Kansei engineering: the implication and applications to product development

Kansei engineering is a powerful ergonomic consumer-oriented technology for a new product development. Kansei is a Japanese word of psychological feeling or image which a consumer will have in mind when purchasing some thing. For instance, the customer has such kinds of kansei of “speedy, easy control and good styling” for a passenger car. Kansei engineering is able to transfer these “kansei” to the design field. Kansei engineering is defined as “translating technology of the customer” feeling (kansei) about a coming product into design elements. Kansei engineering has been applied to industries of automobile, construction machine, home electric appliance, housing, costume, etc. It has been adopted in Japan, Korea, England, Sweden, and the Netherlands