An Eye-Tracking Project in Industrial Design Education: A case study for Engaging in the Research Process

The practice of design is constantly evolving; new technologies have become a support for the implementation of disruptive proposals in diverse disciplines, including design products. A Paradigm shift are present in the design and engineering education related with support technologies and developing new products. The objective of this work is to present the novel process of a design project that incorporates a creative and objective process for designing and validating products in order to attract, engage and retain talent in design and engineering courses for research and technology implementation. The challenge was a project for create an novelty industrial tool board with a minimum number of tools validated by Eye-tracking (ET) technology. The ET technology is based on the study of eye movement, which provides an objective indicator of where a person's overt, and typically centered, attention is focused. Twenty-eight students from the third year of Industrial Design Bachelor’s program were involved in this academic course and used a product design methodology to implement the technology and dynamics of the ET. The results of this education project revealed a novel dynamic in design education. The results reveled an improved interest in research and technology implementation. Students perceived the relevance of ET technology in a fundamental phase of product design. In addition, the students shared their enjoyment and interest in reusing this technology in similar processes. The students' perception of factors, such as utility, novelty and relevance of this technology, in their design processes was positive. Finally, the novel process became familiar to the students, even if it was their first-time using ET technology. This work reveals how technology becomes a fundamental part of the process and how to guide students to integrate rigid and meticulous processes in design products without neglecting the creative process.