SEME Design Methodology for Nostalgic Design
SEME Design Theory for Nostalgic Design
A thesis submitted to
the Graduate School
of the University of Cincinnati
in partial fulfillment of
the requirements for the degree of
Master of Design
In the School of Design
of the College of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning by
Yutong Wu
Bachelor of Science
The Ohio State University
September 2015
Committee Chair: Craig M. Vogel, M.A.
Committee Member: Gerald Michaud, M.A. Abstract
Utilizing my multicultural background associated with Japan, China and Switzerland and my professional design education in the United State, SEME (Sensation, Emotion, Memory,
Evidence) was developed as a design theory to interpret nostalgic needs and personal experiences and translate them into physical and philosophical quality within the product being designed. Three SEME based projects were conducted among automotive enthusiasts to explore the effectiveness of SEME design theory. The results proved the capability of SEME to bring significant enrichments in design quality and satisfaction in user experience.
Keywords: Product Design, Nostalgic Design, Multi-Cultural, Human Emotion, Automotive
Enthusiasm, JDM, Car Modification, User-Centered Research
ii
iii Acknowledgement
First, I would like to thank my thesis chair Craig Vogel, the Associate Dean of DAAP,
University of Cincinnati for providing insightful suggestions during the development of SEME
Design Theory and overseeing the writing quality of the final paper.
I would also like to thank DAAP faculty Gerald Michaud and Peter Chamberlain for their active participation in the ideation, research, interview and literature review sessions of SEME Design
Theory. Their passion and interests in craftsmanship and automotive history contributed greatly to the remarkable results of the SEME Design Theory.
As a thesis deeply rooted from automotive enthusiasm, the outstanding results of the SEME
Design Theory and SEME design projects could not be achieved without hundreds of car enthusiasts who participated during the research and concept development process. It would be my honor to apply the SEME Design Theory in the future to bring them meaningful products as my appreciation of their delightful input.
Finally, I must express my very profound gratitude to my parents and to my girlfriend for providing me with unfailing support and continuous encouragement throughout my years of study and through the process of researching and writing this thesis. This accomplishment would not have been possible without them. Thank you.
Author
Yutong Wu
iv Table of Contents
Abstract ...... ii
Acknowledgement ...... iv
Inspiration ...... 1
Introduction of SEME ...... 6 1. Emotional power of vintage/nostalgic products...... 9 2. The importance of culture heritage in newer products ...... 14 3. Limitation on the implementation of digital technology ...... 17 4. One-on-one human centered design ...... 20 5. Originality of products in the global market ...... 22 6. Mass production for one ...... 24
SEME Based Projects- Proof of SEME Design Theory ...... 26 Project 1 Mercedes W196 Streamliner Retro Racer Concept ...... 27 Project 2 Golden90s - A Vector Art Project for Japanese Car Enthusiasts ...... 31 Project 3 Aftermarket Steering Wheel for Rey’s 1976 Toyota Celica GT ...... 33
Conclusion ...... 38
Bibliography ...... 42
Appendix ...... 46 Sample Research Questionnaire For SEME Design Project First Round Interview: ...... 46 Sample Research Questionnaire For SEME Design Project Second Round Interview: ...... 48
v vi © 2018 YUTONG WU. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
vii Inspiration
I was raised in a family which exposed me to multicultural contexts and experiences. My father and mother were interpreters and their need for travel allowed me the opportunity to explore and learn from cultures and lifestyles in Japan, China and Switzerland. In Ofuna Japan, I had my initial exposure to automotive and racing and it is also the reason for my strong nostalgia in classic cars and car modifications. As I grew up and started to pursue my higher degree in design in the United States, I had great opportunities talking to car enthusiasts who were also greatly intrigued by Japanese car cultures from the 1990s. By engaging these people not only as a classic car enthusiast myself but also as a product designer, I was able to identify a need in nostalgia within this community that is related to Japanese automotive and consumer products produced between 1970s and 1990s.
In 1994, my father started a job as an interpreter in Ofuna, Japan. I traveled along and stayed there for roughly four years until I had to travel back to China for education. In my opinion, this small city shaped my view of the world and provided me with the very early impression of living in many perspectives such as dining, transportation, social and etiquette.
During this pre-school period in Ofuna, I spent a lot of time in manga and toys. Japanese manga offered a considerable amount of line drawings on human figures, landscapes and even sci-fi creations; The Ultraman TV series introduced me the superhero among Japanese children of my generation; The toys I received including Tamiya Dash Mini 4WD and other military scale models all required certain level of time and handcraft to build and enjoy. These all together contributed to the later development of my design capability and the comprehensive understanding on the cultural influence on product design.
Figure 1 Ultraman TV Series Figure 2 Japanese Manga
Figure 3 TAMIYA DASH MINI 4WD Series Figure 4 TAMIYA Military Model Kit
My enthusiasm in cars started with my father’s commuter. He was able to obtain a Nissan
“Sileighty”, which the name of car was a combination of “Silvia” and “180”. The Nissan Silvia and 180SX were two variations built on the same Nissan S chassis but with slightly different body styles. Replacing the original flip-up headlight design on the 180SX with Silvia’s fixed headlights was a common swap to be found among Japanese car enthusiasts at the time. My father would take me with him in the Sileighty to the mountain roads around Ofuna to spectate the drifting events held by local street racers at night. In just a short amount of time, these modified sports cars became my biggest interest of my entire childhood. As one of the most
2 iconic examples of the 1990s Japanese car modification culture, this particular Sileighty served as our family car but also influenced my understanding in cars and modifications after attending local drifting events and gatherings in the car.
Figure 5 Nissan “Sileighty” Figure 6 Nissan 180SX Figure 7 Nissan Silvia
In 2001, my father resigned from the job in Ofuna and took me back to Shanghai, China for formal education. I joined the primary school at the middle of the course and felt great contradiction between the two cultures. I had to adapt to the new environment as quickly as I can due to pressure from China’s highly competitive education system. I barely had time outside of school and only watched two Japanese anime series for entertainment during my entire study in
China. They were Initial D and Evangelion. Both were considered to be the masterpiece of
Japanese anime that actually inspired my generation in many different ways and brought positive influence on the way we lived.
Figure 8 InitialD Manga Figure 9 Evangelion Animation Series
3 During the mid of my stay in China, I also traveled with my parents to Switzerland for roughly a year. We stayed in Luzern, which was a city famous for its Kapellbrücke bridge and
Pilatus mountain. Comparing to the Asian cultures, the stay in Switzerland introduced me to a lifestyle that is significantly more natural and relaxing, and deeply rooted in its own history while Japan and China both presents fast-forwarding lifestyles that were more materialistic, radical and future-focused.
My experiences and knowledge under multicultural influences widened my view of the world and served me well for my design study in the US from 2010. As soon as I started my pursuit in Master of Design degree and looked at product design from a more philosophical perspective, my earlier experiences also comparatively allowed me to approach problems from a variety of approaches with more nostalgic values added to the equation comparing to those who were raised with a single culture background. As of today, I still consider Japanese culture being the most important over the rest since it was the very first culture I encountered at the ideal age to learn and explore. More importantly, I was able to find the most agreements in design from the Japanese culture. The influence was so powerful that I acquired a 1985 Toyota AE86 same as the one from Initial D and made the commitment to restore and maintain this car and used this
30-year-old car as my commuter car on a daily base. In my opinion, this car is a strong evidence of my nostalgia in early Japanese sports cars as it carries certain aesthetics, functions and memories around my childhood. It is meaningful and in fact satisfying for me and many other car enthusiasts alike to intentionally obtain certain products from our early lives and keep them as the evidence as well as the motivations for our unique lifestyles today.
