PART FOUR

DEVELOPMENT

DevelopmentFigure IV.1

Chapter 13

Design

What Is Design?

• Has been defined as “the synthesis of technology and

human needs into manufacturable products.”

• In practice, design can mean many things, ranging from

styling to ergonomics to setting final product specifications.

• Design has been successfully used in a variety of ways to

help achieve new product objectives.

• One thing it is not: an afterthought; “prettying up” a product

that is about to manufactured!

• “Beautiful is not enough. The product must be useful.

Design includes the whole human interface.” (Ken Munsch

of Herman Miller)

The Role of Design at Apple

• Firms such as Apple, judged high in design

effectiveness, have superior returns on sales, net

incomes, and cash flows.

• Apple routinely praised for the modernistic,

intuitive designs of iPads, iPhones, and other

devices.

• Clean, simple appearance of Apple devices

directly traceable to the ‘60s record players and

radios of German designer Dieter Rams.

• Design is certainly not an afterthought at Apple!

Design-Driven Innovation

• “Design introduces a bold new way of competing.

Design-driven innovations do not come from the market;

they create new markets. They don’t push new

technologies, they push new meanings.” (Design expert

Roberto Verganti)

• In design-driven innovation, design itself has the

leadership role (unlike market-pull or technology-push

innovation).

• Product functionality is as important to excellent design

as is appearance or aesthetics.

Contributions of Design to the

New Products ProcessFigure 13.1

• Design for Speed to Market (Ingersoll-Rand Cyclone

Grinder)

• Design for Ease of Manufacture (IBM Proprinter)

• Design for Differentiation (Haworth and Steelcase office

equipment)

• Design to Meet Customer Needs (“user oriented design”)

(Crown Equipment Rider Counterbalance forklift trucks)

• Design to Build or Support Corporate Identity (Apple, BMW)

• Design for the Environment (Subaru, Apple)

Principles of Universal Design

• Equitable Use: The design is useful to people with varied abilities.

• Flexibility in Use: The design accommodates a wide variety of preferences.

• Simple and Intuitive to Use: The design is easy for anyone to understand.

• Perceptible Information: The design communicates the required information to the user.

• Tolerance for Error: The design minimizes adverse consequences of inappropriate use.

• Low Physical Effort: The design can be used efficiently by anyone with minimal fatigue.

• Size and Space for Approach and Use: The product is easy to reach, manipulate, and use.

• Source: James M. Mueller and Molly Follette Story, “Universal Design: Principles for Driving Growth Into New Markets,” in P. Belliveau, A. Griffin, and S. Sodermeyer (eds.), The PDMA Toolbook for New Product Development (New York: Wiley, 2002), pp. 297-326.

Figure 13.2

Range of Leading Design

ApplicationsPurpose of Design

Aesthetics

Ergonomics

Function

Manufacturability

Servicing

Disassembly

Item Being Designed

Goods

Services

Architecture

Graphic arts

Offices

Packages

Figure 13.3

Product Architecture

• The process by which a customer need is

developed into a product design.

• Solid architecture improves speed to

market, and reduces the cost of changing

the product once it is in production.

• Product components are combined into

“chunks,” functional elements are

assigned to the chunks, and the chunks

are interrelated with each other.

Product Architecture IllustrationFigure 13.4

Product Architecture and

Product Platforms• Product architecture development is

related to establishing a product platform.

• If chunks or modules can be replaced

easily within the product architecture,

“derivative products” can be made from

the same basic platform as technology,

market tastes, or manufacturing skills

change.

• Examples: 200 versions of the Sony

Walkman from four platforms.

Assessment Factors for an

Industrial DesignFigure 13.5

Prototype Development

• Comprehensive Prototype: complete, fully-

functioning, full-size product ready to be

examined by customers.

• Focused Prototype: not fully functioning or

developed, but designed to examine a

limited number of performance attributes

or features.– Examples: a crude, working prototype of an electric

bicycle; a foam or wood bicycle to determine

customers’ reactions to the proposed shape and form.

Model of the Product Design

ProcessFigure 13.6

Improving the Interfaces in the

Design Process• Co-location

• Digital co-location

• Global teams

• Produceability engineer

• Upstream partnering with vendors

Computer-Aided Design (CAD)

• Greatly accelerates the design step and allows

assessment of multiple possible designs without

building expensive prototypes.

• Design for Manufacturability (DFM): search for

ways to minimize manufacturing costs.

• Design for Assembly (DFA): search for ways to

ease assembly and manufacture.

• Rational for DFM: A seemingly trivial detail in

design phase might have huge manufacturing

cost consequences later on!

Some of the Uses of CAD in

Auto Industry• Determining fit of subassemblies: does the

radio/CD player protrude too far into the

engine area?

• Facilitating “decking” of cars (attaching the

powertrain to the upper body): do all the

pieces fit together perfectly?

• Crashworthiness: can we modify any

aspects of the car’s design to improve its

ability to protect the passengers in a

crash?

Newer Developments in CAD

• Stereolithography (rapid prototyping)

• Mechanical computer-aided engineering

(MCAE)