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NEEDS FINDING

Life may be seen as a perpetual adaptation of organisms to

the surrounding
environment.

MA4844 Industrial Design

Assoc. Prof. Leong Kah Fai
School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering,
Nanyang Technological University

School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

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The necessities of life impose on human the continual effort

of supporting functions of human organism in:
a biological sense,
economic sense,
social sense,
psychological etc.

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The goals toward which our design efforts should be directed

are indicated through the emergence of needs.

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An industrial product will appear attractive

if its form (and all other aesthetic issues)
conveys the promise of fulfilling the needs of
the observer.

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Can

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School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

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Design usually responds to the emergence of some need.

Thus designers aim at fulfilling a particular need.

intuitively describe need as:

SOMETHING that requires

compensation.

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What is a NEED?

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The whole body of needs oppressing or

challenging humans was analyzed and
classified by Abraham Maslow.
In Toward a Psychology of Being, Abraham
Maslow promulgated the Maslows Hierarchy
of Needs.

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MASLOWS HIERARCHY
OF NEEDS

MASLOWS HIERARCHY
OF NEEDS
The need for self-actualization
(What one can be, one must be,)

Life can be defined as:

a chain of events whose purpose is to
maintain the balance between people and
the world around them.
Every time the balance is disturbed,
someone experiences a need.

The need for esteem from

others and for self-esteem
The need to belong,
for acceptance and friendship
The need for safety, security
protection from physical harm
Physiological needs, such as
hunger, thirst, and sex drive

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MASLOWS HIERARCHY
OF NEEDS (BASIC NEEDS)

School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

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MASLOWS HIERARCHY
OF NEEDS (BASIC NEEDS)

Physiological Needs
Air
Water
Food
Shelter
Sleep
Sex

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Defense Needs
Safety
Security

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MASLOWS HIERARCHY
OF NEEDS (GROWTH NEEDS)

MASLOWS HIERARCHY
OF NEEDS (GROWTH NEEDS)

Affection Needs

Love
Belongingness

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MASLOWS HIERARCHY
OF NEEDS (GROWTH NEEDS)

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School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

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MASLOWS HIERARCHY
OF NEEDS (GROWTH NEEDS)

Self Actualization Needs

Truth
Goodness
Beauty
Aliveness
Individuality
Perfection

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Esteem Needs
Self Esteem
Esteem by others

Self Actualization Needs

Completion
Justice
Richness
Self sufficiency
Meaningfulness
Simplicity

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EXPANDED MASLOWS
HIERARCHY OF NEEDS

MASLOWS HIERARCHY
OF NEEDS

External Need Satisfying Environment

Freedom
Justice
Orderliness
Challenge

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MASLOWS HIERARCHY
OF NEEDS
This gradation of needs
corresponds to the
sequence for their usual
compensation, i.e. lower
needs are to be satiated
first.

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The need for self-actualization

(What one can be, one must be,)
The need for esteem from
others and for self-esteem

The need for esteem from

others and for self-esteem

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However, for some, selfactualization may prevail

even over hunger, e.g. a
poor artist like Vincent van
Gogh.

The need to belong,

for acceptance and friendship

The need to belong,

for acceptance and friendship

The need for safety, security

protection from physical harm

The need for safety, security

protection from physical harm

Physiological needs, such as

hunger, thirst, and sex drive

Physiological needs, such as

hunger, thirst, and sex drive

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MASLOWS HIERARCHY
OF NEEDS

The need for self-actualization

(What one can be, one must be,)

(Stimulation)

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School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

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MASLOWS HIERARCHY
OF NEEDS

The need for self-actualization

(What one can be, one must be,)

The narrowing range of needs

toward the top represents their
growing sophistication and thus
the decreasing number of
individuals experiencing a given
need.

MASLOWS HIERARCHY
OF NEEDS

The lower needs (basic needs) are directed towards satiation.

The higher needs (growth needs) are directed towards
production, creation and growth of insight.

The need for esteem from

others and for self-esteem
The need to belong,
for acceptance and friendship
The need for safety, security
protection from physical harm
Physiological needs, such as
hunger, thirst, and sex drive

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MASLOWS HIERARCHY
OF NEEDS

Lower needs are commonly shared.

Higher needs are highly
individualized.

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HUMAN NEEDS

The need for self-actualization

(What one can be, one must be,)

The need for esteem from

others and for self-esteem

The expression the users need implies more than just the
needs associated with the direct function of the product.
The needs that the product can satisfy may include most, if not
all, of the category of needs as described in Maslows
hierarchy.

The need to belong,

for acceptance and friendship
The need for safety, security
protection from physical harm
Physiological needs, such as
hunger, thirst, and sex drive

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School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

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USERS NEEDS

USERS NEEDS

Example:
An Automobile
Primary function:
To provide mobility

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USERS NEEDS

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An Automobile

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Example:
An Automobile

Free

unconquerable individual
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School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

USERS NEEDS

Example:

Rugged,

Example:
An Automobile
Visual characteristics may covey the promise of fulfilling
other needs of the user.

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spirit of the highway

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USERS NEEDS

USERS NEEDS

Example:

An Automobile

No-nonsense

An Automobile

man of business

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The

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USERS NEEDS

successful yuppie

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USERS NEEDS

Shaping the form of the car body to communicate its primary

function of providing a mobile shelter caters to the desires of
safety.

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Example:

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Giving the automobile an appearance of ruggedness,

sleekness, or dependability, gratifies higher place needs to
belong, for esteem, and for self-fulfillment.

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NEED FINDING

THANK YOU

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