By constantly engaging car enthusiasts and in the United States who also found great satisfaction in obtaining vintage Japanese cars and other consumer products from the 1990s, I
4 could see a need in nostalgia that is worth to be interpreted and utilized to design products and experience to fulfill their unique nostalgic needs. Designing for people with nostalgic needs would also help to retain the culture and make them more available and accessible for potentially larger audience. In addition, these car enthusiasts presented a unique type of stakeholders with strongest passions and I am interested in experimenting different design research strategies to extract information more efficiently and precisely from nostalgia.
5 Introduction of SEME
The act of design could be defined in Chinese word “感动”. “感” means “emotionally sensed” and “动” means “physically motivated”. Together, “感动” means “heart-touching”.
SEME design theory is the exact self-reflection of this design philosophy. It was developed to emphasize the qualitative aspect of the research and design process. In the relationship of design, engineering and marketing, SEME advocates a higher input from design aspect to generate products that establish more meaningful connections with our humanity.
SEME is developed as a theory that can be practically applied to many current research and design process. SEME specifically focuses on nostalgia and it was built based on the conversations and interviews I conducted among car enthusiasts in the past few years in search of their nostalgic needs toward Japanese automotive and consumer products produced in the
1990s. SEME stands for Sensation, Emotion, Memory and Evidence. Sensation, emotion and memory are the three stages we experience when our nostalgic emotion is triggered. Evidence, however, is the quality that is often missing for those who would like to find a rational explanation of the situation or simply demand a tangible object that pacifies their strong nostalgic emotions. After meeting other automotive enthusiasts through car meets and competitive driving events, I realized it is meaningful to design highly personalized products that would represent very specific and personal stories to celebrate one’s nostalgia.
The goal of the SEME theory in general is to create the tangible evidence based on someone’s personal experience and express such evidence in the form of nostalgic products that answers truthfully to certain quality he/she desired from the past. SEME theory is an exploration
6 aiming to strengthen the value of design and research from an in-depth and qualitative perspective.
SEME design theory evokes designers to approach people in a more casual and relaxed manner during interviews, enabling a comfortable environment for more natural reaction and expression. Instead of taking note on site, the research databases were built based on high definition audio and video footages. Therefore, the later design process can be based on not only the notes from the person’s opinion but also a more objective evidence collected around the person and the object of interests.
My conversations and interviews took place in different locations and scenarios. The research inputs were received from car enthusiasts from across the country and the data was collected during both street gatherings and formal car show events. My early access to modified car scenes in the US was from Cars and Coffee in Columbus Ohio. Cars and Coffee is a weekend casual event that allows car enthusiasts to be socially interactive and share experiences and knowledges about cars and modifications. Events like Cars and Coffee spontaneously held by car enthusiasts can be found highly active particularly in major cities such as Los Angeles, Atlanta
Columbus and Boston. These events are greatly appreciated by car enthusiasts as they made it possible for everyone to get inspiration from all types of cars and modifications showed up on the events. I later participated in several autocross events, track days and national car shows such as SEMA to achieve a more comprehensive and deeper understanding on the demands in car modifications. I was able to compare the demands with actual offering available on the market and the result indicated an amateur market with a large amount of opportunities as well as problems.
7 Within the car modification culture in the US, JDM (Japanese Domestic Market) is one of the strongest branch and it represents a trend to acquire parts or entire cars made for Japanese domestic market. I found out during my interviews that these car enthusiasts showed great appreciation to Japanese automotive manufactured from 1990s to early 2000s and the modification cultures built around these cars. According to the 25-year rule by the US government which states that qualified cars that were not intended for the US market can be legally imported 25 years after their manufactured date, many legendary Japanese sports cars from the late 1990s will become available for import in the following years. Unfortunately, many found the process of import to be frustrating and expensive- many local vehicle department refused to process the registration and inspection on these imported vehicles. (U.S. Customs and
Border Protection, 2018) Modifying US version and installed pieces and bits from the JDM version is still the major JDM modification trend in the US. Even though, the research findings indicated that these JDM car enthusiasts in the US are facing difficulties to source and acquire authentic parts they desired. Most JDM car enthusiasts between the age of 20-30 recalled similar experiences about their earlier access to products and sports cars made in Japan from that specific period. They also mentioned that the amount of mechanical beauty and fun in products from Japan in 1990s was significantly higher due to the level of involvement and attention required. They see owning an older model of Japanese cars being part of a nostalgic lifestyle that retains their memories about Japanese products from the 1990s and the older fashion of living which things had more analog beauty and quality over digital interfaces. Due to the limited access to JDM parts, it is difficult and expensive for these enthusiasts to find parts and accessories that would accommodate their unique preferences. For example, an authentic steering wheel for a 1986 Toyota can cost over 1000 dollars plus a month of shipping time. At
8 this point many Japanese car enthusiasts may look for alternatives that are more accessible to the
US market. However, research findings indicated that most of these alternative resources do not serve their needs well as they are more profit-focused and lack of an understanding in the heritage and meaning of the authentic parts.
Japanese car enthusiasts in the US deserve a better way to acquire parts and accessories that not only offer the function and aesthetics inspired by the Japanese sports car heritage from the 1990s but also connects their personal nostalgic emotions with this culture in a unique and personalized manner. With my multicultural background and comprehensive research insights on the current situation, I decided to start designing for JDM car enthusiasts in the US with the
SEME design theory. The advantages of using SEME theory as an approach to interprets car enthusiasts’ nostalgia can be categorized in six major aspects. With minor adjustments, SEME theory is applicable in other nostalgic design fields. In general, SEME design theory attempts bring optimization in the six major aspects of design, evoking better understanding and awareness by giving more credit and respect to the unique experiences and stories that had now became our needs in nostalgic.
The following section is a discussion on the six major aspects with actual case studies that demonstrate how SEME theory can increase the value during the design process utilizing our nostalgia in products.
1. Emotional power of vintage/nostalgic products
Being a Japanese car enthusiast myself who is constantly engaging car enthusiasts especially the JDM modification enthusiasts in the US, I had great opportunities to be a spectator and drive others’ treasured cars while also listening and experiencing their stories from my
9 perspective as a designer. From there, I realized that the needs in vintage and retro products presented a market that could be greatly benefited by designers who can interpret these needs to create nostalgic products accordingly. Nostalgia has more values in certain products than the others. Automotive industry happened to be one of the most typical fields for nostalgia to take place due to the span of its history and the intricate relationship it had with our everyday lives.
In fact, car enthusiasts’ nostalgia extends way beyond just cars and it could be expressed in different ways on a single person. It is not hard to see a pattern on how different products interrelated to each other and resulted in memories and experiences that influenced on car enthusiast’s life. Jacob is a guitar player in his band specialized in alternative and independent rock. The two things that according to him had the most significant influences during his earlier life were American rock and Japanese manga. The mix of these two completely different cultures explained why he would play rock at Cincinnati’s local bars with mostly domestic audience but drives a self-imported 1986 Toyota Sprinter Levin that was popular for its appearance in the
Japanese anime named Initial D but was never available for the US automotive market. In his free time, Jacob loves to surround himself with Terra Firma VHS videos of dirt bikes, and the same 1980s and 1990s music his parents used to play during their road trips in the early years.
