Design automation (DA) frameworks are often too specialized to be broadly evaluated. This paper proposes the use of deliberately simple, accessible implementations to facilitate the collection of user feedback. The evaluation of a DA framework is demonstrated through the Bike Connector Tool, which automates the design of personalized bicycle accessory connectors. A case study yields valuable insights, including the need for spatial guidance, manual intervention and expanded design options. The results indicate that simple demonstrators can effectively support the evaluation of DA approaches.

The search for effective strategies to support mental well-being has become increasingly pressing in contemporary societies, where stress, anxiety, and cognitive overload are widespread. In this paper, we present a wearable-supported VR system designed to enhance mindfulness through the integration of visual, auditory, and respiratory cues. Drawing on evidence from color therapy, binaural beats, and biofeedback, the system delivers a multisensory environment that supports emotional regulation. We describe the system’s design and discuss its potential to improve technology-mediated well-being.

AM enables the design of compliant mechanisms that encode functions directly into geometry. Existing DfAM frameworks rarely address microscale AM, such as two-photon polymerisation (2PP). We present the design process of an airtight, monolithic bellows structure in rigid 2PP resin that serves both as a sensor and an actuator. Through co-evolution of problem and solution, we identify 2PP-specific design considerations and opportunities, including fabrication uncertainties, cross-scale iteration, and design for post-processing, contributing to a case-based DfAM framework for microscale AM.

In the early design stage of AI systems, designers face the challenge of addressing interdisciplinary needs with technical feasibility. This case study presents learnings from engaging a cross-functional team in the early design of an AI Vision System to support operators in the assembly process of electrical equipment. Our approach has been to embed Human-AI guidelines into boundary objects. The findings indicate that boundary objects helped participants reach common understandings, identify needs, and develop plans to mitigate future problems during the development of the AI system.

Academic tools for sustainable product development often fail to achieve widespread use in industry. Based on a case study of a consultancy firm, this study explores factors that enable consultants to adopt and adapt such tools and act as intermediaries that translate and integrate academic findings into practice. Interviews and a survey revealed that a solid conceptual foundation, clear client value, result visualization, adaptability, and integration with existing workflows are most important, and the study proposes nine lessons learned to guide future tool development and collaboration.

Delving into a case company, this paper provides a practitioner perspective on implementing sustainable product development (SPD). Strategic implementation is achieved when i) tools are integrated at critical stages of product development, ii) awareness and responsibility are spread across the organization and iii) there is cohesiveness between tools sustainability approach and metrics used. While SPD tools are systematically used and help the company in capability building, the current process does not guarantee systematic sustainability improvements, calling for further research.

To bridge capability gaps between designers and artisans that hinder fashion and textile business collaboration and social innovation effects, this study explores how capability-based co-design fosters sustainable partnerships. Based on 20 case studies in China’s textile sector, it connects craft values, product features, and capability-based interactions. The model links this approach to make co-design practical amid skill gaps and enhance social innovation. It offers actionable strategies for balancing co-design methods in skill asymmetric partnerships in cultural and creative industries.

The early stages of NewSpace missions can be in the fuzzy front end because of unclear requirements. This paper explores clearing this design phase through low-fidelity prototyping, using a case study of 23 prototypes organized into five concepts. The goal is to enable post-launch deployment and focus of a modified commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) telescope for an Earth observation hyperspectral imaging satellite mission. A final payload design is developed, and the lessons learned inform the design methodology for the early phases of NewSpace projects.

In order to respond to today’s needs, engineers must be able to develop sustainable and environmentally compatible products and systems. To meet this requirement, new or adapted courses and curricula are needed in the field of engineering. This paper reviews the integration of a modular and scalable course concept for sustainable product development. The multi-institutional case study of 18 implementations across four German universities implies two primary models of use: stand-alone courses for specialisation and integrated modules for dissemination.

This paper introduces negotiation games as a method for staging and structuring collaboration in sustainability-oriented engineering design. Building on the Staging Negotiation Spaces (SNS) framework, it shows how scenarios can be re-staged as rule-based artefacts that provoke dialogue and alignment across organisational roles. Drawing on a case in scenographic production, the study demonstrates how negotiation games enable stakeholders to surface divergent concerns, reframe challenges, and co-evolve problem and solution spaces through situated alignment.

Remanufacturing can be facilitated by design activities considering value creation, preservation, and recovery. Design-related decisions for remanufacturing can affect the performance of business models, but there is a lack of literature to identify these barriers or enablers. Through an analysis of selected remanufacturing cases, an initial step to bridge this gap is provided. Findings highlight the potential of design for remanufacturing for enhanced value creation processes and new service offerings, and present recurrent barriers and enablers to remanufacturing in the cases.

Product configuration systems support customized design in complex engineering. However, as products grow in complexity, the configuration model also grows, making it important to manage these models effectively. Based on industrial case studies, This study shows how companies structure their configuration models and how modularization helps improve flexibility, maintainability, and scalability. The results provide empirical insights and practical guidance for structuring robust configuration models in complex engineering contexts.

Human-Centered Design focuses on individuals who struggle to grasp the relational aspects crucial in designing for care. This proposes a relational framework that visualizes the relational expectation misalignments between stakeholders’ perceptions. We extend the Theory of Planned Behavior to model dyadic care relationships. Expert interviews and autoethnographic analysis evaluated the model. Our findings reveal two layers of misalignments: the model’s ability to describe the structure of conflict and its potential as a reflective tool for stakeholders to resolve conflicts.