A Gestalt–Minimalism-based decision-making model for evaluating product form design

This paper presents a novel methodology for dealing with decision-making problems in product design fields. The purpose of this study is to evaluate product form design in terms of the perspectives of Gestalt psychology and Minimalist principles. Unlike traditional AHP methods, the proposed decision-making model uses distinct mathematical tools to establish priorities for the criteria and synthesize the evaluation results. A case study was conducted to illustrate the practicability of this proposed model. It has shown a credible result. In addition to product form design, this model can be applied to related design fields, such as plane design and other visual design.Relevance to industryProduct form design is a creative process that involves complex visual perceptions. It is very important to develop an effective decision support system for designers to deal with problems concerning the consumers’ psychological preferences toward product forms. As Gestalt psychology and Minimalist principles provide an important perspective on visual perception, it is appropriate to apply these principles in assessing the quality of product form design.

► Gestalt psychology and Minimalism provide a vital perspective on visual perception. ► This study proposes a decision-making model for evaluating product form design. ► The model uses distinct methods to establish priorities and synthesize the results. ► A case study using a simple hierarchy to evaluate the alternatives was conducted. ► This model can be applied to related design fields for evaluation purposes.