Jacob particularly mentioned about his memory with Sony PlayStation One console and an exclusive racing simulation game named Gran Turismo. Interestingly, such topics would cause instant resonances among car enthusiasts around and others seemed to have their similar but personal experiences to share around these products. It is worth mention that during these conversations, people regrettably mentioned how some of the old things have disappeared and went missing but still recalling their best memories every time they were mentioned. These frequently mentioned products ranged from collective cards to 35mm film cameras, from
10 domestically produced analog toys to Japan-imported game consoles. Each of these products offered very unique experience for these individuals, happening under different cultures, backgrounds and time periods. Research findings suggested that many people tried to look for things they once owned in the past and tended to organize them into some kind of private collections that they seldom talked about. The collections of such could be a set of vintage bills or coins, tickets or receipts from places of interests or simply an album of photography of someone’s life. However, there are other types of collections for the need of nostalgia that does not require the actual vintage materials. For example, someone built a complete set of American president limos in scale to celebrate his nostalgia of sitting with his family and watching these special vehicles attending national events on the TV screen. Later during the research, I found out that people show greater interests in modern products that inherit their nostalgia source but offer actual functions and applications that enrich their daily activities.
“It is very hard to describe the satisfaction you get when you get a thumb-up from someone who knows what you are driving. Especially when I meet someone like you who drives the same car!” Jacob once said to me during a local Toyota car meet. I cannot agree more with
Jacob and I think this is a perfect example to demonstrate how powerful and valuable the relationships between car enthusiasts could be. First of all, it is uncommon for two people who were raised in different region and cultural background to meet each other and realize that they were intrigued by the same Japanese anime which had actual influences on their life decisions.
Secondly, it is even more difficult for these two individuals to make access to the same car models produced in the 1980s only for the Japanese domestic market and restore them to a point that both cars became well-known among local car enthusiasts. Last but not least, Jacob and I decided to pass along our interests and love in nostalgic products in different approaches- music
11 in Jacob’s case and product design in mine. Car enthusiasts like us could always develop unique friendships between each other because of the acquiescent agreement on the interests of nostalgia and a strong connection we were able to find between our past and future. Getting to know each other helped us to realize how much we value from the past and what are some unique ways to express our passion on nostalgia.
Unfortunately, most design methodologies do not focus much on these specific needs and they are often inefficient to generate valuable insights when attempt to understand human memories and emotions. Nor many products nowadays could help us to celebrate the memories we once valued. For designers who see incremental values in the earlier products and methods of doing things, we need to take the responsibility to retain and even renovate these products and methods and allow them to compete on the modern markets, offering products that are refreshing and with more nostalgic values.
Figure 10 IMPOSSIBLE Film Products & T-1 Camera
When Polaroid stopped producing films for their instant cameras in 2008, Impossible
Project was founded by Florian Kaps, André Bosman and Marwan Saba who attended Polaroid’s
12 factory closing event and decided to continue producing films applicable for Polaroid instant cameras. (Wikipedia, 2018) The production goals were achieved by leasing Polaroid’s remaining facilities at different locations around the world. Since the project’s mass production and sale in
2010, they generated USD 270,000 in profit on USD4 million in revenue and sold 500,000+ units to vintage Polaroid users around the world. (Wikipedia, 2018) Impossible Project made it possible for those who loved instant cameras to keep creating photographs and artworks even though the original production went off. It would not be that amazing if Impossible Project stopped at just offering alternative films for Polaroid camera enthusiasts. In 2016, Impossible
Project contracted with Teenage Engineering to develop its own instant camera named I-1, which gave a new birth to instant film cameras and redefined the meaning of these “old-fashioned” products in a modern scenario, supported by several lifestyles that adore the uniqueness of instant film cameras. As of now, Impossible Project’s largest shareholder acquired Polaroid’s brand and intellectual property and renamed the business as Polaroid Originals. (Wikipedia,
2018)
The success of Impossible Project is a great example of how people’s nostalgic hobbies and vintage needs will reward those who respect such needs and see where the opportunity lies.
More brands are realizing the value of nostalgic products and many startups were established just based on nostalgia. They offer innovative products and services yet with strong old school and flashback accents. I found them to be particularly meaningful because they serve people’s needs as regular products available in the red ocean market, but also actively advocating the revival of classics and analogs as nostalgic products in the blue ocean market. SEME theory is ideal for designers to bring such value shifts to products and services which people show great nostalgic interests as it approaches product design by deeply understanding the reason of nostalgia.
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2. The importance of culture heritage in newer products
In 1986, Porsche management level attempted to make strategic changes regarding
Porsche’s design and engineer directions in the future. This includes a proposal suggesting that
Porsche vehicles should following the trend of newer engine/chassis layout to become more practical and cost efficient. Porsche designer Helmuth Bott at the time denied such proposal and insisted to design Porsche sports car with the engine placement in the rear. Knowing that he had to work against the decision from higher levels yet with limited support from his team, Helmuth still dedicated himself to the development of the Porsche 959, which represents his future vision of what a Porsche sports car should be. Instead of adapting what is believed to be the future efficiency of automotive at that time, the Porsche 959 used the traditional rear engine placement, a four-wheel drive system and a highly advanced aerodynamic design. The 959 became the fastest production car at the time and its design philosophy made directly influence the decisions among Porsche executives on future 911 vehicles. This highly capable performance car quickly drew attention from the media and became one of the most desirable vehicles for collectors due to its scarcity and its value to the new age Porsche sports cars. In fact, if Helmuth did not design the Porsche 959 to shy a light on the what in his mind to be the spirit of Porsche, Porsche probably would never meet today’s success with its new age 911 sports cars. Helmuth saw the value of Porsche’s heritage in racing and stayed faithful to what he believed to be Porsche’s philosophy of sports cars. (Perkins, 2018)
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Figure 11 1986 Porsche 959
Porsche’s philosophy could be found on other products under its brand name. Porsche
Timepiece is one of the most favorable watch brands for car enthusiasts and collectors. A product that was carefully chosen by someone would reflect this individual’s preference of living in many ways and Porsche Timepiece is no exception. (Heaton. 2012) For example, a racecar driver who manages time in splits of a second would usually prefer a racing-oriented watch for daily use that inherit racing experience throughout its aesthetics and engineering features. As a matter of fact, for a racing inspired watch such as Porsche Timepieces to satisfy such needs, the decisions on texture, face layout and desired functions have to be carefully made to prioritize the watch’s capability to display time in the most accurate and intuitive way while also reflecting its heritage in Porsche’s Autosport history. In order to achieve the desired quality, parts made with high end materials such as carbon fiber and swiss made titanium are put together through
15 premium manufacturing process to create the most durable yet elegant structures for Porsche
Timepieces.
Figure 12 Porsche Timepiece Watch Series
Porsche’s Timepieces are mostly own by those who found great values in Porsche and its deep roots in Autosport. As of today, Porsche Timepieces are widely appreciated as a way to showcase car enthusiasts’ passion in form of wearable fashion. Throughout the extraordinary design and the highest standard of craftsmanship which all sincerely communicating Porsche’s philosophy of time through its racing history, Porsche was able to claim its place in the world of watches from the perspective of an automaker.
Porsche is at an ideal position to succeed outside of its original discipline because their racing-oriented vehicle and Timepiece both represents Porsche’s vision in the philosophy of racing, time and product quality, but just from different perspectives. For enthusiasts and consumers, Porsche’s Timepieces along with other automotive inspired offerings under the name of Porsche Design made it more accessible for them to learn, experience and obtain Porsche’s quality designs in different forms.
A successful brand often has values and meanings resulted by the heritage of its own history. SEME theory approaches people who perceive and appreciate these values and
16 meanings. Therefore, the design insights generated under the influence of SEME theory can interpret the value of a brand accurately by understand its users in terms of not just feedbacks and comments but also emotions, feelings and valued experiences.
