• What it is: Product design is the process by which customer needs are considered and technical capabilities are aligned with the needs to design a product that will not only meet the customers' needs but delight them.
• What does it do: Every product that is sold was at one time designed. Every toothbrush, can opener, website, or ap had to go through the design process prior to creation physically. The process of product design is used to create "me too" products that meet commodity standards or differentiated products that can be sold for a premium to competitor's products because they meet customer desires that competitor designed products do not meet.

Limitations:

• Where it shouldn't be used: Where a product is to be an absolute duplicate of an existing product, there may not need to be a design element.
• Any restrictions: none
• Warnings: Be careful of patent infringement and copyright protections.

Demonstrations:

• The Product Development Process
  

• Product Development | 5 min Overview of the Product Design Process.mp4inks to an external site.

• ABC Nightline - IDEO Shopping Cartinks to an external site

• How to design breakthrough inventions
  

• Stanford Webinar - Design Thinking = Method, Not Magicinks to an external site.

Step-by-step process:

• Gathering data: Define the needs of the company and the competitive products that currently exist.
• Understand the opportunities that exist: Work with customers, engineers, experts, and others from adjacent industries and products
  • How do they use the products that exist today, this includes the process that the product is used in as well as the product itself
  • What does it cost to use the current product and the total cost of the process
  • What is wrong with the current product and processes that are used by the customer
  • What would it be worth to the customer if these problems could be resolved
  • Empathize
  • Define
  • Ideate
  • Prototype
  • Test
• Ask the 4 questions about the customer needs
• Imagine a new product and process that would meet the current needs and solve the current problems. As you consider the new opportunities you can know what the customer needs in the finished product and process, as well as how much they will pay for this new product and process (current cost plus what they would pay to resolve problems). You can consider using Design Thinking which follows the following steps:
• Develop prototype and test it with customers to see if you are on the right track, then make a second and third-generation prototype as you work through the learning from the customer feedback
• Determine a manufacturing process and cost of producing the product or service to see if you can make a product/service for a cost that will meet the customer's need at a price they will pay and that you can still make a profit.

Template for capturing data:

There are many different approaches and you should consider using processes found in some of the other tools described in this library such as:

• Expert Interviews
• Focus group
• Survey Development
• Links to an external site.Market Analysis
• Customer Analysis
• Estimating Returns For a Recommendation
• Financial Modeling

Output representation and recommendations:

The presentation or projected product design can be done in a combination of PowerPoint and prototype. The presentation should include something like the outline below:

• Presentation of the idea and the prototype
• Explanation of what needs that the product meets and how it will be used by customers
• Evidence of why we believe customers will see this product as meeting their needs, including market research testing of the prototype
• Price point analysis: why you believe customers will pay your price point
• Cost analysis of making, shipping, distributing the product and getting payment
• Forecasts of the Financial proforma income statement and balance sheet as well as break-even points, IRR, cash flow analysis and NPV projections

Examples:

Additional resources: