Identification of design requirements for smart clothes and wearable technology

ABSTRACT

A design process is introduced to guide the identification of end-user requirements to inform the development of smart clothing with textile-based wearable technologies. The selection of appropriate smart materials and devices may be daunting within a hybrid area that spans the traditionally quite separate sectors of textiles and electronics as they merge within clothing. This chapter looks at requirements capture, guided by a hierarchical ‘process tree', for the development of a clothing layering system to address the design needs of an identified end user, or peer group, for a particular activity or sequence of events, where the function may be enhanced by the application of smart textiles and wearable technologies throughout the garment layers. The process has been revised at a time when the clothing and textile industries are having to give greater consideration to recalibrating their supply chains due to the major disruption caused by the global Covid-19 pandemic. This crisis has put greater emphasis on adopting responsible design solutions, in relation to both environmental and societal challenges associated with the clothing and electronics sectors. It has also accelerated the move of clothing and electronics retail to online transactions that demands greater understanding of the design requirements of the consumer. A design tool is introduced to guide collaborative, cross-disciplinary teams, involved in the development of innovative smart clothing that is both attractive and fit for purpose. © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.