3. Limitation on the implementation of digital technology
Digital technology has had a significant impact on today’s products and services. These technology-driven products are reshaping the way we live our daily lives. Many believes that technologies can bring convenience and lighten the workload in different ways to allow human to focus on things that truly matter. However, many people have doubts in where technology is taking us. There are concerns around digital technologies such as its implementation scales and ethics. For example, digital technologies such as implant chip that requires human body modification is under a constant debate and some people see it to fully embrace the connectivity, but others see it as an invasion of privacy and humanity. (Swain, 2014) In the education system, digital technologies are often being portrayed as the universal solution to all types of design problems. Among students, terms such as AR, VR and Holographic are being used excessively without proper understanding of their technical difficulties, limitations and potential risks of implementation.
On the battleground which digital technologies are trying to take over all the territories, it is obvious that some of the implementations of digital technology are found to be inappropriate and less preferred by the users. For example, digital UI is facing difficulties to overtake the use of analog controllers due to its imprecise control and unnatural feedback. DJI is so far the largest manufacturer and retailer of consumer drones. As a company established on digital technologies, even DJI could not figure out a digital UI that can outperform the analog controller. After
17 attempting multiple ways of control signal input including touchscreens, AR headsets and body gesture recognition, customers still preferred the traditional controllers with mechanical input.
Additionally, these alternative control signal inputs malfunctions from time to time, which made it dangerous to fly these drones due to its unpredictability and potential to crash. The amount of time and effort needed to adapt digital technologies can sometimes be confusing and unreasonable to the users. In DJI’s case, digital technology for aircraft controls altered the physics of how we normally interact with the surroundings and made it rather difficult for regular users to understand and get used to. (Zhihu 2017)
Figure 13 Concept Rendering of AR/VR Application
From the aspect of intellectual productions, digital technologies also cause concerns.
Autodesk in recent years started to push the idea of generative design, which the computer can utilize faster processors available today to generate a large quantity of scientifically feasible and reliable iterations based on the specifications and restrictions provided by designers and engineers, in just a very short amount of time. (Autodesk, n.d.)
18 Figure 14 Parts Created with Generative Design
From one hand, this is indeed a technology that would help to accelerate the process of making structurally more reliable and efficient parts and products. On the other hand, there is very little space left for people’s nostalgic needs and emotional properties to live within the object being generated, unless designers could find a way to introduce such aspect to the generative design process that was meant to be more focused on shortening development cycles and optimizing manufacturing costs. In contrast, traditional workspaces with tools and equipment that need to be manually operated would allow more space and time for designers to work with their ideas in a more human manner. Someone within the car enthusiast community also said that “emotional attachments to cars are born from cars having innate imperfections.”
(Petrolicious, 2017) We as human beings always take steps to bring! improvements to our living environments and we would feel happy for the positive changes we made and feel upset for unexpected consequences. However, a perfect creation from a computer or an AI allow very little space for such emotional attachments to take place since we could no longer find reasons for improvements since everything functions flawlessly.
Implementation of digital technology for only marketing purposes is not preferred under the SEME theory. SEME theory understand that imperfections in products are sometimes the keys to excitements and unique experiences. Therefore, SEME theory can help us to reserve the
19 tolerance in products for imperfections and potential improvements and retain the space for any emotional attachments users could potentially development during the use of the products.
4. One-on-one human centered design
Today’s product design process often requires interview findings and market researches to be presented in the form of bullet points and guidelines. The further the design development goes, the less directly connections exist between the concept and each individual interviewed previously for insights. However, some people approached this process differently and they can be found mostly in the personal customization business.
Akira Nakai with his RAUH-Welt Begriff (RWB) Porsche modification business is referred by his followers as “One Man’s World” and “One Man’s Company”. Nakai San lived his younger life as a street racer in Japan until he decided to put his passion into business. He carries a strong nostalgia in earlier Porsche sports cars with air-cooled engines and his RWB business is specialized in manually install wide body kits for these classic Porsches. Akira Nakai explained that he is doing this just for self-satisfaction. (ReinART Design, 2015) Interestingly,
Akira Nakai’s personal hobby drew excessively attention from car modification enthusiasts from all over the world and it turned into a very successful business quickly. Akira Nakai would fly to his clients in person and finish the project by himself at the facility provided by the client. His dedication in manual tools and craftsmanship during the installation quickly became well-known and it attracts local enthusiasts and social media to spectate his performance and compose the entire process into video documentaries published on the internet. He earned his reputation and started to expand his business in a global scale in the recent years. However, even with the large number of modification requests, he insisted to fly to every single one of his clients to perform
20 the modification in person. According to several documentary videos, Akira Nakai would spend several hours with his clients and go over details on the clients’ driving styles, suspension preferences and other personalized expectations before he proceeds to the modification process.
Akira Nakai mentioned in the interview that what is more valuable than the business itself is to get to know his clients in person and bring together the people who share the same passion in cars. During a Porsche build in Atlanta, Akira Nakai’s client stated that his work was a piece of art and he felt honored to invest in such great experiences with the world’s one out of one car builder who design, fabricate and install parts all by himself. Akira Nakai’s work has a magic that draws more attention from his clients to himself and his ultimate craftsmanship rather than the car. (May. 2015) The modified Porsche however, became a souvenir of the outstanding experience spectating the process of Akira Nakai creating automotive arts with his extremely powerful personality.
Figure 15 Akira Nakai's with an RWB Porsche Figure 16 Akira Nakai’s Hand Tools
A one-on-one relationship between a designer and a client like what RWB has is uncommon in business but it has been proved to be efficient and powerful to achieve a rewarding outcome for those people who dedicate to provide highly personalized services. Understanding one individual’s specific needs and assigning suitable strategies to achieve a unique outcome
21 would truly allow a designer to concentrate on the design itself with no energy being wasted in optimizing the design for general users. For the client, receiving something that is made specific to his/her taste usually results in great satisfaction and appreciation to the entire experience. The businesses like RWB that truly put clients’ need at the first place and engage clients’ expectations with outstanding work quality also gain reputation and attract interests more significantly during the operations.
SEME theory was developed based on a one-on-one relationship between me as a designer and several car enthusiasts I interviewed. With no need of quantitative research, SEME theory is very ideal for designers to approach the individual and develop a closer relationship for a deep dive into this individual’s story. It is also much easier to establish a casual environment which the interviewees would feel more relaxed and comfortable to share their minds.
