Tillval: Trädgård : konceptutveckling av moduler för att erbjuda en attraktiv utomhusmiljö

To follow the trend of growing interest in gardens in the society today, NCC wants to explore the possibility to create gardens, which add value for the costumer. The objective of this master’s thesis is to investigate the background of gardens, gardens from a historical perspective, but also to study research on how Swedes today and in the future want to use their gardens. As a first part of a product development, the main objective of this work is to obtain a decision support to evaluate possible products to use as a modular unit. The process is illustrated by implementation of a multi-criteria decision analysis to provide a guide for future retail development of a possible product.Information about the various processes in industrial construction, garden history and Swedes wishes for their garden has been studied. In addition, interviews and study visits were made. After a summary of the requirements that arose in the interviews, partly supported by the literature, a specification of requirements on the module were developed. To obtain a decision support, a multi-criteria decision analysis was made, where the requirement specification was the foundation for the criteria, against which chosen products were assessed.To find out how important the different criteria was for the final product, a meeting was organized for discussion. The obtained decision support shows how well the products meet the overall objective, based on assessment and weighting. A sensitivity analysis was conducted on the results to show how a different weighting of the criteria would change the final result.In the results of the multi-criteria decision analysis two of the options were presented as best out of four. In the sensitivity analysis it was found that, given their high weighting, the absence of functional, modular, or aesthetic criteria affected the final result a lot. The ability to develop products to meet further criteria is discussed. Most of the functional and design criteria can be created in such a development of the products.If NCC would choose from the options with the highest results, the company needs to decide which way to go. Two options, two paths. The first option is to start collaboration with the company producing one of the products, including the possibility for NCC to have influence on the product design. The second option is to develop an already existing product for industrial construction at NCC. The concept exists, but the product needs to be produced in a smaller size and a number of functions need to be added to form an ultimate product.The concept of modular gardens can be implemented regardless of the choice above, based on an increasing interest for gardens in Sweden.Validerat; 20130301 (global_studentproject_submitter