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The previous challenge focused on the product development cycle from ideation to commercialization. We will now take a deeper look at the design phase. It is one thing to have an idea for a new product (for example, the “smart bike” that detects the rider needs a boost and delivers), but there are countless other design decisions including the name, colors, composition (materials), and structural design. Some design decisions will be made for efficiency, some to keep costs low, and some to make the product appealing to customers.
We will use techniques to help transform a nagging idea about a new product to be more explicit and real. The tool for completing this task is called the FAD (features, attributes, and design) template. The first part of the chapter will introduce the key concepts necessary to understand and motivate the use of the FAD template. The FAD template will then be introduced and used to demonstrate and structure the development of important attributes and features of a new product or service.
Here are some definitions and concepts that can be used to understand how products and services can be differentiated:
Attributes define the inherent characteristics of a product or service. They encompass everything from its physical makeup (material, size) to its operational aspects (speed, capacity). Attributes encompasses all of the following concepts on this list.
Features are prominent attributes that hold particular value to customers. They are the elements actively communicated to distinguish a product from competitors. Imagine a new running shoe; its breathability (attribute) might be a key feature (emphasized in marketing) due to the growing demand for comfort among runners.
Functions represent the actions a product or service performs. A smartphone's function is to allow communication and information access. Form refers to the tangible or intangible presentation—the physical design of a product or the user interface of a service.
Form is the overall appearance of a product, or the way a service is performed. Form is the most evident aspect of design (what it looks like).
Design integrates all these elements. A well-designed product seamlessly combines function with an appealing form, leveraging its features to fulfill a desired attribute.
Meaning transcends all of the above by encompassing the emotional connection with the customer. It considers how a product or service aligns with the user's values and aspirations. For instance, an eco-friendly car goes beyond its functional attributes (fuel efficiency) to connect with the customer's desire for sustainability (meaning).
While designers must consider and determine all attributes of a product or service, of most importance is to find what quality or qualities provide differentiation, to make the product stand apart from the competition. The two most common differentiators a company might strive for are to make a product or service available better than anyone else, or make it cheaper, but there are many that strive for some balance and attach additional meanings to their goods or services as differentiators. For example, laptops with similar cost and functionality can be differentiated through features (long battery life), form (ultra-thin), or meaning (reliable workhorse or style statement). Effective design considers all these aspects to create a product that stands out in the market. By carefully consider all attributes, designers can create differentiated offerings that address not just functional needs, but also the emotional and psychological desires of their target audience.
Let’s look at Gordon’s bicycle as it gets past the idea phase into actual design. It has gears (attribute, feature, and function), a lightweight but sturdy frame (attribute, feature, and form). He visualizes it as coming in specific colors that will be associated with the brand (attribute, feature, and form). He further imagines a smart phone application making it easier to adjust the settings for the electric motor (attribute, feature, and function) and a number of safety features similar to those he’s developed for cars (attribute, feature, function, and meaning).
There are three fundamental approaches to design.
Most products can be designed using all three approaches—for example, software, custom houses, furnishings, electronics, clothes, personal care, appliances, and transportation. Some products such as semiconductors, nanotechnology, and health equipment are primarily technology driven.
MDD involves UDD, but it is not the motivation behind the entire process. In MDD, the company executives and research and development (R&D) personnel design the next-generation product and then present it to consumers. They still obtain a reaction from potential consumers, but it is not the sole driving force behind the process. The MDD approach also incorporates technology-push innovation, where innovative emerging technologies are pushed to the market. In essence, MDD uses elements of both UDD and TDD to deliver innovative products.
The unique part of MDD is the search for meaning in the way people relate to products and services. This is often accomplished by collaborating with other organizations and with experts in the product or service domain on how the product should be designed. The design of the product is not solely derived from customer preference, as is the case of UDD, but is also driven by the innovator and new and emerging technologies. In MDD, the innovator synthesizes information from a variety of sources and then uses this knowledge to design innovative products. Software developers often use a technique referred to as user-centered design or participative design that has elements of UDD and MDD. In user-centered design, there is an iterative process of building the application and having the user continuously validate the software solution.
IN CONTEXT: AN AI ASSISTANT
Let’s look at a new web service that will leverage AI technology to recommend restaurants, hotels, and other destinations to travelers. There are three ways they can approach their software design.
As you can see, the end product can be reached from any starting point, but the specifics of design (and ultimate success) of the product will vary considerably based on where the designers put the emphasis, and what best differentiates their service from existing services.
- UDD: Our focus groups show that people want a tool that will learn their preferences and make specific recommendations after they ask a question, not a list of search results that match the key terms.