5. Originality of products in the global market
The global market brings the benefit for countries like the USA to import certain goods directly from Asia or sign the contract with Asian factories to have domestically designed products to be manufactured in large number with a low cost. (Boute & Mieghem, 2017)
Another growing trend is to rebrand Chinese made products and distribute them in the US with a new brand name and companies that are doing so chose to provide very limited information regarding their manufacturing resources. The payback to the convenience of improving profitability is the loss of identity and originality of products. The communication barrier and culture difference make it hard for factories to understand what the exact identity the product should carry. Aftermarket steering wheel is a common modification product for car enthusiasts in the USA. An aftermarket steering wheel can exist in many different forms. For example, it could
22 be a low production piece found on a Japanese race car that was purchased during a travel and later brought in the US; it could be a genuine resigned equipment from 24 Hours of Le mans given by the race team as a gift. To search and obtain these steering wheels usually reveals a lot in one enthusiast’s dedication in cars and automotive history. Unfortunately, most new brands on the market tend to ignore such facts that are more meaningful to the enthusiasts than having a good deal on a steering wheel that is brand new with fancier paint jobs
Nardi is a racing steering wheel manufacturer found in Italy during the glory age of early motorsports. Nardi steering wheels are being greatly appreciate around the world especially in countries with a very strong motorsports culture such as Japan, Italy and the US. From their slightly outdated website, their products and the brand spirit behind however is being communicated with heart-warming and powerful words. “When I hold one of my father's steering wheels, I feel like I have a little piece of art in my hands, something that speaks to the heart…” This quote from R. Grosso Nardi himself apparently explained the quality, value and reason of being for Nardi as a brand. In contrast, Renown is a newer steering wheel seller founded in 2014 after seeing the large demands in custom steering wheels. “I started Renown in
San Francisco at the end of 2014, because I couldn’t find the parts I wanted for my cars. I believed there was a niche not being served in the interior of aging classics from the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s.” (TheSpeedhunters, 2016) Unfortunately, this company really did not go that far with its statement- Every single steering wheel Renown offers is a direct replica of original designs from Nardi, MOMO and Sparco. Instead of establishing its own manufacturing facilities,
Renown utilize Asian factories to make their products and then distribute them in the USA. The problem is that Asian factories have very little history and experience on the making of aftermarket steering wheels. As a result, there is no guarantee that these steering wheels would
23 perform as well as the authentic ones precisely crafted in Italy. Sadly, they are being advertised as high-quality products with relatively high pricing in the US and most buyers do not have a comprehensive idea on how exactly they are purchasing due to the limited information these brands would provide regarding the manufacturing details. With the lack of regulations around aftermarket steering wheels, it really comes down to companies’ ethic to provide reliable products that are properly tested for its reliability. What does it take for a startup brand to offer competitive products which they are in charge of the quality and ethics, yet with a considerable amount of originality in its design and making that can stand for the culture and history it represents, should be something meaningful to consider as part of designers’ jobs.
SEME theory requires the designers to communicate directly with the target users to identify problems and needs instead of just chasing after market opportunities. Therefore, it generates much deeper insights on what quality the users are expecting and what purposes the products really need to serve. These insights prevent designers from copying from current market offering and provide clear guidelines on aesthetic and function with raw and original data.
Products designed this way will have a significant increase in identify and originality.
6. Mass production for one
Personal customization has been around for centuries. Products customized to personal taste generally have higher expenditure in both money and time due to the extra energy spent in making and the extra values which would matter to the buyers. That is also what makes personal customization preferred by those who see high values in made to order items. It is worth mention that customization does not only exist in the form of high end luxury products, especially with the advance of innovations in prototyping and fabrication in the recent years. (Rayna &
24 Striukova, 2015) Rapid prototyping and even some older technologies such as photo etching and laser cutting made it possible to achieve desired personalization and low run production when the fabrication is planned properly. Even online services can now accomplish tasks in 3D printing,
CNC machining and high-quality printing with a great selection in material, quality and quantity.
For designers, understanding and utilizing these resources around would not only make it possible to produce highly specialized products for specific needs within a reasonable cost, but also help the existing community to better integrate strengthen its resources to form a stronger and friendlier environment for designers.
SEME design theory is developed based on a one-on-one relationship for nostalgia therefore it deals with highly personal information. In order to achieve the desired design outcomes, it is very important for designers to know what the most efficient resources are and where are they located to accomplish the goals.
25 SEME Based Projects- Proof of SEME Design Theory
SEME theory utilizes a designer’s professional skills in research and problem-solving and evokes the designer to start from a specific nostalgic culture where he/she had already participated in. There is a significant advantage in the amount of knowledge and insights designers developed within a hobby or specialty of his/her own compare to those who do not have such experience but trying to understand through short term researches. For example, a designer who races vintage cars as a hobby would work more efficiently than automotive designers trained on contemporary aesthetic to identify the nostalgic design opportunities among vintage car owners. In SEME’s case, designers became the starting points of many possible nostalgic trends and each start point should eventually irradiate outward to merge into each other to create an environment with great diversity in nostalgia-oriented inspirations and ideas.
Three projects were conducted to respectively interpret nostalgia needs from personal scale (Design for myself), one-on-one scale (Design for a car enthusiast) and community scale
(Design for a group of car enthusiasts with same interests). Under the general topic of automotive enthusiasm, the three projects diverged into three different scenarios to demonstrate the potential application of SEME design theory. The goal of the projects was to evaluate the initial results from the three applications and identify potential refinements for the future development of SEME theory.
26 Project 1 Mercedes W196 Streamliner Retro Racer Concept
This is a self-driven project to explore the possibilities to express my personal nostalgia and appreciation to the original Mercedes W196R Streamliner race car from the 1954 F1 race as car manufacturers, automotive-related organizations and individuals would design concept cars with aesthetics inspired by their predecessors to celebrate and revive the nostalgic value in the car. This particular car is considered to be an outstanding creation from Mercedes Benz’s participation in early motorsports due to its beauty in both bodyworks and mechanical performance. The W196R only had a small window to make a name on the race track before
Mercedes Benz decided to pause its participation in racing, resulting in the impression of a short- life, legendary-like racecar among classic car enthusiasts. (Mercedesamgf1, n.d.)
The goal of this SEME project is to propose the aesthetic of a modern single seater concept that adapts the visual identity of the original W196. The concept was modeled rendered with 3D software.
Figure 17 The Original MB W196R Streamliner
27
Figure 18 Ideation Process For the New W196R Concept
The design process started with a quality selection of photographs that best represents the aesthetic beauty of the original W196R. These photographs provided information in the exterior, interior, engine bay and other iconic details of the original W196R. These photos of the original
W196R were then thoroughly discussed with several car enthusiasts and engineering experts to generate a comprehensive understanding on what are the most significant features and elements the new concept should inherit to achieve a familiar yet modern aesthetic.
The new concept was positioned to be a dedicated track car with a classic look that represents the original W196R. The extraction of the aesthetic was achieved by first blurring the photographs collected around the original car and then assigning materials that match the color watches. This process eliminated irrelevant elements and color noises and narrowed down the color and material selection to a basic level. With the matched color/material chart that reflects
28 the original design in a visual and abstract way, a list of words was also selected to describe the original W196R from a linguistic approach.
The process then moved into aesthetic ideation sketches and 3D visualizations phase. By the end of every round of the ideation process, the outcomes were run through the previous analytical information to make sure they are aligned with the desired direction. The final concept was modeled with SOLIDWORKS and rendered in KeyShot with colors and finishes assigned accordingly based on the original W196R.
The final concept was presented to a group of vintage car and Mercedes enthusiasts with no information provided regarding the make and model this particular concept was referencing from. Eight out of ten people were able to relate the concept to the original W196R by pointing out the evidence from the aesthetic design. The other two people from the group also successfully identified the original car when simple hints were provided. This concept received positive comments on the how the original aesthetics were precisely presented in the new design and how new features and innovations were integrated into the overall classic accent of the car.
This project is a self-driven practice of nostalgia through the form of automotive design.
The outcome was a good study on how vintage aesthetics can be reflected and refined with modern design approaches. The research, design and visualization process resulted in a great satisfaction for myself as a designer who is actively adapting nostalgic elements into modern designs.
29
Figure 19 Final Renderings of the New W196R Concept
Figure 20 Final Rendering of the New W196R Concept with the Old W196R as Reflection
30 Project 2 Golden90s - A Vector Art Project for Japanese Car Enthusiasts
Trade cards or game cards that contain famous contents such as popular football or baseball players had proved their collective values in the past decades among people from different cultures and age groups. These cards usually utilize high quality printing of rare photos of certain contexts and limited production numbers to establish their collective values over time.
