Product design

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Product design is the process of creating new products for businesses to sell to their customers. [1] It involves the generation and development of ideas through a systematic process that leads to the creation of innovative products. [2] Thus, it is a major aspect of new product development.

Contents

Product Design Process:

The product design process is a set of strategic and tactical activities, from idea generation to commercialization, used to create a product design. In a systematic approach, product designers conceptualize and evaluate ideas, turning them into tangible inventions and products. The product designer's role is to combine art, science, and technology to create new products that people can use. Their evolving role has been facilitated by digital tools that now allow designers to do things that include communicate, visualize, analyze, 3D modeling and actually produce tangible ideas in a way that would have taken greater human resources in the past.

Product design is sometimes confused with (and certainly overlaps with) industrial design, and has recently become a broad term inclusive of service, software, and physical product design. Industrial design is concerned with bringing artistic form and usability, usually associated with craft design and ergonomics, together in order to mass-produce goods. [3] Other aspects of product design and industrial design include engineering design, particularly when matters of functionality or utility (e.g. problem-solving) are at issue, though such boundaries are not always clear. [4]

Product design process

There are various product design processes and many focus on different aspects. One example formulation/model of the process is described by Don Koberg and Jim Bagnel in "The Seven Universal Stages of Creative Problem-Solving." The process is usually completed by a group of people with different skills and training—e.g. industrial designers, field experts (prospective users), engineers (for engineering design aspects), depending upon the nature and type of the product involved. The process often involves figuring out what is required, brainstorming possible ideas, creating mock prototypes and then generating the product. However, that is not the end. Product designers would still need to execute the idea, making it into an actual product and evaluating its success (seeing if any improvements are necessary).

The product design process has experienced huge leaps in evolution over the last few years with the rise and adoption of 3D printing. New consumer-friendly 3D printers can produce dimensional objects and print upwards with a plastic like substance opposed to traditional printers that spread ink across a page.

The product design process, as expressed by Koberg and Bagnell, typically involves three main aspects: [5]

Depending on the kind of product being designed, the latter two sections are most often revisited (e.g. depending on how often the design needs revision, to improve it or to better fit the criteria). This is a continuous loop, where feedback is the main component. [5] Koberg and Bagnell offer more specifics on the process: In their model, "analysis" consists of two stages, "concept" is only one stage, and "synthesis" encompasses the other four. (These terms notably vary in usage in different design frameworks. Here, they are used in the way they're used by Koberg and Bagnell.)

Analysis

Concept

Synthesis

Double Diamond Framework

The Double Diamond Framework is a widely used approach for product discovery, which emphasizes a structured method for problem-solving and solution development, encouraging teams to diverge (broad exploration) before converging (focused decision-making). [6]

The framework is divided into two primary stages: diverging and converging, each with its own steps and considerations.

Diverging Stage:

During the diverging stage, teams explore the problem space broadly without predefined solutions. This phase involves engaging with core personas, conducting open-ended conversations, and gathering unfiltered input from customer-facing teams. [6] The goal is to identify and document various problem areas, allowing themes and key issues to emerge naturally.

Converging Stage:

As insights emerge, teams transition to the converging stage, where they narrow down problem areas and prioritize solutions. [6] This phase involves defining the problem, understanding major pain points, and advocating for solutions within the organization. Effective convergence requires clear articulation of the problem's significance and consideration of business strategies and feasibility.

Iterative Process:

The Double Diamond Framework is iterative, allowing teams to revisit stages as needed based on feedback and outcomes. [6] Moving back to earlier stages may be necessary if solutions fail to address underlying issues or elicit negative user responses. Success lies in the team's ability to adapt and refine their approach over time.

Creative visualization

In design, Creative Visualization refers to the process by which computer generated imagery, digital animation, three-dimensional models, and two-dimensional representations, such as architectural blueprints, engineering drawings, and sewing patterns are created and used in order to visualize a potential product prior to production. Such products include prototypes for vehicles in automotive engineering, apparel in the fashion industry, and buildings in architectural design. [7] [8] [9] [10] [11]

Demand-pull innovation and invention-push innovation

Most product designs fall under one of two categories: demand-pull innovation or invention-push innovation. [12]

Demand-pull happens when there is an opportunity in the market to be explored by the design of a product. [12] This product design attempts to solve a design problem. The design solution may be the development of a new product or developing a product that's already on the market, such as developing an existing invention for another purpose. [12]

Invention-push innovation happens when there is an advancement in intelligence. This can occur through research or it can occur when the product designer comes up with a new product design idea. [12]

Product design expression

So-called "color chips" or color samples, used in the plastic industry to help designers visually identify available colors of plastic pellets. Color chips.jpg
So-called "color chips" or color samples, used in the plastic industry to help designers visually identify available colors of plastic pellets.

