors: 

- Fit, marginal integrity of the prosthesis against the skin, fit between components (see Fig. 1) 

- Accuracy of the prosthesis and of the position in relation to anatomical landmarks 

- Resolution of details such as folds wrinkles and texture 

- Colour and homogeneity, detailing that provides a more lifelike look 

- Mechanical, material and environmental performance of the prosthesis and retention 

Factors that affect prosthesis quality may be defined by specifications of fit, accuracy, 

resolution, texture, colour and homogeneity, mechanical and material properties; each will be 

considered. 

Figure 1: a = Prosthesis body (ear), b = Substructure shell with incorporated clips, c = Bar 

screwed on to the abutments, d = Replica cast of patient’s defect site with the abutments 

highlighted. 

3.1 Fit 

Acceptable fit is vital to ensure the prosthesis both functions correctly (i.e. is sufficiently 

retained, does not cause irritation) and looks convincing (i.e. the margin sits correctly 

pressured against the skin to prevent gaps appearing). 

Prosthesis margins should provide a seal against the surrounding skin and no gap should be 

visible. It is also ideal if this seal remains in contact with the skin during facial expressions and 

functions. Marginal integrity is currently achieved by adding thin edges during the pattern 

making stage and contouring these towards the skin to apply pressure. Measurements using 

a dial test indicator (Fig. 2) on the margin of an auricular prosthesis ranged from 40 μm to 130 

μm. Although there is no minimum edge thickness specified, practice demonstrates edges 

within this range achieve a good result. 



Figure 2: Use of a dial test indicator to measure margin thickness 

Achieving a thin edge represents a challenge for digital technologies. Research reported to 

date has utilised methods of Boolean subtraction to form a fitting pattern [4-9], but a suitable 

CAD system must also be able to modify extremely thin edges to press against the skin. RP 

technologies for pattern fabrication must also be capable of building in


3.3 Resolution and texture 

Conventional impression techniques using syringable materials produce an extremely faithful 

reproduction of small features; they are not bound by describing details in points and suffer no 

loss in resolution. With digital technologies, data (point cloud) resolution has a direct effect on 

how accurately physical object is described in a computer environment. Quantifying the 

resolution required to describe anatomical forms will therefore assist in identifying suitable 

technologies. 

The levels of data resolution necessary to describe a form will depend on the level of detail 

required in the final prosthesis. Computer Tomography (CT) data provides sufficient 

resolution to allow a prosthesis form to be digitally designed and many commercially available 

light-based scanners have also proved adequate for capturing general facial forms. 

Resolutions of around 1 point per 0.69mm provide enough information to record overall facial 

profiles to accuracy sufficient to design facial prostheses [13]. An auricular prosthesis was 

produced by Chandra et al from STL data describing an ear with 834,220 triangles from 

458,566 points [14]. When attempting to describe features such as skin texture, wrinkle 

details and to a lesser degree, implant abutments, the data resolution required dramatically 

increases [13]. 

Visible skin texture may be classified according to the orientation and depth of the lines [15]. 

Primary and secondary lines form a pattern on the skin surface and are only noticeable on 

closer observation. They typically form a criss-cross, polygon pattern 20 to 200 μm deep [16]. 

An assessment scale used to assess and quantify deep facial wrinkles has been developed 

by Lemperle et al [17]. This correlated subjective assessments of wrinkle depths from various 

facial locations to a measured scale. Depending on the facial location, depths ranged from 

0.06 mm to a maximum 0.94 mm. The proposed margins on the scale ranged from >0.1 mm 

to


conditions that mimic a mixture of sunlight and manmade light to accommodate for the effects 

of metamerism [21]. 

The faithful and accurate capture and reproduction of colour represents a significant 

challenge for digital technologies. Whilst technologies exist to provide an accurate 

assessment and digital readout of colour, these typically work on an area too small for 

practical application. Suitable technologies must be capable of recording colour over a 

sufficient area of face to design the prosthesis, maintain the colour when manipulating the 

design in CAD and then reproducing it in a suitable material. 

3.5 Mechanical and environmental performance 

3.5.1 Retention strengths: 

Necessary retention strengths depend on the patient’s requirements and it is also useful to 

adjust retention forces post-production. Bar and clip methods are typically capable of 

providing the highest retentive forces and are commonly used where there is low tissue 

mobility (such as ears). Retention strength can be altered by altering the number of clips and 

by adjusting the clips with pliers. Rare earth magnets can provide around 5 N of breakaway 

force and the retention may be varied by using different magnet types. 

3.5.2 Mechanical and material performance: 

The performance of the prosthesis body and the retentive components should be considered. 

Prostheses may be applied and removed around two times a day, which during a twelvemonth 

period equates to 1,460 cycles of the retentive components. Studies have shown that 

the retentive qualities of clip mechanisms are reduced with repeated application and removal 

[22]. Clip mechanism materials should therefore resist the effects of fatigue, abrasion and 

hardening/softening. Gold is typically used for the clips. Bar mechanisms should also be 

capable of withstanding the forces of application and removal. As an example, if 5 N of force 

is required to apply or remove a clip, which is attached 10 mm from an abutment, the moment 

will be 49 N/mm. Given component size restrictions, this necessitates a relatively stiff, 

typically metal material. 1.8 to 2 mm diameter gold bar is typically used. Gold also allows the 

bar to bend in an impact rather than transfer the load to the abutments and does not cause an 

allergic response. Cobalt-Chrome cast bars or machined titanium bars may also be used, but 

are less common. Similar applications have shown that Selective Laser Melting (SLM) (MCP- 

HEK) has potential for the fabrication of bar components [13, 23] and that casting from 

Stereolithography (SLA) patterns is also viable [24]. 

Material requirements for the prosthesis body are particularly demanding. Bellamy et al [25] 

noted the following processing and functional considerations for the ideal prosthetic material: 

- Low viscosity for ease of moulding 

- Low weight to reduce the chances of detachment 

- Able to take intrinsic and extrinsic colouration 

- Chemical and environmental stability 

- Ease of adhesion to living tissues without sensitivity to the host tissues 

- Good physical properties such as tear and abrasion when moulded to thin edges 

- Ease of cleaning 

Silicone elastomer is the standard material of choice for the main prosthesis body. Shore 

hardness values are typically around A20 to A30, percentage elongation at break 

approximately 500% to 650%, tear strength approximately 90 to 110 ppi and tensile strength 

approximately 4.8 N/mm 2 [26]. No RP technology is currently capable of producing a 

prosthesis with these properties, so typically a pattern has been produced [4-9]. A wax pattern 

that allows modification using conventional sculpting techniques is preferred [6-9]. 

3.5.3 Environment: 

Prostheses typically have a lifespan of between six and twelve months depending on the 

environmental factors encountered. During its life, a prosthesis will be subjected to UV light, 

temperatures experienced by the wearer, dirt, body fluids, other chemicals and mechanical 

forces associated with application and removal. Normal use will reduce the performance of 



prostheses. Colours will typically fade and edges wear, making the prosthesis more 

conspicuous. 


Component Criteria identified Process meeting the criteria 

Prosthesis 

body 

Fit Design: Further research required 

Pattern fabrication: Objet Eden, 

EnvisionTec Perfactory ® and 

Solidscape ® , ThermoJet ® 

Accuracy Capture: CT scanning, many light and 

Resolution/texture, >0.1mm depth 

and width to capture skin textures 

and wrinkles 

laser based scanners 

Capture: Further research required 

Creation: FreeForm ® CAD 

Fabrication: Objet Eden, EnvisionTec 

Perfactory ® and Solidscape ® , 

ThermoJet ® 

Colour/homogeneity None capable 

Mechanical/material. A20 to 30 

Shore, >500% elongation at break, 

>90 ppi tear, 4.8 N/mm 2 tensile 

None capable 

Resistant to UV light, dirt and body 

secretions 

Further research required to verify 

Pattern Wax, melt point approx. 80 to 

100°C 

ThermoJet ® 

Bar 

Must resist forces on application Design: 3Matic (Materialise), 

and removal 

FreeForm 

Small profile, approximately 2 mm 

Ø 

Bio-compatible 

Tolerance


[6] Verdonck H.W.D., Poukens J., Overveld H.V., Riediger D. Computer-Assisted Maxillofacial 

Prosthodontics: A New Treatment Protocol, Int J Prosthodont, (2003), 16(3) (pp. 326-328) 

[7] Eggbeer D., Bibb R., Evans P. The appropriate application of computer aided design and 

manufacture techniques in silicone facial prosthetics, The 5 th National Conference on Rapid 

Design, Prototyping, and Manufacture. Proceedings, 28 th May, (2004), (pp. 45-52) 

[8] Evans P., Eggbeer D., Bibb R. Orbital Prosthesis Wax Pattern Production using Computer 

Aided Design and Rapid Prototyping Techniques, The Journal of Maxillofacial Prosthetics and 

Technology, (2004), 7 (pp. 11-15) 

[9] Sykes L.M., Parrott A.M., Owen C.P., Snaddon D.R. Application of rapid prototyping 

technology in maxillofacial prosthetics, Int J Prosthodont, (2004), 17(4) (pp. 454-459) 

[10] Kan J.Y., Rungcharassaeng K., Bohsali K., Goodacre C.J., Lang B.R. Clinical methods 

for evaluating implant framework fit, J Prosthet Dent, (1999) 81(1), (pp. 7-13) 

[11] Brånemark P.I. Osseointegration and its experimental background, J Prosthet Dent, 

(1983), 50, (pp. 399-410) 

[12] Jemt T. Failures and complications in 391 consecutively inserted fixed prostheses 

supported by Brånemark implant in the edentulous jaw: a study of treatment from the time of 

prosthesis placement to the first annual check up, Int J Oral Maxillofac Implants, (1991), 6(3) 

(pp. 270-276) 

[13] Eggbeer D., Bibb R., Evans P. Towards Identifying specification requirements for digital 

bone anchored prosthesis design incorporating substructure fabrication: a pilot study, Int J 

Prosthodont, (2006), 19 (3), (pp. 258–263) 

