Interactive evolution for industrial design

Interactive evolutionary design (IED) has the potential to change development processes in industrial design from generating individual solutions to designing parametric models that are employed to create a vast space of possible solutions. This paper describes the current stage of a continuing interdisciplinary project between computer science and industrial design to make IED accessible for designers. The long term goal is to integrate the software into participatory design research methods, since interactive evolutionary design interfaces can be used without extensive training and skills. Everybody can use it to intuitively identify, communicate and explore appealing solutions within a large solution space. A case study is conducted to illustrate initial experiences by applying interactive evolutionary design software to the design process of a small, electric vehicle. The findings of the case study are immediately applied to further develop the software as a new design tool. The main contribution of this article is an explanation of basic techniques for designers/artists to design and shape a solution space.