Professor Peter Ford

Job: Professor of Design - Head of Commercial Design

Faculty: Arts, Design and Humanities

School/department: School of Design

Research group(s): Design and New Product Development, The Design Unit - Design Research and Consultancy

Address: De Montfort University, The Gateway, Leicester, UK, LE1 9BH

T: +44 (0)116 207 8786

E: pbford@dmu.ac.uk

W: www.design-unit.co.uk

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Personal profile

Peter Ford graduated from Leicester Polytechnic in 1983 to join the London based product design group BIB (Butler, Isherwood and Bartlett). Peter worked on a wide range of international products for companies such as Ferguson, Duracell, BT, BOC Ohmeda, Minolta and many more.

In 1987 he joined the Leicester based product design group Jones Garrard (designers of the Eurostar) as associate director responsible for the design of consumer products, medical devices and capital equipment, adding companies such as Pfizer, Black and Decker, Gent, 3M and Unilever to his repertoire.

Peter joined De Montfort University in 1991 as a senior lecturer in Product Design helping develop the multi award winning (Dyson, Addis, BASF, RSA) BA and BSc Product Design courses to their current status. He continues to tutor on these courses in addition to Masters and Higher Degree supervision.

In response to demand from industry, Peter formed the De Montfort University Design Unit (a design research and currently group currently consisting of 8 staff) in 1992, initially undertaking projects for British Nuclear Fuels, DA Systems and Reckitt and Coleman. To date the group has also undertaken work for companies such as Guinness, Adidas, the Pentland Group, British Telecom, Oxford Instruments and many more. This design research and innovation activity for private sector companies is currently ongoing; at present the group is undertaking work in the UK, Finland, Germany, Sweden and the Czech Republic.

In 2003 the Design Unit commenced its first Regional Design support programme entitled Improving Business by Design (IBBD), a scheme to help SME’s make better use of design in their business strategies. Enlisting the assistance of local design groups, the project was highly successful resulting in the creation of over 30 jobs and a significant increase in GVA into the East Midlands.

Improving Business by Design was followed by the establishment of the New Product Development Centre in 2006 and the first of the groups Resource Efficiency in Design (RED) support programmes.

In 2008 the group was commissioned to undertake a design pilot scheme for the Manufacturing Advisory Service (MAS), a design support scheme involving over 150 companies in the East Midlands.

In late 2009 the group established the Retail Lab, a unique facility to investigate resource efficiency within the retail sector. In addition the group has undertaken the second of its Resource Efficiency in Design (Deep RED) research projects, investigating resource efficiency relating to design and the supply chain. In addition the Design Unit is currently undertaken further SME Design Support projects funded by Europe (ERDF).

In early 2011, Peter Ford was awarded Chair of Design at De Montfort University for his work in his field, Nick Butler OBE, RDI (former Head of Butler, Isherwood and Bartlett) and Sir George Cox (former Chairman of the Design Council) being among his referees.

In summary, for over 20 years, Professor Peter Ford has specialised in assisting Small, Medium and Large Enterprises make effective use of design within their businesses strategies and more recently on the benefits of being resource efficient in the design and development of these products, this has extended to advising Governments in the UK, Oman and Indonesia on the role of design in industry.

Research group affiliations

The Design Unit - including:

The Centre for New Product Development
The Retail Lab
The Usability Lab

Publications and outputs

Skirting the Sketch: an Analysis of Sketch Inhibition within Contemporoary Design Higher Education
Skirting the Sketch: an Analysis of Sketch Inhibition within Contemporoary Design Higher Education Thurlow, Lisa; Ford, Peter B. Sketch inhibition is regularly alluded to by educators within design higher education (HE) and one with increasingly marked effects on industry. Over the past thirty years students have been observed to engage less with the manual processes of design development process in favour of other activities perceived as more attractive, to the detriment of their development as effective designers. This paper offers an evaluation of literature which supports the importance of sketching to the design process across a variety of disciplines, its anatomy and functions and demonstrates its role in cognitive support, as a language, a means of reflection, communication and storage of information and the micro-processes it embodies. It also presents observations from teaching practice and initial findings from interviews regarding symptoms of sketch inhibition: from avoidance of studio sessions to an over reliance on digital tools. It considers causes, ranging from lacking skill-sets, psycho-social, to technological and although further investigation is recommended to establish depth and enable development of an appropriate pedagogical framework for its management within HE, various methods are offered at this stage for use by educators: these include fine art exercises, a rigorous pursuit of quantity and even paper type. The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI link.
An Analysis of Sketch Inhibition within Contemporary Design Education
An Analysis of Sketch Inhibition within Contemporary Design Education Thurlow, Lisa; Ford, Peter B. Sketch inhibition is regularly alluded to by educators as a phenomenon within design higher education, and one having increasingly marked effects on industry - but has garnered little attention from academics. This paper provides a meta-analysis of the literature and evaluation of the anatomy and functions of sketching during design ideation across a variety of disciplines. It demonstrates the importance of sketching for cognitive support, as a language, a means of reflection, and storage of information. It presents initial findings from the literature related to symptoms; from avoidance to an over reliance on digital tools and considers its causes, ranging from psycho-social, to technological. Fine art exercises have proven beneficial to its management, however further investigation is recommended to establish depth and enable a framework for its management within HE. open access article
Ideal Ideation: A Framework for the Management of Sketch Inhibition Among Undergraduate Designers
Ideal Ideation: A Framework for the Management of Sketch Inhibition Among Undergraduate Designers Thurlow, Lisa; Ford, Peter B. Sketch inhibition among undergraduates is a growing but under-researched issue. Affected students avoid engaging with sketching during concept development, they also have little understanding of the benefits it offers effective ideation as a language and a cognitive tool which in turn affects design quality and impedes commercial activity. Causes include skill-set shortage, prevalence of technology and social and educational issues. The proposed management framework aims to reduce inhibition via a three-part tool for use by higher education at strategic, pedagogic and individual levels open access article
An Intimate Approach to the Management and Integration of Design Knowledge for Small Firms
An Intimate Approach to the Management and Integration of Design Knowledge for Small Firms Ford, Peter B.; Terris, David In August 2012, I presented a paper entitled ‘‘The Fuzzy Front End of Product Design Projects: How Universities Can Manage Knowledge Transfer and Creation’’ at the International Design Management Research Conference. Via a series of design projects and design support schemes, the paper investigated how a higher education institution with a particular approach to the management and integrating of knowledge on behalf of small ﬁrms could bring together manufacturers, subcontractors, design consultancies, market researchers, intel-lectual property specialists, funding bodies, and other higher education institutions to make for an extremely effective design support network. In particular, the paper dealt with the dynamics of knowledge acquisition during the fuzzy front end of product design projects. It was suggested that, through this novel approach, the management and integration of the different players involved in new product development (NPD), higher education institutions could help small ﬁrms in particular achieve effective knowledge transfer, develop new knowledge, and generally reduce and manage uncertainty in the process and therefore utilize design more effectively in generating new products and increasing proﬁtability. This article investigates the work that has taken place in the ensuing years, including material that led to outstanding impact in the 2014 UK Research Excellence Framework evidencing signiﬁcant economic growth as a result of this approach to the management of the NPD process for small ﬁrms. It proposes that the management and integration of those factors leading to successful NPD for small ﬁrms require an intimate style of engagement to be effective, demanding a broad knowledge of, and/or an ability to manage, those factors pertinent to the needs of small ﬁrms. Based on four case studies, this article attempts to identify the nature of this intimate approach and therefore its potential signiﬁcance. Open access article
Uniquely for you: the individualised avenue for longer product lifetimes.
Uniquely for you: the individualised avenue for longer product lifetimes. Armellini, Juan; Ford, Peter B. Object customisation has historically been a regular practice as a form of self, or group-identification. A product we can identify ourselves with, is one that we keep for longer, tend to repair when it breaks and dispose of later as a result of an emotional bond with it. Such bond is strengthened when we invest time and effort customising. Consumer involvement when customising is facilitated by new technologies in design and manufacturing. For example, computer algorithms can automate customisation, meaning products are customised for consumers rather than by consumers, (namely individualisation). However, the adequate ‘amount’ of consumer interaction is still debated amongst researchers. This paper questions the consumer benefit and extent of an emotional bond with individualised products. Using a mixed-method approach, 63 participants responded to in-depth interviews while engaging with individualisation exercises. Respondents were profiled as either of two types of consumers depending on their interest in art, design and critical engagement with what they consume, namely Active Consumers (AC) and Passive Consumers (PC). Results suggest individualisation attracts PCs, showing signs of greater engagement in the process and attachment to the product than ACs. PCs welcomed the automated decisions taken by an individualisation toolkit, whilst ACs found it detrimental to the experience. It is claimed that individualisation can strengthen emotional bonds between PCs and the resulting products. The paper concludes that individualisation could offer PCs new experiences, enriching their lives, generating an emotional attachment leading to longer product lifetimes and potentially changing consuming behaviours otherwise unlikely to be nurtured. Published open access