[14] Chandra A., Watson J., Rowson J.E., Holland J., Harris R.A., Williams D.J. Application of 

rapid manufacturing techniques in support of maxillofacial treatment: evidence of the 

requirements of clinical application, J Eng. Manufacture, (2005), 219(6), (pp. 469-476) 

[15] Piérard G.E., Uhoda I., Piérard-Franchimont C. From skin microrelief to wrinkles. An area 

ripe for investigation, Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology, (2003), 2(1) (pp. 21-28) 

[16] Hashimoto, K. New methods for surface ultrastructure: comparative studies scanning 

electron microscopy and replica method, Int. J Dermatol (1974), 13(6) (pp. 357-381) 

[17] Lemperle G., Holmes R.E., Cohen S.R., Lemperle S.M., A Classification of facial 

wrinkles, Plastic Reconstructive Surgery, (2001) 108 (6), (pp. 1735-50) 

[18] Holman C.D.J., Armstrong B.K., Evans P.R., Lumsden G.J., Dallimore K.J., Meechan 

C.J., Beagley J., Gibson I.M. Relationship of solar keratosis and history of skin cancer to 

objective measures of actinic skin damage, British Journal of Dermatology (1984) 110 

(pp.129-138) 

[19] Park S.G., Kim Y.D., Kim J.J., Kang S.H. Two possible classifications of facial skin type 

by two parameters in Korean women: sebum excretion rate (SER) and skin surface relief 

(SSR), Skin Research and Technology (1999) 5, (pp. 189-194) 

[20] Eggbeer D., Evans P., Bibb R. A pilot study in the application of texture relief for digitally 

designed facial prostheses, J Eng Med, (2006), 220: H. In press. 

[21] Leow M.E., Ng W.K., Pereira B.P., Kour A.K., Pho R.W., Metamerism in aesthetic 

prostheses under three standard illuminants--TL84, D65 and F, Prosthet Orthot Int. (1999) 

23(2) (pp. 174-80) 

[22] Breeding L.C., Dixon D.L., Schmitt S. The effect of simulated function on the retention of 

bar-clip retained removable prostheses, J Prosthet Dent (1996) 75(5), (pp. 570-3) 

[23] Bibb R., Eggbeer D., Williams R. Rapid manufacture of removable partial denture 

frameworks, Rapid Prototyping Journal, (2006) 12(2), (pp. 95-9) 

[24] Eggbeer D., Bibb R., Williams R. The Computer Aided Design and Rapid prototyping of 

Removable Partial Denture Frameworks, Proc Inst Mech Eng (2005) 219, (pp. 195-202) 

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Biomed Mater Eng (2005), 15 (1-2), (pp. 21-7) 

[26] www.factor2.com, Factor II Incorporated, P.O. Box 1339, Lakeside, AZ 85929, USA 



The Legacy of the Schroder House 

Nicholas I Evans 

School of Product and Engineering Design, University of Wales Institute, Cardiff 

Cardiff, United Kingdom 

and 

Anthony M Whyman 

School of Product and Engineering Design, University of Wales Institute, Cardiff 

Cardiff, United KingdomBSTRACT 

1. ABSTRACT 

The architect and furniture-maker Gerrit Thomas Rietveld was born in 1888 in the Dutch town 

of Utrecht. He was closely associated with the artist Theo van Doesburg, and between 1917 

and 1928 a number of Rietveld's designs, including his classic Red Blue chair were featured 

in his influential magazine De Stijl (The Style). 

In 1924 Rietveld was commissioned to build a house for a wealthy Utrecht widow named 

Truus Schroder. Although the completed building is often referred to as the embodiment of 

the artistic principles and ideals of the De Stijl movement, it is far more than just a cold, 

theoretical statement. The unusually close co-operation between Rietveld and his client 

resulted in a building which demonstrated how a design can be tailored to suit the particular 

lifestyle demands of the occupier. 

Although the Schroder House is now eighty years old, there is much that the architects and 

designers of today can learn from it. Rietveld and Schroder’s design demonstrates: 

- An architectural response to the spirit of the time 

- Unique spatial flexibility, 

- Innovative constructional form, and 

- Meticulous attention to detail. 

In this paper the authors will consider these features of this remarkable building and examine 

their relevance in the light of the current debate on lifetime homes and sustainable 

construction. 

Keywords: Architecture, De Stijl, Housing, Modernity, Spatial Flexibility, and Technological 

Innovation. 


The Schroder House was designed by Gerrit Rietveld in 1924 as the embodiment of a new 

design philosophy. This paper will demonstrate how Rietveld’s architectural response to the 

spirit of his age, can inform architects today as we struggle to come to terms with the changes 

affecting our society, both parochially and globally. Eventually, although not considered as 

part of this paper, the Construction Studies Research Group will develop a range of concept 

designs that will seek to address the issues which face us today. 

De Stijl 

In 1917, as the First World War was raging in Europe, a magazine called De Stijl was 

launched in Holland by a group of like-minded artists led by Theo van Doesburg. This 

magazine served as the mouthpiece through which van Doesburg and his fellow contributors, 

who included the artist Piet Mondrian and the cabinetmaker Gerrit Rietveld, proclaimed their 

message of a new contemporary design vocabulary. This vocabulary would be free from 

historical baggage and could be used by artist, designer and architect alike to produce works 

which embodied the ideals of mechanisation and social liberation. 

The Great War may not have been the war to end all wars, but it was the war which heralded 

the beginning of the end of the existing world order. De Stijl , meaning ‘The Style’ was a new 

outlook, not just on art, architecture and design, but on life itself. A conscious rejection of the 



past, turning away from old dogma, superstition and historical precedent, and moving forward, 

with total belief in the new machine age, towards a utopian future of peace and social justice. 

The De Stijl design philosophy embodied the following principles: 

- Colours used are to be only the primary colours, red blue and yellow, or black grey or white 

- Surfaces must be rectangular planes or prisms. 

- Symmetry must be avoided, aesthetic balance being achieved through the use of opposition. 

- Compositional elements must be straight lines or rectangular areas. 

The instantly recognisable paintings of Piet Mondrian clearly express these principles. 

Gerrit Rietveld and Truus Schroder 

Gerrit Rietveld was a cabinetmaker from Utrecht who was closely associated with the De Stijl 

movement. In 1917 he produced what is perhaps his most famous work, the RedBlue chair. 

Later, Rietveld progressed from furniture design to interior design and architecture. In 1924 

his close friend Truus Schroder commissioned him to design a home for her and her three 

children. 

Schroder was a wealthy widow who had found marriage to a successful middle class lawyer a 

stifling and unfulfilling role. She had always intended to study architecture, but had 

abandoned her studies when she married. She enjoyed the company of freethinking 

intellectuals and when she was widowed in 1923 she commissioned Gerrit Rietveld, whom 

she had already employed to redesign parts of her existing home, to design a new home for 

her and her three young children. 

3. THE BRIEF 

The Schroder house in Utrecht has been described as the only realised example of a building 

which truly embodies the principles of De Stijl, however, although this may be true in some 

respects, it must be emphasized that the Schroder house is far more than simply the result of 

the analytical application of the idealistic, and ultimately flawed, design philosophy of De Stijl. 

Indeed, it could be argued that the Schroder house's adherence to De Stijl principles is 

actually fairly superficial - on the surface, the elevations do resemble a Mondrian painting, but 

under the surface, behind the facades, there is another influence at work – the lifestyle 

requirements of the woman for whom the house was designed, Truus Schroder. Indeed, the 

intimate relationship between Rietveld and Schroder resulted in what has been described as 

‘an exceptional architect-client relationship‘ [1]. 

Truus Schroder was very clear in what she wanted from her new house. She had no wish to 

emulate the comfortable middle class luxury which she had known whilst living with her 

husband. She wanted a house that expressed the new ideas she had embraced. Her house 

would reflect the ideals of the De Stijl philosophy. It would not be luxurious or bourgeois. It 

would be simple and plain, a place of peace, safety and security. She wanted a life which was 

‘elementary’, in other words, devoid of superfluous things and possessions. Mulder describes 

her as ‘wanting a house in which she could distance herself from the ground, in order to be 

closer to light, sun, wind and rain. She wanted to experience consciously the changes of 

nature from within her own house’ [2]. 

4. THE DESCRIPTION OF THE HOUSE 

The house is a two-storey property, which was built as an addition to the end of a terrace of 

traditional three storey properties. The ground floor of the house is fairly conventional, 

containing an entrance hall, WC, kitchen, study, domestic help’s quarters and a room which 

was originally intended to be an attached garage, but which in fact became a work room 

where Rietveld eventually set up his architectural practice. 

The first floor consists of three bedrooms, a living/dining room (connected to the kitchen 

below by a dumb waiter), a bathroom and a WC. At Mrs Schroder’s request the partition walls 

between the rooms were designed to fold away, thus creating one large open-plan space. 

Rietveld made full use of his joinery skills, creating folding partitions which, when opened, 



locate neatly into recesses behind the built in furniture so that the only evidence of their 

existence is the guide tracks on the ceiling and floor. 

The elevations of the building display a fascinating interplay of horizontal and vertical 

elements: walls, slabs, columns, mullions and transoms; finished in the De Stijl livery of 

primary colours, black, white and shades of grey. 

Constructional form 

Rietveld was fully convinced of the merits of employing industrial production techniques to 

dwellings. He had always intended the Schroder House to be a substantially pre-fabricated 

structure consisting of pre-cast reinforced concrete wall and floor slabs which would be 

delivered to site and then assembled using simple tools and techniques. In the event, for this 

one-off building, pre-construction was too expensive an option and the building was 

constructed mainly of rendered brickwork. 

Four years previously, the brilliant German architect Erich Mendelsohn had also attempted to 

use a new building to highlight the virtues of a new constructional form – in his case, 

reinforced concrete. The flowing lines of the Einstein Tower in Potsdam were designed to 

illustrate the freedom and flexibility which reinforced concrete now offered the architect. As a 

liquid it would take on the shape of whatever mould it was poured into. But like Rietveld, 

Mendelsohn had also faced technical difficulties, and again, just like Rietveld, had ended up 

relying heavily on rendered brickwork. 

