Evaluating The Form Design Of Urban Smart Lighting Equipments(USLE):the Value Co-creation Perspective

As an all-inclusive system of thorough perceptiveness,comprehensive interconnectedness,and in-depth intelligence,Smart City works with its core of linking up the physical,information,societal,and commercial infrastructures in modern cities through digital information technology,such as the Internet,cloud computing,big data,and the Internet of Things.It aims to respond intelligently and conveniently to a variety of needs generated therein,such as public welfare,environmental protection,transportation,public security,urban service,and industrial and commercial activities.Furthermore,it works towards a better life for its urban dwellers by enhancing the city’s operating efficiency and realizing its green and sustainable development on the basis of energy conservation.Urban Smart Lighting Equipments(for short,USLE)is becoming a critical application carrier in reconstructing smart cities,playing a significant role in implementing energy conservation and emission reduction,enhancing urban image,utilizing urban resources,and promoting sustainable development.So far,the challenges that USLE faces in the aspect of product design and evaluation include:(1)the design of USLE needs to be reinforced from users’ perceptual awareness and participation;(2)the methods of obtaining and evaluating USLE’s functional requirements need to be improved;(3)the form design and evaluation of USLE need to change with the times.Hence,grounded on the theories of value co-creation and Kansei engineering,this study intends to explore the evaluation of USLE’s form design with its foci as follows:First,nine conceptions of value creation in the design of the product’s intelligence system are proposed,including the function,structure,material,shape,color,technology,business,interaction,and service.These conceptions are based on the value co-creation system model in the fields of product form design and the product design process and product elements from the perspective of value co-creation.Integrated with the "four-chain fusion and seven-step innovation" approach proposed by Moma Design,a value co-creation process aiming at the product’s smart system design is accordingly developed.Next,the principles of USLE product design are proposed with the establishment of an overall framework of the morphological perceptual design and evaluating system of USLE from the perspective of value co-creation.This is achieved through the analyses of the producer logic s value co-creation process and user logic’s value co-creation process in value co-creation theory,Kansei engineering,and pertinent theories and methods regarding form design.Furthermore,a USLE producer and user needs based hierarchical model is constructed based theoretically on emotionalized design and Analytic Hierarchy Process(AHP).The priority and importance of the indexes of morphological functional requirements of selected urban areas are also obtained through fuzzy AHP approach.Fourthly,seven major perceptual image evaluation dimensions of USLE are established through market survey,user survey,and cluster analysis.These dimensions include environmental evaluation,efficacy evaluation,innovation evaluation,style evaluation,humanity evaluation,quality evaluation,and morphological evaluation.Additionally,taking Shanghai Haiwan university town as an example,the study applies factor analysis to establish the perceptual image space of USLE of the selected urban areas from the perspective of value co-creation.It also applies multiple linear regression to obtain the correlation between the perceptual image factors and users’ satisfaction.Last but not least,eye-movement tracking,virtual reality technology,and morphological analysis are applied to obtain leading morphological characteristics and design elements of the USLE morphological sample of Shanghai Haiwan university town.Further,the theory of quantification(Type Ⅰ)is used to establish the correlation model of morphological elements and perceptual image of USLE of Shanghai Haiwan university town,which is verified by paired T-test.A multiple regression model of the perceptual image and morphological design element and satisfaction is hence established from the perspective of value co-creation theory.Through this model,the desirable morphological design elements of an obtained perceptual image can help the designer to work on the morphological design creatively,the satisfaction of the USLE morphological design can be conveniently achieved,and the perceptual evaluation on the strength of such design can also be accomplished promptly.Generally speaking,this model has great potential as an important foundation for the perceptual evaluation of the USLE morphological design as it facilitates considerably the recommendation of design proposals.In short,this study explores the design process of the product’s smart system from the perspectives of value co-creation,producers and users’ evaluations on USLE functional requirements within different urban environments.It analyzes and evaluates USLE’s morphological satisfaction and design elements through establishing a correlation model of perceptual image dimension,morphological perceptual image,morphological satisfaction,and design elements within specific urban environments.The study is equally applicable to the morphological design and evaluation of other relevant comprehensive installations in smart cities.Furthermore,it can help future manufacturing enterprises and administrations to conduct scientifically qualitative and quantitative design evaluations on the integrated end products of smart cities for immediate suggestions and recommendations of the product design.In this sense,it plays a crucial role in the advancement of smart cities and enjoys impressively practical significance.