Fostering Innovation Through Modularity: Guidelines for Teaching Modular Design to Industrial Designers

Dhiran Kumar Patel¹ Shoeb Iqbal Khan² Shyambihari Prajapati³

Abstract
Modularity in a product is the breakdown of a complex product into smaller, independent, and interchangeable components called modules. One can easily assemble, disassemble, replace, or upgrade these modules. There are many different approaches to achieving modularity in the industry that result in cross-functionality and ease of use for the user, while also making it efficient and cost-effective for the manufacturers. The industry has gone far ahead in this regard, while design education is still playing catch-up with legacy processes. In this paper, we aim to delve into the complexities of modularity and its processes within the design process. Design pedagogy is a dynamic field that has transformed from a peripheral aspect to a central focus of research and development. Instilling this knowledge in the students will result in designers who are better equipped to comprehend the current industry challenges in development, manufacturing, and user preferences. We have developed a set of guidelines for an educational approach to teaching the subject, addressing the evident lack of a structured approach to knowledge transfer in the modular design of products. The establishment of a peer review structure in the design process, which fosters an understanding of a product’s mass customization capability (MCC), empowers young designers to devise solutions for optimization-related issues in the design process and the resulting products. Standardization has played a significant role in the conception of these guidelines and will go a long way towards creating a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for educators to deliver a higher level of knowledge transfer to the students.

¹School of Doctoral Research and Innovations, GLS University dhirenpatel48@gmail.com
²Dept. of Industrial Design, Karnavati University, Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India
shoebiqbalkhan@gmail.com
³Department of Design, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati shhyamprajapati@gmail.com