Unfortunate as it was that Rietveld had had to rely on traditional construction techniques, it 

this does not in any way detract from his vision of machine production. The rectilinear forms 

and simple unornamented elements of the house not only conform to the De Stijl philosophy, 

but also lend themselves, should economies of scale permit, to off-site mass production and 

simple on-site assembly. 

Poor planning, inferior components and systems, and inadequate site supervision blighted 

early attempts at mass industrialization of housing production in the UK, such as the public 

housing schemes of the 1950’s and 1960’s. However, we are currently seeing renewed 

interest in industrialised building techniques, particularly with respect to dwellings. A key 

reason for this is the publication in 1998 of ‘Rethinking Construction’, a report commissioned 

by the Deputy Prime Minister and carried out by Sir John Egan. This report identifies 

problems afflicting the construction industry in the UK and sets targets for the improvements 

that should be made. Improvements include: reduction in cost, increased predictability – 

buildings being completed on-time and on-budget, reduction in accidents on site and 

reduction or elimination of defects in buildings on hand over. These are ambitious goals, but 

the implementation of industrialised building techniques has been shown to be a useful way of 

moving towards achieving them [3]. 

In April 2006 a new Building Regulation requirement was introduced in England and Wales 

that requires new dwellings to comply with stringent air permeability limits. Although this 

regulation is in force, the government have decreed that a lesser standard will in fact be 

considered acceptable up to 31 st October 2007. This is in recognition of the fact that presently 

many building contractors will simply not be capable of constructing buildings with sufficient 

accuracy and attention to detail to achieve the required standard [4]. The introduction of 

precision components, manufactured in controlled conditions and assembled on-site by welltrained 

personnel offers obvious potential benefits in this respect. 

Presently, one way in which we can group new house building techniques is into the following 

three categories (although I am not suggesting that this is the only way which we could 

categorise building techniques – it is simply a convenient way for the purposes of this paper). 

Firstly, what I like to call ‘tweaked traditional’. Traditional house building techniques, including 

load-bearing wall houses and timber framed houses, which are gently modified, for example 

by altering insulation thickness, incorporating passive vents, etc. in order to bring them into 

compliance with current building regulations. Most new private housing falls into this category. 

However there are many who feel that this approach, particularly where applied to masonry 



load-bearing construction, is reaching the end of the road. Traditional techniques simply 

cannot continue to absorb this technical tweaking for much longer. 

Next, we have the ‘high tech’ approach. These usually involve substantial use of off-site 

construction and may incorporate radical new ideas such as volumetric modularity, where 

entire dwellings are constructed off-site as modules complete with fittings and services. These 

will then be transported to site, craned into position and provided with a cosmetic skin to 

enhance their appearance. In the UK this method of construction has been championed 

principally by some forward-thinking housing associations. 

And then finally, we have the ‘low tech’ approach, chiefly employed by self-builders, 

environmentalists and enthusiasts. Techniques include the use of straw bales, rammed earth 

and clom or cob. These are basically primitive techniques, but can have significant 

advantages, particularly with respect their sustainability credentials – making use of readily 

available renewable resources with low embodied energies and emissions. 

Each of these three approaches has its supporters and further research will be carried out to 

evaluate the potential of these approaches to meet housing needs of the future. 

Whichever approaches are considered for our concept design, technical excellence will be of 

paramount importance. 

Rietveld’s technical expertise and experience was, of course, primarily associated with joinery 

and furniture design. The joinery in the house was generally plain and simple, but beautifully 

executed. However, there are a number of areas where his lack of experience in building 

design does become evident. 

Take, for example, the intersecting planes of the roof and the external walls. Rietveld was 

determined to detail the junction in this way, but he was unsure how to create a junction that 

would be robustly watertight and water penetration between the roof and external wall has 

been an ongoing maintenance problem ever since the house was built. Although, I suppose to 

be fair it could be pointed out that a great many architects today, including some of our most 

celebrated, appear to have problems from time to time with this most basic of building 

functions. 

Another area where Rietveld’s lack of expertise is shown is in the design of the sliding 

partitions. These were constructed very simply – a timber framework, timber boards both 

sides and infilled with sheets of cork. The cork was designed to provide sound insulation, but 

in reality the partitions were simply incapable of providing reasonable sound reduction. 

Anyone with even a rudimentary knowledge of building acoustics could have predicted this; 

the gaps around the partitions when closed substantially negating the effect of the cork infill. 

I mention these failings simply to point the importance of technically sound construction. It 

doesn’t matter if you are using straw bales or carbon fibre, a thorough understanding of the 

properties of your materials and components, and a thoughtful, well-engineered detail 

resolution is vital to the success of any building. 

Flexibility of internal space 

The moveable partitions on the first floor were not the only features designed to promote 

flexibility of space. Mrs Schroder had also stipulated that a bed should be able to fit in every 

room in at least two positions, that each room should have water supply and drainage, and 

that each room should have a door to the outside. Over the sixty years that she lived in the 

house she frequently changed the way she used the spaces. For example, at one time she 

moved the kitchen upstairs, for some time the garage was utilised as an office, one of the 

ground floor rooms was used for the display of artwork, complete with a shop window, and for 

a period of several years, the house was used as a school. 

The flexibility of space demanded by Schroder was of course a very personal requirement. 

Such extreme adaptability would be neither necessary nor indeed desirable in every home. 

However, the current trend towards more open-plan living suggests that the preferred spatial 



configuration of modern homes is being affected by changes in lifestyle and further research 

needs to be carried out in order to ascertain how significant. There are a number of 

advantages that may be associated with layout flexibility: 

- The convenience of the occupants on a day-to-day basis. 

- To make the most effective use of space – avoiding the need for excessive use of resources 

such as land and materials. 

- To provide the flexibility to accommodate lifestyle changes – working from home, children 

arriving, growing, leaving home, growing old and less mobile. 

We already have in the UK the lifetime homes initiative – a set of design guidelines, not 

mandatory but adopted by many social housing providers, which are designed to create a 

flexible blueprint for accessible and adaptable housing [5]. 

Problems associated with such flexibility will include increased capital cost. Cost restrictions 

could potentially lead to the adoption of substandard details. One of the most impressive 

features of the Schroder House is the way in which the sliding partitions seem to ‘disappear’ 

when they are opened out, each one sliding into a discreet concealed housing. Compare this 

with the clunky detailing that seems so often to be associated with movable walls in dwellings. 

It should also be borne in mind that the Building Regulations 2000 require bedroom walls in 

dwellings to achieve minimum sound insulation standards [6]. Sound-resisting demountable 

partitions are presently frequently used in commercial and industrial applications, but it is 

doubtful if these systems could prove acceptable in a domestic setting. 

Connectedness to nature and the provision of natural light 

Mrs Schroder’s desire for the house to feel connected to the world outside and to have high 

levels of natural light has already been mentioned. So how has this been achieved? 

There are three principle devices. 

Firstly, the living space is on the first floor of the property. In 1925, this would have afforded 

extensive views over the adjacent polders. 

Secondly, a substantial lantern light has been incorporated into the flat roof of the house. This 

provides natural light to the stairway right in the centre of the building and also, via an 

opening window, a means of access onto the roof. 

Thirdly, the most revolutionary idea is the window that wraps around the south east and north 

east elevations. The two casements which comprise this window can both be opened 

outwards and, when this is done the effect is little short of astonishing. With no column or 

mullion positioned on the corner, the corner of the building effectively disappears. As a device 

to blur the boundaries between interior and exterior space it is remarkably effective. 

Now, whilst recognising the importance of the visual link between interior and exterior, and 

not wishing to underestimate the benefits to the well-being of the occupants of a dwelling in 

being able to experience the cycles of nature from within the home, we are now aware that 

the relationship of any building to the natural environment needs to be far more profound. I do 

not need to dwell here on the issues of climate change, fossil fuel depletion, toxic emissions, 

and so on; we are all very aware of the challenges facing us. 

Trying to stave off impending environmental disaster, with all its cataclysmic social, economic 

and ecological implications can appear to be a hopeless task – one which many observers 

consider to be impossible. But it would appear to be fairly modest aim in comparison with the 

aim of Rietveld, van Doesburg and their colleagues – to create a better, fairer and more 

peaceful society. 

They really believed that the art and architecture they produced could, together with its 

underlying political philosophy, help to realise this utopian vision. However, we today are only 

too aware of the failure of De Stijl, or indeed modernism in general, to produce a better world 

and so the architecture that we are to produce today should not be trying to change the world, 

it should rather be helping humankind to exist in a changing world. I am not suggesting that 



architecture, or indeed design in general, cannot influence society for good, but we must 

recognise that the capacity of design to influence society is limited. 

Compliance with statutory requirements 

Rietveld knew that his radical ideas would create problems with local building officials. In 

particular the open plan first floor was unlikely to be approved. So, to ensure that he was 

granted all necessary approvals the drawings he submitted showed the first floor as an empty 

space, simply entitled ‘attic’. Not only did he fail to disclose the true nature of the first floor of 

the building, but he also presented to the authorities elevations which suggested that the 

building was far more conventional in appearance than it really was. 

Obviously this behaviour, although ingenious, cannot be condoned. Compliance with building 

regulations and other statutory requirements cannot be considered as an afterthought. It is 

not acceptable to rely on sleight of hand to obtain approvals as Rietveld did. However, the 

fact that Rietveld had to go to these lengths to obtain building permission does raise an 

interesting issue. Despite the fact that the building regulations in England and Wales are 

designed to promote the construction of energy efficient buildings, is it the case that those 

who endeavour to break the mould and design and construct radically different buildings, 

buildings which are energy efficient, sustainable and green are actually hindered by the 

system? Hindered by the intransigence and ignorance of those are responsible for enforcing 

building regulations. Anecdotal evidence suggests that this may be the case. If so, this 

indicates the need for change in the way that building regulations are drafted, and building 

control officers are trained. 

This is an area where further research will also be considered. 

