Introduction

This chapter discusses product/market considerations, product architecture, and product design. The concepts, methods, and techniques described and assessed provide a foundation for the approaches used to link the product/market conceptual aspects with the elements of product design and development. The discussions focus on the product/market and the technical basis for selecting, analyzing, and implementing product- and market-related techniques.

Given that the techniques for market analysis were covered in Chapter 2 and that Chapters 4 and 5 provided a general overview of the conceptual aspects of the new-product development (NPD) process, this chapter examines how product/market planning and design strategies are essential parts of the NPD process; the aim is to achieve product quality and performance and to minimize potential defects and burdens.

The key to creating outstanding new products is to understand the opportunities and challenges of the business environment, the dynamics of the markets and the external dimensions, and the consequences of the decisions made during the NPD process. Integrating product/market strategies with the selection of the appropriate technological- and product-innovation methodologies provides a linkage between the technical and market-related requirements, and the marketing, production, and financial elements. Design techniques focus on analyzing the product requirements and selecting the best market-based design approaches.

Appropriate design strategies satisfy the social, economic, technical, and functional objectives of the product/market design, and meet the requirements of the design philosophies and the program priorities and realities.