UNIT 3 Product Design

Product Design :
Product Design and Development Process,
Decomposition in Product Design,
Concurrent Engineering,
Characteristic Features of Concurrent Engineering,
Elements of concurrent engineering, Concurrent new product
development,
Advantages and disadvantages,
Sustainable Development,
Design for Environment,
Introduction of Environmental Strategies into the Design Process
 Product Design and Development Process
• Product development is the process of building a new product, from
ideation all the way through launch.
• Product development begins with those initial brainstorming sessions,
when it is just discussing a budding idea.
• From there, the process is creative but strategic, and you may have seen it
done in a million different ways.
• But without clear organization, it can be hard to mesh creativity and
strategy effectively.
• The product development process comes in—a six step framework to help
us all(industries) standardize and define your work.
 Product Development Vs Product Management

• Though they sound almost identical, there's an important difference

between product development and product management.
• Product development describes the process of building a product,
where as product management is the overseeing of that work.
• It's a slight difference, but an important distinction.
• A product manager, who often oversees a team that is in the product
development process, will lead product management.
6 Stages of product development process
 Stage 1 – Idea Generation (Ideation)
• The initial stage of the product development process begins by
generating new product ideas.
• This is the product innovation stage, where team brainstorm product
concepts based on customer needs, concept testing, and market
research.
• It’s a good idea to consider the following factors when initiating a
new product concept:
• Target market: Your target market is the consumer profile you’re
building your product for.
• These are your potential customers. This is important to identify in
the beginning so you can build your product concept around your
target market from the start.
 Stage 1 – Idea Generation (Ideation)
• Existing products:
• When you have a new product concept, it’s a good idea to evaluate your
existing product portfolio.
• Are there existing products that solve a similar problem? Or does a
competitor offer a product that doesn’t allow for market share?
• And if yes, is your new concept different enough to be viable?
• Answering these questions can ensure the success of the new concept.
• Functionality: While you don’t need a detailed report of the product
functionality just yet, you should have a general idea of what functions it
will serve.
• Consider the look and feel of your product and why someone would be
interested in purchasing it.
 Stage 1 – Idea Generation (Ideation)
• SWOT analysis: Analyzing your product strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities, and threats early in the process can help you build the
best version of your new concept.
• This will ensure your product is different from competitors and solves
a market gap.
• SCAMPER method: To refine your idea, use brainstorming methods
like SCAMPER, which involves substituting, combining, adapting,
modifying, putting to another use, eliminating, or rearranging your
product concept.
• To validate a product concept, consider documenting ideas in the
form of a business case. This will allow all team members to have a
clear understanding of the initial product features and the objectives
of the new product launch.
 Stage 2 – Product Definition
• Once it is completed the business case and discussed your target
market and product functionality, it’s time to define the product.
• This is also referred to as scoping or concept development, and
focuses on refining the product strategy.
• During this stage, it’s important to define specifics including:
• Business analysis:
• A business analysis consists of mapping out distribution strategy,
ecommerce strategy, and a more in-depth competitor analysis.
• The purpose of this step is to begin building a clearly defined product
roadmap.
 Stage 2 – Product Definition
• Value proposition: The value proposition is what problem the
product is solving.
• Consider how it differs from other products in the market.
• This value can be useful for market research and for developing your
marketing strategy.
• Success metrics:
• It’s essential to clarify success metrics early so you can evaluate and
measure success once the product is launched.
• Are there key metrics you want to look out for?
• These could be basic KPIs like average order value, or something
more specific like custom set goals relevant to your organization.
 Stage 2 – Product Definition
• Marketing strategy:
• Once it is identified your value proposition and success metrics, begin
brainstorming a marketing strategy that fits your needs.
• Consider which channels industry want to promote your product on—
such as social media or a blog post.
• While this strategy may need to be revised depending on the finished
product, it’s a good idea to think about this when defining your
product to begin planning ahead of time.
• Once these ideas have been defined, it’s time to begin building your
minimum viable product (MVP) with initial prototyping.
 Stage 3 – Prototyping
• During the prototyping stage, the team will intensively research and
document the product by creating a more detailed business plan and
constructing the product.
• These early-stage prototypes might be as simple as a drawing or a
more complex computer render of the initial design. These
prototypes help you identify areas of risk before you create the
product.
• During the prototyping phase, company will work on specifics like:
• Feasibility analysis: The next step in the process is to evaluate your
product strategy based on feasibility.
• Determine if the workload and estimated timeline are possible to
achieve. If not, adjust your dates accordingly and request help from
additional stakeholders.
 Stage 3 – Prototyping(23/02/24)
• Market risk research:
• It’s important to analyze any potential risks associated with the
production of your product before it’s physically created.
• This will prevent the product launch from being derailed later on. It
will also ensure you communicate risks to the team by documenting
them in a risk register.
• Development strategy:
• Next, you can begin working through your development plan. In other
words, know how you’ll be assigning tasks and the timeline of these
tasks.
• One way you can plan tasks and estimate timeline is by using
the critical path method.
 Stage 3 – Prototyping

