Product design is paramount to every company involved in the manufacture and marketing of physical products of any type. Design is fundamentally about making things better - better for consumers and users, better for business, and better for the world.
A well-conceived and better product will:
- sell more
- increase market share
- obtain wider distribution
- improve margins
- and/or carve out new opportunities
- all of which will increase revenue and, potentially, also decrease costs
The potential wins from effective product design are undeniable, but the management of the process to ensure a cost-to-benefit gain is rarely straightforward. The breadth of the activity can be narrow and geared to small step changes, or alternatively very wide-ranging in the search for genuine innovation and a sea change in the client’s business.
The greatest benefits accrue from innovative and demanding ideas which can involve higher risk and greater commitment. Hardcore businessmen and women often distrust creative activities geared to wide-ranging thinking. That which is hard to understand and intangible at the outset is invariably categorised as risky.
At the other end of the scale, straightforward product improvement, updating, or responding to competitive pressure, will reap commercial returns, albeit perhaps more modestly.
The activity of product design is always relevant to any company manufacturing physical products, and especially consumer (or consumer facing) products.
The word 'product' is widely, and confusingly, used to describe everything from a life insurance scheme to a new savings account. But, wherever 'hardware' and people interact, there you will find product design relevance.
Perhaps less obviously, many manufacturers of industrial products will benefit greatly from the integration of designers, design thinking and design process into their normal development activities. This is especially true of any manufacturer whose products need an edge in a very competitive sales climate. For example, many component manufacturers, whose product is a part of someone else’s product, will benefit from a designer’s perspective.
As well as product manufacturers, the product design process is also widely used within FMCG (fast moving consumer goods) companies for technical packaging and delivery systems.
For any company involved in the manufacture and marketing of products, the design of the product impacts upon nearly every aspect of the company's business. Most obviously and directly, marketing, R&D, and development; but also upon logistics, distribution, sales, PR and customer services. This is why senior management typically exerts such interest and influence over the process. Most crucially, for a manufacturer, the design of its products is invariably the single most important manifestation of its brand.
Public services make use of product design too, of course. Most obviously this may involve the design of furniture, street furniture, interactive facilities (such as public information points), transport systems, public service equipment (such as fire, police and ambulance) as well as medical, health and even military hardware. They may focus on improving learning, services, environments or other facilities, or simply on enhancing the quality of life for the product’s users or operators.