Product Design and
Development
Product Design and
Development contains a collection of methods that guide teams in developing new
products. Each chapter focuses on a different method and employs a rich example drawn from
industrial practice to illustrate each step. The book particularly focuses on tools and
techniques that draw together members of cross-functional teams to make sound development
decisions. The first edition of the book has been used by tens of thousands of
practitioners and students. Feedback from many of these readers guided the preparation of
this second edition. In addition to updating and refining the original material, the
authors added two new chapters-Product Planning and Concept Testing.
CONTENTS
1 Introduction
Characteristics of Successful
Product Development, Who Designs and Develops Products? Duration and Cost of Product
Development, The Challenges of Product Development, Approach of This Book, Structured
Methods, Industrial Examples, Organizational Realities, Road Map of the Book, References
and Bibliography, Exercises, Thought Question
2 Development Processes and
Organizations
A Generic Development
Process, Concept Development: The Front-End Process, Adapting the Generic Product
Development Process, Technology-Push Products, Platform Products, Process-Intensive
Products, Customized Products, The AMF Development Process, Product Development
Organizations, Organizations Are Formed by Establishing Links among Individuals,
Organizational Links May Be Aligned with Functions, Projects, or Both, Choosing an
Organizational Structure, The AMF Organization, Summary, References and Bibliography,
Exercises, Thought Questions
3 Product Planning
The Product Planning Process,
Four Types of Product Development Projects, The Process, Step 1: Identify Opportunities,
Step 2: Evaluate and Prioritize Projects, Competitive Strategy, Market Segmentation,
Technological Trajectories, Product Platform Planning, Evaluating Fundamentally New
Product Opportunities, Balancing the Portfolio, Step 3: Allocate Resources and Plan
Timing, Resource Allocation, Project Timing, The Product Plan, Step 4: Complete
Pre-Project Planning, Mission Statements, Assumptions and Constraints, Staffing and Other
Pre-Project Planning Activities, Step 5: Reflect on the Results and the Process, Summary,
References and Bibliography, Exercises, Thought Questions
4 Identifying Customer Needs
Step 1: Gather Raw Data from
Customers, Choosing Customers, The Art of Eliciting Customer Needs Data, Documenting
Interactions with Customers, Step 2: Interpret Raw Data in Terms of Customer Needs, Step
3: Organize the Needs into a Hierarchy, Step 4: Establish the Relative Importance of the
Needs, Step 5: Reflect on the Results and the Process, Summary, References and
Bibliography, Exercises, Thought Questions
5 Product Specifications
What Are Specifications?,
When Are Specifications Established? Establishing Target Specifications, Step 1: Prepare
the List of Metrics, Step 2: Collect the Competitive Benchmarking Information, Step 3: Set
Ideal and Marginally Acceptable Target Values for Each Metric, Step 4: Reflect on the
Results and the Process, Setting the Final Specifications, Step 1: Develop Technical
Models of the Product, Step 2: Develop a Cost Model of the Product, Step 3: Refine the
Specifications, Making Trade-Offs Where Necessary, Step 4: Flow Down the Specifications as
Appropriate, Step 5: Reflect on the Results and the Process, Summary, References and
Bibliography, Exercises, Thought Questions, Appendix Target Costing, Example
6 Concept Generation
The Activity of Concept
Generation, Structured Approaches Reduce the Likelihood of Costly Problems, A Five-Step
Method, Step 1: Clarify the Problem, Decompose a Complex Problem into Simpler Subproblems,
Focus Initial Efforts on the Critical Subproblems, Step 2: Search Externally, Interview
Lead Users, Consult Experts, Search Patents, Search Published Literature, Benchmark
Related Products, Step 3: Search Internally, Both Individual and Group Sessions Can Be
