Design Technology - Topic 5 Innovation and Design
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63 Terms
Why do people invent?
Personal motivation to express creativity
Personal interest
Scientific or technical curiosity
Constructive discontent
Desire to make money
Desire to help others
The Lone Inventor
An individual working outside or inside an organization who is committed to the invention of a novel product and often becomes isolated because they are completely absorbed in what they’re doing.
Advantages and Disadvantages of being a Lone Inventor
Advantages:
Keep control of the development of the product.
Design the product in your style.
Get to work independently.
Get all the rewards.
Disadvantages
No opportunity to collaborate. This can often provide more dynamic ideas.
You may not have all the skills, experience and expertise to come up with the a good quality idea alone.
You may not have the skills and expertise to develop and promote the product.
Intellectual property
Creations of the mind, such as inventions; literary and artistic works; designs; and symbols, names and images used in business.
Patent
A document, issued by the federal government, grants its owner a legally enforceable right to exclude others from practicing the invention described and claimed in the document.
20 years.
Trademarks
A recognizable sign, design, or expression which identifies products or services.
10 years.
Copyright
Protect original works such as paintings, music, novels, etc.
Protects for life, plus 70 years.
Copyright law is regional.
Other IP Protection: First to Market, Rapid production and development:
Short life span products | Long life span products |
Products made quickly in order to beat competitors to market; Companies may combine this strategy with trade secrets to protect their IP. | Longer development required usually; Higher R & D; Patents are usually more suitable. |
Other IP Protection: Brand Loyalty
A valuable brand may inspire customers to discriminate against cheap imitations.
Ensuring that customers recognise your brand as the market leader may therefore be the best way to gain the competitive edge.
Invention
The process of discovering a principle. A technical advance in a particular field often resulting in a novel/new product.
Innovation
The business of putting an invention in the marketplace and making it a success.
Why do few inventions become innovations?
Resistance to change - ‘Techno cautious’ and ‘technophobes’ may stand in the way of new (especially ‘technologies’) ideas and inventions.
Changes in society - Customers, Attitudes (sustainability, materials, idea),Regulations/laws.
Expectations of demand - Lower than predicted.
Magnitude of user needs - Higher than expected, invention cannot fulfill needs.
Expectations of profitability - Lower than forecast.
Degree of positivity of market perception
Amount of IP protection given by patent.
Categories of Innovation: Sustaining Innovation
Sustaining products and services are the kinds of innovations companies often need to develop just to stay in the market.
These incremental innovations can be thought of as variations on a theme.
For example, in the category of household cleansers, a sustaining innovation might involve making the cleaning agent 10% stronger or pairing it with a new scent.
Categories of Innovation: Disruptive Innovation
They are called disruptive because they disrupt the current market behaviour.
They are often radical solutions to problems in competition with existing products.
The iPod, which completely changed the way we listen to and buy music, is one such innovation.
Categories of Innovation: Process Innovation
The implementation of a new or significantly improved production or delivery method (including significant changes in techniques, equipment and/or software).
It can also include minor changes or improvements, to create an increase in production or service capabilities through the addition of manufacturing or logistical systems.
Innovation strategies for Design: Architectural Innovation
The technology of the components stays the same, but the configuration of the components is changed to produce a new design.
Combining components in new ways, existing technology.
Usually triggered by a reduction in component size.
Innovation strategies for Design: Modular Innovation
The basic configuration stays the same, but one or more key components are changed.
Innovation strategies for Design: Configurational Innovation
A change is made in both technology and organisation.
Innovation strategies for Markets: Diffusion
The process of adoption of an innovation over time from limited use to widespread use in the market.
Innovation strategies for Markets: Suppression
The delayed adoption of an innovation in the early years of its availability when it may compete with a dominant design.
Act of Insight (Eureka Moment)
A sudden revelation that suggests a solution, or a means of achieving a solution to the inventor/designer.
Adaptation
An existing technology or solution to a problem in one field is used to provide a new idea for a solution in another.
Technology Transfer
The process of transferring scientific knowledge and principles from one field to another.
