Development of Data Base and Interface for Sofa Design Considering Consumer Sensibility

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to develop data base and interface for sofa consumers and sofa designers. The human sensibility ergonomics method was used to find the consumer needs and Quality Function Deployment (QFD) method was used to extract the designing characteristics required for sofa production. About 200 words and 100 images were gathered from sofa and furniture related catalogs and internet sites to find the best emotional words and images that can express the various sofa aspect. Among the collected words and images, 34 emotional words were selected for sensibility experiment according to the opinions of experts, relations of closeness and frequency of use, and 50 images were selected for the experiment by the diversity. Selected words and images were used for the semantic differential method with 94 subjects, and sensibility characteristics of sofas were defined through various statistical analysis methods including basic statistical analysis, factor analysis and multi-dimensional scale. In reflecting design characteristics of sofas, design factors of sofas were divided into backrest, seat, armrest, neck support and leg, and relative importance of each factor for design was determined with analytic hierarchy process (AHP) by utilizing the experts' opinions. Based on the results above, relationship analysis between emotional evaluation results and design factors was performed. Also, as various sofa images are presented diagrammatically through multidimensional scaling method, it can be used as an important tool for the development of sofa design. This study will contribute improving the product quality of sofas as it enables applying consumer needs into the sofa design.