Design expression comes from the combined effect of all elements in a product. Colour tone, shape and size should direct a person's thoughts towards buying the product. [13] Therefore, it is in the product designer's best interest to consider the audiences who are most likely to be the product's end consumers. Keeping in mind how consumers will perceive the product during the design process will direct towards the product’s success in the market. [14] However, even within a specific audience, it is challenging to cater to each possible personality within that group.

One solution to that is to create a product that, in its designed appearance and function, expresses a personality or tells a story. [13] Products that carry such attributes are more likely to give off a stronger expression that will attract more consumers. On that note it is important to keep in mind that design expression does not only concern the appearance of a product, but also its function. [13] For example, as humans our appearance as well as our actions are subject to people's judgment when they are making a first impression of us. People usually do not appreciate a rude person even if they are good looking. Similarly, a product can have an attractive appearance but if its function does not follow through it will most likely drop in regards to consumer interest. In this sense, designers are like communicators, they use the language of different elements in the product to express something. [15]

Product designers must consider every detail: how people use and misuse objects, potential flaws in products, errors in the design process, and the ideal ways people wish they could interact with those objects. [16] Many new designs will fail and many won't even make it to market. [16] Some designs eventually become obsolete. The design process itself can be quite frustrating usually taking 5 or 6 tries to get the product design right. [16] A product that fails in the marketplace the first time may be re-introduced to the market 2 more times. [16] If it continues to fail, the product is then considered to be dead because the market believes it to be a failure. [16] Most new products fail, even if there's a great idea behind them. [16]

All types of product design are clearly linked to the economic health of manufacturing sectors. Innovation provides much of the competitive impetus for the development of new products, with new technology often requiring a new design interpretation. It only takes one manufacturer to create a new product paradigm to force the rest of the industry to catch up—fueling further innovation. [17] Products designed to benefit people of all ages and abilities—without penalty to any group—accommodate our swelling aging population by extending independence and supporting the changing physical and sensory needs we all encounter as we grow older. [18]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Creativity</span> Forming something new and somehow valuable

Creativity is the ability to form novel and valuable ideas or works using the imagination. Products of creativity may be intangible or a physical object. Creativity may also describe the ability to find new solutions to problems, or new methods of performing a task or reaching a goal. Creativity therefore enables people to solve problems in new or innovative ways.

New product development (NPD) or product development in business and engineering covers the complete process of launching a new product to the market. Product development also includes the renewal of an existing product and introducing a product into a new market. A central aspect of NPD is product design. New product development is the realization of a market opportunity by making a product available for purchase. The products developed by an commercial organisation provide the means to generate income.

Creative problem-solving (CPS) is the mental process of searching for an original and previously unknown solution to a problem. To qualify, the solution must be novel and reached independently. The creative problem-solving process was originally developed by Alex Osborn and Sid Parnes. Creative problem solving (CPS) is a way of using creativity to develop new ideas and solutions to problems. The process is based on separating divergent and convergent thinking styles, so that one can focus their mind on creating at the first stage, and then evaluating at the second stage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brainstorming</span> Group creativity technique

Brainstorming is a creativity technique in which a group of people interact to suggest ideas spontaneously in response to a prompt. Stress is typically placed on the volume and variety of ideas, including ideas that may seem outlandish or "off-the-wall". Ideas are noted down during the activity, but not assessed or critiqued until later. The absence of criticism and assessment is intended to avoid inhibiting participants in their idea production. The term was popularized by advertising executive Alex Faickney Osborn in the classic work Applied Imagination (1953).

Ideation is the creative process of generating, developing, and communicating new ideas, where an idea is understood as a basic unit of thought that can be either visual, concrete, or abstract. Ideation comprises all stages of a thought cycle, from innovation, to development, to actualization. Ideation can be conducted by individuals, organizations, or crowds. As such, it is an essential part of the design process, both in education and practice.

