Module 3: Product and Service Design Reverse engineering can occasionally help a

business beat the competition by producing an

Introduction even better product. Another source of ideas is
A corporate organization's core competencies are suppliers, and with the growing importance of
its products and services, and the organization's supply chains and supplier alliances, suppliers are
supply chain is built around these core emerging as a significant source of ideas.
competencies. Companies with well-designed
products or services are more likely to achieve their Another place to look for inspiration for new or
objectives than those with subpar ones. enhanced goods or services is research. The term
Consequently, businesses have a strategic stake in "research and development" (R&D) refers to
how products and services are designed. Designing coordinated initiatives aimed at advancing scientific
a product or a service should be directly related to understanding and developing novel goods or
an organization's strategy. It has a significant impact procedures.
on price, quality, time-to-market, customer
satisfaction, and competitive advantage. Research and development projects may entail
development, basic research, or both.
The introduction of new goods or services, as well • Basic research aims to advance our
as modifications to existing ones, may have an understanding of a topic without any immediate
effect on the organization as a whole as well as the hope of commercial implications,
entire supply chain. While some processes may • Applied research has the goal to produce
only require minor adjustments, others may need commercial applications.
to make significant changes to what they do, how • Development transformed the outcomes of
they do it, and when they do it. applied research into practical commercial
applications.
Lesson 1. Idea Generation The government and big businesses typically fund
Customers, the supply chain, rivals, staff, and basic research because it does not have immediate
research are just a few of the places where new or commercial benefits. On the other hand, due to the
improved goods and services might get their ideas potential for commercial applications, applied
from. Surveys, focus groups, customer complaints, research and development is attractive to a wide
and unsolicited recommendations for improvement range of business groups.
are all possible sources of customer feedback.
Interviews, direct or indirect suggestions, and Successful R&D can have enormous advantages.
complaints can all be used to get feedback from Some research results in patents, which may result
suppliers, distributors, and workers. in licensing and royalty payments. Many
discoveries, however, are not patentable, or
Competitor products and services are among the businesses shun the patent route because they
most powerful drivers of new and improved goods don't want to share the specifics of their ideas.
and services. An organization can learn a lot by Nevertheless, the company that introduces a new
researching a competitor's goods or services and good or service first will typically benefit from it
business practices (pricing practices, return policies, before the competition catches up.
warranties, location tactics, etc).
It's interesting to see how some businesses are now
Additionally, some businesses will buy a product moving away from a heavily product-focused
from a rival and then meticulously disassemble and strategy and toward a more balanced one that
examine it in order to find improvements they can examines both product and process R&D.
make to their own product. It's referred to as Additionally, it is becoming more widely
reverse engineering. acknowledged that technologies frequently go
through life cycles, just like many other items. R&D
activities may be affected in two ways by this.
Continuously paying attention to competitive issues • Create designs that are in line with the
during the course of a business' life cycle is organization's objectives. For instance, if your
necessary for sustained economic success, as is business strives for great quality, don't cut corners
preparing to use next-generation technologies. to save money, even when the consumer won't
notice.
Lesson 2. Legal and Ethical Considerations • Provide customers with the value they
Designers need to be cautious to take a wide range deserve.
of legal and ethical factors into account. • Put people's health and safety first.
Employees who will make the goods or provide the
Most businesses are governed by a number of services, employees who will transport the goods,
different government entities. The Food and Drug clients who will use the goods or get the services,
Administration, the Occupational Health and and members of the public who could be harmed
Safety Administration, the Environmental by the goods or services are all at risk.
Protection Agency, and several state and
municipal agencies are some of the more well- Lesson 3. Human Factors
known federal agencies. Similar to how car Consumer product design frequently involves
pollution regulations and safety features like air dealing with human factor difficulties. In many
bags, safety glass, and energy-absorbing bumpers situations, safety and liability are two crucial factors
and frames have significantly influenced that must be properly considered. For instance, the
automotive design. government, insurance providers, automakers, and
consumers are all very interested in how safe
A lot of focus has been placed on toy design to automobiles are in crashes.
exclude hazardous ingredients, sharp edges, and
small bits that can choke children. The government The addition of additional features to their goods
further regulates building by mandating the use of or services is a further concern for designers.
lead-free paint, safety glass in entranceways, Certain businesses may use the addition of new
accessibility for people with disabilities in public features to gain a competitive advantage. Despite
buildings, and requirements for insulation, the obvious advantages, this can occasionally be
electrical wiring, and plumbing. Design overdone and cause customers to become
advancements can benefit greatly from product dissatisfied. Electronic products like handheld
liability laws. devices, which keep adding new functions and
increasing their complexity despite getting smaller,
A manufacturer is liable under the law for any are a prime example of this creeping futurism. As a
harms or losses brought on by defective products result, the simplicity of use may receive low
due to shoddy construction or bad design. consumer evaluations.

Therefore, it is crucial to create products that are Lesson 4. Cultural Factors

essentially risk-free. When risks do exist, it is vital to Product designers for multinational corporations
install safety guards or other equipment to lower must also consider any cultural variations across
the chance of accidents and to adequately notify various nations or areas that may be relevant to the
people of the risks. In order to create industry- product. This can lead to various designs for various
wide standards that assist prevent some of the nations or locations.
risks, consumer advocacy organizations, business
organizations, and various government agencies Lesson 5. Global Product and Service Design
frequently collaborate. Members of the design team who are based at one
facility or a few neighboring facilities have
Organizations typically require designers to follow traditionally handled product design. Globally
rules like the ones below: operating companies are now seeing the benefits
of global product design, which combines the
efforts of a group of designers from several nations than products do since they use energy and go
and even continents. through many of the same or similar processes.

