>"Industrial design is concerned with many things which do not concern
artists."
INDUSTRIAL DESIGN IS ALSO CONCERNED WITH MANY THINGS WHICH DO CONCERN ARTISTS.
> Charles Eames did not practice design in a corporation today so his
definition may or may not be usefull today.
EAMES DID HAVE A DESIGN CONSULTANCY AND DID DESIGN FOR CORPORATIONS, INCLUDING
IBM WHOSE LOGO HE DESIGNED AND FOR WHOM HE DESIGNED A MUSEUM AMONG OTHER
THINGS; HE DID DESIGN FURNITURE FOR MANUFACTURE IN FACTORIES WITH WORKERS. THE
FURNITURE WAS SOLD COMMERCIALLY IN THE MARKETPLACE. HE DID MANY OTHER PROJECTS
ALL SUPPORTED FINANCIALLY BY PEOPLE OR CORPORATIONS WHO HIRED HIS CONSULTANCY.
THAT SOUNDS LIKE INDUSTRIAL DESIGN TO ME.
>I wonder how aware someone is of the practice of industrial who would say that
an >industrial designer is an artist who is concerned with only the visual
appearance of a >product.
WHO SAID THAT? BUT CONVERSLY SOMEONE WHO SAYS THAT INDUSTRIAL DESIGN HAS
NOTHING TO DO WITH ART AND ITS AGENDAS MIGHT WANT TO RECONSIDER THEIR POSITION.
I THINK WE MIGHT SPEND OUR TIME LOOKING FOR WHAT EXPANDS THE QUALITY OF HUMAN
LIFE NOT LIMITS IT.
Jan
Jan Coker
C3-10 Underdale Campus
University of South Australia
+61 8 8302 6919
"There is no way to peace, peace is the way"
Gandhi
Factories, workers, consumers and the environment are some aspects of
industrial design wich concern industrial designers in a very different way to
artists. If a piece of art fails to interest anyone then a thousand workers
will not lose their jobs, ten thousand homes will not be affected, fish will
not die in a nearbye river. I wonder how aware someone is of the practice of
industrial who would say that an industrial designer is an artist who is
concerned with only the visual appearance of a product.
Marketing
What is the product positioning strategy
What is the launch strategy
What is the primary product
What are the sub products
How will the primary and sub products be related
What is the launch strategy for the primary and subproducts
What is the strategy for collateral
What is the expected life of the product in t he market based on projected
product life cycles
What will be the product warranty
How will the new products relate to our existing products
Will the new product replace existing products when will this happen, which
products
Customer segments analysis
Market size evaluation
Customer profiles (income, age, gender, cultural background,
anthropometrics)
Customer motivators and behavior
Predict new product's long-term market share, and sales volume over time
Estimate the sources of the new product's share, which includes
"cannibalization" of the firm's existing products, and the "draw" from
competitor brands
Customer needs vs customer wants
Market gross profit evaluation
Design positioning activities
Are A+D a desired market What are their wants and needs
What customers is the platform being developed for
What are the individual product ranges which will become part of the
platform
What are the features of each product range Is there one platform or several
What is the positioning of the product ranges.
What is the order and speed of introduction of each range
What will be the market response How can we optimize this.
How will the system relate to Haworth Global brands
Who will buy this product? Why?
Have you listed all potential classes of customers?
Can we tap into a new segment of the market? How?
Market constraints on product.
Who is buying this type product? Why?
What is currently selling?
What is currently not selling?
Expected product competition
If you were a customer, which of the competing products would you buy? Why?
What is the market share of each competing product?
What are the strengths of each competing product? Can we incorporate them?
What are the weaknesses of each competing product? Can we design around
them?
Target product price -- OEM and MSRP
Target production volume and market share.
Is there a market for this product? How do you know?
Is the potential market sufficiently large to justify investment in a new
product?
Is the new product sufficiently better than the competition to gain customer
acceptance?
How do we capture sufficient market share to justify the investment?