Domestic Practicalities 

Interestingly, despite the house having been designed in strict accordance with the wishes of 

the client, Truus Schroder did not always find the house easy to live with. Paul Overy 

describes the house as having been ‘lived in with fierce determination’ [7], suggesting that the 

house made significant demands upon the occupants. These demands included; the need for 

order and cleanliness to keep the house looking its best, the poor sound insulation, the 

teasing, which Schroder’s children suffered for living in such an odd-looking house, and the 

crowds of onlookers who would gather outside at weekends to stare at the house and discuss 

its merits and faults. Even Rietveld, after he moved in to the house complained that the sliding 

partitions made the house too complicated. There is a parallel here with the Red Blue chair – 

iconic, sculptural and, as far as many people, including Rietveld himself, were concerned, 

rather uncomfortable. 

But does it have to be the case that following one’s ideals should be an uncomfortable 

experience? Some sustainable architecture does seem to be tinged with a hair-shirt mentality 

– we’ve destroyed our environment and so now we deserve to be punished by building 

ourselves houses which will be miserable to live in. 

So, as we develop our design concepts, practical functioning will play as important a role as 

technical excellence and sustainability. After all, if you consider buildings such as The House 

for the Future, designed by Jestico and Whiles, located in the Museum of Welsh Life in 

Cardiff; although these buildings are a valuable means of showcasing new ideas, it is 

noticeable that the innovative features of this house, and of many similar concept houses 

which have been designed and constructed in the past few years, show no signs of appearing 

in mass market private housing. This, in part, can be attributed to the lack of emphasis on 

practicality 

5. CONCLUSION 

When Rietveld was asked about the radical design of the Schroder House he stated: 

‘We didn’t avoid older styles because they were ugly, or because we couldn’t reproduce them, 

but because our time demanded their own form…their own manifestation.’ 



So what about our times? 

The world in which we live is altering rapidly. It is certain that within a generation or so our 

society will undergo monumental change, and although changing the design of buildings will 

not produce a future utopia any more than the ideals of De Stijl did, still architects must 

respond to the challenges ahead. 

6. References 

[1] Overy, P. (1990), Rietveld Furniture and the Schroder House, Longon; The South Bank 

Centre 

[2} Mulder, B., and Van Zil, I. (1999) Rietveld Schroder House, New York Princeton 

Architectural Press 

[3] Egan, Sir J. (1998) Rethinking Construction, TSO 

[4] ODPM, Approved Document L1a, NBS, (2006) 

[5] www.lifetimehomes.org.uk (accessed 18 th July 2006 ) 

[6] ODPM, Approved Document E, TSO, (2003) 

[7] Overy, P. (1990) Rietveld Furniture and the Schroder House, London: The South Bank 

Centre 



What Future Technological Applications Might 

Mothers and Toddlers Benefit From? 

Rachel L Murphy 

Smart Clothing and Wearable Technology Department, University of Wales, Newport, 

Newport, Wales 

1. ABSTRACT 

Despite numerous studies extolling the dual role played by parents in raising their children, in 

reality most childcare still falls on the mother irrespective of whether or not she is working. 

There is a wide variety of styles of parenting and roles that a mother can assume; while most 

mothers enjoy being involved in childcare there are times where it can be a stressful and 

lonely vocation. Some mothers want to raise their children completely themselves whilst other 

mothers appreciate a certain amount of help with childcare. Other mothers hold down part or 

full-time jobs this may be due to financial necessity or a need for them to be a person in their 

own right. There are probably as many ‘types’ of mothers as there are mothers! But the vast 

majority of mothers have one thing in common and that is the desire to protect, nurture and to 

help their children have the best possible start. Could Wearable Technologies provide 

mothers with the means to overcome these difficult times and in the process increase mother 

and toddler interaction? Or are mothers looking for something that is safe and easy to use to 

distract their child while they get on with other jobs? 

The author is not suggesting or recommending that Wearable Technologies replace parentchild 

involvement and interaction; rather that these new technologies provide methods to 

reduce stress, increase safety and provide reassurance to parent and child. 


One simple technological application for toddler care is the Tutta baby thermometer, 

developed by Tutta and Clothing+, which use old technology in a new way [1]. The idea 

behind the baby thermometer was to help educate parents in how to dress their baby for 

differing weather conditions. 

Image 1.0 Tutta Baby Thermometer 

The thermometer attaches to the toddler’s clothing and measures the temperature 

underneath the layers of clothes. The baby thermometer has a sensor hidden inside a silicone 

‘tail’. The tail is soft, flat and flexible and therefore very comfortable for the baby. The base 

has a large display that shows the temperature and can be attached to the baby's clothing 

using a clip on the unit’s back. 

Other research has sought to increase the number of parameters to measure, for example, 

researchers at ITV Denkendorf in Germany have developed a cost-efficient, preventive device 



that monitors vital parameters in babies in order to warn against sudden infant death 

syndrome [2]. 

With a growing awareness of the danger of ultra-violet light new technologies are being used 

to develop UV-protective swimwear [3]. Both the overall design and choice of fabric is 

designed to safeguard the wearer. Australian designers Rival (see Image 2.0) have produced 

this toddler’s swimsuit, which covers the main body and a large portion of the arms, legs and 

neck. 

Image 2.0 Rival UV-protective Swimsuit 

Smart clothes and wearable technologies are gaining increased interest as a versatile means 

to incorporate technologies inside clothing as opposed to having to carry individual items. 

These garments use mobile phone and camera technology to help parents pin point their kids' 

position, but they can also have fabric antennas, radio tagging and miniature remote cameras 

to allow children to play exciting games outdoors. Physical characters with identity chips can 

be attached to the respective garments. The child sees the character that represents another 

child on their screen and as children move around their characters also move on the screens, 

allowing them to create their own stories or hide and seek situations [4]. 

Image 3.0 Smart Clothes 

New technology doesn't usually come in a soft and cuddly package. But one of the ten 

winners of PC Magazine's ‘Best of Comdex’ awards is warm, fuzzy and filled with therapeutic 

possibilities [5]. Paro is a harp seal stuffed animal robot, developed by Japan's National 

Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology. Engineer Takanori Shibata said 

Paro prototypes are being tested in Japan and Sweden at nursing homes, and with autistic 

and handicapped children. To quote Shibata, ‘We know that pet therapy helps physically, 

psychologically and socially, and Paro does the same thing for people who are unable to care 

for a live pet.’ (See image 4.0). 



Image 4.0 Paro the harp seal 

Surface tactile sensors beneath its fur and whiskers trigger Paro to move and respond to 

petting: eyes open and close, flippers move. Just holding and stroking the toy has a calming 

effect, as Comdex (Computer Dealer Expo) visitors who checked it out soon discovered! 

‘We found nursing home residents also opened up and talked with each other about pets they 

had owned,’ said Shibata. And, he said, their stress levels went down. Paro may soon be 

tested in children's hospitals in the United States. It's expected to cost between $2,500 and 

$3,000. 

A group from New York University (NYU)’s Interactive Telecommunications program has also 

come up with the idea of creating robot toys [3]. Their ‘Needies‘ are soft stuffed toys with 

microprocessors and wireless technology that not only vocally request attention from the 

people around them and respond well to being petted and held, but also actively compete 

between each other for attention (see image 5.0). Jealous Needies may shout out ‘me, me, 

me!’ or even ‘throw him!’ if another Needy is being held. 

Image 5.0 Needies 

Toshiba’s new robots [6], which weigh from 10Kgs to 30Kgs, have been designed as lifesupport 

partners for humans, able to provide assistance in looking after the elderly or young 

children. 

The ApriAlpha V3 (see Image 6.0) can recognise its owner’s voice from a crowd of talking 

individuals using omni directional voice capture and respond to their command, understand 

and respond to several conversations going on at once, and connect to the internet and 

operate networked home appliances. Additionally the ApriAlpha V3 can also recognise and 

respond to a series of programmed orders, take control of home appliances such as the TV or 



air conditioner (if it's going to be a warm day it can turn on the air conditioner) and even read 

out content from the internet including the news, weather forecast, its owner's email, etc. 

Image 6.0 Toshiba’s new robots 

The ApriAlpha will be able to return to a base station to recharge itself and send images to its 

owner's mobile phone of intruders using facial recognition, or phone its owner if it hears 

unusual noises, such as, breaking glass. 

ApriAttenda, its newer taller friend will, aside from the above, also be able to instantly 

recognise with its visual sensor and high-speed image processing system, registered colours 

and textures of a person's clothes and respond to its owner’s movements, maintaining the 

pre-set distance and avoiding obstacles even amongst groups of people 

Another robot attracting attention is the iRobi [7], which is an internet-based family robot that 

can educate, provide home security, daily life management, entertain and deliver messages. 

Key features that might assist parents and toddlers relate to iRobi’s ability to take and edit 

photographs, play nursery rhymes and dance, tell fairy tales supported with gestures and 

emotional expression, and offer language tuition with vocal interaction. 



Image 6.0 iRobi 

‘From the technological products described above businesses are already looking towards 

using technology to assist mothers and fathers in the care of their children, but what other 

technological possibilities might exist? What technologies do they already use in assisting 

their childcare responsibilities? To answer these questions a research study was instigated. 

This paper reports on the initial findings drawn from three diverse case studies. 

In this paper the author will present a number of case studies based on observations of 

Mothers and Toddlers typical daily routines. The author first presents her own routine. Each 

case study differs slightly in style as children are not predictable. 

In my own household a typical daily routine would be: 

7 am: Hopefully 5 month old Madeline has slept through the night; the alarm clock goes off 

and I wake her up and breastfeed her. 

7.15 am: Either my husband or I take a drink of milk to our 2 year old daughter Daisy, she is 

usually awake, but is happy to wait untill we go and get her. 

7.45 am: I finish breastfeeding Madeline and with help from my husband, I take the two girls 

downstairs for breakfast 

8.30 am: I dress Madeline and Daisy tries to dress herself (sometimes back into pyjamas), 

she doesn’t usually get very far with this and it normally ends up turning into a bit of a battle.* 

(potential for an encouragement device) 

8.40 am: I then take a shower whilst Daisy plays happily by herself and Madeline lies on the 

floor of the bathroom. I try and keep her awake and happy by talking and singing to her. 

8.55 am: I try and get dressed, but usually only get half dressed before putting Madeline to 

bed for a short nap. 

