TOPIC 2: Product Design

INSTRUCTIONAL OBJECTIVES:

At the completion of this topic, students should be able to:

1. Introduction to Product/Service Design

1. Define product/service design.
2. Identify the importance of product or service design.
3. Identify the reasons for product or service design or redesign

2. Product Development Stages

create totally new product/
1. Understand the Product Innovation
improve existing product
3. Describe how product life cycle affect product design PLC:- Intro; growth;
maturity & decline
4. The Importance of Research & Development in Product Design

5. Identify the objectives of Research & Development

6. Describe the three types of research

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 TOPIC 2: Product Design
1. INTRODUCTION TO PRODUCT/SERVICE DESIGN

1. DEFINITION: PRODUCT DESIGN

weight
height Product design specifies which materials are to be used, determines dimensions and
tolerances, defines the appearance of the product, and sets standards for performance. function
length
Whereas, service design specifies what physical items, sensual benefits, and
depth 5 speed fan
psychological benefits the customer is to receive from the service.
16 inches (Roberta S. Russel & Bernard W. Taylor III)
+- 1 inch Or

shapes It is the process of deciding on the unique characteristics and features of the company’s
sizes product. Specifically, it defines a product’s characteristics, such as its appearance, the
texture materials it is made of, its dimensions and tolerances, and its performance standards.
(R. Dan Reid & Nada R. Sanders)
color
2. THE IMPORTANCE OF PRODUCT DESIGN

Product design has a tremendous impact on the quality of a product or service because
poor designs may not meet customer needs, or result in loss of customer goodwill.
Poorly and costly designed product or service can result in an overpriced product or
service that loses market share.

If the design process is too lengthy, a competitor may capture the market by being the
first to introduce new products, services, or features. However being the first-mover to
the market may be disadvantage if the products have design flaws and perform poorly.

An effective design process requires organizations to:

1. match product or service characteristics with customer requirements,

2. ensure that customer requirements are met in the simplest and least costly manner,

3. reduce the time required to design a new product or service, and

4. minimize the revisions necessary to make a design workable.

It is important to note that organizations’ designers generally adhere to the following

guidelines:
1. Deliver designs that are in line with the goals of the organization.

2. Give value-added designs – understand what the customer wants and design with
that in mind.

3. Place a priority on the health, safety and environmental issues. Products that are
built on faulty designs may endanger everyone from employees to customers and to
the general public.

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 TOPIC 2: Product Design
3. REASONS FOR PRODUCT/ SERVICE DESIGN OR REDESIGN
1. To be competitive by offering new products or services
Competitors may force change. This becomes obvious in the technology market,
where new products are constantly being introduced to a target market that
welcomes change and innovation. Technology consumers are not afraid to try new
products, in fact they often want the latest gadget to show to friends and colleagues.
If a product is successful then competitors will attempt to develop similar products.
In fact Google say that they developed the Android operating system to prevent the
create
technology market for products such as mobile phones and tablets being
dominated by one supplier.
new
product
2. To create image and reputation as an innovative and dynamic organization /
Companies wish to convince the market that they try seriously to meet consumer’s improve
"needs and wants". Obviously, the company developing new products periodically existing
has more reputation, and can attract consumers easily. For example consumers are product
becoming more health conscious, this is forcing companies to introduce low sugar,
salt and fat products. Coca-Cola Zero which contains no sugar is a classic example
of new product development even though Coca-Cola's existing product range
already contained diet coke. Both diet coke and Coca-Cola Zero contain no sugar
but they taste different.

3. To offer more jobs or retain people instead of letting them go

Companies that implement innovative ideas to engage employees so that the
workplace is happy, inspiring, innovative and motivating, will not only help retain
employees but also attract more fresh talent. For instance, Google is no doubt the
leader in many IT technologies but it is also considered as one of the best places to
work with. It came up with a unique plan for better engagement with employees
called as the 20% Project. It motivated employees to work on any pet projects that
they might have in mind for which they could utilise 20% of their working hours.
This idea gave a boost to employees’ morale and it also became a tool to attract
new talent.