NPD, Design and Management for SME's
NPD, Design and Management for SME's Ford, Peter B.; Terris, David It is generally acknowledged that small and medium sized enterprises (SME’s) contribute significantly to a country’s economic performance. It is also generally acknowledged that it can be problematic to provide effective, public sector research, development and innovation support for SME’s given their size and diversity. It is also considered that vertical cooperation with customers and suppliers is more effective in new product development (NPD) for SME’s than horizontal co-operation with research institutions and government agencies. This paper discusses how higher education institutions (HEI’s) engaged in design research, can effectively support SME’s in NPD by actively participating in the design process whilst simultaneously working with SME’s to facilitate the development of knowledge networks local to specific SME’s, by acting as an intermediary. A number of design support schemes and specific SME, NPD projects undertaken by the author are used to advocate a participatory intermediation role for HEI’s in supporting NPD for SME’s. International, peer reviewed conference with published proceedings
Where have all the ideas gone? An anatomy of sketch inhibition among student designers
Where have all the ideas gone? An anatomy of sketch inhibition among student designers Thurlow, Lisa; Ford, Peter B. The reluctance of student designers to engage in sketching during the early stages of their processes is an increasing phenomenon, observed on a continual basis within higher education, and one with marked effects on design quality. An investigation into the causes and symptoms of sketch inhibition identifies social, personal and skill-set shortfalls among students together with a favouring of digital tools. A lack of understanding of the functions and benefits of sketching together with an assumption that design sketching is intuitive and requires no tuition have led to its neglect. An anatomy of sketching and its particular qualities is presented, concluding with the issues that higher education needs to address. These include a greater awareness of digital and manual tools and design-specific research types, together with the need for a revised pedagogy for design sketching A peer reviewd, international conference with published proceedings. Open access
The Need for a Holistic Approach to Sustainability in New Product Development from the Designers Perspective
The Need for a Holistic Approach to Sustainability in New Product Development from the Designers Perspective Ford, Peter B.; Meadwell, James; Terris, David
A little knowledge is a dangerous thing? – Do BSC Product Design courses discourage collaboration?
A little knowledge is a dangerous thing? – Do BSC Product Design courses discourage collaboration? Meadwell, James; Terris, David; Ford, Peter B. BSc Product Design Courses aim to equip the Product Designer with a better understanding of the needs of professionals such as manufacturing engineers, material specialists, electrical engineers whilst also maintaining a focus on conventional design skills. One could debate that this greater understanding of these engineering disciplines should allow more productive collaboration with their respective practitioners. A key area looked at by this paper is, does this bias towards the technical, affect the designers predisposition towards collaborating with end users or those involved in the user experience in driving a new product design forward? It will also consider the argument that the Product Designer is now in a position to collaborate less with other technical disciplines, with ever simpler tools such as FEA, CFD being part of CAD suites, allowing designers to carry out the kind of validation that would have once been exclusively the preserve of specialists. The paper examines two completed design projects for SME clients, by a design research group based at De Montfort University. One project was undertaken by a BA graduate, the other a BSc graduate. It will look at how each graduate collaborated with end users and technical specialists and the effect this had on the project outcome. One of the projects will then be presented as a hypothetical live project to final year BSc and BA students and their approach to collaboration with end users and technical specialists examined.
An Intimate Approach to the Management and Integration of Design Knowledge for Small Firms
An Intimate Approach to the Management and Integration of Design Knowledge for Small Firms Ford, Peter B. In August 2012 the author presented a paper entitled ‘’The Fuzzy Front End of Product Design Projects: How Universities Can Manage Knowledge Transfer and Creation’’ at the International Design Management Research Conference that year. Via a series of design projects and design support schemes, the paper investigated how a higher education institution with a particular approach to the management and integrating of knowledge on behalf of small firms, could bring together manufacturers, sub-contractors, design consultancies, market researchers, intellectual property specialists, funding bodies and other higher education institutions to make for an extremely effective design support network. In particular the paper dealt with the dynamics of knowledge acquisition during the ‘‘fuzzy front end’’ of product design projects. It was suggested that, through this novel approach, the management and integration of the different players involved in new product development (NPD), higher education institutions could help small firms, in particular, achieve effective knowledge transfer, develop new knowledge and generally reduce and manage uncertainty in the process and therefore utilise design more effectively in generating new products and increasing profitability. This paper investigates the work that has taken place in the ensuing years including material that led to ‘outstanding impact’ in the 2014 UK Research Excellence Framework (REF) evidencing significant economic growth as a result of this approach to the management of the NPD process for small firms. The paper proposes that the management and integration of those factors leading to successful NPD for small firms requires an ‘intimate’ style of engagement to be effective; demanding a broad knowledge of, and or an ability to manage, those factors pertinent to the needs of small firm. This can be seen as being similar in approach to the ‘heavyweight manager’ proposed by Clarke and Fujimoto (1991) for larger organisations with ‘in-house’ NPD teams. Based on four case studies, this paper attempts to identify the nature of this ‘intimate’ approach and therefore its potential significance.