9.00 am: Put clothes wash on and then play with Daisy whilst Madeline sleeps. 

9.45 am: I wake Madeline up, change her nappy and then either go to the shops to post 

letters and buy essentials such as bread and milk, stay at home trying to clean house, go 

round to a friends house so that I can get some company for my toddler and myself, or I take 

the girls to nursery to allow me time to study. 

10.45 am: I then give Madeline a bottle feed and solid food. 

12.00 noon: I prepare lunch for Daisy and I and Madeline goes to bed for a long nap. Daisy 

and I eat and have a bit of quiet time i.e. reading stories or doing washing up together, etc. 

1 pm: Daisy then goes for a nap and I get about 30 minutes to put my feet up. 



2 pm: I wake Madeline up, change her nappy and feed her. 

2.15 pm: I wake Daisy up so she doesn’t have too much day time sleep. 

3.15pm: I finish feeding Madeline and take the two of them on an outing, either to a park, the 

shops, parent & toddler group or friends house. 

4.45 pm: Madeline has a short nap either in buggy, car or cot and I prepare Daisy’s supper. 

Usually Daisy watches some TV at this point. 

5.30 pm: Once she has eaten I bath Madeline (and sometimes Daisy) and then get them 

ready for bed. 

6 pm: Daisy then watches a bit more TV whilst I start feeding Madeline. 

6.15 pm: My husband comes home and puts Daisy to bed whilst I finish feeding Madeline. 

7pm: Once both girls are in bed we cook supper for ourselves and relax. 

Family Characteristics: 

We have two cars 

I am a full time PhD student 

My husband is a software engineer 

Daisy is a 2 year old girl 

Madeline is a 5 month old baby girl 

Technologies used to help daily routines: 

Alarm clock, microwave oven, TV, phone, mobile phone, computer (for scheduling), kettle, 

sterilizer, MP3 player, radio, car, dishwasher, washing machine, digital camera. 

Points of stress: 

Feeling isolated 

Trying to dress eldest daughter 

Trying to feed youngest daughter 

Prospect of lack of sleep 

Getting out of the house 

Putting children into car 

Constant housework (dishwasher, washing machine) 

Children ill on a nursery day 

From the analysis of the author’s own circumstances there are areas where some form of 

wearable technology could help assist her in caring for her children, such as, wearable 

storytelling devices to entertain the elder daughter whilst breastfeeding the younger daughter. 

Some sort of device that monitors her mood and reminds her to have a healthy snack, get in 

touch with a friend in the same position, or informs health care visitors if she is in need of 

moral support. 

Is her household routine typical of other mothers? Would other mothers want similar 

technologies to assist them? What technologies do they already use in assisting their 

childcare responsibilities? To answer these questions a research study was instigated. This 

paper reports on the initial findings drawn from three diverse case studies. 

3. METHODOLOGY 

A pilot study was conducted from 10 th November 2005 till 17 th December 2005 observing 

parents and toddlers in their daily routines searching for points of interest that might help 

inspire Wearable Technology ideas. 

A number of parents were approached at local toddler groups and playgrounds and given 

details about an observation study that would be focusing on parents and toddlers. Three 

mothers agreed to take part and were offered an incentive for agreeing to be observed. 

The observations were filmed with a video camera; two interviewers were present, one to 

prompt conversation and one to film activities. Notes were taken in a notebook and typed up 

soon after. Observation video’s were watched a few weeks later to allow a fresh insight to 

each participants’ routine, ideas for Wearable Technology were then noted down and 

illustrated. Further ideas were added inspired by the author’s own experiences as a parent. 



Each parent was also given a disposable camera to take photos of stresses and strains 

during daily routines that may have not have occurred during the observation study. On a 

separate occasion each photo was explained by the parent and notes were taken. 

Suggestions of technology were unsolicited. Fictional names have been used to preserve 

anonymity. 

Analytical process 

Moments of stress and strain during the observation studies prompted ideas for both general 

technologies and wearable technology pieces. Wearable concepts were also inspired when a 

child/parent were interacting with a piece of clothing or jewellery and when parents and 

toddlers made body contact. 

4. CASE STUDIES AND SELECTION PROCESS 

Jenny: 

Jenny was approached at a local mother and toddler group. She was the type of person that 

would be willing to participate because of all the other voluntary activities that she took part in. 

It was felt she would make an interesting case study because she was a working mother with 

two children. Initially, Jenny showed slight concern about being filmed, but was reassured that 

all data would be kept confidential. The observation study was arrange for two weeks later, on 

a morning when she didn’t go out to work and was responsible for some of the childcare. 

Claire: 

Claire offered to take part when she heard about the study. A time was arranged when 

Claire’s daughter would be awake; this was rather difficult as her daughter didn’t have a set 

routine. The timings were tweaked on the day of the observation. 

Michelle: 

The author had known Michelle for a couple of weeks before asking her to participate. She 

was at the same stage of pregnancy as the author and that worked well as an ice breaker. 

Michelle agreed to partake when asked. 

Family Characteristics: 

Jenny: 

Jenny and her husband only own one car as they work in the city centre which is walking 

distance from their home. 

Jenny is on the local toddler group committee and Brown Owl for a Brownies group. 

She works 3 days a week as IT support. 

Daughter 1 is a 3 year old girl. 

Daughter 2 is a 14 month old girl. 

Jenny is 12 weeks pregnant with Daughter 3. 

Jenny’s Husband did not want to be involved in this research. 

Claire: 

Claire and husband only own one car as Claire has yet to pass her driving test. 

Daughter 1 is a 19 month old girl. 

Daughter suffers from allergies. 

Claire is not currently undertaking any paid work, but is trying to start up a property 

development company. 

Regular activities with daughter include shopping, going to the park and visiting Grandma. 

Michelle: 

Michelle is pregnant with child 2 due Jan 23 rd 2006 

Daughter is aged 2 years and 2 months 

Michelle is not working currently, but was a nanny for 10 years and is considering becoming a 

childminder when 2 nd child is 6 months old. 



Regular activities with daughter include music and movement group (Lucy time), Toddlers, 

Library, art and crafts, playing at friends’ houses, going to the museum, parks/outdoors and 

gym. 

Observation notes and schedule: 

Below are the diary form notes from each observation study and written explanations of what 

appears in the photos taken by two of the mothers. 

Jenny: 

7.15 am: Jenny got up after her alarm clock went off (both parents have an alarm clock). 

Daughter 1 woke up, switched bedside lantern on and played with her teddy. The parents 

decided they would prefer daughter 1 to have a bedside light than to try and do things like 

read in the dark. Daughter 1 has access to a lot of kid’s books. 

Jenny’s husband is ill that day and staying at home 

8.30 am: Jenny offers us drinks and quickly the puts kettle on. 

At breakfast time Jenny is trying to eat her own breakfast, but keeps getting interrupted by 

Daughter 2 needing to be spoon fed, Jenny taps Daughter 2 on the arm to get her attention 

and also stop her from trying to climb out of the high chair. Daughter 1 wanted to talk to 

Jenny, sits on her lap and be sung to and wanted milk warmed. Daughter 1 puts tiara on and 

asks Mummy to look. 

9.15 am: Jenny wants to find shoes and socks for children and feeds the cat. 

She shouts to Daughter no 1 to find her socks and also asks her to keep an eye on Daughter 

2 whilst de–icing and loading the car. 

Daughter no 1 says she can’t do her socks so Jenny says ‘Can you sit up on the chair so I 

can do your socks’. 

Daughter no 2 is playing with the Stereo. 

Jenny plays a chasing game to get their coats on. 

Daughter 1 pushes Daughter 2 over and Jenny gets her to say ‘Sorry’. 

I ask ‘Do you always feel this hurried’ she answers ‘yes, I feel that I am doing really well for a 

time and then I realise how late it is’. 

9.25 am: Jenny drops Daughter 1 to nursery (normally she would lock Daughter 2 into the car 

for this drop off) Jenny briefly talks to a mother helper at nursery. Daughter 1 has a cuddle 

with Jenny before she leaves. 

9.30 am: Whilst driving to the local shopping mall Jenny tells us that she is Brown Owl for 

Brownies on the other side of the city; she explains that she likes taking on a lot because she 

finds its fun and wants to be part of the community. 

She also explains that because she had a big gap between no1 and no2 daughter, she 

wanted a smaller gap between no2 and no3. 

10.00 am: Jenny parks the car and takes the buggy from the boot of the car, she sits daughter 

2 into the buggy and proceeds to walk into the shopping centre. Whilst in the shopping mall 

Daughter 2 drops her hat out of the buggy, which is retrieved by Jenny. Daughter 2 happily 

sits in buggy and is very interested in all the Christmas decorations. 

Jenny explains how her children always look at the chocolate bars whilst she is waiting in the 

check out queue in the supermarket. 

10.30 am: We arrive back at Jenny’s house. 



Jenny’s photo stories: 

1. Daughter 2 playing with stereo – Daughter 1 playing a tape or CD – Daughter 2 

prefers radio and switches it over – Daughter 1 gets upset – the 2 children fight over 

this – Daughter 2 likes pressing buttons – Jenny just ignores their behaviour. 

2. Daughter 2 having a temper tantrum with nappy change. Daughter 2 wanted the bear 

but Jenny didn’t want it near the dirty nappy. 

3. Daughter 2 wanting to escape playgroup. 

4. Daughter 2 running away on pavement – Jenny only lets her go so far before being 

chased after. Apparently Daughter 1 also used to run away so Jenny used watching 

the TV as a bribe to get daughter 1 to come back. Later this became more of a 

punishment telling the daughter that if they didn’t behave they would not be able to 

watch TV, the parent would always carry through this threat. 

5. Daughter 1 doing up the seat belt by herself which is a big achievement 

6. Daughter 2 following Daughter 1 forming a chain at grandparents. 

7. Daughter 1 having a tantrum because she didn’t want toast for breakfast. Jenny just 

ignored and left her and didn’t give her anything else, although she feels that the 

tactic of not giving food doesn’t work. 

8. Daughter 1 likes the little rides placed in shopping malls but Jenny does not put 

money in them. 

Claire: 

3 pm: Daughter wakes up from having her sleep in the buggy. 

