Assessing industrial design is an intricate process of product analysis which aims to establish the quality degree of a product and considers all its implications from technical restrictions to appearance. Industrial design is related to mass produced articles obtained through industrial processes and whether products are articles of adornment or machines, both technical and aesthetic dimensions are relevant and influence the design process. All types of industrial products can be assessed using a numerical method based on the same criteria, however the same principles have a different impact on various types of products. The author proposes a customized approach in order to achieve an objective assessment for different concepts of design.

The design assessment of an industrial product implies the objective approach of the product from both technical and aesthetic perspective, considering the market segment and its relation to the product through ergonomic and also signification associations, all of this taking into account functionality and the perceived quality of a product. The presented paper represents a review on quality in its relation to product design by analysing in turn the relations between quality, product, design and user and establishing the common concepts associated to quality related to each design dimension. The research contributes to the understanding of quality when is addressed from the point of view of industrial design assessment.

When referring to product design assessment, even with a standard evaluation format, the perspective from which the criteria are approached differs strongly from one market category to another, this having a direct impact on the accuracy of the method. In order to achieve an objective assessment, the product must relate to a frame of reference in accordance with the product’s destination, taking into account the user specifications and the actual experience of use. This paper represents the study of correlations between the market segment, product features and context and their degree of interdependence. Thus, analysing the relations between sections, the representative influence formulas for each considered feature were deduced, highlighting the extent to which the user’s typology and context relate to the product features.

The present paper represents a study that examines the relationship between the concepts associated with kitsch and quality approached as antagonistic concepts, for which was considered the direct connection to the product and its defining characteristics described as the product features, colour, form, material and dimensioning. Considering the relative influence of the proposed features, it was generated a series of concepts that represent the basis of the analysis format, on which numerical values will be assigned. The research contributes to industrial product design assessment in the situation where the product is approached from the perspective of the intrinsic components of the perceived value, being proposed an analysis model that starts from the relative importance ratios of the product features considered in direct relation with a correspondent assigned value.