These virtual teams have a number of advantages Cradle-to-grave evaluation aims to select goods and
over traditional teams, including the ability to work services that have the least negative effects on the
around the clock and access the greatest human environment while still taking economic factors into
resources from across the globe without having to account. The ISO 14000 environmental
gather them all in one location. This reduces the management standards include cradle-to-grave
time to market. The usage of global teams also evaluation techniques.
enables the consideration of local resources,
possibilities, and limits when assessing client needs End-of-Life Programs
across multiple nations. Global product design can End-of-life (EOL) programs deal with products
result in designs that improve a product's whose useful lives have come to an end. Products
marketability and usefulness. range from consumer goods to office supplies. The
goal of these projects is to lessen the habit of
The capacity of team members to stay in constant disposing of things, especially electronic
contact with one another, discuss concepts and equipment, in landfills or third-world nations or
progress right away, and send engineering revisions incinerating them, which produces toxic ash and
and other important information has been a key dangerous air and water pollution. Although the
factor in the feasibility of international product programs are not restricted to electronic devices,
design teams. those devices present issues because they
frequently include hazardous substances including
Lesson 6. Environmental Factors: Sustainability lead, cadmium, chromium, and other heavy metals.
The pursuit of sustainability is focused on product An excellent illustration of the possibilities of EOL
and service design. Cradle-to-grave evaluation, programs comes from IBM. It has gathered nearly 2
end-of-life programs, cost and material reduction, billion pounds of product and product waste over
reusing components of returned products, and the past 15 years.
recycling are important components.
The Three Rs: Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle
Cradle-to-Grave Assessment
The evaluation of a product or service's Reducing the use of materials through value
environmental impact over the course of its useful analysis, refurbishing and then reselling returned
life, also referred to as life cycle analysis or cradle- goods that are deemed to have additional useful
to-grave assessment, focuses on issues like global life, which is known as remanufacturing, and
warming (the amount of carbon dioxide released recovering parts of unusable products for recycling
into the atmosphere), smog formation, oxygen are three specific aspects of potential cost savings
depletion, and solid waste generation. Cradle-to- and reducing environmental impact that designers
grave analysis for products considers effects at frequently consider.
every stage of a product's life cycle, from the
extraction of raw materials from the earth to the Reuse: Remanufacturing
cultivation and harvesting of plant materials, The remanufacturing of items is a new idea in
through the manufacturing of parts and assembly manufacturing. Remanufacturing is the process of
operations, or other processes used to create restoring used goods by swapping out damaged or
products, as well as the use or consumption of the worn-out components before reselling them. The
product, and finally to the product's final disposal original maker or another business can complete
at the end of its useful life. Additionally, it considers this. Automobiles, printers, copiers, cameras,
all aspects of transportation, pollution, and waste computers, and cellphones are a few examples of
generation. Cradle-to-grave evaluation of services is products that use remanufactured components.
crucial even though they often use fewer resources
Recycling is a factor that designers should consider.
Recycling is the process of reclaiming resources for Design Review
new uses. This holds true not just for manufactured Any necessary adjustments are made at this point,
items but also for supplies utilized in or the project is abandoned. Together, the
manufacturing, like lubricants and solvents. It is departments of marketing, finance, engineering,
possible to melt down recycled metal or plastic design, and operations decide whether to move
components and create new items. forward or give up.
Several factors motivate businesses to recycle as Market Test
follows: To gauge consumer acceptance, a market test is
1. Cost savings conducted. In the event of failure, the product goes
2. Environmental concerns back to the design review stage. Marketers are in
3. Environmental regulations charge of this period.
The term "design for recycling" refers to product
design that considers the ability to disassemble a Product Introduction
used product to recover recyclable parts and is a Promotion of the new product is done. Marketers
result of the urge to recycle. are in charge of this period.

Lesson 7. Phases in Product Design and Follow-up Evaluation

Development Changes or improved forecasts may be made in
Feasibility Analysis response to user comments. Marketers are in
Market (demand) analysis, economic (development charge of this period.
and production costs, prospective profits), and
technological analysis are all included in feasibility Lesson 8. Service Design
studies (capacity requirements and availability, and The design of products and services share a lot of
the skills needed). The question of whether it is in similarities. Due to the nature of services, there are
line with the mission must also be addressed. This some significant variances as well. Services typically
calls for coordination between the departments of develop and supply their goods simultaneously, in
marketing, finance, accounting, engineering, and contrast to manufacturing, where production and
operations. distribution are typically spaced out in time.

Product Specifications Overview of Service Design

This calls for coordination between legal, The selection of a service strategy, which establishes
marketing, and operations, as well as precise the target market and the nature and focus of the
definitions of what is required to achieve (or service, is the first step in the service design process. In
order to do this, top management must evaluate the
exceed) consumer expectations.
prospective market, profitability (or need, in the case of
a charitable organization), and suitability of the
Process Specifications company to deliver the service. The customer
Following the establishment of product requirements and expectations of the target market
specifications, focus shifts to those for the must be established after decisions regarding the
processes required to generate the products. Cost, service's focus and the target market have been made.
resource accessibility, potential for profit, and
quality of alternatives must all be taken into The degree of flexibility in service requirements and
consideration. Operations and accounting must the level of customer interaction in the delivery system
work together on this. are two important factors in service design. These
affect how much service can be standardized or needs
to be individualized. The more uniform the service, the
Prototype Development
smaller the degree of client contact and service
Once the product and process specifications are
requirement diversity. Service design is extremely
finished, one (or a few) units are built to check for similar to product design when there is little touch and
any issues with the specifications.
little to no processing variability. On the other hand,
significant variability and high client contact typically
require a highly personalized service. The possibility of
selling is a linked factor in service design; the bigger the
level of client engagement, the greater the possibilities
of selling.