3.15 pm: Claire does the cooking and puts the Cbeebies website on the PC to keep daughter 

occupied. Daughter investigates the vacuum cleaner and looks at photos of her family hung 

on the door at her height. 

3.45 pm: Claire changes Daughter’s nappy and puts a bit of cream on her legs in the process, 

she puts her in the cot after the nappy change so she can wash her hands and then places 

her in a low chair harnessed in front of the TV so she is safe whilst Claire does a couple of 

things upstairs. 

Claire checks time on TV screen. 

4 pm: Claire then puts her Daughter back in the buggy ready to go out for a walk even though 

it’s raining. 

4.05 pm: We walk to the shops so that Claire can buy some flowers to make the house look 

nice whilst they have people viewing their property, which is on sale. There is not much 

contact between mother and daughter whilst she is in buggy. 

4.30 pm: Claire then goes on one more errand and we leave her at that point. 

Claire’s photo stories: 

1. Problems getting Daughter to drink milk, on this occasion she only drinks 2oz of milk 

in the evening, Claire tries not to be too stressed. Daughter was ill and not eating, so 

that’s why they were trying to get more milk into her. If she doesn’t drink much milk 

Claire worries about being woken up early (common parent anxiety). 

2. Daughter having wraps put on – one parent will put cream on her and the other 

parent will apply bandages. They put music on as a distraction. This takes 15 minutes 

after her bath. Daughter hates being restricted and out of control. Claire finds this 

stressful. 

3. Daughter taking medicine - she never happily accepts things in her mouth, so they 

have to use either a pipette or dummy like dispenser. This is for allergy relief. 

4. More bottle refusing. 

5. Daughter is manic and hyperactive at bedtime, trying to be less stimulated, if over 

stimulated she starts scratching. 

6. Daughter has a tendency to go too near the TV 



7. Daughter has a tendency to sit on the edge of the sofa. Parents try to ignore it. It’s a 

bit dangerous; she once fell off a chair, but continued to climb on it. 

8. Food has been a bit of a stress. She will eat finger food, but she’s adverse to 

vegetables and plays with her food. Claire gives her food to eat a lot in the lounge 

watching TV so that she doesn’t really notice that she is eating. 

9. Daughter can be aggressive after nursery on a Monday, she doesn’t follow 

instructions. Claire feels that maybe daughter is a bit angry for being left at nursery. 

Also there is a different mix of children at the nursery on a Monday than on a 

Wednesday (her other nursery day) 

10. Moody times are when eating (common parent anxiety) – It’s a bit of a battle – Photo 

shows daughter pulling off bib 

11. When cooking Claire has the child gate shut between kitchen and dining room, but 

her Daughter would like it to be left open – she swings on the gate and wants to be in 

kitchen. 

Michelle: 

3.30pm: Midwife is just about to leave. Michelle is planning another home birth. 

Daughter listens to a Story CD this continues for 30 minutes. 

Michelle talks about their nightmare move from one side of town to the other 4 months ago; 

they had to live with the previous owners’ belongings for a few days. 

There is a lot of interaction between Michelle and her daughter such as ‘whose under the 

blanket’ game. 

3.55 pm: Michelle gets daughter to put her toys back in the playroom before snack time. 

4.00 pm: Daughter has snack time, sits at the table for a snack in high chair. Daughter is 

given a choice of an apple or tangerine; she chooses the tangerine and peels it herself. 

Michelle asks whether she would like anything else to eat. 

Michelle says that she likes to do DIY but is not allowed to because she is heavily pregnant 

so relishes little DIY jobs such as changing batteries in daughter’s toy and painting. 

Daughter is going to do a gluing activity; materials were acquired from a scrap store. 

Daughter says lots of pleases and thank you. 

Interviewer asks what Michelle’s mum is like, she says that she was not maternal and had 

post natal depression. 

4. 15 pm: At this point a friend knocks on the door with her son. We explain the observation 

study and record only audio for ethical reasons. Retrospectively the author would have just 

asked if it was ok to film and used the video footage as a form of consent. 

Apparently the friend had seen the author around. 

Michelle’s daughter abandons gluing and the two children play at the food store in the 

playroom. Michelle helps daughter lift a basket of toys down. 

The friend and author realise that they have a common friend who lives on author’s road. 

Adults sit and chat in the kitchen about topics such as toys that they played with as children, 

local rubbish collection and recycling, new and old property, Christmas shopping. The 

children play in the other room. Michelle checks on kids and after a while the kids come and 

join the parents in the kitchen 

Michelle make believes that a play plate brought to her by daughter is a phone and pretends 

that her daddy is on the phone. 

5.15 pm: Friend leaves and whilst being unobserved daughter hurts herself when trying to 

climb up into high chair. 



Observation study prematurely abandoned and consequently, no photo stories were taken. 

Technologies used to help daily routines: 

Jenny; Clocks, mobile phones, microwave oven, baby monitor, kettle, toaster, television 

(mainly for films on video tape) this started being used whilst mother was breastfeeding 

second daughter – she was not totally satisfied with this as a solution to entertaining her older 

daughter. 

Claire: microwave, buggy, television, PC – Cbeebies website, CD’s and DVD’s (assuming that 

these need players of some sort) and mobile phone. 

Michelle: washing machine, telephone, TV and computer (both not daily), Stereo/radio, 

camera, microwave and bread maker (not daily) 

Possible Technologies (inc Wearable Technologies): 

From the observations, photo stories and discussions with the mothers the following possible 

technologies were identified: 

Table 1.0: Proposed Technologies 

Activity Proposed Technology 

Mother taps or touches daughter 2 on arm to 

get her attention and concentrate on eating her 

food 

Daughter 1 puts tiara on and asks mummy to 

look 

Daughter no 2 is playing with Stereo 

Daughter has a tendency to go too near the TV 

Device that could do this remotely if 

parent not right next to daughter? 

Talking plate? 

Tiara or other headgear that could be 

story-telling device? 

Protective covering to stop daughter 

playing with adult equipment? 

Warning voice or sound? 

Daughter drops hat out of buggy Tag clothing so you know when it has 

been dropped? 

Mum explains how her children always look at Distraction device, such as, TV screen 

the chocolate bars whilst she is waiting in the imbedded in clothing on arm? 

check out queue 

Daughter 2 at playgroup wanting to escape GPS in clothing / jewellery / tag? 

Daughter 2 running away down pavement – Some form of restraint system – sound 

mum only lets her go so far before chased after warning? 

her 

Daughter 1 having a tantrum because she didn’t Automatic / visual PC screen advising 

want toast for breakfast. Mother just left her and on possible approaches, 

ignored her and didn’t give her anything else, Memory jogger – what daughter likes? 

although mother feels that this tactic of not offer choice between two things? 

giving food doesn’t work 

Daughter wakes up from having her sleep in the Buggy/Car Monitor? 

buggy 

Mum does the cooking and puts the Cbeebies Tactile / interactive entertainment? 

website on the PC to keep daughter occupied 

but Daughter investigates the vacuum cleaner 

Daughter then looks at photos of her family Auto camera taking pictures of family 

hung on the door at her height 

and friends when out and about for 

viewing later? 

We walk to the shops so that mum can get On the move intercom inter-action 

some flowers to make the house look nice mechanism? 

whilst they have people viewing their property. 

There is not much contact between mother and 

daughter whilst daughter is in buggy 

Daughter with allergy manic at bedtime, hyper, Anti scratch device in bandages? 

trying to be less stimulated, if over stimulated 

she starts scratching 



5. CONCLUSION 

This paper has reported on the initial findings of a research study into the needs of mothers 

and toddlers with the intention of identifying possible technologies that could be of assistance. 

Previous research and development of new technologies to assist mothers and toddlers was 

explored ranging from wearable technologies that could be attached to clothing, to smart 

clothes with imbedded technologies to toys that could respond and communicate with their 

owners, and to all-singing all-dancing robots that were multi-skilled. 

From the observation studies and photo stories a list of possible technological applications 

were generated, some of which have been addressed by technologies currently available. 

However, before further developing ideas to address those possible technological 

applications for which there are currently no answers and further research studies need to be 

completed. 

6. FURTHER RESEARCH 

• Present technological ideas both new and old to parents and ask them to discuss 

their likes and dislikes about them. 

• Michelle who had trained as a childminder before she became a mother seemed to 

know how to cope with a family, whereas, others fell into the role – so maybe some 

form of online/techno training programme/advice provider could help parents with 

challenges thrown at them. 

• Look at case studies. ‘Super nanny’ TV series 

• Structured approach versus freestyle – reflecting social trends – women working etc. 

• Look at how to promote networks of parents with same age children to cover stress. 

• Ask questions such as what ‘if networked, could these technologies do’? How might 

these technologies be abused or subverted? 

• Conduct a brainstorm with other designers using data from study. 