Click here to view a full listing of Peter Ford's publications and outputs.

Key research outputs

Design Supporting Business (IBBD, MAS Design Pilot, ERDF Regional SME Support)
Design, Sustainability and Business (RED, Deep RED, Retail Lab)
Cranberry/Oxford Instruments – Heat Dissipation in Products.
Petainer Closure Innovations

Research interests/expertise

Product design and new product development
Low volume, high value, product manufacture
Medical devices
Innovative dispensing and drug delivery systems
Scientific equipment
Safety equipment and devices
Resource efficiency in new product development
Resource efficiency in design for retail
Knowledge transfer relating to new product development with SME’s

Areas of teaching

Product Design
Industrial Design
Resource Efficiency in New Product Development
Rapid Prototyping
Additive Manufacturing
New Product Development

Qualifications

BA (Hons) Industrial Design (Engineering)

Courses taught

Product Design BA (Hons)
Product Design BSc (Hons)
Design Entrepreneurship MA/MSc
MPhil/PhD

Honours and awards

Da Vinchi Award, Highly Commended for the Albert Leg Bag 2010
Da Vinchi Award, Highly Commended for the Leicester University Biopsy tool 2009
Times Higher Award, Finalist for the Moss Group Bag rack product 2008
Times Higher Award, Finalist for the Design Unit 2007
Lord Stafford Award Winner for Chameleon Packaging for LBT Design 2010

The Walkodile child safety product has amassed the following awards for the product itself, its originator (Elaine Stephen) and the company Red Island Ltd:

Winner - British Invention of the Year 2007
Winner - International Design of the Year 2007
Winner - International Invention Award 2007
Winner - Pan-European Shell Exploration Safety Exchange Competition 2005/06
Winner - European Woman Inventor/Innovator of the Year 2007 (mother & child category)
Winner - European Woman Inventor/Innovator -Special Recognition Award 2007
Diamond Winner - UK Woman Inventor/Innovator of the Year 2007
Diamond Winner - UK Woman Product Developer of the Year 2007
Winner - Gold Medal for Outstanding Achievement in Innovation
Winner - John Logie Baird Award for Entrepreneurial Spirit 2008
Winner - Nursery Supplier/Innovator of the Year 2007
Winner - Grampian New Business Enterprise of the Year 2007
Elaine Stephen awarded MBE for services to child safety in 2011

Conference attendance

See Published Conference Papers

Consultancy work

See products designed to market and externally funded and internally funded grant information.

