Associate Professor Liu Jikun
Ph.D. in Design Art, Supervisor for M.A, and M,E, students
Member of Committee of Experts, Packaging Engineering
Member, International Industrial Design & Research Society
Senior Member, director of former Academic and Promotional Departments, China Industrial Design Association
Research Area:
Design Planning and User Experience Research
Design Management
Academic Proposition:
Design was previously centered around technology and then around the designer himself, but today the user is the focus of design. The rise of user-centered design in the end of the last century is evidence that, in the field of design education and for designers themselves, the fundamental concept of design has changed.
User research (also referred to as user experience research) plays the most fundamental role in the process of user-centered design. However, the method of user research will change according to industry, design category and design program. Therefore, we should, in accordance with said factors, adopt or develop applicable user research methods. Likewise, design planning also follows the results of user research, whether it is conclusions from the studies, or the users or users’ insight into the development of the product, information, services, or environmental design concept process. Therefore, the relationship between design planning and user research is inseparable and deserves our attention.
What management focuses on is how design research can be applied in business and practice. Thus, design management should not only go through the necessary procedures in organizing design-related activity within the enterprise, but also put such activities to practical use. At the same time, in order to ultimately achieve the goal of enterprise innovation, design management must both be able to link the long-term goals of design with the enterprises’ interests, and coordinate the relationship within and without the enterprise in relation to resources and related design projects. In short, design management is the method with which design activity and the product development process is managed.
Academic achievement:
In over 20 years of design education, he was involved in a wide variety fields including user research, design planning, design engineering, and design management and has his own insights and academic achievements. Main academic works include Introduction to Industrial Design, Product-Value Analysis, and Introduction to Design Art. Besides, he has published over ten academic papers in various kinds of scholarly journals.
He was also appointed deputy director for the academic and promotional departments of the China Industrial Design Association, chief responsibilities being directing the said departments. Coordinating with the relevant departments of the State Scientific and Technological Commission, he presided over the "China Development Industrial Design Engineering" project and the CPPCC National Committee proposals on the development of industrial design. He was once contributing editor for magazines including New Product World and Design (China). In addition, he is a visiting scholar of the Paris-based Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs (ENSAD) and senior visiting scholar/research partner of School of Design of Illinois Institute of Technology.
Currently, his main interests and research orientations are about new methods in understanding users, design proposal and design management. Most recent papers include: Think of Design Management Education in China, User Value Based Product Adaptation (EI search), Design Research and New Human Factors and Global Company and Local Market. Major research projects include: "Sino-European Design Management Network (EU Project)", "Product Value Innovation Theory Framework," and “Global Companies in Local Markets” (in collaboration with Illinois Institute of Technology Dean and Professor Patrick Whitney). Additionally, he is cooperating with Nokia in a number of other projects.
Courses to be taught:
User Experience Research
Investigation for Design
Value Analysis & Innovation
Graduation Thesis & Design
An Introduction to Human Factors