7. REFERENCES 

[1] www.reimasmart.com, accessed 23/06/2006, 

http://www.reimasmart.com/products_tutta.php 

[2] www.Technical-Textiles.net, accessed 23/06/2006, http://www.technicaltextiles.net/htm/f20050728.865682.htm 

[3] Braddock Clarke, S. E. and M. O’Mahony (2005), Techno Textiles 2, London; Thames & 

Hudson, London 

[4] www.futurephysical.org, accessed 23/06/2006, 

http://www.futurephysical.org/pages/content/wearable/intelligent_clothing.html 

[5] www.CNN.com, accessed 23/06/2006, 

http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/ptech/11/20/comdex.bestof/ 

[6] www.pocket-lint.co.uk, accessed 23/06/2006, http://www.pocketlint.co.uk/newsimage.php?newsId=1259&image=2 

[7] www.yujinrobot.com, accessed 23/06/2006, 

http://www.yujinrobot.com/english/product/irobi.php 

[8] www.forbes.com, accessed 23/06/2006, 

http://www.forbes.com/entrepreneurs/2005/12/22/mattel-hasbro-walmartcx_lh_1223neediedolls.html 



Ecodesign strategies for good business practice: An 

overview 

Simon O’Rafferty 

Design Wales, PDR, University of Wales Institute Cardiff, Cardiff, Wales 

and 

Dr. Frank O’Connor 

Design Wales, PDR, University of Wales Institute Cardiff, Cardiff, Wales 

1. ABSTRACT 

In the last few decades concern has been raised regarding the environmental impact of 

industry. Much effort has been made to improve the ‘end-of-pipe’ performance of industry 

through cleaner production and expensive mitigation measures. New and impending 

legislation and product policies recognize that these efforts have not been enough. Ecodesign 

has become a key approach for business in responding to these challenges. While design is 

regarded as a clean process it determines the majority of the environmental and financial 

costs incurred throughout a product’s life, from production through to distribution, use and 

end-of-life. Therefore, the design stage is a crucial point of intervention in the elimination, 

avoidance or reduction of ‘downstream’ environmental impacts. Ecodesign refers to the 

systematic incorporation of environmental considerations into product design and 

development with the aim of reducing the environmental impact throughout the whole life 

cycle. Placing ecodesign in context, this paper will outline the policy and business case and 

introduce some tools and methodologies for integrating environmental considerations into the 

design process. The paper will also highlight, through practical examples, how ecodesign is 

linked to creativity and innovation, and can be used to increase competitiveness, improve 

stakeholder relations, proactively comply with legislation and enhance brand image. The 

practical examples of ecodesign implementation will highlight the barriers and drivers to 

ecodesign implementation from a Small and Medium Sized Enterprise (SME) perspective. 

Keywords: Ecodesign, business and policy context, SMEs. 


To many, products and services are the basis of human prosperity, wellbeing and quality of 

life. Yet, the negative environmental and social impacts of the economy are primarily driven 

by our over consumption and production of products and services. These impacts occur at 

different stages of a product’s life, i.e. production, distribution, use and end-of-life disposal. 

The need to decouple these environmental and social impacts from economic growth has 

drawn increasing levels of political, public and commercial attention in recent years. This has 

been partly driven by the development of a number of producer responsibility laws worldwide 

along with the rise in public and shareholder concern. Another key driver is the recognition 

that improved environmental performance can have numerous commercial benefits. 



Figure 1: generic product life cycle [adapted from 1] 

There are many examples of large organisations using ecodesign alongside measures such 

as environmental criteria within procurement specifications and Life Cycle Analysis (LCA). 

While many eco-innovations have come from small niche businesses, the uptake of 

ecodesign across Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) has been limited. Many SMEs do 

not recognise or understand their impact on the environment and they lack the financial and 

human resources to implement ecodesign strategies and an environmental management 

system (EMS). 

3. ECODESIGN IN CONTEXT 

3.1. Policy context 

The environmental policy agenda has evolved from focusing on reducing end-of-pipe pollution 

from industrial facilities to examining wider issues including the environmental and social 

impacts of products and services. This widening of horizons can be traced to the Rio Earth 

Summit of 1992, the publication of Agenda 21 and other Multilateral Environmental 

Agreements. More recently, in 2002, following the World Summit on Sustainable 

Development (WSSD), a 10 year framework of programmes for Sustainable Consumption 

and Production was established. As highlighted at the WSSD, ‘Fundamental changes in 

consumption and production patterns are needed’ [2]. The agreements coming from the 

WSSD complement a number of other policy approaches such as the Millennium 

Development Goals, the Doha agreements and the recently adopted European Commission 

Communication on Integrated Product Policy (IPP). 

IPP is a strategic instrument to establish an optimal mix of policy measures to encourage the 

development of products with reduced environmental impacts throughout their entire life 

cycle. While IPP seeks to reinforce and refocus existing policy measures it will introduce new 

approaches where necessary. The three pillars of IPP involve orientating the market to favour 

environmentally superior products, the design and marketing of those products and the 

sustainment of consumer demand for those products. Some specific measures that belong to 

this European policy mix include the Waste Electronic and Electrical Equipment (WEEE), 

Restriction of certain Hazardous Substances (RoHS), eco-design of Energy-using Products 

(EuP) and the End of Life Vehicles (ELV) directives. While WEEE and ELV are predominantly 

seen as a financial issue, RoHS and EuP will have a direct impact on product design. Table 1 

highlights the most prominent European directives and their impacts on product design. 

Directive Aim Impact on design 

WEEE 

to encourage prevention, 

reuse and/or recycling of 

producers will be encouraged to design their 

products in a way that does not hinder recycling 



RoHS 

EuP 

ELV 

Electronic and Electrical 

Equipment (EEE) waste 

to minimise the amount of 

brominated flame retardants 

and heavy metals in the 

WEEE directed at landfill 

to consolidate the legislative 

approaches to energy 

efficiency and full life cycle 

environmental impacts of 

electrical and heating 

products 

to reduce the environmental 

impact of businesses that 

process vehicles when they 

reach end of life 

Table 1: Main policy measures and their ecodesign relevance 

and reuse while facilitating the separation of key 

components (i.e. PCB’s, batteries, plastics that 

contain brominated flame retardants) 

immediate ecodesign requirements on all 

producers of electronic products containing 6 

specified materials - lead, mercury, cadmium, 

hexavalent chromium, polybrominated biphenyls 

(PBB) and/or polybrominated diphenyl ether 

(PBDE) 

EuP will require that compliance be demonstrated 

through prescribed conformity assessment 

procedures such as an internal design control 

procedure. This will involve setting up a technical 

file containing the evidence of compliance in the 

form of the assessment and the profiling of design 

solutions. CE marking will require EuP compliance 

ELV is intended to drive producers to design for 

recycling so as to limit the costs of recovery 

These policy measures are also reflected in South East Asia. For example, Japan has 

developed a policy framework to improve the environmental performance of its economy. This 

‘Recycling Oriented Economic System’ includes mechanisms such as the Green Purchasing 

Law, Home Appliances Recycling Law and the Law for the Promotion of the Effective 

Utilisation of Resources [3]. The geographically diffuse nature of modern manufacturing 

means that these global policy measures will have future implications for product 

development worldwide. 

3.2. Business context 

Ecodesign is currently being implemented by a number of leading edge multinational 

companies who have recognised the commercial benefits. These benefits include reduced 

production costs, efficient resource use, competitive advantage through potential product 

differentiation, reduced liability and a reduced regulatory burden. Even basic ecodesign 

strategies such as the elimination of toxic materials, reduced product footprints, ease of 

disassembly, ease of upgrade and reduced weight can result in products with significant 

environmental improvements that appeal to a wider range of consumers. 

The positive effect of ecodesign on brand image also cannot be underestimated, not only for 

Tier 1 suppliers but all companies in the supply chain. More stringent environmental criteria 

are being integrated in procurement specifications for many large OEM’s. For example, Nokia 

requests that suppliers provide material declarations on all components supplied to them – a 

difficult task for a supplier without at least a basic ecodesign strategy [4]. 

These drivers are mixed with a number of key barriers. These include economic shorttermism 

( i.e. the need for a quick payback on investments), a lack of understanding of the 

potential benefits of environmental improvements, a lack of internal expertise and resources, 

a view of environmental activity as peripheral to the core business and a managerial culture 

that is resistant to change. These drivers and barriers help demonstrate the synergy between 

ecodesign and innovation. How a company responds to these depends on a number of 

criteria including market and regulatory signals, existing commitment to the environment and 

operational capabilities. While being well positioned to exploit emerging technologies and 

develop new and innovative products, SMEs, due to scale, encounter additional barriers when 

implementing ecodesign [5]. 



From a managerial perspective, ecodesign requires long term investment, something which 

SMEs struggle to establish. Developing an ecodesign strategy often dovetails a reactive 

compliance strategy. Seeking compliance is a positive step yet it holds little added value for 

business. Recognising the commercial potential of implementing ecodesign can lead to more 

proactive long-term strategies. 

4. INTEGRATING ENVIRONMENTAL CONSIDERATIONS IN THE PRODUCT 

DEVELOPMENT PROCESS 

4.1 Background 

The development of environmentally superior products is not new although recent legislative 

developments have provided a new framework for exploring what is meant by environmentally 

superior products and ecodesign. While legislation is a major driver, ecodesign is not a 

compliance activity. Ecodesign, the incorporation of environmental considerations into product 

design and development, is an integrated, cross-functional strategy involving a number of 

business activities [6]. For example, R&D uses environmental and social impacts as an 

instrument for innovation, procurement sources environmentally superior materials and 

components, quality assurance highlights beneficial ecological enhancements while 

marketing promotes these attributes to the consumer. There are a number of entry points to 

integrate ecodesign in existing management systems such as environmental, health and 

safety (EHS). 

4.2. Ecodesign process 

There are a wide range of models of product development displaying different levels of detail. 

They are generally characterised as iterative processes of analysis and synthesis with 

creative input in the form of experience and observation. Various factors place constraints on 

the product development process including performance specifications, manufacturing 

capabilities and existing design processes and competencies. The process of ecodesign is 

flexible to encourage creativity, maximise innovation and exploit opportunities for making 

environmental improvements [7]. 

It is important to note that while the core structure of the product development process 

remains unaffected by integrating environmental considerations, ecodesign requires the 

addition of some new steps. These include setting an environmental profile of the product, 

access to new forms of information and new decision criteria. These new decisions may 

include the choice of environmentally superior materials and the evaluation of an array of 

different product oriented environmental criteria. Ecodesign can influence relationships with 

customers and suppliers, and ultimately it can influence a company’s business strategy, for 

example, through logistical arrangements and new contractual obligations. 

