Designing assembly instructions is mostly considered to be a non-designer task. Hence, in many companies, it is performed by production planners or instructional designers. However, analysing product components and looking for clues on how these components can be fitted together into a subassembly or final product is a fundamental part of assembly. Product designers play an important role in the way these components are perceived by the operator. This paper discusses the need and importance of a new approach to product design focused on how the assembly design can promote meaning to the operator, supporting operator cognition. The aim of this approach was to guide assembly operators more intuitively through their increasingly complex tasks. Doing so will allow them to avoid some of the major drawbacks that are present when using procedural instructions. Hence, this approach has the potential to decrease cognitive load and frustration, and increase mental wellbeing, work motivation and efficiency. As a first step towards this new approach, a conceptual framework is constructed, and insights are formulated after reviewing various design theories and concepts of design for meaning on their potential in a context of manual assembly.

中文翻译：

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为装配意义而设计：设计者在装配过程中设计支持操作者认知的产品的框架

设计装配说明通常被认为是非设计人员的任务。因此，在许多公司中，它是由生产计划人员或教学设计人员执行的。但是，分析产品组件并寻找有关如何将这些组件组装到子组件或最终产品中的线索是组件的基本组成部分。产品设计师在操作员感知这些组件的方式方面发挥着重要作用。本文讨论了一种新的产品设计方法的必要性和重要性，重点是装配设计如何提升操作员的意义，支持操作员的认知。这种方法的目的是通过他们日益复杂的任务更直观地指导装配操作员。这样做将使他们能够避免使用程序指令时存在的一些主要缺点。因此，这种方法有可能减少认知负荷和挫折感，并提高心理健康、工作动力和效率。作为迈向这种新方法的第一步，构建了一个概念框架，并在审查了各种设计理论和设计概念后形成了见解，以了解它们在手动组装环境中的潜力。