Product Design – Meaning and Function
A design is basically a blueprint or specifications for the creation of an entity or system, or even for the proper execution of such a blueprint or specification, or the resultant design in the shape of a finished product, etc. The word ‘design’ is derived from the Latin ‘disex’. So design is ‘designing’ or the production of prototypes. The word ‘process’ is derived from the German ‘zieming’. Design is thus ‘designing process’ or ‘process of design’.
Now let us see how product design can be improved by incorporating customer needs. The first step is to identify the existing design goals that have to be satisfied by the current product design, and then find a way of satisfying them using the available technologies. This new design should be better able to meet the design goals than what is currently available. Also, it should have a higher acceptance rate by customers.
A successful product design should satisfy five needs: (a) It has to be economical, (b) It has to be durable, (c) It has to be safe, (d) It has to be user-friendly and (e) It has to solve problems. Then an industrial design team should be assembled, which consists of people who have knowledge in each of those areas. The process thus goes on until all the problems are solved. Such a team is also called as the applied arts team, which takes into account, the human experience in addition to technical know-how and expertise.