1.3.1 Product and Service Design

Product and Service Design

Key Definitions

Design: The process in which the balance between creating a product that people desire to have, that people can afford to buy, and that works properly and safely.

Design Mix: A tool used by businesses to help design and create their products that consists of 3 main strands: Aesthetics (how the product looks and feels), Function and Quality (whether the product works well and is reliable), and the Cost of Production (how much each product costs to make)

Social Trends: Changes in what the consumer wants and needs. 

Waste Minimization: A method of improving the productivity and efficiency of a business by producing more goods from the materials they currently have.

Ethical Sourcing: The process of procuring materials and labour from sources that are well-looked after and well maintained environments.

Sustainability: The production of products using materials that will still be around to benefit future generations.

Prototype: A test model of a planned design that is used by businesses to see if future products work properly with the necessary functionality, durability, reliability and safety.

Recycling: The process in which new goods are made by changing the shape and functionality of the old product.

Design Process: A series or chain of events that lead to the creation of a new product, often in 12 stages, from market research to full scale production. 

Market Research: The gathering of information about consumers, competitors and distributors within a target market as a way of identifying and analyzing consumer's buying habits and attitudes to current and future products.

The Design Mix

The 'Design Mix' is used by businesses when they need to consider the design for a new product. Every good product designer would use the Design Mix, and consider the following 3 factors when designing new products:

1. Product Aesthetics

How does the product look? How does it feel? Does it appeal to the senses? Is it something that would appeal to the consumer? 

2. Product Function

Does the product work? Is it a reliable product? Is it strong enough or light enough to suit the consumer's needs or purpose?

3. Cost of Production

How much will the product cost to produce? Is the design of the product simple enough to make it cheaply and efficiently? Does the design of the product make it relatively cheap to produce?

In some cases all 3 of the factors are of the same equal importance. In other cases there is a clear priority of the 3, and this is quite often the cost of production. For example, an own-brand company will focus on keeping down the cost of production, whereas BMW will focus on the design of their cars. A business will only be able to decide on how they use the Design Mix after they have conducted careful market research in order to identify what motivates customers to buy their products. 

The Design Process

1. Market Research Done

Market research is done to find consumer needs and to evaluate the state of the market. This is often done through questionnaires and surveys. 

2. Identify the Gap 

The data gained from the market research is analyzed for trends in consumer spending and to help identify the gap in the market. 

3. Original Idea Developed

The gap in the market is identified, and the product designers work to develop an original product idea to fill the gap in the market. 

4. Design Brief Prepared

Once the original idea has been developed the business works to produce a design brief that outlines the design of the new product.

5. Designers Approached

The design brief is taken to the designers who are asked to design the product and make it the 'real thing'.

6. Design Chosen
The final design of the product is chosen and taken to be put into production by the company. 

7. Models or Prototypes Made
Models and/or prototypes are made to see how the design looks.

8. Working Samples Made
Working samples or prototypes are made to test functionality of the product and to test the components. 

9. Consumer Trials
Trials are done on the consumers in the target group, this is done in stages and can take a few weeks to complete.

10. Tooling for Manufacture
Steps and machinery put in place to prepare for the manufacturing of the products.

11. Organize Raw Materials
Supplies of raw materials are sourced and source deals are put in place ready for the manufacturing of the products.

12. Full Scale Production
Production is under way and distribution deals have been organized. The product is now being sold to the consumers. 

Changes in the Mix to Reflect Social Trends

Social trends and consumer trends have major impacts on the design mix as they are a reflection of what the consumer wants to have. These are constantly changing over time, especially in the fashion industry, and it is important for businesses to keep up with them otherwise they may find themselves falling behind and, potentially, falling off of the market radar.

Concern Over Resource Depletion

As the global population has been forecast to grow to 11 billion people by the end of the 21st century people worry that the key resources needed for survival, such as food and fresh clean water will run out. Concerns are that the resource levels will reach the point of depletion, especially over finite resources such as fossil fuels, iron ore and gold. Other resources that people are concerned about are fish stocks, crops that grow in cooler climates (linked to global warming and changing global weather patterns), and wood. 

Sustainability means that the purchase made today, 14th May 2017, will not have an impact on someone 50 years or 100 years in the future, often as the supplies are automatically replenished. An example of this is cod, which is currently listed as an endangered species so fishermen have been warned to stop fishing this particular species of fish and to fish for alternatives such as pollock and haddock. 

As resources deplete the price to buy them rises. This is the signal for designers to look at using alternative materials to reduce the amount of the original being used. For example, oil is the basis of all plastics - no oil, no plastic. When oil starts to run out (which is inevitable as it is being used faster than it is being replenished) the need to switch from plastic bottles to something else, such as glass bottles, may need to be done. 

Designing for Waste Minimization and Re-Use

If a product has been designed well it can be manufactured with minimal wasted by-products. This process starts with computer-aided design programs that calculate how much wastage there will be during the manufacturing process. Adapting a waste-minimization scheme could help cut down production costs and also reduce the environmental impact of the business - this could be used as a marketing scheme as customers may see that the business is dedicated to helping protect the environment. Re-usage is also important as, as a society, we have become more of a disposable society with disposable razors, torches, clothes and lighters becoming more and more popular among consumers.

Recycling

Many waste materials can only be disposed of in one of 3 ways: incineration, burial or recycling. The incineration process is a direct contributor to the increased volume of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Burial is not only harmful to the environment but also to the air quality, as it is one of the leading contributors to air pollution. The ideal solution of the 3 is therefore to recycle the waste products - to reuse as much of the original materials in the product as possible. 

Recycling offers simple solutions to the small waste products that shoppers seem to be uninterested in: getting milk from a milkman who collects, washes, and refills the glass milk bottles is an example of this. Individual businesses cannot focus on re-educating the public on the values of recycling, it is up to them to attract customers by doing the ethically and morally right thing. 

Ethical Sourcing

The Ethical Sourcing Forum has been working since 2002 to open the eyes of western companies to the reality of the working conditions and practices in different parts of the world, especially after the 2013 Rana Plaza disaster in which 1130 workers in a clothing factory were crushed to death. Research done after the incident showed that in Bangladesh 40% of the footwear factories did not have enough emergency exits, and the footwear industry itself performed the worst when measured on worker's wages, working hours, and other factors. One of the most striking findings was that, even though local laws demanded that workers be allowed at least one day a week off, there was no evidence to show this being given. 

Ethical sourcing can be taken in 2 main ways:

1. Based on Manufacturer or Retailer Values
This can include buying their supplies from businesses and farms that are known to treat their staff, animals, and the environment with respect. 

2. As a "Buzz Term"
This suggests that the business is taking the ethical route purely for brand image, and not based on their core business values. 

Recent years of recession and consumer purchasing patterns suggest that the British consumer only takes the 'premium sourcing' and idea of buying goods that have been ethically sourced, such as organic goods, seriously only when the economy is strong and people have more money to spend on goods. When the recession hit in 2009 sales of organic goods dropped, reversing the increasing sales trend that had been happening before it hit. A slight economic improvement in 2013 led to sales increasing again, showing that economic strength has an impact on sales and ethical sourcing (however the increase in sales could also be linked to an increase in the supply of these goods, not just as the consumer has more to spend). 

Ethical sourcing does not always have an impact on design. It depends on the product and the company, as Apple designers have a crucial job to do but have nothing to do with sourcing the materials involved in production, whereas in clothing companies the designers have more of a major role in sourcing the materials. If Primark were to produce a sustainable clothing range it would be up to Primark's designers to source the materials involved from sustainably produced materials, such as cotton.