Project Golden90s is a vector art project that answers to Japanese car enthusiasts’ nostalgia in collecting the iconic Japanese sports cars produced from 1970s to 2000s. When it is difficult to acquire the actual cars that they found to be attractive, enthusiasts would choose alternative materials that could accommodate their desire in certain aspect of the actual cars. 2D printed art is one of the most common ways for car enthusiasts to obtain a visual presentation of the actual vehicle with an artistic approach. The research indicated that Japanese car enthusiasts would be highly interested in a vector art collection with more accurate lines and more affordable prices than the current market offerings. Project Golden90s, under the influence of such insight, was initiated with a goal to offer an affordable collection of famous Japanese cars produced from 1970s to 2000s by laser cutting high detailed vectors onto glossy acrylic boards.
Golden90s assets has a strong nostalgic accent in graphic design and it categorized the famous makes and models into different sets with dedicated logos. The laser cut vectors than were manually filled with golden paint and the acrylic boards were polished to a brushed metal finish.
The original “Zero Edition” contains fourteen cars from five different manufacturers. Every vector art of these famous Japanese sports cars was created in SOLIDWORKS as it is my preferred tools to import reference materials and achieve more accurate lines. Each vector art in
Project Golden90s takes around 3-4 hours to create and these vector arts are probably the most
31 accurate unofficial line drawings of the actual cars due to the amount of reference data and time invested to create each of them.
The set “The Elder Kings”, that contains the vector drawings of Nissan GTR R32, Honda
NSX, Mazda RX7 and Toyota Supra and the set “Godzilla” that contains four generations of
Nissan GTRs were presented online and in person to Japanese car enthusiasts and attracted immediate attention. Several people approached me displaying the willingness to purchase these set and claimed that they would like to subscribe to Project Golden90s and purchase contents that may be produced in the future.
Immediately after the production of Project Golden90s acrylic cards, I made a second attempt by printing the same contents on postcards as a more traditional and highly affordable option. The postcards received the same amount of appreciation. These Project Golden90s postcards were later handed out to enthusiasts who participated in the SEME development as a gift and most of these enthusiasts showed great interests in purchasing a complete set.
Most Japanese car enthusiasts own limited number of cars and every car they own requires a lot of attention in pursuit of its ideal condition. Project Golden90s offered these enthusiasts an opportunity to access a large vector art gallery of cars they are interested in.
Moreover, these individually handcrafted cards can be made to order and purchased in desired selections. The Project Golden90s was performed to test the commercial value of car enthusiasm based nostalgic design and the result suggested a strong potential in such demand when quality materials produced under the SEME design theory were introduced. Different from the Mercedes
W196R project which was performed to fulfill the nostalgic needs within my own, Project
Golden90s reflects nostalgic needs within a specific target group that contains thousands of people who are sharing the same interests in earlier Japanese sports cars. Immediately, the
32 response indicated the same if not higher level of satisfaction SEME could potential bring to its target audience by understanding and providing the most appropriate nostalgic design contents.
Figure 21 Project Golden90s Test Run Acrylic Cards
Figure 22 Project Golden90s Postcard Set
Project 3 Aftermarket Steering Wheel for Rey’s 1976 Toyota Celica GT
Project 3 is an ideal example of what SEME design theory is capable to offer to a car enthusiast with a strong nostalgia to his younger life and experience. An aftermarket steering wheel was designed specifically for Rey as a souvenir of his memories with his family members
33 and an old Toyota Land Cruiser his family once owned. Instead of just designing for memorial purpose, the steering wheel was designed to be a direct fit for his 1976 Toyota Celica GT, a car
Rey considered to be a tangible entity of his nostalgic interests in classic Toyota vehicles.
Figure 23 Rey with His 1976 Toyota Celica GT Figure 24 Rey’s Nardi Steering Wheel
Rey is a millennial who is obsessed with early Japanese sports cars manufactured in
1970s-1980s. Rey’s weekend car is a 1976 Celica GT. He refers the acquiry of this extremely rare Toyota as “The Deal of the Century”. Rey sees it as a timeless design that concludes his aesthetic preference in automotive. Rey described his relationship with this rare 1976 Toyota
Celica GT as a “Love and Hate Relationship” due to the commitment he had to make to keep this car running properly. In Rey’s mind, restoring and driving this car is a way to not only appreciate the automotive history but also to find a home for his earlier experiences with Toyota vehicles.
Rey is relatively big for the 1976 Toyota Celica. During the interview, Rey addressed that he would prefer a steering wheel with a flat bottom design that would allow him to enter and exit the car with ease. Aftermarket steering wheels usually use a flat spoke design or a deep-dish design. In Rey’s case, he would like to have a steering wheel with a spoke depth somewhere in between. The centerline on the aftermarket steering wheels is usually a part of the wrap or a sewed-in piece. On one hand, Rey agreed to the use of centerline on steering wheels as a fast and
34 convenient way to identify the position of the steering wheel. On the other hand, Rey was curious on what could be the next step of centerline.
Other than the obvious changes Rey would like to see for his personalized steering wheel design, SEME theory was used to specifically look for opportunities that could resulted in a direct connection between this steering wheel and his earlier life experience. Rey specifically recalled the fact that his parents used to put an anti-slippery cover around the steering wheel of their old Toyota Land Cruiser. He could still remember the aging rubber and the dirt caught in the materials. “I do not like steering wheel covers but for some reason I could remember this specific detail...maybe that’s exactly the reason of why I don’t use steering wheel covers...I don’t know.” Rey stated. The best design opportunity I was able to identify during the interview with
Rey was actually inspired by an accident Rey had with his family in the old Toyota Land
Cruiser. “The airbag went off during the accident, so we had to remove the airbag unit as the car was getting fixed. When we took airbag unit off, I remember seeing a small twist in the steering wheel chassis design. My father actually decided to wrap a charm of luck around that twist and it never came off since then.” This specific detail was identified as a nostalgic trigger for Rey’s memory about that reliable Land Cruiser and the great time his family had spent with it.
During the following development, the steering wheel was designed with specific ergonomic and aesthetic optimization based on Rey’s needs- A flat bottom that allows him to get in and out the car with more convenience; a 0.75 inch dish depth in the three spoke chassis that accommodates Rey’s preference and sets a difference from any current offerings; a centerline in the form of a nail cam on engine camshaft that can now be seen as well as touched to get a better sense of the steering wheel positioning;
35 Additionally, to truly design something that retains Rey’s personal story in a tangible form, Rey’s memory about the dirty steering wheel cover and the charm his father wrapped around the steering wheel chassis after an accident were also transformed into part of the steering wheel design. The ring of the steering wheel concept uses a two-piece design with the outer ring being assembled as it is a physical cover around the inner ring. The inner ring is set to be made with dark material and a shallow groove which would evoke the action of touch. However, the ring of steering wheel would function as one solid piece, just as the way Rey would prefer. The same twist on the factory steering wheel chassis of the Land Cruise was recreated on this steering wheel concept to become the strongest identity suggesting a unique design developed just for
Rey as the twist is a key element that would arouse and trigger Rey’s memory. Having this steering wheel as a replacement of Rey’s current Nardi steering wheel not only brings the personalization on his Celica to the next level but also enriched the meaning of this car as his timeless expression around his interests in classic Toyotas and the past family times he always wanted to celebrate.
36 Figure 25 Final Rendering of Rey's Steering Wheel Concept
Figure 26 Rendering of the Centerline Design Figure 27 Rendering of the Shallow Deep-Dish Design
Figure 28Rendering of the "Twist" as the Nostalgic Trigger Figure 29 Rendering of the In/Out Ring Design
37 Conclusion
In general, products under the influence of SEME design theory performed very well on connecting users’ nostalgia matters to their current status and received positive feedback from
SEME participants. SEME theory not only fulfilled users’ needs in nostalgia but also helped them to achieve their desired improvements and collective values. The final designs exceeded their expectations in terms of how closely the designs were reflecting their personal experiences and nostalgic emotions. During SEME interviews, several participants confirmed that the casual and relaxing interview process also helped them to discursively review their own lives and decisions as they proceed through the questions.
