AI integration in Product Development : Development of AI integrated workflows through an automotive case-study

Sammanfattning

This master thesis explores how Artificial Intelligence (AI) can be meaningfully integrated into the product development process at Volvo Group Advanced Design. As AI tools become increasingly available and powerful, their potential to enhance efficiency, creativity, and decision-making in design workflows grows. However, AI adoption remains limited by a lack of structured, designer-centered workflows tailored to real-world industrial needs. The objective of this study is to investigate current design practices at Advanced Design, identify pain points and opportunities, benchmark emerging AI tools, and propose AI-augmented workflows that are both effective and engaging for designers. The research employs a combination of a literature review, semi-structured interviews with designers at Advanced Design, and tool benchmarking based on defined evaluation criteria. From this foundation, five AI workflow concepts were developed. Two workflows; User Insights Miner and User Interaction Visualizer, were further implemented and evaluated through a future-oriented autonomous mobility case-study. Evaluation methods included tool performance testing and reflective design journaling to assess their practical impact. Findings show that AI offers most value in the diverging stages of the Double Diamond process, particularly in user research synthesis, data-driven ideation, and concept visualization, without undermining the creative and intuitive aspects that designers value. The proposed workflows improved both efficiency and creativity, while emphasizing the necessity of human oversight and expertise. This thesis contributes a validated framework for aligning AI capabilities with industrial product development needs and offers strategic insights for fostering sustainability and stimulating human-AI collaboration in design.