4. Sometimes products are redesigned due to customer complaints, accidents or

injuries, excessive warranty claims or low demand. By redesigning organisations
offer innovative products that can meet the needs and wants of the customers.
Thus this can assist in cost reductions in labour or materials.

5. To make business grow and increase profit

Every business needs to innovate to stay ahead of the competition. No business can
continue to offer the same unchanged product; otherwise sales would decrease and
profits reduced.

6. To capitalize on environmental changes

Some products are no longer sold through traditional retail shops. More
companies for instance record companies are now selling more music via internet
downloads. They were pushed into selling music through the internet following the
success of some internet sites, which offered illegal music downloads.
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 TOPIC 2: Product Design
2. PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT STAGES

The followings are the common steps in the development of product designs:

1. IDEA GENERATION
The design process starts with understanding the customer and actively identifying
customer needs. Ideas for new products or improvements to existing products can be
generated from many sources either from internal or external parties.

Internal sources:
1. Employees including those who make products or deliver services to customers

2. Salespeople

3. Purchasing agents

4. Marketing – aware of problems with products/services, buying patterns & familiarity

with demographic

5. Research – through R & D Department

External sources:
1. Customers
Suggestions, use of surveys or focus groups, complaints, product failures & warranty
claims. An approach used by many companies to incorporate “voice of customer”
into product/service is called Quality Function Deployment (QFD)

2. Competitors
Companies can study products/services of their competitors and how they operate.
This can be done through various methods such as

1. Perceptual Maps (A visual method of comparing customer perceptions of

different products/ services)

2. Benchmarking (Comparing a product or process against the best-in-class

product)

3. Reverse Engineering (Carefully dismantling and inspecting a competitor’s

product to improve your own product)

3. Suppliers
Some companies opt for a smart supplier relationship that aims to encourage
innovation, reduce costs and improve quality.

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 TOPIC 2: Product Design
2. FEASIBILITY STUDY

It consists of:

1. Market analysis – assesses whether there’s enough demand for the proposed
product to invest in developing it further.

2. Economic analysis - If the demand potential exists, then there’s an economic

analysis that looks at estimates of production and development costs and compares
them to estimated sales volume.

3. Technical/strategic analysis answer questions like “Does the new product require
new technology?” Is the risk or capital investment excessive? Is it compatible with
the core business of the firm?

3. PRELIMINARY DESIGN & TESTING

It involves building a prototype, testing the prototype, and revising the design, retesting
and so on until a viable design is determined. Changes are made on the physical
appearance of a product in terms of its shape, colour, size and style. How the product
performs that is its functional design, seeks to meet the performance specifications of
fitness for use by the customer. At this stage, design engineers also concern with how
the product will be made.

4. FINAL DESIGN AND PROCESS

The final design consists of detailed drawings and specifications for the new product or
service. The accompanying process plans are workable instructions for manufacture,
including necessary equipment and tooling, component sourcing recommendations,
jobs descriptions and procedures for workers and computer programs for automated
machines.

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 TOPIC 2: Product Design
2.1 THE PRODUCT INNOVATION

The innovation phase is that portion of the life of a product that precedes its
manufacture on a full scale. This phase has 6 segments, namely pure research,
applied research, product configuration, market research, pilot run and production
process.

The Innovation Phase

MARKET
RESEARCH

PURE APPLIED PRODUCT

RESEARCH RESEARCH PRODUCTION
CONFIGURATION
PROCESS

PILOT
RUN

The basic idea for a new product may rise in a number of different ways. The sales
force may see an opportunity for a new product and recommend that it should be
developed, or the product may be conceived in the laboratory as a result of a
breakthrough in pure research.
Once the idea for a new product has been “formulated”, the company must transform
it into a physical entity. This is done during the applied research, where ideas are
converted for commercial purposes.
At the product configuration stage, the characteristics of the product are
tentatively established.
focus group
The market research can be done through the surveys/questionnaire. This is to
obtain additional information that can help in some alterations and design on the
product or to look for information regarding quantities, prices, characteristics of the
product etc.
The pilot-run stage - the product is manufactured under stimulated conditions and
this stage sees many modifications on the product as well as on the manufacturing
process.

