Art and R&D. A conceptual approach on how art can support the product development process

Until the 18th and 19th century, the terms art and technique were used synonymously (Brümmer, 1999). Some of the most renowned artists, such as Leonardo da Vinci, excelled also as forwardthinking scientists. Since then, the borderline between these terms developed increasingly towards a focus on objective and rational product creation on the one hand and the creation of subjective and emotive artefacts on the other. However, we found that some companies today show that bringing together art and technique (or technology) can be a key for generating products that fire people's enthusiasm and therefore set themselves apart from their competitors' counterparts. This paper analyses the interaction between art and R&D through the identification of the role of art in the product development process. Therefore, the three process dimensions of input, process support and output are considered, each with several exemplary cases where art and R&D interact.