The Digitalization Principles from a User- Centered Design Perspective: A Conceptual Framework for Smart Product Development

The industry relies on interdisciplinarity to promote advancements. The diverse engineering domains, information technologies, management and social sciences are combined in the industrial environment and oriented o society’s ever-changing demands. In parallel, the demographic shifts caused by population aging present room for innovation on many fronts, such as in health, technology, industry, products, and services, and in the same way in product development processes. In an attempt to tackle such issues, this article discusses how the addressing of the elderly population demands, particularly the demand for smart products, might be supported by the principles of production digitalization. In doing so, it proposes a conceptual framework for the development of smart products for the elderly, sustained by three core pillars: specific product lifecycle stages, Industrie 4.0 requirements for smart product development; and Industrie 4.0 enabling technologies which are integrated by the User-Centered Design philosophy. Their combination into a framework aims at addressing two main points: assist in the translation of elderly real consumers’ expectations and demands into more adequate, appealing products and in creating a transition path for companies who wish to incorporate the principles and technologies of production digitalization in their value chain. Furthermore, the article discusses how this proposal could be validated in the real industrial environment