The process often involves some modification of the technology, but the basic operating principles remain the same.
Analogy
Looks for similarities and likenesses. Analogous design therefore involves the transfer of an idea from one situation to another.
Chance
An accidental discovery through chance.
Technology Push
When technology breakthroughs occur and companies then search for marketable applications to make them commercially viable.
Market Pull
The action of consumers creating a need or market for a product/service that is targeted by manufacturers when developing new products.
Inventor
An individual who discovers or devises a ‘new materials (either manufactured product or a new composition or matter), a new process, a new use for an existing material, or any improvements of any of these.
Modern inventions are often attributed not to individuals, but to research groups or even institutions.
Inventions may include, but are not limited to, new technologies, material processes or software. In some cases they are simply new combinations of existing knowledge.
Product Champion
Most often working with, or coordinating a team; Product Champions are passionate about driving a particular product to market. They ‘champion’ the product both within and outside their organisation.
Their main role is to have their ideas accepted and then adopted by the public.
Entrepreneur
A person willing to financially back a new enterprise calculating the risk of losing money against potential profits. They may not be an expert in the field of the invention.
Inventor as a Product Champion and/or Entrepreneur
Inventors often feel that they know their products better than anyone else.
They may fear that they will lose control over the product, its promotion or even its market success.
For these reasons, some inventors may continue past the inventor stage and promote or control the financial aspects of the products themselves.
Multi-disciplinary approach to Innovation
Innovation today often involves complex principles, processes and materials.
A large groups of researchers, technologists and engineers may be required just to bring enough skills and knowledge to the project.
In addition to this; prototype modellers, marketing experts and fulfilment teams may be required to make a successful product.
Advantages and Disadvantages of multidisciplinary teams
Advantages | Disadvantages |
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Key stages of the Product Life Cycle
Development, Launch/Introduction, Growth, Maturity, Decline
Life cycle stage vs. Sales volume, Marketing, Pricing
Life cycle stage | Sales volume? | Marketing? | Pricing? |
Launch/ Introduction | Few sales as product is new; Usually no/few competitors. | Lots of marketing to trigger interest and increase sales. | Price is either set low to increase interest, or high to recoup the costs of R&D. |
Growth | Increasing sales; Few competitors. | Still a significant amount of marketing may be needed to continue growth in sales. | Price is high at this point to continued to recoup costs and start making a profit. |
Maturity | Sales consistent; Competitors exist. | Marketing may have slowed down or stopped as the product is more popular in the market and has successfully diffused. | Price may reduce slightly due to competition between brands. |
Decline | Sales decreasing; New products emerging. | Marketing may be needed to reignite sales; Companies may save their marketing budget for newer products. | Price is reduced to encourage purchases. |
Planned Obsolescence
Also known as ‘built in obsolescence.’
A deliberate tactic used by manufacturers to create products with a limited lifespan.
It forces consumers to purchase a product repeatedly.
Obsolescence: Style (fashion); functional; technological
Low durability (functional)
Style obsolescence (fashion)
Not easily/cheaply repaired (functional)
Difficult to disassemble, thus restricting maintenance (functional)
Regular introduction of newer technologies or improved models or software updates(technological)
Designer: Pros/cons of planned obsolescence
| Advantages | Disadvantages |
Designer | Get to re-innovate products time after time and continue to be creative; Opportunity for greater earnings from repeat purchases; Get to correct problems with products frequently. | May get a bad reputation for products needing to be replaced; Cost of R+D would be consistently high. |
Customer: Pros/cons of planned obsolescence
| Advantages | Disadvantages |
Customer | Get new products with new features frequently; New trends can be consumed and enjoyed (in fashion) Problems with products can be ironed out during this process. | The need to replace products frequently is expensive; This may not align with sustainable attitudes. |
Product versioning
Product developments aimed to better meet the needs of a target market - Examples = Coca cola and iPhone 11Pro and iPhone SE.
Product Generations
Improvements over the previous version designed to maintain a loyal customer base, while attracting new customers - Example = iPhone 5s, 6 and 7.