4.3. Outline of main tools 

Ecodesign is an integrated, cross-functional activity and thus there is no ‘silver bullet’ for its 

implementation. There are a wide assortment of tools and methodologies available to support 

the implementation process and, broadly speaking, these can be categorised as follows; 

• Single issue focus – driven by single issues such as waste reduction or energy 

efficiency 

• Life cycle focus – including impacts such as transportation, material extraction and 

disposal 

• Sustainability focus – including social impacts such as consumer aspirations and 

lifestyle 

Practically speaking, these tools include guidelines, checklists and handbooks (e.g. Smart 

ecoDesign strategy wheel and Standard ECMA-341 - Environmental design considerations 

for electronic products), environmental management assistance tools (e.g. EIME - 

Environmental Information and Management Explorer), screening and benchmarking tools 

(e.g. Eco-Efficiency Analysis, Fraunhofer IZM/EE Toolbox), LCA methodologies (e.g. Eco- 

Indicator 99), LCA databases (e.g. ProBas, APME/Boustead data and EcoInvent) and full 

scale LCA tools (e.g. IDEMAT, SimaPro and eVerdEE). There are also tools and 

methodologies available for ecodesign planning, environmental assessment, ideas 



generation, solutions design, cost assessment and on-market product review and 

assessment. For better integration, ecodesign should be linked with existing management 

systems such as quality, EHS and environmental management, for example the 

Environmental Management and Auditing Scheme (EMAS). The International Standards 

Organisation (ISO) 14000 family of environmental management standards and technical 

reports include a product focus [1, 7 and 8]. 

Table 2 illustrates where some of the tools and methodologies can be incorporated into a 

product design and development process. 

Stage Priorities Tools 

Planning 

Conceptual 

Detailed 

Design 

Testing / 

Prototype 

Market 

launch 

Product 

review 

- establish scope, priorities & tasks 

- acquire information 

- establish appropriate benchmarks 

- customer / market needs, 

compliance, market niches, 

competitors’ 

- consider overall company 

strategy 

- analyse reference product or 

problem / idea generation / solution 

selection 

- integrate ecodesign aspects 

when drafting the specification 

- check feasibility (technological, 

financial) 

- apply guidelines, checklists to 

refine the specification 

- develop selected solutions 

- apply ecodesign tools and 

databases 

- consider design for assembly / 

disassembly 

- outline potential life cycle 

scenarios 

- source alternative materials 

- final assessment of solutions 

- benchmark with former product 

generation 

- communicate with your supply 

chain 

- market introduction / product 

profile and promotion 

- communicate key environmental 

aspects of your product alongside 

other key criteria, through 

environmental declaration or 

ecolabel 

- on-market observation 

- evaluate success of the product 

- guidelines (e.g. Electrical & Electronic 

ecodesign Guide, Envirowise) 

- standards, codes and technical reports 

- brainstorming and other creativity 

techniques 

- checklists (e.g. Smart ecoDesign 

checklists) 

- software for full/abridged LCA (e.g. Sima 

Pro, Eco-It) 

- software for materials selection (e.g. 

EcoSelector) 

- spiderweb and polar diagrams (e.g. 

EcoCompass) 

- ecodesign software (e.g. SimaPro) 

- ecodesign checklists (e.g. Smart 

ecoDesign checklists) 

- software for materials optimisation 

(performance/cost rather than environmentdriven) 

- eco-accounting tools (e.g. life cycle 

costing) 

- market surveys 

- focus groups 

- observation e.g. ethnography 

- consumer panels 



- identify further improvement 

potential 

- supplier workshops 

Table 2: Tools and methodologies in a product development context 

Some larger producers are moving towards simple benchmark-style tools. For example, 

Philips has developed an internal competitiveness mechanism for their designers to increase 

the implementation of ecodesign. Using five general criteria the product designers can 

compare a new product with existing ones to establish where environmental improvements 

have been made. Philips has hundreds of these ‘green flagship products’ on the market. One 

example is an MP3 player that uses 87% less energy, weighs 39% less, and has 47% 

reduced packaging compared with the average of its closest competitors [5]. Panasonic 

(based in Cardiff) use a similar ecodesign approach focusing on five focal areas: energy, 

weight, packaging, recycling and hazardous materials. 

Other examples of ecodesign implementation include the manifold approach taken by Fujitsu. 

This approach includes the development of the ‘super green products’ in 12 product 

categories through a programme of improved eco-efficiency throughout full product life cycles, 

phasing out of specified hazardous substances in Fujitsu-brand products, green procurement 

(e.g. 98.3% of parts procured from companies with an EMS), improved recycling systems 

(e.g. recycling and reuse rate of 88.3% in Japan) and improved environmental management. 

These activities are supported by green assessment evaluations, LCA, the use of recycled 

and bio-based plastics and the application of proprietary ecodesign software [9]. 

5. SUCCESSFULLY IMPLEMENTING ECODESIGN: THE SME EXPERIENCE 

5.1 The SME experience 

Riochem, a Welsh micro-SME, produces the TinyLab, 

an innovative and revolutionary approach to titration 

analysis. Utilising cartridges that contain high grade 

volumetric standard solutions, the TinyLab allows for onsite 

and lab-based titration analysis – even by nonspecialists. 

When the company set up it had no internal 

design capability and therefore sought the assistance and 

support of Design Wales. This helped the company place 

greater structure on the product development process by 

defining roles and responsibilities, developing a design brief 

and identifying long-term product strategies. Riochem 

identified ecodesign as a key strategy for the TinyLab. 

Figure 2: The TinyLab 

5.1.1 Drivers for ecodesign 

Impending environmental legislation brought the commercial benefits of implementing 

ecodesign into focus at an early stage. Riochem was also aware that the market for the 

product would be initially environmental goods and services. This reinforced the benefit of 

including ecodesign alongside criteria such as cost and performance, strengthening the 

company’s own sales and marketing strategy. 

Supply chain pressures were also a key driver. Even though the product was highly 

competitive through market distinction, Riochem had to be aware of likely future changes in 

customer specifications so they would be in a position to capitalise on them. Riochem 

recognised the added-value of implementing ecodesign. 

5.1.2 Barriers to ecodesign 

The main barriers Riochem faced reflect those experienced by most SMEs. These include 

financial and time constraints for exploring multiple design options, pilot investigations and 

R&D. The company also faced a number of product specific barriers in terms of technical 

specifications for materials. The decision to use some off-the-shelf components, although 

offering a number of financial and potential environmental opportunities, placed restrictions on 

the design process. These issues combined with competitiveness and cost considerations 

made it difficult to establish long-term strategic objectives. 



5.1.3 Ecodesign implementation 

Because a full LCA was not possible Riochem approached life cycle thinking through broad 

systems definition and identification of where ecodesign could make a positive intervention to 

improve the environmental performance of the product. Through scenario building a general 

product environmental profile was established. This allowed Riochem to develop an 

awareness of the likely environmental impacts of the TinyLab, leading to management level 

commitment and support for action. 

A number of issues, including WEEE and ROHS compliance, guided the development of the 

ecodesign strategy. This strategy included a number of guidelines such as a reduced material 

mix, ease of disassembly and repair, clear identification of materials, component recyclability 

and the use of lead-free solder. 

Design for disassembly can offer greater 

environmental gains than design for recycling 

as the reuse of the primary product with the 

replacement of components is less resource 

intensive. Having a high quality product that 

facilitates remanufacture, reuse, recycling and 

reprocessing extends the inherent value within 

the product, material and components. While 

extending the value cycle of materials has 

many environmental benefits it also has an 

economic value by reducing reprocessing and 

recycling times. 

Riochem explored the potential of selling the 

product through a combination of eco-services. 

The Product Service System would help to 

reduce the full life cycle environmental burden 

of the product by reducing overall material Figure 3: Primary components 

intensity. Riochem identified the commercial 

opportunity of this and sought to build it into the sales and marketing strategy. This reinforced 

the environmental aspects of the product’s overall sales and marketing strategy. 

It is clear that Riochem faced a number of barriers when developing the TinyLab, which 

resulted in some compromises from an ecodesign perspective. The fragmented approach 

reflects the idiosyncratic nature of product development in SMEs. The experience highlights 

the need for flexible and scaleable ecodesign tools and methodologies. The TinyLab has 

won a number of international awards and is an ecodesign benchmark for the company. For 

more information on this case-study, please refer to [10]. 

6. CONCLUSION 

While legislation remains a key driver for many businesses to improve their environmental 

performance, more forward thinking companies are embedding ecodesign in proactive longterm 

strategies for product innovation. These ecodesign led strategies provide the added 

value of reduced production costs, efficient resource use, competitive advantage through 

potential product differentiation, reduced liability and a reduced regulatory burden. Many of 

the ecodesign methodologies that exist can be integrated into existing product development 

processes. Most ecodesign activity is occurring in larger organisations, but many SMEs are 

rising to the sustainability challenge by implementing ecodesign. To support this process 

there is a need for public sector support alongside the development of flexible, scaleable and 

demand-led ecodesign methodologies. 

7. REFERENCES 

[1] Schischke K et al., (2005) Teaching Material on Environmentally Benign Product Design 

for Small and Medium Enterprises of the Electrical and Electronics Sector, Berlin: Fraunhofer 

IZM, (pp. 6-110) 



[2]UNEP, (2005), Background Report for a UNEP Guide to Life Cycle Management - A bridge 

to sustainable products, Paris, (p. 6) 

[3]Charter M, (2003), Global Watch Mission Report: Eco-design and environmental 

management in the electronics sector in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, London: DTI, (p. 8) 

[4]Nokia, (2005), Integrated Product Policy Pilot Project: Stage 1 Final Report: Life Cycle 

Environmental Issues of Mobile Phones, Finland, (pp. 40-42) 

[5]O’Connor F & O’Rafferty S, (2005), Developing a Welsh Ecodesign Initiative: Stage 1, 

Interim Report, Cardiff, (p. 21) 

[6] Ferrendier S et al., (2002) ECOLIFE Thematic Network Eco-design Guide: 

Environmentally Improved Product Design Case Studies of the European Electrical and 

Electronics Industry, Switzerland, (p. 8) 

[7] British Standards Institute, (2002) PD ISO/TR 14062:2002, Environmental management – 

Integrating environmental aspects into product design and development, London: ISBN 0 580 

40711 X, (p. v) 

[8] Ecma International, (2004) Standard ECMA-341: Environmental design considerations for 

ICT & CE products, Geneva 

[9] Fujitsu Limited, (2005), 2005 Fujitsu Group Sustainability Report, Kanagawa, (pp. 33- 

48) 

[10] O’Rafferty S & O’Connor F, (2006) An ecodesign case study of the award winning 

TinyLab, In: proceedings of the 13 th CIRP International Conference on Life Cycle 

Engineering, Leuven

The Proceedings of - University of Wales Institute Cardiff

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