- TDD: How can we apply AI technology to the way questions are understood and search results are reported?
- MDD: We want an app that feels like a reliable friend who can make travel planning easier for customers.
The idea behind the MDD school of innovation is to look for meaning in everyday products and to try to determine how they can be changed in a radical way to support the emotional and psychological needs of consumers. The MDD approach to developing a blue ocean market involves understanding how customers relate to products and then developing new products that get at the core of what meaning customers attach to products. As noted in an earlier chapter, a blue ocean market is a market that is not in existence. A blue ocean product is a new product that is radically differentiated from existing products that are being offered, or a major change on an existing product that creates new demand.
Many individuals in the MDD school believe that the user-centered design is a hindrance to developing radical innovations. People will ask for improvements to the products and services they already know but are less likely to think of a revolutionary idea. The focus of the MDD approach is to find the meaning in the way people relate to the events and objects in their everyday life.
EXAMPLE
A UDD approach to improving fast-food service would ask people what they want to see on the menu and ways to improve the service. An MDD approach might ask more basic questions—what relationship do people have with “fast food”? What would give more value and meaning to food grabbed on the go? They might come up with a new way to meet those needs that disrupts the industry, as food trucks did in the 2010s.Proponents of MDD believe that developing innovative ideas that transcend existing concepts requires more than just attending to product differentiation. Since the MDD school of innovation uses a push strategy, product ideas are conceived as a vision and offered to consumers as a proposal. In other words, these proposals as new product ideas have a foundation of attempting to meet customer needs, and while sometimes they don’t work, other times they end up being exactly what people have been wanting and waiting for, which creates success for the company (Verganti, 2017).
There are many different types of meanings that can be attached to products; some of them are tangible, and some of them are complex and elusive. Key areas of meaning include the following:
Designing products that draw on meaning requires creativity and hard work. Creativity can be cultivated and is within the grasp of most people. The hard work is the never-ending process of determining the features that will catch and keep people’s interest. A field has emerged in user experience (UX), the specific intersection of meaning with goods and services (Krishnan, 2023).
A key part of the MDD process involves partnering with interpreters. This partnering involves both learning-about and learning-by-doing. The interpreters are the organizations and individuals who are working on products that are similar to the products that you are examining. They can be suppliers and component manufacturers, consultants, consumers, competitors, universities, research firms and think tanks, trade associations and publications, research conferences, and of course, one of the most important interpreters, the search engine.
There are other approaches to design that focus on marketing, project management, product management, portfolio management, product engineering, creativity, and controlling the process. Later chapters will discuss the role of project management, new product development, and portfolio management in providing structure to the innovation process.
Many companies use hybrid approaches that draw on UDD, TDD, and MDD. Even Apple, who we believe is the wunderkind of MDD in the USA, listens to their customers. For example, they redesigned Apple TV to become an inexpensive video-streaming device and put buttons on the smallest shuffle because consumers did not like having all the music control buttons on the earbud cord. UDD is also very important for software development, whether it be in the context of game development, applications development, or social networking applications. A customer-centric agile development process is essential for delivering products that will be used. Ergonomics, ergonomics laboratories, and usability research are the foundation for delivering high-quality software products to the consumers.
There is one more design strategy that can be linked to many product failures. It is a purely functional design strategy that does not incorporate user needs or meaning at all. There is little, if any, UDD or MDD. This situation occurs where someone thinks that there is a need or demand for a product or service, but the end users were not listened to or were ignored completely. This often occurs when there is no need or demand for a product or service, but someone thought that it would be a good idea to develop it anyway. A few examples of such failures include Google Glass, devices which were worn like eyeglasses and put information into the wearer’s field of vision. Despite initial hype, people quickly discovered that it was impractical and unsafe. Another example is a plastic bicycle invented by Volvo which could not withstand the elements when left outside; the creators of the bicycle did not consider how most users store bicycles. These were both technology-driven designs that failed because they did not give enough weight to user experience. While it’s true that users might not be able to predict what they want in a product they’ve never seen, product testing should have revealed the fatal flaws in these designs.
Source: This tutorial has been adapted from Saylor Academy and NSCC “Operations Management”. Access for free at https://pressbooks.nscc.ca/operationsmanagement2/. License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International.
REFERENCES
Krishnan, A. (2023, August 19) The Power of Emotional Design: How Products Connect with Consumers on a Deeper Level. Bootcamp [blog].
Verganti, R. (2017) Overcrowded: Designing Meaningful Products in a World Awash with Ideas. The MIT Press.
