An identification and validation of competencies for industrial designers in Taiwan

This study had three purposes: (1) to identify and validate an inventory of competencies for job performance considered to be essential to industrial designers in Taiwan, (2) to determine where the essential competencies were attained by industrial design practitioners who reside in Taiwan, and (3) to establish a comprehensive list of priority competencies considered essential to various classifications of industrial design practitioners.; A 95-item survey instrument was sent to a random sample of 178 industrial designers in Taiwan. Usable responses were received from 100 respondents representing 59.55% accessible samples of this study. Descriptive statistics and MANOVA were used to analyze the data.; The data revealed that 43 of the 95 competencies were identified as essential for job performance by industrial design practitioners. The three most essential competencies were the competencies related to the determination of the aesthetic of design products. The data from this study showed that a large part of industrial designers' knowledge, skills, and information was attained from on-the-job experience. The results obtained from this study showed major differences in the number and kind of competencies held important by the industrial designers according to primary job responsibility.; Based on these findings, recommendations were made to researchers and industrial design educators and curriculum developers in Taiwan. Recommendations useful for industrial design educators and curriculum developers in Taiwan included: (1) The core content of industrial design curriculum should include the components of these 43 essential competencies as part of the content of required courses, and the other 52 competencies may be included in the curriculum content of elective courses. (2) Cooperation, such as co-op programs between college/university and industrial design practitioners in the field, are recommended in order to ensure the validity of industrial design education and training programs in Taiwan. (3) Calculus should be omitted from the current industrial design professional curriculum content, but may be included into general education curriculum content. (4) Competencies which deal with the aesthetic of design products are the most essential competencies and should be emphasized in any industrial design curriculum. (5) There is a need to offer or add industrial and business related content to advance industrial design curriculum.