While there are various organizations today that provide new product designs, it is imperative to understand the difference between the good, the bad and the excellent ones. Given below are a few aspects that one should consider before choosing a new design for any particular product.
Functional
The design should be usable and must function as promised. It must have appropriate ergonomics considering its usage conditions. It must at least have a minimum or appropriate level of performance. A product has a core level of functionality that the design must meet. Augmented functionality if required is desirable also.
Appearance
A new product design must appeal to the eye and must create space in the mind of the buyer. Its looks must relate to the age, gender, lifestyle, culture, education, occupation, nature of market and place of use. Its looks will also depend upon competitive and complementary products. Customers must be willing to pay a premium to own the product. It must be stylish, must feel good and appear easy to use.
Deliverables
A good design is of no use if it is not easily reproducible and involves high costs. Thus a design must be capable of economical volume manufacture using appropriate production methods considering the various components it may use.
Benefits
A good design must bring in profits for the organization in the form of recognition, better sales volume, increased market share & higher profitability. This can be attained through strong differentiation of the product in the marketplace.
It is important to consider the key design activities before designing and marketing a new product. These activities can be categorized as those involved in the actual designing and the activities involved in managing the designing process. The activities that occur while designing comprise of understanding the market, competitors and complementary products; understanding the user segment and understanding the product and the project undertaken. Once complete the next stage involves designing the concept, creating a prototype and then evaluating it for cost estimations and usability values. While the product is being designed, key management activities occur at the same time. These involve project generation, development, management and product organization.
About the Author
Subrata Goswami, write article and provide consultancy to AxisITT.