Enhancing design skills for beginners in packaging design education through Kansei engineering

For beginner creators, conceptualizing best-selling packaging designs can serve as efficient design training, yet the practical application remains challenging. To bridge this gap, we considered design education utilizing Kansei Engineering methods. This study aims to enhance beginner creators’ packaging design skills through exercises based on Kansei Engineering and to verify the effectiveness of design education. Participants engaged in exercises that involved visualizing Kansei responses to existing ice cream packages, creating original designs, visualizing Kansei responses to their packages, redesigning, and then reading the portfolios. This process showed positive trends in participants’ quantitative responses to items such as “I am interested in a job related to design (<i>p</i> = .017, <i>d</i> = –1.24),” “I am confident in designing packages (<i>p</i> = .004, <i>d</i> = –1.7),” and “I find designing something enjoyable (<i>p</i> = .004, <i>d</i> = –1.73).” Our findings suggest that integrating Kansei visualization into the design education process can empower beginners by enhancing their skills and engagement in packaging design.