1st Edition
Design for Transport A User-Centred Approach to Vehicle Design and Travel
The central premise of Design for Transport is that the designer's role is to approach design for transport from the point of view of the user. People have a collection of wants and needs and a significant proportion of them are to do with their requirements for mobility. The authors show how creative designers can take a user-focused approach for a wide range of types of transport products and systems. In so doing their starting point is one of creative dissatisfaction with what is currently available, and their specialist capability is in imagining and developing new solutions which respond to that opportunity. How this is tackled varies depending on the context, and the variety of solutions produced reflects the different aspirations and needs of the people they are designing for. The chapters cover user needs and transport, design and the transport system, transport design case studies, and the case for the automobile. A conclusion briefly signals what the future for transport design might be. Lavishly illustrated throughout in four-colour, Design for Transport, is an imaginative and rigorous guide to how designers can take a user-centred and socially responsible approach to tackling a range of types of transport, from systems to products and from bicycles to automobiles, demonstrating a rich array of solutions through case studies.
Biography
Michael Tovey is Professor of Industrial Design at Coventry University. He was responsible for the establishment and development of transport design. This has now achieved international prominence and centre of excellence status. He was Dean of the Coventry School of Art and Design for 18 years. He pioneered design research, contributing publications and holding a number of research council grants.
'Design for Transport shows how designers can take a user-centred and socially responsible approach to tackling a range of types of transport, from systems to products and from bicycles to automobiles. The approaches they employ and the methods they use in producing a rich array of solutions are demonstrated through case studies. This is timely and relevant as we face unprecedented economic and climate change issues, which call for radically new approaches from transport designers. This book is essential reading for anyone interested in the future of transport design.' Seymour Roworth-Stokes, Pro Vice-Chancellor Research and Development, University for the Creative Arts, and Chair, Design Research Society
'Of all the imperatives concerning humanity's ability to devise systems for sustainable living "transport" is perhaps one of our most important priorities. The story of transport not only provides an illustration of our evolution into urban and sub-urban inhabitants but our predictions for future transport epitomise our human capacity for creativity and innovation. Of course, not all visions have recognised the social and environmental implications of their creation but new approaches to the user-centred design of transport products and systems offer both liberation and sustainability. This book expertly charts recent and relevant milestones on the journey towards truly sustainable transport.' Steve Garner, The Open University, UK
'A key reference for designers and students because of its comprehensive approach - from bicycles to buses, from supercars to sustainability, from maps to modal interchanges - and its focus on how design can create not just new vehicles and transport systems but new futures for travellers.' Nigel Cross, The Open University, UK