Scalability
How will the platform be scaled for price
How will the platform be scaled for design
How will the platform be scaled for function
Blendability
How will the platform elements blend with existing products
How will the platform elements blend with competitor's products
How will the subsystems blend with each other
Branding
Brand exercise
Brand differentiation
FS exercise
Branding Channel recommendation
How will the products relate to the Haworth Brand
Do we want to keep the brand where it is or develop it
Corporate Strategy
Alignment with global market planning
Alignment with customer research
Alignment with Haworth business strategies
Alignment with manufacturing and logistics strategies
Are systems price points decreasing.
What is a long term strategy on pricing and margins
Market Trends
What changes in the work environment will impact product and services
What are the social, political, economic, environment, technology, work
activity, lifestyle shifts in products and services likely during the
projected market life of the product
What are the long-term trends in storage
What are the long term trends in screens
What are the long term trends in cabling and communications
What are the long term trends in work surfaces
What are the long term trends in furniture mobility
What are the long term trends in privacy, acoustics, lighting
What are the long term tends in colors materials and finishes
What are the trends in real estate, facilities, interiors
Can these trends be quantified and forecast.
Which new technologies may be integrated into furniture
What are the trends in pricing
Pricing
What are the target manufacturing costs
What range of prices will the end user during the projected life of the
product be prepared to pay forcasted on current trends
Target work station pricing
Bucket costs
Distribution
How will the product be distributed nationally and internationally
How will the product be transported
Are there preferred and maximum sizes of components
Are there maximum weights of components
What are the optimum sizes for transport
Are adequate shipping facilities available?
Installation
Who will install the product
What is the process of installation
What form will installation documentation take
Expected product distribution environment.
Will installation require a professional?
Packaging
Product packaging requirements.
Can we use environmentally friendly packaging and packing materials?
How much packaging and packing materials are really necessary?
How should components pack for distribution
How will the packaged product be treated in shipping, storage, and on the
shelf?
How will the product be packaged
Maintenance
Who will maintain the product
What is the maintenance process
Expected product maintenance requirements.
The general trend in consumer products is toward maintenance-free products.
If routine maintenance is required, can it be done by the owner/operator?
If professional maintenance is required, is there a network of conveniently
located service centers? A training program will be required!
Differentiation
By positioning/place
By services
By design
By product
By Price
By promotion
User Profiles
What age range are the target users
What is the gender breakdown of the target users
What is the cultural background and breakdown of the target users
What are the factors which affect purchasing decisions of the target
purchasers
What is the social heirachy of users how is that expressed
What are the needs of users for privacy
What are the needs of users for storage and workspace
What are the physical range of sizes of users including height and reach
What colors materials and finishes do users and purchasers prefer
Who purchases the product and how do their needs differ from those of the
user
How do the needs differ from the wants of users and purchasers
What are the range of anthropometric sizes of users
Expected product ergonomic requirements
Which user/operator features are desirable in this product? Why?
What are the problem areas for users/operators? Why? Can we design around
them?
Expected product performance requirements
What changes are desireable for a growing proportion of female and elderly
users
How can we get greater female input into the design process
Competition
How are our products differentiated from the competition in price
How are our products differentiated from the competition in function
Are there markets or users which are not being addressed
How are our competitors products related to each other
What are our competitor's strengths and weaknesses
What are our strengths and weaknesses
How are the competitors products priced
Create target pricing
Design attributes identified
Competitive benchmarks
How should we differentiate our products (image appeal, product, price,
promo, place services
Services
What services should we offer with the product
Collateral
What form will the collaterall take
What will be the elements
What will be the product story
Environmental
What temperature range
What Humidity range
What cleaning chemicals
What level of UV exposure
What other chemicals
What level of sound absorption is required
How will lighting be associated with our product
Expected product recycling potential and expected disposal
Does the disposal of this product constitute an environmental hazard?
Can parts of this product be effectively recycled by existing processes?
Manufacturing process requirements and limitations.
Is protection from the environment necessary? In what way?
How do we minimize environmental impact?
Expected product service environment.
What is the operating temperature range for this product?
What is the operating humidity range for this product?
Will the product be exposed to dirt or other contaminants?
Will there be any anomalies in power/fuel available for this product?