Synectics is a problem solving methodology that stimulates thought processes of which the subject may be unaware. This method was developed by George M. Prince (1918–2009) and William J.J. Gordon, originating in the Arthur D. Little Invention Design Unit in the 1950s.

Participatory design is an approach to design attempting to actively involve all stakeholders in the design process to help ensure the result meets their needs and is usable. Participatory design is an approach which is focused on processes and procedures of design and is not a design style. The term is used in a variety of fields e.g. software design, urban design, architecture, landscape architecture, product design, sustainability, graphic design, industrial design, planning, and health services development as a way of creating environments that are more responsive and appropriate to their inhabitants' and users' cultural, emotional, spiritual and practical needs. It is also one approach to placemaking.

Design methods are procedures, techniques, aids, or tools for designing. They offer a number of different kinds of activities that a designer might use within an overall design process. Conventional procedures of design, such as drawing, can be regarded as design methods, but since the 1950s new procedures have been developed that are more usually grouped under the name of "design methods". What design methods have in common is that they "are attempts to make public the hitherto private thinking of designers; to externalise the design process".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Design management</span> Field of inquiry in business

Design management is a field of inquiry that uses design, strategy, project management and supply chain techniques to control a creative process, support a culture of creativity, and build a structure and organization for design. The objective of design management is to develop and maintain an efficient business environment in which an organization can achieve its strategic and mission goals through design. Design management is a comprehensive activity at all levels of business, from the discovery phase to the execution phase. "Simply put, design management is the business side of design. Design management encompasses the ongoing processes, business decisions, and strategies that enable innovation and create effectively-designed products, services, communications, environments, and brands that enhance our quality of life and provide organizational success." The discipline of design management overlaps with marketing management, operations management, and strategic management.

Empathic design is a user-centered design approach that pays attention to the user's feelings toward a product. The empathic design process is sometimes mistakenly referred to as empathetic design.

Design thinking refers to the set of cognitive, strategic and practical procedures used by designers in the process of designing, and to the body of knowledge that has been developed about how people reason when engaging with design problems.

The engineering design process, also known as the engineering method, is a common series of steps that engineers use in creating functional products and processes. The process is highly iterative – parts of the process often need to be repeated many times before another can be entered – though the part(s) that get iterated and the number of such cycles in any given project may vary.

Human-centered design is an approach to problem-solving commonly used in process, product, service and system design, management, and engineering frameworks that develops solutions to problems by involving the human perspective in all steps of the problem-solving process. Human involvement typically takes place in initially observing the problem within context, brainstorming, conceptualizing, developing concepts and implementing the solution.

Human-centered design is an approach to interactive systems development that aims to make systems usable and useful by focusing on the users, their needs and requirements, and by applying human factors/ergonomics, and usability knowledge and techniques. This approach enhances effectiveness and efficiency, improves human well-being, user satisfaction, accessibility and sustainability; and counteracts possible adverse effects of use on human health, safety and performance.

6-3-5 Brainwriting is a group-structured brainstorming technique aimed at aiding innovation processes by stimulating creativity developed by Bernd Rohrbach who originally published it in a German sales magazine, the Absatzwirtschaft, in 1968.

Systematic Inventive Thinking (SIT) is a thinking method developed in Israel in the mid-1990s. Derived from Genrich Altshuller's TRIZ engineering discipline, SIT is a practical approach to creativity, innovation and problem solving, which has become a well known methodology for innovation. At the heart of SIT's method is one core idea adopted from Genrich Altshuller's TRIZ which is also known as Theory of Inventive Problem Solving (TIPS): that inventive solutions share common patterns. Focusing not on what makes inventive solutions different – but on what they share in common – is core to SIT's approach.

Marino (Min) Sidney Basadur is a teacher, consultant and researcher best known for his work in applied creativity and as the developer Simplexity Thinking System for improving workplace innovation & creativity. He is president of Basadur Applied Creativity and professor emeritus of organizational behavior and innovation at McMaster University's Michael G. DeGroote School of Business.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John E. Arnold</span> American academic

John Edward Arnold was an American professor of mechanical engineering and professor of business administration at Stanford University. He was a pioneer in scientifically defining and advancing inventiveness, based on the psychology of creative thinking and imagination, and an internationally recognized innovator in educational philosophy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Design sprint</span> Hackathon-like rapid prototyping and testing

A design sprint is a time-constrained, five-phase process that uses design thinking with the aim of reducing the risk when bringing a new product, service or a feature to the market. The process aims to help teams to clearly define goals, validate assumptions and decide on a product roadmap before starting development. It seeks to address strategic issues using interdisciplinary expertise, rapid prototyping, and usability testing. This design process is similar to Sprints in an Agile development cycle.

