Paper “Designing the Future of Retail: Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration in Industrial Design and Architecture Design” published at the 40th National Conference on Begining Design Students Conference proceedings.  North Carolina State University. Raleigh, NC. 2025.

Yong-Gyun Ghim, Ming Tang, University of Cincinnati

Abstract

The significance of design’s cross-disciplinary nature has increased alongside technological advancements as emerging technologies present new opportunities and challenges for complex socio-technical systems. Systems thinking has drawn attention to design as a holistic approach to tackling complex systems by examining the interrelationships between elements. This also necessitates cross-disciplinary collaboration to address the multifaceted nature of the problems comprehensively. These aspects of systems thinking further emphasize its importance in design education to help navigate the current era of technological innovation. The future of retail exemplifies this interconnected complexity in the context of emerging technologies because introducing them – such as robotics, artificial intelligence, and mixed reality – into retail environments requires a holistic consideration of the entire system, encompassing physical spaces, service processes, and human interactions.

This study examines a 15-week collaborative studio project between industrial design and architecture. By leveraging a systems thinking approach, the project facilitated cross-disciplinary collaboration to develop future retail concepts, enabling students to integrate their expertise and address the interconnectedness of artifacts, environments, and human interactions. Both disciplines followed a structured design process encompassing research, system design, space and robot design, visualization, and validation, while collaboration was organized around four key steps: planning, learning, prototyping, and communication. The project also involved collaboration with a supermarket chain, providing opportunities for onsite observations, employee interviews, and discussions with industry professionals. Students developed futuristic concepts for retail operations and customer experiences by leveraging the integration of mobile service robots, adaptive spaces, and mixed reality. Industrial design students focused on designing a product-service system of supermarket robots based on their redefinition of customer shopping experience and employee workflow, proposing an automated grocery order fulfillment system. Architecture students designed adaptive retail spaces that seamlessly blur the boundaries between physical and digital worlds, exploring how the Metaverse and mixed-reality interfaces can augment retail spaces and shopping experiences through dynamic, immersive interactions with digital avatars and robots. This cross-disciplinary collaboration resulted in holistic and integrative solutions for complex systems, presented through immersive VR experiences or animated scenarios.

This study’s contribution to design education is threefold. First, it proposes a systems thinking approach with cross-disciplinary collaboration for designing future retail experiences, demonstrating its effectiveness in addressing and designing complex socio-technical systems. Second, it offers insights into how industrial design and architecture can be integrated to create novel user experiences in digital transformation. Lastly, by examining the design and collaboration processes and reflecting on the opportunities and challenges, this study offers insights for its application to future studio courses. Given the increased complexity and dynamics between disciplines, thorough pre-planning and flexibility are critical for success.

Keywords:

Cross-disciplinary collaboration, Design education, Industrial design, Architecture, Future of retail

Project:  Future Service, Retail, Metaverse, and Robotics