Supporting technology-enabled design education and practices by DFuzzy decision model: applications of cultural and creative product design

• DOI: 10.1007/s10798-021-09681-7
• Publication Date: 2021-06-17T14:03:59Z
• Authors: Sung-Lin Hsueh; Bin Zhou; Yu-Lung Chen; Min-Ren Yan
• Keywords: Fuzzy logic; Cultural added value; 9. Industry and infrastructure; Decision science; Design thinking; 11. Sustainability; Delphi method; 0202 electrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineering; 02 engineering and technology; Cultural and creative industry; Decision support

Cultural and creative products are incredibly diverse that difficult to mass-produce and fail to meet market demands. The unique characteristics and the cultural and sales value of cultural and creative products must be highlighted through the application of multifunctional design. As a scientific approach, the Delphi method and fuzzy logic theory were applied to create a multiattribute DFuzzy decision model for cultural and creative product design. This model is intended to enable objective, quantitative auxiliary decision evaluation for product design, providing a reference for optimization of commodity production. Fuzzy logic is one of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies and quantifies the fuzzy semantics of human languages. The Delphi method enables group decision-making among experts, thus contributing to the scientific and objective nature of the DFuzzy model. The 16 Delphi experts invited to participate in this study were the chief executive officers in the cultural and creative industry, local cultural management commissioners, and domain knowledge professors, all of whom had at least 12 years of experience in cultural and creative industry development. The experts reached a consensus regarding 19 preliminary criteria identified through a three-round Delphi process. The four criteria suitable for the DFuzzy model were determined to be cultural images, innovation and creativity, customer demand, and city charm. The model was then applied to evaluate three cases, a multifunctional scale ruler, a toy robot, and an agricultural specialty product. Another consensus was then reached by the experts through a two-round Delphi process, and the four criteria were validated. Thus, the objective quantitative calculation function of the DFuzzy model was confirmed along with its applicability for auxiliary decision-making in cultural and creative product design and education.