Advanced Innovation Design Approach (AIDA) is a holistic approach for enhancing the innovative and competitive capabilities of industrial companies. The name Advanced Innovation Design Approach (AIDA) was proposed in the research project "Innovation Process 4.0" run at the University of Applied Sciences Offenburg, Germany in co-operation with 10 German industrial companies in 2015–2019. AIDA can be considered as a pioneering mindset, an individually adaptable range of strong innovation techniques such as comprehensive front-end innovation process, advanced innovation methods, best tools and methods of the theory of inventive problem solving TRIZ, organisational measures for accelerating innovation, IT-solutions for Computer-Aided Innovation, and other tools for new product development, elaborated in the recent decade in the industry and academia.

Design culture is an organizational culture focused on approaches that improve customer experiences through design. In every firm, the design culture is of significance as it allows the company to understand users and their needs. Integration of design culture in any organization aims at creating experiences that add value to their respective users. In general, design culture entails undertaking design as the forefront of every operation in the organization, from strategy formulation to execution. Every organization is responsible for ensuring a healthy design culture through the application of numerous strategies. For instance, an organization should provide a platform that allows every stakeholder to engage in design recesses. Consequently, employees across the board need to incorporate design thinking, which is associated with innovation and critical thinking.

References

  1. ↑ "Product Design & Development". Archived from the original on 2015-02-04. Retrieved 2011-09-25.
  2. ↑ Morris 2009, p. 22.
  3. ↑ Morris 2009, p. 23.
  4. ↑ Veryzer, Robert W. Jr. (1995). "The Place of Product Design and Aesthetics in Consumer Research". Acr North American Advances. NA-22.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Koberg & Bagnell, J & J (1991). The universal traveler: A soft systems guide to creativity, problem-solving and the process of reaching goals. W. Kaufmann.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Hall, Erika (2019). Just Enough Research (2nd ed.). Book Apart (published October 21, 2019). ISBN   9781952616464.
  7. ↑ Raad, J. M., McCartan, S., Tovey, M., and Woodcock, A., Co-operative Animation: Beyond Creative Visualization in Automotive Design. In Cooperative Design, Visualization, and Engineering. Springer Berlin Heidelberg. 2008, pp176-179.
  8. ↑ Wake, W. K., Design paradigms: a sourcebook for creative visualization. John Wiley & Sons, 2000.
  9. ↑ Grabska, E., The Theoretical Framework for Creative Visual Thinking. In Studying Visual and Spatial Reasoning for Design Creativity. Springer Netherlands, 2015, pp39-49.
  10. ↑ Fominykh, M., and Prasolova-Førland, E., Collaborative work on 3D content in virtual environments: Methodology and recommendations. In 5th International Conference e-Learning (EL), Rome, Italy, 2011.
  11. ↑ "How Generative AI Can Augment Human Creativity". Harvard Business Review. 2023-06-16. ISSN   0017-8012 . Retrieved 2023-06-20.
  12. 1 2 3 4 Archer, B. (1974). Design awareness and planned creativity in industry. (p. 87). Toronto: Thorn Press Limited.
  13. 1 2 3 Hekkert, P., & Schifferstein, H. (2008). Product experience. (1 ed., p. 335). Amsterdam: Elsevier Science.
  14. ↑ Hekkert, P., & Schifferstein, H. (2008). Product experience . (1 ed., pp. 334). Amsterdam: Elsevier Science
  15. ↑ Hekkert, P., & Schifferstein, H. (2008). Product experience. (1 ed., pp. 349). Amsterdam: Elsevier Science.
  16. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Norman, D. (2002). The design of everyday things. (p. 29). New York: Basic Books.
  17. ↑ "Future trends | Product design | About design | Design Council". Archived from the original on 2011-08-15. Retrieved 2011-08-15.
  18. ↑ Pirkl, James J. (1994). Transgenerational Design: Products for an Aging Population . New York: Vn Nostrand Reinhold. pp.  24. ISBN   0-442-01065-6.
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