Product innovation
Innovation and the continuous development of new and improved products are key to the design
process. This topic considers the relationship between the design cycle and the product cycle. It
moves on to explore the role of invention in innovation and the impact of market pull and
technology push on product innovation. Establishing and developing markets for products are a
critical element of the product cycle.
2.1Designers and the product cycle
Sales
Life Cycles
Time
Plot a typical curve for a Product Life Cycle. Identify the following zones on the graph:
Introduction, Growth, Maturity and Decline.
Plot each of the following products/genres on your curve.













Mobile Phone TV
MP3 players
LCD TVs
Plasma Screen TVs
Organic Food
Fast-food outlets
Cassettes
Podcasting
In-car Satellite Navigation
Juice Bars
Fair-trade produce
Hybrid powered cars
Ball-point pen
Describe the key features of product sales/demand/product cost/competition/profit/loss at
each stage of the Product Life Cycle.
What does built-in obsolescence mean and discuss its role in influencing the Product Life
Cycle.
What is the role of the designer in the product cycle?
Designing is part of the product cycle: as a need is generated, a product is designed, made
and sold, eventually becoming obsolete. The cycle is complicated by distributors, retailers,
accountants and production engineers, all of whom have an influence over the cycle. Although
the designer is an integral part of the process, he or she is not necessarily in control (unlike in
the design process). Computer-aided design (CAD) and computer-aided manufacture (CAM),
where a prototype is produced by the designer from his or her personal computer (PC), blurs
this distinction.
How do the design cycle and the product cycle differ from each other?
Highlight how the design process is aimed at producing a suitable solution to a problem, and
that the product cycle is concerned with putting that solution into commercial practice.
Why is the product cycle for a particular laptop much shorter than the product cycle for a
ballpoint pen?
Laptop computers are an intensely competitive market, with size and power being key issues.
2.2 Invention and innovation
Connect the definitions in the left column to the statements on the right.
innovation
invention
dominant design
The process of discovering a principle. A
technical advance in a particular field often
resulting in a novel product.
The initial impetus for the development of a
new product is generated by a demand from
the market.
The wide acceptance (and sale) of a product.
diffusion into the marketplace
The business of putting an invention in the
marketplace and making it a success.
market pull
Where the impetus for a new design emanates
from a technological development.
technology push
The design contains those implicit features of
a product that are recognized as essential by
a majority of manufacturers and purchasers.
Why do the majority of inventions fail to become innovations?
Consider marketability, financial support, marketing, the need for the invention, price,
resistance to change, and aversion to risk.
Examples of a design context where dominant design is relevant:
For example, ballpoint pen (Biro), Apple iPod, Coca-Cola
What are the difficulties in getting a product to diffuse into the marketplace?
Consider local, national and global competition. The problems of getting novel products to
market include product launches and marketing.
What, do you think is meant by a ‘lone inventor’ and why it is becoming increasingly difficult to
be a successful lone inventor?
Most products are now extremely complex and rely on expertise from various disciplines. Most
designs are developed by multidisciplinary teams.
They are often used to setting their own targets rather than working as members of teams.
They can be dogmatic in their methodology and less flexible than team workers.
Who was Akio Morita, why was he a ‘Product Champion’ and what product is he famous for
championing?
How does the lone inventor differ from the product champion?
The lone inventor may lack the business acumen to push the invention through to innovation.
The product champion is often a forceful personality with much influence in a company. He or
she is more astute at being able to push the idea forward through the various business
channels and is often able to consider the merits of the invention more objectively.
Why do ‘innovators’ sometimes have difficulty in obtaining financial support for an invention?
Most people with money to invest will be inclined to wait until it is clearer whether an invention
is going to be successful before investing: the problem is to get them to take the risk. James
Dyson is a good example.
2.3 People and markets
What is meant by the terms technophile, technocautious and technophobe?
“People’s reactions to technological change vary depending on their values and personal
circumstances.” What do you think this means?
First-order effects and second-order effects should be taken into account, for example,
personal gain in owning a car versus social and environmental considerations.
The long-term aims and objectives of a company and ways of achieving them define its
corporate strategy. Read the following descriptions of two types of corporate strategy.
“Pioneering” means being ahead of the competitors by introducing a new product first. It
is the most risky (costly) strategy but one with the potential for the largest gains. A
pioneering company requires a strong research and development (R&D) capability, which
is expensive. A pioneering company needs to be financially secure and requires product
champions to push new ideas. Good market research can offset some risk, but is
problematic for novel products.
The “imitative” strategy aims to develop a product similar to the “pioneered” product as
quickly as possible. It takes advantage of R&D invested by others, and is less risky, but is
based on a strong development capability.
Using MP3 players as an example, can you think of a company or product that has been
“pioneering” and a company or product that has been “imitative”?
Explain the benefits for a company of using a hybrid strategy.
What strategies might a company use to enhance ‘market penetration’?
Consider product promotion through marketing.
Describe how a company would undertake ‘market development’.
The identification of new markets for products, for example, nylon was originally developed for
parachutes.
Describe one example of how a company undertakes ‘product development’.
Consider adding variations to a product to develop a range of products building on an
established brand, for example, iPod, iPhone, or sports equipment manufacturers that branch
into clothing or Virgin.
Describe one example of ‘diversification’.
For example, a company manufacturing three-pin electrical plugs may consider producing
them in a range of colours or from materials of different textures and/or material properties.
iPod varieties, mobile phones etc.
A ‘market sector’ is a broad way of categorizing the kinds of market the company is aiming for.
For example, mothers of babies and young children or business travelers.
When markets divide up into smaller segments where the purchasers have similar
characteristics and tastes, this is known as ‘market segmentation’. Markets may be
segmented according to income, age, lifestyle, geographical location, and so on.
Give an example of a particular market segment and of a product or service that applies to that
particular segment.
Read the following article below, taken from the Channel 4 website, about the VW Golf. This is
a really good example of a ‘robust design’ that has evolved into a ‘product family’.
The arrival of the new Seat Altea XL brings to 12 the number of
cars based on the VW Golf MkV - or 17, depending on how you
count them. However many of them there are, they are among the
very best real-world cars: reliable and affordable, but also
desirable and good to drive. The question is which is the right
one for you?
The first car to make use of the current Golf's underpinnings was not the Golf itself
but the Touran, VW's five- and seven-seat compact MPV, in 2003, followed by the
three-door Audi A3. In 2004 we got the Golf, the five-door A3 (which Audi calls the
Sportback), the Seat Altea and the Skoda Octavia hatchback. Then in 2005 came the
Seat Toledo and the Octavia estate. Meanwhile, we've also been presented with the
Golf Plus, Golf GTi, Golf 4Motion and Golf R32, plus the vRS and 4x4 versions of the
Octavia.
That's a lot of cars. So why think of them as being variations on the Golf? Because
they use the same engines and gearboxes and the same basic underpinnings, giving
all of them the same wheelbase of 2578mm, with the exception of the Touran; and it's
no coincidence that the Touran is the one that feels least Golf-like.
The others, from the four-wheel-drive Golf R32 blunderbuss to the frumpy, dawdling
Octavia 1.6, all share a sturdy, well balanced feel that comes from using many of the
same components under the skin - even though those components, especially the
suspension, are set up differently for different models.
Definition of ‘robust design’:
Flexible designs that can be adapted to changing technical and market requirements.
Definition of a ‘product family’:
A group of products having common classification criteria. Members normally have many
common parts and assemblies.