• Minimal Viable Product(MVP):-

• The final outcome of the prototyping stage is a minimum viable
product.
• Think of your MVP as a product that has the features necessary to go
to launch with and nothing above what’s necessary for it to function.
• For example, an MVP bike would include a frame, wheels, and a seat,
but wouldn’t contain a basket or bell.
• Creating an MVP can help your team execute the product launch
quicker than building all the desired features, which can drag launch
timelines out.
• Desired features can be added down the road when bandwidth is
available.
 Stage 4-Initial Design
• During the initial design phase, project stakeholders work together to
produce a mockup of the product based on the Minimum Viable
Product(MVP) prototype.
• The design should be created with the target audience in mind and
complement the key functions of your product.
• A successful product design may take several iterations to get just right,
and may involve communicating with distributors in order to source
necessary materials.
• To produce the initial design, company needs to do the following
• Source materials
• Connect with stakeholders
• Receive initial feedback
 Initial Design
• Source materials:
• Sourcing materials plays an important role in designing the initial
mockup.
• This may entail working with various vendors and ordering materials
or creating your own.
• Since materials can come from various places, you should document
material use in a shared space to reference later if needed.
• Connect with stakeholders: It’s important to keep tight
communication during the design phase to verify your initial design is
on the right track.
• Share weekly or daily progress reports to share updates and get
approvals as needed.
 Stage 4 - Initial Design
• Receive initial feedback:
• When the design is complete, it is normal practice to consult and
verify with the senior management and project stakeholders for
initial feedback.
• Once feedback is received then revision and modification of the
product design is done as needed until the final design is ready to be
developed and implemented.
• Once the design is approved and ready to be handed over to the
company then validation is done for final testing before launching the
product
 Stage 5 – Validation and Testing
• To go live with a new product, company first need to validate and test
it.
• This ensures that every part of the product—from development to
marketing—is working effectively before it’s released to the public.
• To ensure the quality of the product, the following steps are
completed
• Concept development and testing: Company may have successfully
designed your prototype, but still need to work through any issues
that arise while developing the concept.
• This could involve software development or the physical production
of the initial prototype.
• Test functionality by enlisting the help of team members and beta
testers to quality assure the development
 Stage 5 – Validation and Testing
• Front-end testing:
• During this stage, test the front-end functionality for risks with
development code or consumer-facing errors.
• This includes checking the ecommerce functionality and ensuring it’s
stable for launch.
• Test marketing:
• Before begin producing your final product, test your marketing
plan for functionality and errors.
• This is also a time to ensure that all campaigns are set up correctly
and ready to launch.
• Once initial testing is complete, it is ready to begin producing the final
product concept and launch it to the customer base
 Stage 6 – Commercialization
• Now it’s time to commercialize the concept, which involves launching
the product and implementing it on company’s website.
• By now, design has been finalized and quality tested and
development of marketing strategy is done.
• The designer should feel confident in the final iteration and be ready
to produce the final product.
• In this stage company should be working on
• Product development:
• This is the physical creation of your product that will be released to
your customers.
• This may require production or additional development for software
concepts.
• Give your team the final prototype and MVP iterations to produce the
product to the correct specifications
 Stage 6 – Commercialization
• Ecommerce implementation:
• Once the product has been developed and it is ready to launch, the
development team will transition from ecommerce materials to a live
state.
• This may require additional testing to ensure that live product is
functioning as it was intended during the previous front-end testing
phase
• The final product is now launched.