How will the product be treated in service? What is the probability of
injury?
What are the potential abuses of the product? What is the probability of
injury for each mode of abuse?
What impact will the product have on its environment?
Materials and Processes
What are the preferred materials
What are the preferred finishes
What are the preferred processes
Are their preferred external suppliers
Are materials recyclable
What is the projected life of the product in use
What is the tooling budget
Over how many years will tooled items be amortized
What are the maximum sizes of wooden metal and plastic components
Is the quality and reliability of purchases parts adequate for this design?
Possible product materials.
What are there strength requirements?
What are there rigidity/compliance requirements?
Is product weight of importance? Why?
Are there certain materials that more easily satisfy customer preference for
color and finish?
Is there a customer preference for a particular finish?
Testing
Which tests must the products conform to for all intended markets
How will parts be prototyped and proved out
Project
What is the project objective
What will be the product story (price, function)
What is the project management process
What are the manufacturing goals
What are the financial objectives
What are the team structures
What are the prioritized wants
What is the projected release date of the product
How long will parts take to be tooled
PRP schedule requirements -- time to market.
When should be have this product to market to capture maximum market share?
How much time should we allocate to design?
How much time do we need to implement a manufacturing process
Manufacturing
Where will the product be manufactured
What are the annual projected quantities
What are the batch sizes of components
Company constraints on product design, manufacture, and distribution.
What are our manufacturing capabilities?
Should we manufacture ourselves or out source? Why?
Should we manufacture locally in the USA or locate manufacturing in another
country? Why?
Possible off-the-shelf component parts.
Which parts of this product be purchased instead of being made by us?
Do we need to introduce new manufacturing processes
How should we utilize existing manufacturing facilities
Expected cost of tooling
Safety
What are the safety requirements
Expected product safety requirements.
Potential sources of product liability litigation.
Potential operator hazards.
Potential manufacturing and assembly hazards.
Potential for abuse.
Potential hazards for small children, the elderly, and the handicapped.
Research
What existing research material is available which could be used
What information needs to be obtained to ensure the success of the project
What is the process to obtain necessary information
Patents to be checked.
Design deliverables and dates
Risk analysis
What are the main risks
How can we reduce the risks
Statement of line
Define product and application requirements
Preliminary Systems specification
Preliminary planning guide outline
Preliminary catalog outline
Preliminary SOL
Quality & Performance
Expected product quality standards and requirements.
What are the current aspects of quality in competing products?
What constitutes the highest levels of quality in this product? Why?
What are the highest levels of quality we are able to attain? Are they
adequate? Why?
Expected product size and weight
Expected product shelf life.
Expected product service life.
Expected product power requirements.
What performance do you need? Why?
How many functions? Why?
Expected product reliability standards and requirements.
What level of reliability can we expect when this product is manufactured?
It this adequate? Why?
Potential social and political issues
Elements
What are the elements of the platform
Low cost
Mid Cost
High cost
Screen based
Storage based
Desk based
Seating based?
Functional
Sophisticated
Fashionable
Design
How can we get maximum design versatility and scalability into the
substructure
What are appropriate visual metaphors for the designs
How should the subsystems relate in appearance
How should we achieve visual blending with existing products and competitors
products
What are the design trends
What competitors products should we benchmark
How should we make the products appealing to the A+D Community
How should the design process be managed to ensure that we explore the
opportunities of diverse manufacturing processes
How should the design be appealing to diverse customers
How should the design process be managed to ensure that good design is not
lost in the process
Designing new products that enhance consumer utility.
Forecasting sales/market share of alternative product concepts.
Identifying market segments for which a given concept has high value.
Identifying the "best" concept for a target segment.
Pricing products/product bundles.
Product line management.
Positioning new products to different segments.
The new concept involves important tradeoffs affecting design, production,
marketing, or other operational variables.
______________________________
R o b C u r e d a l e
Professor, Chair Product Design
College for Creative Studies Detroit
201 East Kirby
Detroit MI 48202-4034
Phone: 313 664 7625
Fax: 313 664 7620
email: [log in to unmask]
http://www.ccscad.edu
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