Companies that develop new products and services do their best to meet the needs, wants, and desires of society today. These needs change, and products and services that meet wants of the past will not perfectly fulfill future desires. No one can predict how society will evolve, but human beings have a hand in directing […]
Category: The Design of Things. to Come
The Power of Shifts in the Global Economy
Ten years ago, the IDEA awards program coordinated by Business Week and IDSA went from being a U. S. product design competition to a global competition. The annual spring issue of Business Week that describes these award-winning products is one of the best annual showcases of business innovation. When the program committee considered whether the […]
The Power to Redefine Our Local Environment
At the next Powers of 10 of product development are issues that affect regions. one aspect of regional issues focuses on limited resources and our ability to seek ways to save resources or develop alternatives. William McDonough and Michael Braungart address energy loss and pollution reduction through economically viable approaches. They are creating manufacturing facilities […]
The Power to Expand the Market
Jim Pirkl has “retired” from his job as a professor at Syracuse University, although retirement is really a synonym for a new career. Jim was an early proponent of universal design and coined the use of the word transgenerational, a term for products that span the generations of needs. The theory is simple: As you […]
The Power to Redirect the Company
Xiangyang Wu was told that he would soon leave the company headquarters in Shanghai to work for two years in the U. S. plant. His job is to help understand the needs of consumers in the United States. He had just finished working with a consultant from the United States who the company hired to […]
The Power of the Individual
Sally just started her new job. Her first assignment is to be part of a team to explore potential new business opportunities for her company. Although the company’s products are selling well and are its core profit center, all projections predict that profit will plateau. Growth has already leveled off. Sally’s team is asked to […]
Economy of Opportunity
The drive for innovation is being fueled at all levels of the human scale. At one extreme, empowered individuals employ their personal resources. At the other extreme, countries develop national programs to support innovation. Innovation is being applied to single products and to the development of cities. You, the reader, work and live on this […]
Managing Design
The next issue is who leads soft quality in the company. Companies vary on how they manage soft quality. It may be centralized or decentralized. Companies can have one VP in charge or allow division managers to hire and coordinate design and branding as independent agents. A vice president or director from marketing may be […]
Hiring to Balance Soft and Hard Quality
The type of design developed at Product Insight, IDEO, and other top-notch consulting firms is a new level of practice, a meta level above the subfields of design engineering, industrial and communication design, marketing, and computer science. On the one side, there is product design, communication design, interface design, interior design, and architecture; on the […]
Product Insight: Customer Research and Design
An important element that should underpin any of the tasks mentioned in the previous paragraph is customer/user research. some hired consultants expect that the firm will provide the research, whereas other consultants conduct the research themselves. The research itself can even be outsourced; there are firms that specialize in the type of research that is […]