Useful, Hints for Generating Solution Concepts, Step 4: Explore Systematically, Concept
Classification Tree, Concept Combination Table, Managing the Exploration Process, Step 5:
Reflect on the Results and the Process, Summary, References and Bibliography, Exercises,
Thought Questions
7 Concept Selection
Concept Selection Is an
Integral Part of the Product Development Process, All Teams Use Some Method for Choosing a
Concept, A Structured Method Offers Several Benefits, Overview of Methodology, Concept
Screening, Step 1: Prepare the Selection Matrix, Step 2: Rate the Concepts, Step 3: Rank
the Concepts, Step 4: Combine and Improve the Concepts, Step 5: Select One or More
Concepts, Step 6: Reflect on the Results and the Process, Concept Scoring, Step 1: Prepare
the Selection Matrix, Step 2: Rate the Concepts, Step 3: Rank the Concepts, Step 4:
Combine and Improve the Concepts, Step 5: Select One or More Concepts, Step 6: Reflect on
the Results and the Process, Caveats, Summary, References and Bibliography, Exercises,
Thought Questions, Appendix A Concept-Screening Matrix Example, Appendix B
Concept-Scoring Matrix Example
8 Concept Testing
Step 1: Define the Purpose of
the Concept Test, Step 2: Choose a Survey Population, Step 3: Choose a Survey Format, Step
4: Communicate the Concept, Verbal Description, Sketch, Photos and Renderings, Storyboard,
Video, Simulation, Interactive Multimedia, Physical Appearance Models, Working Prototypes,
Matching the Survey Format with the Means of Communicating the Concept, Issues in
Communicating the Concept, Step 5: Measure Customer Response, Step 6: Interpret the
Results, Step 7: Reflect on the Results and the Process, Summary, References and
Bibliography, Exercises, Thought Questions, Appendix Estimating Market Sizes
9 Product Architecture
What Is Product Architecture?
Types of Modularity, When Is the Product Architecture Defined? Implications of the
Architecture, Product Change, Product Variety, Component Standardization, Product
Performance, Manufacturability, Product Development Management, Establishing the
Architecture, Step 1: Create a Schematic of the Product, Step 2: Cluster the Elements of
the Schematic, Step 3: Create a Rough Geometric Layout, Step 4: Identify the Fundamental
and Incidental Interactions, Variety and Supply Chain Considerations, Platform Planning,
Differentiation Plan, Commonality Plan, Managing the Trade-Off between Differentiation and
Commonality, Related System-Level Design Issues, Defining Secondary Systems, Establishing
the Architecture of the Chunks, Creating Detached Interface Specifications, Summary,
References and Bibliography, Exercises, Thought Questions
10 Industrial Design
What Is Industrial Design?
Assessing the Need for Industrial Design, Expenditures for Industrial Design, How
Important Is Industrial Design to a Product? Ergonomic Needs, Aesthetic Needs, The Impact
of Industrial Design, Is Industrial Design Worth the Investment? How Does Industrial
Design Establish a Corporate Identity? The Industrial Design Process, Investigation of
Customer Needs, Conceptualization, Preliminary Refinement, Further Refinement and Final
Concept Selection, Control Drawings, Coordination with Engineering, Manufacturing, and
External Vendors, The Impact of Computer-Based Tools on the ID Process, Managing the
Industrial Design Process, Technology-Driven Products, User-Driven Products, Timing
of Industrial Design Involvement, Assessing the Quality of Industrial
Design, 1. Quality of the User Interfaces, 2. Emotional Appeal, 3. Ability to Maintain and
Repair the Product, 4. Appropriate Use of Resources, 5. Product Differentiation, Summary,
References and Bibliography, Exercises, Thought Questions
11 Design for Manufacturing
Design for Manufacturing
Defined, DFM Requires a Cross-Functional Team, DFM Is Performed throughout the Development
Process, Overview of the DFM Process, Step 1: Estimate the Manufacturing Costs, Fixed
Costs versus Variable Costs, The Bill of Materials, Estimating the Costs of Standard
Components, Estimating the Costs of Custom Components, Estimating the Cost of Assembly,