Diffusion and Innovation
Consumers make numerous purchasing decisions on a daily basis. These decisions are influenced by a number of factors including:
Social contacts, Multimedia, Personal traits
Understanding what motivates consumers to make positive purchasing decisions and how decisions spread through markets is the theory of innovation diffusion.
Rates of diffusion are determined by how fast the innovation spreads between consumers.
The diffusion of innovation is about not the changing of consumers or markets, but about the innovations themselves - how do you make them appealing enough to make more people buy them?
Rogers’ characteristics
In order for an innovation to diffuse, the adoption rate of the innovation must increase.
This is about the design of the product and potentially how it is marketed rather than trying to change consumer habits
Rogers’ characteristics: Relative advantage
Whether there is perception that the innovation is better than other products in the same field.
Rogers’ characteristics:Compatibility
Whether there is perception that the innovation is better than other products in the same field.
Rogers’ characteristics: Complexity
Whether there is difficulty faced by a potential adopter in understanding and using the innovation.
Rogers’ characteristics: Observability
Whether the product is visible and has positive results attributed to ownership.
Rogers’ characteristics: Trialability
Whether the product is easy to test out before making a decision about purchasing - This removes the risk of purchasing an unknown product. Limited trials with experts/key user groups prior to launch would assist with advertising/reviewing the product.
Consumerism
Encouraging the acquisition of goods and services in ever-increasing amounts.
Adoption/Categories of consumer
Adoption is closely related to diffusion but deals with thought patterns or psychological processing that takes place in individuals within mass markets.
Innovators, Early Adopters, Early Majority, Late Majority, Laggards
Design and Marketing Specification
What is a Design Specification?
A list of requirements, constraints and considerations that a yet-to-be-designed product must fulfil.
What is its purpose?
Get to know the market need and to make sure the product fits the market. It is then used as a set of rules for design development.
How is it written?
it is usually written on a table or a list for easy viewing and comparison against.
Marketing Specification
A document that businesses put together prior to launching a product's advertising and marketing plan. The marketing specification document outlines the product's key attributes, considers the competition and identifies its target market.
Target Market
The area of the market that the product is aimed at. This is clearly defined and allows designers to target their products and services effectively.
Target Market Sector
The term market sector is used in economics and finance, and refers to the part of the economy with a set of businesses that are buying and selling similar goods and services, and are in direct competition with each other.
Target Market Segmentation
Involves dividing a broad target market into subsets of consumers, businesses, or countries who have, or are perceived to have, common needs, interests, and priorities.
eg. Demographic/socioeconomic segmentation - (gender, age, income, occupation, education, household size, and stage in the family life cycle), Psychographic segmentation - (similar attitudes, values, and lifestyles), Behavioural segmentation - (occasions, degree of loyalty), Product-related segmentation - (relationship to a product)
Target Audiences
A specific group of people within the target market segment at which a product or the marketing message of a product is aimed at.
All the possible purchasers/users of the product.
Market Analysis
An appraisal of economic viability of the proposed design from a market perspective, taking into account fixed and variable costs and pricing, is important. It is typically a summary about potential users and the market. You should identify potential users as well as current market solutions.
Economic Viability
Whether a product can be financially sustained throughout its life cycle.
Fixed Costs
An expense that doesn’t change, these can also relate to start up costs for the business. (e.g. machine purchases, development costs, insurance, rent, etc)
Variable Costs
An expense that changes and fluctuates according to a variety of factors. (e.g. material costs, piece rate labour (not salaried staff), production supplies (consumables, etc)
User Need
A marketing specification should identify the essential requirements that the product must satisfy in relation to market and user need.
Competition
Need to understand the competitor’s position in the market and the potential that you could enter the same market and be competitive.
You need to be able to answer the following questions:
What is the size of the market?
Is entry to the market time dependent?
What is the current level of market diffusion?
Are there barriers to market entry? (Legislation, high investment costs, technology?)
What are the strengths and weaknesses of the new product and the existing market solutions.
Research Methods
Qualitative | Quantitative |
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