The projects conducted under the SEME design theory answers strictly to very specific individuals or groups, which resulted in great satisfactions among the participants of due to the design’s scarcity and dedication SEME helped to pack into the outcome. The immediate attention in Project Golden90s verified a potential market previously indicated by SEME research. With SEME design theory, many other potential markets can be identified so that designers can engage and fulfill needs that were never fully interpreted before. Nostalgia has more values in certain products than others
The steering wheel designed for Rey to fit in his 1976 Toyota Celica GT is so far the most successful SEME experimental project. “There is no way I could find such things from online fan shops, or wherever I used to find super rare stuff. I’ve never had anything that is designed just for me. This is brilliant!” Rey stated. According to the feedback sheet sent to Rey later, Rey considered the SEME interview to be highly effective due to the fact that all the potentially needed data were collected and categorized to help the design “sticking to the truth”.
For him, approaching him with SEME design theory is a perfect opportunity for him to elaborate
38 himself about topics that “people wants money would never care about”. Rey favors my commitment to carefully craft a final design for him based on his very own life experience and he mentioned later that at that point “the wonderful experience of chatting with another true car enthusiast and then receiving something special for him was all that mattered.” Rey confirmed that he is willing to replace his current Nardi steering wheel with the steering wheel designed with SEME design theory. I personally would consider it to be a great accomplishment due to how rarely a car enthusiast would be willing to take an already high-quality part off his car in exchange of one unfamiliar part. This could not be achieved without packing more than just physical quality and visual aesthetics but also nostalgia and personal experience into the physical design of the steering wheel.
SEME design researches and interviews were intentionally designed to be casual, open- ended and highly flexible to provide a comforting environment that maximizes interviewees’ willingness to think and share. Rey mentioned that SEME research process provided him a chance of self-reflection and he realized new things regarding his interests and life decisions throughout the interview process, which is uncommon to take place during traditional interviews.
In addition, some later research and discussion findings proved that SEME theory can improve the designer’s ability to identify and frame future stakeholders and potential audience by studying the similarity reflected in these nostalgic interests. I was able to estimate certain qualities of my participants in terms of their hobbies, lifestyles, tastes of music and the details of certain experiences they only mentioned briefly, which greatly improved the affinity for my future conversations with these potential clients.
I have been searching for a meaningful way to combine my multicultural background with my product design capabilities to deliver designs with richer values in connotation and
39 philosophy. SEME theory is so far my most successful attempt to interpret nostalgia in Japanese car enthusiasts which including myself. Others’ willingness of sharing personal experience during the SEME interviews enriched my knowledge on the power of cultural influences and resulted in a higher capability of identifying design opportunities. The development of SEME theory also satisfies myself and helps to elevate my passion in product design.
By the completion of this thesis, SEME theory has proven its value in nostalgic design for car enthusiasts as it successfully helped the development of nostalgic products to target audience in different styles. I feel confident to say that SEME theory has a larger potential to be implemented to the product design field in general. The next step for SEME can take place in a larger context in order to study its effectiveness on other consumer products and services in a larger scale. At a time when more and more people started recalling the significance of analog and retro lifestyles, SEME design theory is at the ideal position to provide a platform for the interpretation of nostalgia to take place. Based on the feedback from SEME participants, the use of “Sensation- Emotion- Memory- Evidence” as a linear and intuitive approach was highly appreciated and preferred by the participants during the design research process as it truly allowed the participants to express themselves in full during the “me time”. SEME design theory introduces a different channel for designers and creative individuals to practice and increase their emotional sensibilities during the process of creating meaningful products for others.
The development of SEME theory is a milestone of the pursuit of my design philosophy of “感动”, which again evokes the idea of designers should be “emotionally sensed” and
“physically motivated to produce quality designs that are “heart touching” to the users. The development of SEME design theory was a process of me maturing and converting my younger
40 experiences and thoughts into a practical design theory to carry a greater design responsibility for our future.
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45 Appendix
Sample Research Questionnaire For SEME Design Project First Round Interview:
First Round Interview Questions
Part 1 - Basic Info
1．Basic Information (Name, Age, Education, Title, etc.)
2．Self Intro (A quick elevator speech)
3．What do cars mean to you? (After all, in a simple sentence or a short phrase)
Part 2 – The Driver’s Story
1. What is your position in the car game and why? (History, Maker, Show/Go, Style, etc.)
2. What’s so special about cars in your mind?
3. If you can mention one and only one thing about your car life, what would it be?
4. Describe your story based on an automotive ownership timeline.
5. What are you looking for out of this process? (Building, Researching, Meeting, Racing, etc.)
6. How well do you justify between career, family, finance and your love in motorsports?
7. How do you see your future as an automotive enthusiast?
Part 3 - The Car’s Story
1. What is your current car that speaks your mind? Does it have a name, gender, personality,
etc.?
46 2. Why? When? How? Any specific memory about this car that was special to you?
3. Describe the progression of the car and people who helped. How decisions were made?
4. Describe how does the car fulfill your needs in motorsports and even your everyday life?
5. How do you see the relationship between money, parts, performance and personal taste?
6. Imagine a life from now on without your car but only the memory around it.
7. What is the future destination of this car?
Part 4 – The Industry
1. How do you see the future of automotive? (Electrical, Autonomous, Public, Motorsports,
etc.)
2. How do you like and dislike the general trend of automotive design and why?
3. Provide 5 most important aspects of a sports car in the order starting from the most
important.
4. What would you pick from current offerings to replace your toy? Why?
5. What’s your position in the debate of driving aids vs driver skills?
6. Where do you see the future of automotive tuning culture?
7. What is the value of events like SEMA? How would you identify its market?
8. How do you like current meets, shows, track days, autocross events? What’s missing?
9. How would you categorize the popular chassis for motorsports and what made them popular?
Part 5 – The Design
1. What would you like to see more in the current market offerings?
2. How do you see the importance of accessories like steering wheels, shifters, paddles, and
47 seats?
3. How does the current setup build confidence and stimulate passion during driving?
4. What features and characteristics would you like to see that add incremental value?
5. What do you think about the challenges on modifying a tech-packed car such as an IS350F?
Sample Research Questionnaire For SEME Design Project Second Round Interview:
Content: 2nd Round Interview
Hello, Randy and Rey,
Thanks for being participators of my graduate thesis. As you already know, I am not a guy who will be satisfied by just writing an academic paper. I need to put my passion down somewhere. Here is the second-round interview I would like to finish ASAP. I appreciate how you make changes of your personal schedule to see me and being open to me to show your cars and stories. Since the winter is coming but life is still getting busier, I thought sending you this document for you to type in your answers will be the easiest way. I apologize for any inconvenience, but we need to move forward.
I am sorry that after so long of graduation you still ended up writing a paper. But trust me; it will be worth every second you spent.
Instruction: My thesis contains a simple and complicated logic: In order to design with human emotions, a loop needs to be completed. The loop is called SEME. It stands for sensation, emotion, memory and evidence. In my thesis, evidence is the most important part and it is also
48 what I called a ‘trigger’ to make the design meaningful to you. My interviews and questionnaires are designed to get critical information and put them into a measuring system that will provide design guidelines based on time, location, people, reason, process, result, sound, words, vision etc. For each question, please provide an honest and first-in-mind answer. Keep in mind that I’ll be extracting key elements from these answers, so the accuracy really matters. For example, if you are going to talk about how you were interacting with your family members who were also into cars, I’d like to hear as many details as possible about each event and it can be as detailed as how you remember the way they grab the steering wheel, things they were mentioning and how some of the parts were broken in the car in certain ways. The estimate cost of fabricating the steering wheel is around 1500-2000 dollars out of my own pocket. I really need your input to make it meaningful to you otherwise everything will lose its purpose. It should be more than just a high-quality steering wheel that satisfy your needs in driving, but also a piece of art that reminds you your best memories in life.
