Abstract
Traditional Industrial Design (ID) education has focused on teaching students how to create physical products that are functional, manufacturable, and aesthetically appealing. However, the rapid advancement of emerging technologies and the increasing complexity of modern design challenges necessitate a shift in design education toward a more holistic and integrated approach. This paper presents Product Experience Design (PXD), a pedagogical framework developed for graduate-level ID education and applied to a graduate PXD Studio that incorporates experience-driven design, systems thinking, and technology integration. The PXD framework introduces a structured three-phase methodology: (1) Experience Analysis, in which students define experiential gaps and conduct user research to identify challenges; (2) Systems Integration, where students apply systems thinking to understand the interactions between users, products, and environments; and (3) Technology Implementation, which explores the role of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and spatial computing in enhancing product experiences. Two case studies from the PXD studio course illustrate how this methodology encourages innovative and systemic design thinking. The first case study, CareMate, focuses on an AI-driven medication management system that helps older adults maintain medication adherence with contextual AI-agent support tailored to the user’s needs. The second case study, SPACIAL, highlights spatial computing technology to assist creative professionals in ideation, collaboration, and workflow optimization. By embedding emerging technologies into the design process and bridging physical and digital experiences, the PXD framework equips students with the skills necessary to address real-world challenges in an increasingly interconnected design landscape. This paper discusses the structure of the PXD framework, its pedagogical strategies, and its impact on design education. It contributes to a new paradigm in ID education that prepares students for ‘experience-driven innovation and systems-level thinking.
Author Information
Min Kang, University of Houston, United States
Paper Information
Conference: IICE2025
Stream: Design
This paper is part of the IICE2025 Conference Proceedings (View)
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To cite this article:
Kang M. (2025) Product Experience Design (PXD): A Pedagogical Framework for Experience-Driven Product and Systems Design With Emerging Technologies in Industrial Design Education ISSN: 2189-1036 – The IAFOR International Conference on Education – Hawaii 2025 Official Conference Proceedings (pp. 655-666) https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2189-1036.2025.55
To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2189-1036.2025.55
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