Shad Valley MUN

Introduction to Product Design and Development

Lecture 3:
Concept Generation

Dr. Leonard M. Lye, PEng, FCSCE

Professor of Engineering
Program Director, MUN Shad

Shad Valley Notes 1

 The Activity of Concept Generation
• After identifying a set of customer needs
and establishing target product
specifications, the development team is
faced with the following questions:
– What existing solution concepts, if any, could
be successfully adapted for this application?
– What new concepts might satisfy the
established needs and specifications?
– What methods can be used to facilitate the
concept generation process?
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 Activity of Concept Generation
• A product concept is an approximate description
of the technology, working principles, and form of
the product.
• It is a concise description of how the product will
satisfy the customer needs. A concept is usually
expressed as a sketch or a rough 3-D model and
is often accompanied by a brief textual
description.
• The degree to which a product satisfies
customers and can be successfully
commercialized depends on the quality of the
underlying concept.
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 Activity of Concept Generation
• A good concept is sometimes poorly
implemented, but a poor concept can rarely
be manipulated to achieve commercial
success.
• Fortunately, concept generation is relatively
inexpensive compared to the rest of the
product development process – hence
there is no excuse for a lack of diligence
and care in executing a sound concept
generation method.

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 Activity of Concept Generation
• The concept generation process begins with a
set of customer needs and target specifications
and results in a set of product concepts from
which the team will make a final selection.
• An effective team will generate hundreds of
concepts, of which 5 to 20 will merit consideration
during the concept selection activity. The team
should thoroughly explore all possible concepts.
• This will reduce the likelihood of stumbling upon
a superior concept late in the development
process or a competitor will introduce a product
with dramatically better performance than the
product under development.

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Common dysfunctions during Concept Generation
• Only one or two alternatives considered, often
proposed by the most assertive members of the
team
• Failure to consider the usefulness of concepts
employed by other firms in related or unrelated
products
• Involvement of only one or two people in the
process, resulting in lack of confidence and
commitment by the rest of the team
• Ineffective integration of promising partial
solutions
• Failure to consider entire categories of solutions

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5-Step Method in Concept Generation

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 Step 1: Clarify the Problem
• Develop a general understanding of the problem
and then down the problem into sub-problems if
necessary.
• For example, the design of a complex product
like a photocopier can be thought of a collection
of more focused design problems:
– Document handler
– Paper feeder
– Printing device
– Image capture device
• Not always possible e.g. paper clip.

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Methods of problem decomposition
• Decompose by function – use of block
diagrams approach. e.g. photocopier.
• Decompose by sequence of user actions:
good approach when there are lots of user
interaction but with very simple technical
functions.
• Decompose by key customer needs: This
approach is often useful for products in
which form, and not working principles or
technology, is the primary problem.

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 Goal of decomposition
• Goal is to divide a complex problem into
simpler problems such that these problems
can be tackled in a focused way.
• Once decomposition is complete, the team
chooses the sub-problems that are most
critical to the success of the product and
that most likely to benefit from novel or
creative solutions.

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 Step 2: Search Externally
• External search is aimed at finding existing
solutions to both the overall problem and the sub-
problems identified in step 1.
• External search for solutions is essentially an
information-gathering process. Best to use an
expand-and focus strategy: first expand the
scope of the search by broadly gathering
information that might be related to the problem
and then focus the scope of the search by
exploring the promising directions in more detail.

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 External search
• 5 good ways to gather information from external sources:
– Lead user interviews: users in the know, users who have used many
different similar products
– Expert consultation: ask experts in the sub-problem area e.g.
technicians, suppliers, profs
– Patent searches: looking at old patents - internet
– Literature searchers: trade mags, consumer reports, internet,
brochures, Thomas Register of American Manufacturers, etc.
– Competitive benchmarking: compare with similar existing products.
Benchmarking can reveal existing concepts that have been
implemented to solve a particular problem, as well as information on
the strengths and weaknesses of the competition.
• Skill in conducting external searches is a valuable
personal and organizational asset. This ‘detective work’
is completed most effectively by those who are persistent
and resourceful in pursuing leads and opportunities.
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 Step 3: Search Internally
• Internal search is the use of personal and team
knowledge and creativity to generate solution
concepts.
• This activity may be the most open-minded and
creative of any in new-product development. It is
a process of retrieving a potentially useful piece
of information from one’s memory and then
adapting that information to the problem at hand.
• Can be carried out individually or group of people
working together.
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 Guidelines: Brainstorming
• Suspend judgment: no criticism of concepts no matter
how silly at first glance is allowed. Better approach is to
channel any judgmental tendencies into suggestions for
improvements or alternative concepts.
• Generate lots of ideas: The more the better. Each idea
may act as a stimulus for other ideas.
• Welcome ideas that may seem infeasible: Some of these
ideas can be improved, “debugged” or “repaired” by other
members of the team. The more infeasible the idea, the
more it stretches the boundaries of the solution space
and encourages the team to think of the limits of
possibility.
• Use graphical and physical media: Provide lots of
sketching surfaces and materials for visualizing 3-D form
and spatial relationship. E.g. cardboard, foam, clay,
blackboard, paper, etc.
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 Hints for Generating Concepts
• Individual and group sessions can be useful. Work as
individuals first, then in a group setting for building
consensus, communicating information, and refining
concepts. Some helpful hints:
– Make analogies: compare with similar devices. Is there a natural or
biological analogy to the problem?
– Wish and wonder: I wish we could …or I wonder what would happen if
….
– Use related stimuli: Pass your list of ideas to another team member,
review customer needs, etc.
– Use unrelated stimuli: e.g. random collection of photos.
– Set quantitative goals: e.g. need to generate a minimum of 10 ideas.
– Use the gallery method: Sketches, one concept to a sheet, are pinned to
the walls. Team members circulate and look at each concept. The group
subsequently makes suggestions for improving the concept or
spontaneously generates related concepts.

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 Step 4: Explore Systematically
• Systematic exploration is aimed at
navigating the space of possibilities by
organizing and synthesizing the ideas
generated.
• Two useful techniques are:
– Concept Classification Tree: divide possible
solutions into several distinct classes to facilitate
comparison and pruning.
– Concept Combination Table: provides a way to
consider combinations of solution fragments
systematically.
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 Power Nailer Concepts

Classification Tree Combination Table

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 Step 5: Reflect on the Results and the
Process
• Is the team developing confidence that the
solution space has been fully explored?
• Are there alternative ways to decompose
the problem?
• Have external sources been thoroughly
used?
• Have ideas from everyone been accepted
and integrated in the process?
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 Summary
• Product concept: an approximate
description of the technology, working
principles, and form of the product.
• Concept generation starts with a set of
customer needs and target specifications.
• 5 steps in concept generation: clarify
problem, search externally, search
internally, explore systematically, and
reflect on the solutions and process.
• Iteration is common – nonlinear process.
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 Exercises
• Generate 10 concepts for the sub-problem
“preventing fraying of end of rope” as part
of a system for cutting lengths of nylon
rope from a spool.
• Could you apply the 5-step concept
generation method to an everyday problem
like choosing the food for a picnic for a
group of people you would like to impress?

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