The design methodology, especially the product design oriented, has been subject to a multitude of studies from different approaches in order to determine a coherent, global and systematic structuring of the design stages.
However, traditionally these design methods are limited to proposals of techniques and analysis tools based, in many cases, on the experiences acquired by the personal praxis of the engineers or designers, or in contrast, of theoretical academic models of scarce practical application. .
The absence of a generalized, structured and orderly method favors some possible deficiencies in the practice of the discipline of design such as the poor traceability between the initial requirements and the final attributes of the product, the lack of rigor in the design procedures, the disinformation in the decision-making or the omission of relevant aspects, especially in complex issues, such as the one presented here, constipation.
This thesis collects the research carried out on the modeling and design of a product from a holistic and integrating perspective -as it is the systemic- providing a sequenced work space that helps the designer to undertake the optimal development of the activity of the design, as far as the product is concerned. By means of the study of a case the development of the investigation on the implementation of such methodological frame is arranged, as much in the questions of abstract and conceptual nature as in the concrete ones and of detail, allowing this way the systematization of the processes of design.
The proposed case study is a therapeutic assistance device for helping reduction of idiopathic chronic or functional constipation. The purpose of this device is to address the functional pathophysiology of this condition by providing a functional-mechanical solution in the palliation of symptoms and, thereby, increase the quality of life of users, in addition to reducing the likelihood of suffering complications of greater severity.
For all these reasons, the main objective was to design an abdominal-intestinal assistance device to help reduce idiopathic functional constipation through the application of systemic methodology. Therefore, it is proposed the conception of a multifactorial study scenario capable of contemplating the product as a multivariable system and, in addition, allowing to carry out the development approach and the achievement of all the necessary stages and phases that the concurrent design proposes up to the achievement of the final product.
The methodology used in the research has a theoretical and qualitative character in the descriptive and exploratory stages of knowledge extraction and conceptual modeling of the subject; and a quantitative and experimental character in the stages of longitudinal application and analysis of the product system.
In the first place and due to the complexity of the subject matter, the conception of a theoretical framework was necessary through the collection of useful information thrown out by the exploratory research of the related literature. In it, different specialties were considered in the field of medicine, to know the magnitude of this condition under different approaches. As well as, the consideration of different types of sources related to engineering and the world of design, especially, product design and systemic.
The qualitative application of the different systemic techniques and tools, especially the goal oriented systemic model of product by Hernandis (2000), was used in the construction of the study scenario -proposing the established theme as the interrelation of the systems that comprise it-, with the identification of the intervening agents (variables and parameters), as well as in the contribution of the sequence of logical structuring of the design processes.
On the other hand, the Systems Dynamics was used for the identification and determination of the different behaviors of the variables that includes the system under study, as well as for the formalization and quantitative expression of the functions that they present.
We used demographic studies of potential users on the attributes and / or design characteristics of the proposed device for the collection of information on the system to be modeled. With the obtained data, a factorial study of the Principal Components (PCA) was carried out to identify the fundamental factors in which the proposed attributes are grouped and justify, in this way, their level of importance and participation in the modeling of the product. The opinion of experts in different areas of medicine and design (including systemic design) was considered to compare the data obtained from the factorial study, the pertinence of the research, the approach used and the hypotheses formulated.
The different theoretical, structural, formal and functional studies are part of the concurrent design methods that together with the Hernandis product model, not only served to achieve the design processes, but also as assessment and constant verification tools, both the model and the process of modeling the product system.
As a result of the research, the systemic model for an abdominal-intestinal assistance product, such as the one proposed, the intervening agents and the relationships between them were obtained in the first instance. In addition, three-dimensional geometric models representing each of the fundamental aspects were obtained through the study of the volumes of use, surfaces of use and boundary limits, as well as the geometric design space which represents all the possible configurations of the proposed product system.
The fundamental design requirements for this type of product were extracted from the literature and corroborated through the study of the opinion of the potential users, as well as the Principal Components Analysis that comprise them, validating in this way the hypothesis of a factorial regrouping as the proposal. From the contribution of the different techniques and tools used during the modeling, the specifications conceptual and technical requirements for the correct development of the design and, as such, resulted in the materialization of a proposal in the form of a possible design solution.
In addition, regarding the statistical results, a view was obtained of the profiles of the potential users and the demands that these as groups of consumers differ among them. It highlights the categorization of four population groups of greater interest such as women and men of middle age, young people under thirty and those over fifty. It was observed that middle-aged women emphasize the pragmatic qualities of use (space, effort and time), while men give greater importance to energy saving, sophistication and personalization. Among the antagonistic groups of young and old there is a common concern for supervised use and in health centers.
It is concluded that the integration of the different methods used, from the initial systemic approach with the construction of the scenario to the final resolution of the detail design, have a great affinity and complementarity between them, as well as a high suitability in the approach of each one of the different approaches proposed. For each stage or design process, where the particular study of the related aspects is required, there is an acolyte method that allows and facilitates its approach. The implementation of these techniques to the design process shows the flexibility and inclusiveness that the systemic methodology presents in all its areas of action, including product design. Additionally, it can be said that the exhaustive application of all the methods used sequentially provides a high degree of innovation and traceability both in the modeling of the system and in the design of the product.
Another noteworthy point is the use of statistical techniques applied to design as research epistemological tools, which have proved to be extremely important in the contribution of objectivity and rigor to a discipline, such as industrial design, which traditionally appeals to a greater subjectivity and personal inspiration and not to empiricism and the demonstration of the scientific method.