Eliciting User Perceptions Using Assessment Tests Based on an Interactive Genetic Algorithm

To avoid failures in the marketplace, the control of the risks in product innovation and the reduction of the innovation cycles require fast and valid assessments from customers. An interactive genetic algorithm (IGA) is proposed for eliciting users' perceptions about the shape of a product, in order to stimulate creativity and to identify design trends. Interactive users' assessment tests are conducted on virtual products to capture and analyze users' responses. The IGA is interfaced with Computer Aided Design (CAD) software (CATIA V5) to create sets of parameterized designs in real time, which are presented iteratively by a graphical interface to the users for evaluation. After a description of the IGA, a study on the convergence of the IGA is presented. The convergence varies, according to the tuning parameters of the algorithm and the size of the design problem. An experiment was carried out with a set of 45 users on the application case, a dashboard, put forward by Renault. The implementation of the perceptive tests and the analysis of the results are described using hierarchical ascendant classification (HAC) and multivariate analysis. This paper shows how the results of tests using IGA can be used to elicit user perception and to detect design trends.