Current research students

Philippe Radlovic 1^st Supervisor
Nehal Almerbati 1^st Supervisor
Nouf Alajami 1^st Supervisor

Externally funded research grants information

New Product Development Centre, 2006 to present - £500,000-00 – East Midland Development Agency.
MAS (Manufacturing Advisory Service) Design Pilot Scheme, 2009 to 2011, £350,000-00. £150,000-00 from the MAS and £100,000-00 from the private sector.
ERDF Regional SME Design Support, 2009 to 2012 - £430,000-00, European funding.
Deep RED, Design, Sustainability and the Supply Chain Project 2009 to 2011 - £250,000-00, East Midlands Development Agency.
Retail Lab – 2009 to 2011 - £500,000-00, East Midlands Development Agency.
General private sector design research funding, 2008 to 2013 - £700,000-00.

Internally funded research project information

HEIF funding matched against the above activities, August 2008 to 2015 - £1,000,000-00.

Published patents

Self heating baby feeding bottle for Wright Plastics Ltd 0618059.0

Walkodile child safety product for Red Island Ltd:

USD540988S
EEC Patent Application 03748334.4
US Patent Application 10/528209
European Design Registration 0003674200001
US Design Registration 29/245409
Registered Designs EU 79041-0001, 367420-0001 & GB3011881.
US Design patent 491114

Yukka Bin WO2005016793

Dog Waste Collector for Farqueson Taylor 60867573

Bag Rack, Car Boot Protector for the Moss Group 0805069.2

Leg Bag for Albert UK 02796922.9

Collapsible Packaging for Luke Thomas Designs PB141761GB

Flap Attack cat flap device for Easy Open Ltd PCT/GB2009/002020

‘I’ Beam Clamping System for Tiger Paw Ltd GB 0911376.2.

Child Feeding Plates for Piccy Products Ltd TBD

Ergo Kneeler for Spectrum Health Care 001615311-0001

Semi Automatic Beer dispensing closures (pending)

Tensioned Clamping/Construction System (pending)

Professional esteem indicators

Reviewer for 2008 E&PDE international conference, Barcelona.
Reviewer for 2011 E&PDE international conference, London.
Reviewer for 2012 E&PDE international conference, Antwerp.
Reviewer for 2013 E&PDE international conference, Dublin (ongoing).
Associate Editor for the current volume of The International Journal
of Environmental Sustainability. Common Ground Publishing 2012.
Associate Editor for the current volume of The International Journal
of Sustainability Policy and Practice. Common Ground Publishing 2012.

Invited Conferences and Events:

Guest speaker at Origin Oman’s Product Design and Packaging Workshop, 18^th April 2009 (Guest of Sultanate of Oman).
Invited to undertake company design audits for ‘The Nejd’ and ‘Sweets of Oman’, 19^th and 20^th April 2009 (Invited by Sultanate of Oman).
Invited to be a panel member for the PEIE (Public Establishment for Industrial Estates) Smart Manufacturing Conference 2009 (Invited by Sultanate of Oman).
Guest speaker at EMMTEX EMMAT event, Nottingham, 17th February 2010.
Guest speaker at the opening event of the University of Pelita Harapan (Surabaya) festival, August 2010.

Case studies

http://www.walkodile.com/shop/article/14/_about
http://www.albertmedicaldevices.com/
http://www.oxford-instruments.com/businesses/industrial-products/industrial-analysis/scrap-metal-analyzer
http://www.spectrumhealthcare.co.uk/moving_handling/ergokneeler/
http://www.design-unit.co.uk/xhtml/casestudies.html