• All that’s left is to measure success with the initial success metrics
 Concurrent Engineering
• Concurrent engineering is a method of designing and
developing engineering products in which different departments
simultaneously work on the different stages of engineering product
development.
• If managed well, it helps to increase the efficiency of product
development and marketing, considerably reducing the time.
• It also contributes to the reduction of the overall development
cost while improving the final product quality.
• This streamlined approach towards an engineering product forces
several teams within the organisation, such as product design,
manufacturing, production, marketing, product support, finance,
etc., to work simultaneously on new product development.
 Concurrent Engineering
• For example, while engineering product designers begin to design
the product, the sales team can start working on the marketing, and
the product support department can start thinking about the after-
sale support.
• While the mechanical designers work on the packaging design to
incorporate the PCB developed by the electrical engineering team,
the software engineers can start looking at the software code
• Concurrent engineering, also known as integrated product
development (IPD) or simultaneous engineering, was introduced a
few decades ago to eliminate the issues from sequential engineering
or the so-called “over the wall” process.
• This systematic approach is intended to force all the stakeholders to
be involved and the full engineering product cycle to be considered
from concept to after-sale support
Concurrent Engineering
 Concurrent Engineering
• There are plenty of incentives to choose Concurrent engineering over
sequential engineering product development.
• The popularity of integrated product development has grown
recently, thanks to the ever-increasing demand for expeditiously
quality products at affordable prices.
• Although managing a simultaneous engineering process is very
challenging,
• The techniques and practices followed as part of concurrent
engineering benefit from several competitive advantages to the
company and to the final engineering product itself.
 Elements of Concurrent Engineering
• Concurrent engineering presents an environment that encourages
and improves the interaction of different disciplines and
departments towards a single goal of satisfying engineering product
requirements.
• A framework or the Golden Triangle can summarize key elements of
concurrent engineering.
• People, process & technology framework
• People, processes, and technology are crucial to any organisation and
essential in implementing concurrent engineering to achieve shorter
development time, lower cost, improved product quality and fulfil
customer needs.
Elements of Concurrent Engineering(People , Process and
Technology framework )
 Elements of Concurrent Engineering(People)
• Concurrent product development is a multidisciplinary team task, and
companies must utilize the right skilled personnel at the right time
to accelerate product development.
• It is also necessary to find people with the right skills and experience
along with the following key aspects;
• Multidisciplinary team to suit the product at the start of the New
Product Development(NPD)
• Teamwork culture at the core of the program
• Good communication and collaboration between teams – sharing
relevant and up-to-date information across departments and
personnel
• The harmonized goal across the company from the top management
to the bottom of the organizational structure
 Elements of Concurrent Engineering(Process)
• A process is a series of product development steps that need to
happen to achieve a goal.
• These can be project planning stages, milestone management,
problem-solving methodologies, product development key stages,
information sharing workflow, etc., as people are ineffective without
processes to support their tasks and decisions.
• Following are some of the processes that can be adopted in
concurrent engineering;
• Project planning processes and workflow management include key
new product development elements such as key design stages,
milestones for cross-departmental interaction, etc.
 Elements of Concurrent Engineering(Process)
• Workflow for product data management includes sharing
information, managing engineering change, controlling specification
creep, etc
• Product requirement tracking and checkpoints using techniques such
as Quality Function Deployment (QFD) across departments
• Design evaluation workflow processes
• Design analysis methodologies such as brainstorming
• Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) allows for a systematic
investigation of the occurrence and impact of possible flaws in the
new product design.
• The use of Design of Experiments (DOE) enables the systematic
identification of critical product/process parameters that influence
performance
 Elements of Concurrent Engineering(Technology)
• For concurrent engineering to be successful, the effective
introduction of tools, techniques, and technologies to aid a smooth
integration of people and processes is vital.
• The following key aspects should be considered before any
implementation.
• Identifying the correct tools and technologies that suit the company
size, number of team members, processes implemented and product
type
• Identifying the training needs and training people to use the tools
and technologies identified above
• These are just a few supportive tools that can be used in a
concurrent engineering environment.
 Elements of Concurrent Engineering(Technology)
• Project management software
• Product data management & product lifecycle management suites
• Quality Function Deployment (QFD)
• 3D CAD and rapid prototyping technologies, such as additive
manufacturing
• Suitable FEA tools
• Evaluation tools such as DFM, DFA, DFMA and DOE
• Failure mode analysis tools such as FMEA
 Sustainable Product Design
• Sustainable product design is an approach to creating products that
considers their environmental, social, and economic impacts throughout
their lifecycle.
• It aims to minimize resource use, reduce pollution and waste generation,
and maximize social benefits. Here are some key principles and practices
of sustainable product design:
• Life Cycle Assessment (LCA): Conducting a comprehensive analysis of a
product's environmental impact from raw material extraction to end-of-
life disposal.
• This helps identify areas for improvement and guide design decisions.
• Material Selection: Choosing materials with lower environmental impact,
such as recycled, renewable, or biodegradable materials.
• Designers also consider factors like toxicity, energy consumption, and
resource depletion when selecting materials
 Sustainable Product Design
• Energy Efficiency: Designing products to minimize energy
consumption during production, use, and disposal phases. This can
involve optimizing manufacturing processes, incorporating energy-
efficient components, or designing products for energy-efficient use.
• Durability and Longevity: Creating products that are durable, long-
lasting, and easy to maintain or repair. This reduces the need for
frequent replacements and minimizes waste generation.
• Minimal Packaging: Designing products with minimal or eco-friendly
packaging to reduce waste and minimize environmental impact
during transportation and disposal.
• Modularity and Upgradability: Designing products with modular
components that can be easily replaced or upgraded, extending the
product's lifespan and reducing the need for new purchases.
 Sustainable Product Design
• End-of-Life Considerations: Designing products with end-of-life disposal in
mind, such as using materials that are recyclable or biodegradable, and
designing for disassembly to facilitate recycling or reuse.
• User Education and Engagement: Providing information to users about the
environmental impact of products and encouraging sustainable behaviors
such as proper disposal and maintenance.
• Collaboration and Stakeholder Engagement: Involving stakeholders such as
suppliers, manufacturers, consumers, and regulatory bodies in the design
process to ensure a holistic approach to sustainability.
• Continuous Improvement: Continuously evaluating and improving products
based on feedback, new technologies, and evolving sustainability standards
and practices.
• By integrating these principles into the design process, sustainable product
design aims to create products that meet the needs of the present without
compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
 Sustainable Design Strategies
• Sustainable design is the approach to creating products and services
that have considered the environmental, social, and economic
impacts from the initial phase through to the end of life.
• EcoDesign is a core tool in the matrix of approaches that enables the
Circular Economy
• Product Service System Models
• Producer Stewardship
• Dematerialization
• Remanufacture
• Recyclability
• Repairability
Sustainable Design Strategies
 Sustainable Design Strategies
• Reusability
• Disassembly
• System Change
• Longevity
• Efficiency
• Modularity
• Influence
• Equity
 Sustainable Design Strategies