The last stage will be on the final production process once the product is
definitive. The product will be manufactured and marketed on a full scale.

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 TOPIC 2: Product Design
3. PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE

The stage of the life cycle of the product is one important factor that needs to be
considered during the product design stage. Most products go through a series of stages of
changing product demands called the product life cycle. There are typically four stages
of the product life cycle; introduction, growth, maturity and decline as shown below:
competitors innovative
Early Stages of Product Late Stages of Product
Life Cycle Life Cycle as long as the
D product has
E Maturity sales, companies
M keep on
A Growth Decline
producing it,
N
otherwise
D Introduction terminate (no
longer produce
it)

Products in the introductory stage are not well defined and neither is their market. Theythe # units
that can be
are still being “fine-tuned” as all the “bugs” have not been worked out. Capacity and produced at
processing are designed for low volume. In fact, the manufacturers still grope for the best
one time

production techniques that may require substantial expenditures for research, product
development, process modification and supplier development.

In the growth stage, the product takes hold and both product and market continue to be
refined. Design improvements usually create a more reliable and less costly output.
Demand grows and there is an increasing awareness of the product. Thus effective
forecasting or capacity requirements is necessary.

The third stage is that of maturity, where demand levels off and there are usually no
design changes. The product is predictable at this stage and so is its market. So high
volume, innovative production may be appropriate. Many products can stay in this stage
for many years.

Finally, there is a decline in demand, because of new technology, better product design,
or market saturation. Some firms adopt a defensive research strategy, attempting to
prolong the useful life of the product by improving its reliability, redesigning it or changing
the packaging. While others may seek alternative uses of the products and still some begin
searching for replacement products.

The first two stages of the life cycle is called the early stages of the product life cycle
because the product is still being improved and refined, and the market is still in the
process of being developed. The last two stages of the life cycle is referred to as the later
stages because here the product and market are both well defined.

Understanding the stages of the product life cycle is important for product design
purposes, such as knowing at which stage to focus on design changes. Also when
considering a new product, the expected length of the life cycle is critical in order to
estimate future profitability relative to the initial investment. The product life cycle can be
quite short for certain products, as seen in the computer industry.
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 TOPIC 2: Product Design
4. DEFINITION OF RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT (R&D)

It refers to organised efforts that are directed toward increasing scientific knowledge and
product or process innovation.

5. THE OBJECTIVES OF RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

(R&D)

1. To generate new ideas and concepts and to develop these ideas and concepts into
useful products.

2. To develop new uses of the existing products

3. To develop new processes that will help reduce capital and manufacturing costs

6. THREE TYPES OF RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT (R&D)

1. PURE/BASIC RESEARCH
It is conducted for the advancement of scientific knowledge about a subject without
any near-term expectation of commercial uses. It is more on knowledge-oriented
research with a goal of developing new ideas or concepts but with no specific product
or application in mind. It is generally undertaken by the government and large
corporations. This type of research is likely to be carried out at major scientific and
technical universities such as UPM, USM and UTM and supported by various
government agencies for example RISDA and FELDA.

2. APPLIED RESEARCH
It is conducted for the advancement of scientific knowledge that has specific potential
commercial uses. It is more on problem-oriented research that is dedicated to
discovering new concepts, ideas and materials with specific commercial applications.
This research is undertaken by most profit-making organisations such as NST, TV3,
TENAGA and PETRONAS. It is carried out either by in-house Research &
Development units or private research institutions for instance Survey of Research
Malaysia (SRM) and other consulting firms. sirim
3. DEVELOPMENT RESEARCH
It deals with technical activity or product-oriented research which concerns with
translating basic or applied research results into products or processes.

6.1 THE BENEFITS OF SUCCESSFUL R&D:

1. Some research leads to patents, with the potential of licensing and royalties.

2. The first organisation to bring new product or service to the market generally
stands to profit from it before the others can catch up. Early products may be
priced higher because a temporary monopoly exists until competitors bring their
versions out.
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