Estimating the Overhead Costs, Step 2: Reduce the Costs of Components, Understand the
Process Constraints and Cost Drivers, Redesign Components to Eliminate Processing Steps,
Choose the Appropriate Economic Scale for the Part Process, Standardize Components and
Processes, Adhere to Black Box Component Procurement, Step 3: Reduce the Costs of
Assembly, Keeping Score, Integrate Parts, Maximize Ease of Assembly, Consider Customer
Assembly, Step 4: Reduce the Costs of Supporting Production, Minimize Systemic Complexity,
Error Proofing, Step 5: Consider the Impact of DFM Decisions on Other Factors, The Impact
of DFM on Development Time, The Impact of DFM on Development Cost, The Impact of DFM on
Product Quality, The Impact of DFM on External Factors, Results, Summary, References and
Bibliography, Exercises, Thought Questions, Appendix A Materials Costs, Appendix
B Component Manufacturing Costs, Terminology, Description of Processes, CNC Machining
Cost Examples, Injection Molding Cost Examples, Stamping Cost Examples, Casting Cost
Examples, Appendix C Assembly Costs, Appendix D Cost Structures
12 Prototyping
Prototype Basics, What Is a
Prototype? Types of Prototypes, What Are Prototypes Used For? Principles of Prototyping,
Analytical Prototypes Are Generally More Flexible than Physical Prototypes, Physical
Prototypes Are Required to Detect Unanticipated Phenomena, A Prototype May Reduce the Risk
of Costly Iterations, A Prototype May Expedite Other Development Steps, A Prototype May
Restructure Task Dependencies, Prototyping Technologies, 3D Computer Modeling, Free-Form
Fabrication, Planning for Prototypes, Step 1: Define the Purpose of the Prototype, Step 2:
Establish the Level of Approximation of the Prototype, Step 3: Outline an Experimental
Plan, Step 4: Create a Schedule for Procurement, Construction, and Test, Planning
Milestone Prototypes, Summary, References and Bibliography, Exercises, Thought Questions
13 Product Development
Economics 295
Elements of Economic
Analysis, Quantitative Analysis, Qualitative Analysis, When Should Economic Analysis Be
Performed? Economic Analysis Process, Step 1: Build a Base-Case Financial Model, Estimate
the Timing and Magnitude of Future Cash Inflows and Outflows, Compute the Net Present
Value of the Cash Flows, The Base-Case Financial Model Can Support Go/No-Go Decisions and
Major Investment Decisions, Step 2: Perform Sensitivity Analysis, Development Cost
Example, Development Time Example, Step 3: Use Sensitivity Analysis to Understand Project
Trade-Offs, Six Potential Interactions, Trade-Off Rules, Limitations of Quantitative
Analysis, Step 4: Consider the Influence of the Qualitative Factors on Project Success,
Projects Interact with the Firm, the Market, and the Macro Environment, Interactions
between the Project and the Firm as a Whole, Interactions between the Project and the
Market, Interactions between the Project and the Macro Environment, Carrying Out
Qualitative Analysis, Example 1: Decrease in the Price of a Substitute Product, Example 2:
Increased Competition in a Complementary Product Market, Example 3: The Option Value
of Creating a Good Platform Product, Summary, References and Bibliography, Exercises,
Thought Questions, Appendix Time Value of Money and the Net Present Value
Technique, What Interest Rate Should We Use? Sunk Costs Are Irrelevant for Net Present
Value Calculations, Dealing with Uncertainty in the Cash Inflow and Outflow Estimates
14 Managing Projects
Understanding and
Representing Tasks, Sequential, Parallel, and Coupled Tasks, The Design Structure Matrix,
Gantt Charts, PERT Charts, The Critical Path, Baseline Project Planning, The Contract
Book, Project Task List, Team Staffing and Organization, Project Schedule, Project Budget,
Project Risk Areas, Modifying the Baseline Plan, Accelerating Projects, Project Execution,
Coordination Mechanisms, Assessing Project Status, Corrective Actions, Postmortem Project
Evaluation, Summary, References and Bibliography, Exercises, Thought Questions, Appendix
Design Structure Matrix Example
358 pages