• There is a well-quoted statistic that says around 80% of the ecological

impacts of a product are locked in at the design phase.
• If you look at the full life cycle of a product and the potential impacts
it may have, be it in the manufacturing or at the end of life stage, the
impacts are inadvertently decided and thus embedded in the
product by the designers, at the design decision-making stage.
• This makes some uncomfortable, but design and product
development teams are responsible for the decisions that they make
when contemplating, prototyping, and ultimately producing a
product into existence.
• And thus, they are implicated in the environmental and social impacts
that their creations have on the world
 Sustainable Design Strategies
• The design stage is a perfect and necessary opportunity to find
unique and creative ways to get sustainable and circular goods and
services out into the economy to replace the polluting and disposable
ones that flood the market today.
• The challenge is which designers will pick up the call to action and
start to change the status quo of an industry addicted to mass-
produced, fast-moving, disposable goods?
• For those that are ready to make positive change and be apart of the
transition to a circular and sustainable economy by design, the good
news is there is a well-established range of tools and techniques that
a designer or product development decision-maker can employ to
ensure that a created product is meeting its functional and market
needs in ways that dramatically reduce negative impacts on people
and the planet.
 Sustainable Design Strategies
• These are known as ecodesign or sustainable design strategies, and
whilst they have been around for a while, the demand for such
considerations is even more prominent as the movement toward a
sustainable, circular economy increases
• Sustainability, at its core, is simply about making sure that what we
use and how we use it today, doesn’t have negative impacts on
current and future generations' ability to live prosperously on this
planet.
• Its also about ensuring we are meeting our needs in socially just,
environmentally positive and economically viable ways, so its very
much a design challenge.
• Consumption is a major driver of unsustainability, and all consumer
goods are designed in some way.
Sustainable Design Strategies
 Sustainable Design Strategies
• When sustainability is applied to design, it enlightens us to the
impacts that the product will have across its full life cycle, enabling
the creator to ensure that all efforts have been made to produce a
product that fits within the system it will exist within in a sustainable
way, that it offers a higher value than what was lost in its making, and
that it does not intentionally break or be designed to be discarded
when it is no longer useful.
• Provisions should have been made so that there are options for how
to maximize its value across its full life cycle and keep materiality in
a value flow.
• This is otherwise known now as the circular economy and the practice
of enabling this is circular systems design
 Sustainable Design Strategies
• The ecodesign strategy set for sustainable design includes techniques like
Design for Disassembly, Design for Longevity, Design for Reusability,
Design for Dematerialization, and Design for Modularity, among many
other approaches that we will run through in this quick guide.
• Basically, the ecodesign strategy toolset helps us think through the way
something will exist and how to design for value increases whilst also
maintaining functionality, aesthetics, and practicality of products,
systems, and services.
• It’s especially effective when applying materiality to any of the creative
interventions you are pursuing in your changemaking practice, be it a
designer or not
 Eco Design Strategies
• In order to achieve circular and sustainable design, some, or many,
of these design considerations need to be employed in combination
throughout the design process in order to ensure that the outcome is
not just a reinterpretation of the status quo, but something that
actually challenges and changes the way we meet our needs
• These approaches are lenses you apply to the creative process in
order to challenge and allow for the emergence of new ways to
deliver functionality and value within the economy
• Product Service Systems (PSS) Models- One of the main ideas of the
circular economy is moving from single-use products to products that
fit within a beautifully designed and integrated closed-loop system
which is enabled through this approach
 Eco Design Strategies
• Think of alternatives to purchasable products such as leasable items
that exist as part of a company-owned system or services that enable
reuse. Leasing a product out — rather than selling it directly — allows
the company to manage the product across its entire life cycle, so it
can be designed to easily fit back into a pre-designed recycling or re-
manufacturer system, all whilst reducing waste.

• By transitioning away from single end-consumer product design to

these PSS models, the relationship shifts and the responsibility for
the packaging and product itself is shared between the producer and
the consumer.
• This incentivizes each agent to maintain the value of the product and
to design it so that it’s long-lasting and durable.
 Eco Design Strategies
• PSS requires the conceptualization of meeting functional needs
within a closed system that the producer manages in order to
minimize waste and maximize value gains after each cycling of the
product
• Many of the circular economy business models are either based on
this concept or create services that enable the ownership of the
product to be maintained by the company and leased to the
customer.
• But it’s critical that this is done within a strong ethical framework
and not used to manipulate or coerce people, as this could also easily
be the outcome of a more explorative version of this design
approach.
 Eco Design Strategies

• Product Stewardship
• In a circular economy, producers actively take responsibility for the full
life of the things they create starting from the business model through to
the design and end of life management of their products.
• Product stewardship and extended producer responsibility are two
strong initiatives that encourage companies to be more involved in the
full life of what they produce in the world.
• There are several ways that this can occur; in a voluntary scenario,
companies work to circularize their business models (such as a PSS model)
or governments issue policies that require companies to take back,
recapture, recycle or re-manufacture their products at the end of their
usable life.
 Eco Design Strategies
• For example, the European Union has many product stewardship
policies in place to incentivize better product design and full life
management such as the Ecodesign directive
• The key here is that the design of both the products and the business
case is created to have full life-cycle responsibility and is managed as
an integrated approach to product service delivery so that the
product doesn't get lost from the value system.
 Eco Design Strategies
• Dematerialization
• Reducing the overall size, weight and number of materials
incorporated into a design is a simple way of keeping down the
environmental impact.
• As a general rule, more materials result in greater impacts, so it’s
important to use fewer types of materials and reduce the overall
weight of the ones that you do use without compromising on the
quality of the product.
• You don’t want to dematerialize to the point where the life of the
product is reduced or the value is perceived as being less; you want
to find the balance between functional service delivery, longevity,
value and optimal material use
 Eco Design Strategies
• Modularity
• Products that can be reconfigured in different ways to adapt to
different spaces and uses have an increased ability to function well.
Modularity can increase resale value and offer multiple options in
one material form.
• Just like you can build anything with little Lego blocks, modularity as a
sustainable design approach implicates the end owner in the design
so they can reconfigure the product to fit their changing life needs.