What I need: I would like you to write three paragraphs.
Question 1: Please pick a piece of memory. I would like you to choose the strongest one yet somehow related to cars or resulted in your future interests in cars. The more details you mention about the objective surroundings and your subjective feelings the better. For most people, it was about family (10 out of 10 mentioned about their father) and some first time ever interaction with rare automotive. This question focuses on yourself and person or cars that gave you remarkable influences on cars even till today.
49 Question 2: Please describe the most unforgettable moment you had with your current car in greater detail. It could be how you find it, how you made a major modification to the car or how you experience the best or worst spirited driving with it. One of my professors had to drive a
Honda Acty Kei pickup in thunderstorm at night for 8 hours. Please precisely describe the experience with considerations of your senses such as touch, smell and visuals. Instead of just factors, please also talk about your emotions and feels during this event. Eventually, I would like to know what in your opinion made this car and certain configuration so special and unreplaceable. I would like to be certain on what I should emphasize in the design of the steering wheel. Rey and Randy, you two both showed great loyalty in the ownership of your cars but in very different ways. This question focuses on the relationship between you and your car.
Question 3: Please describe your personal preference on selecting an aftermarket steering wheel.
This may feel disconnected to the other two questions but do not worry, we will get deeper in this one a bit later. For this question, please provide detailed information on as many aspects as possible about a steering wheel such as shape, color, material, price, purpose, features, pros & cons, configurations, brands, bolt patterns, installations, visibilities, touch and anything else.
Please also address specific problems and missing features on your current steering wheel. You can give examples of your favorite features and steering wheels designs if they help. This question focuses on steering wheels that would fit your car the best based on your knowing.
Below is an example of what I would like to read from your answers. (For question 1 and 2) You should answer the questions separately but if you think that writing one is easier for you to explain more things you are free to do so. My writing is not great and might be confusing here
50 and there but I just would like to give an example on what to write. My design will only be able to reflect what you told me to be the most important things. I greatly appreciate your time to provide the information. It is okay if at this point you think it’s too much and you would like to quit. If not, that means I have chosen the right candidates and these stories can just flow out without any problems.
Please Try to Provide At Least 1500 Words of Information!
Example from Wu:
I remember the first day when I get my 86. It had been on Craigslist for quite a while. It was squeezed into a small garage filled with other random stuff. It has a full white body but black jdm bumpers and a carbon fiber hood. Just like many other ad, the photos were bad, but they didn’t stop me from looking at it over and over. I knew it was not going to be a practical car
(which is actually not true by now) but I still wanted it so bad. I also knew I would never afford a car like that because by that time I was in a bad financial situation; I work as a product designer at CIF in the day and switch to a waiter at a Chinese restaurant at night. Money was only enough for rent and drive-thru. The winter had just gone, and the air started to get warm. One day I finally received the offer from University of Cincinnati with full scholarship, so I asked my mother the permission to spend that money on my dream car. I started to plan my graduate study and I really thought it’s the opportunity to get something special to drive. As a matter of fact, a
California guy ordered this 86 and put a deposit on it already right before me. The seller told me that I can’t buy it unless this CA guy gives up. Couple days later he told me that the CA guy decided to pass due to CA regulations and if I still want the car, he needs to see 8000 dollars
51 ready in hand. It was a tough decision to make but for some reason I chose to not to think too much. Couple rounds of messaging we were down for the deal. Some days later, I received a photo shot from the rear mirror. From the photo, I could see a Trueno’s lovely jdm front bumper.
He told me that the car was loaded, and he was on his way from somewhere north to Pittsburgh.
Around noon, he arrived at the newly paved parking lot right next to my apartment and my heart almost jumped out even though the actual car was not as nice as it looked in the pictures. It was so tiny compare to the WRX bugeye wagon which I sold later for 4500. The way the car was loaded on the trailer instantly reminded me how Bunta was carrying the blown 86 back home. I remember it was the first time Takumi actually cried and it was also the first time in the anime his father put hands on his head and consoled him. As the previous owner unbuckled the car and rolled it off the trailer, I was just standing there with no words to say. For a 30-year-old car that was built into some kind of weird monster, I did not know what to ask and where to look. The previous owner offered to drive around the inner roads around the apartments. The car had a factory boot for the shifter and it always pops out of 2nd gear due to the placement difference of the T100 pickup transmission. Smells, cracked windows, inaccurate clusters, bad brakes, all these rough feelings were pushed away when he gave a little more gas. I thought the car was so much fun that I can try to fix everything else later. We then went to the bank. The banker privately asked me if I know what I was doing and if the seller is someone I can trust. But all I wanted at that moment was to get the title in hand and go drive it.
At BMV, I had trouble register the car because no one there knew what this car was. I kept telling them it’s a 1985 Corolla SR5, but they just wouldn’t sign the state inspection sheet. This went through couple rounds and my car were finally registered as a Corolla S. Later on, BMV sent an investigation to the previous owner asking about legal issues about the sale of this car
52 and I was facing a 2000-dollar charge for something I could not understand. I was also back I
China during that period. Fortunately, the previous owner did something and smoothed things out.
After all, this car still runs after a round trip to Rhode Island. 2000 miles of vibrations and excitement were travelled within those 4 months. I drive it to work and to car meets and to wherever I needed to go. By the end of my summer internship, instead of driving it home directly, I decided to wake up at 2am in the morning and bring the car to Times Square for a photoshoot. It was one of my best decisions in my entire life. The 86 had a great time playing around the NYC streets and I had so many great photos that would truly represent my younger life. When I finished photo taking, I hit the thunderstorm. It was all water mist on window and with no wipers I could barely see anything. I had to roll down the window in the pouring storm.
Right after I picked up my girlfriend who came to NYC just to take the road trip home together with me, the rain stopped. The car took us home, carrying stuff more than what a normal size sedan could carry. This car is my companion now. He is older than me, but he acts about the same way and the same age I have. I see many similarities in us…rough edges, so-so tempers, great potential and capability when happy. I love cars and I would like to design products that restore greater humanity. There was one time the lower coolant pipe broke off and I lost all the fluid within seconds. I had to drive the car for a while before I can get to water or coolant. There was nothing I could do for the next several miles but to watch the temperature gauge exceeded its limit. At the moment I thought for sure the car would be screwed and the engine could stop working at any moment. However, it was not what the car decided to go for. Under that extremely overheated situation with absolutely no coolant, the engine managed to hold up till the moment I got fresh coolant. I ended up with a very slight gasket problem which seemed to be
53 fixed by a little bottle of gasket sealant. This happened before my 2000 miles road trip to Rhode
Island. Other than the coolant, I did upgrade all pipe clamps to better ones.
I make small changes to the car almost every day. I am not the rational performance only guy nor the all show no go guy. So, the car receives things from ricer hood spacers to racing U joints. My significant better half now plan to pursue higher education in the United States, meaning I will be looking for my next design job at a company no less than Hasbro. Knowing that I will be staying with the car for a long time makes me very happen. Honestly, I’d love to keep this car as much as I can, and I can see an evolution coming on its way.
All digital data collected including photos, audio and video records are kept as private resources for this thesis and can be acquired under the permission of the author.
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