As technologies rapidly developed, functions of product are taken for granted, which resulted that people seek for another sort of satisfaction from product: so-called emotional or psychological satisfaction. Now people choose product not by it's primary function but by the image of product expressing owner's self-image. However, with this importance of emotional factor in product design, the application and evaluation of product image is very ambiguous and difficult so that they are usually decided depending upon designers' personal experience.
This study sets the objective to analyze and measure consumers' perceptions on the image of product and, by implementing it's results, establish knowledgebase which suggests the design fitting consumers' perceptions.
At first this study reviews the fundamental theories on form and image. Then the difficulties in measuring the image of product are pointed out and fuzzy theory is implemented to cope with the problem of ambiguousness of image. Subsequently, framework of the study is developed and case study demonstrates the process of the framework. In the case study diverse watch dials are shown to consumers and evaluated their images. Consumers are interviewed through questionnaire and results are used for the development of knowledgebase. Knowledgebase is computerized for easier representation and effective management of knowledge. Finally findings are summarized and further studies are prospected.
