1. DM401 DESIGN PROJECT MANAGEMENT II
A GUIDE TO
G O O D
D E S I G N M A N A G E M E N T
DM401 DESIGN PROJECT MANAGEMENT II
October 2012
A. Can Özcan

2. I D Level 1: Silent Design Level 2: Superficial Styling
Level 3: Design led innovation
Level 4: Strategic Design
Designers viewed as expensive & impractical. Aesthetics not perceived as important and product appearance is typically tackled by engineers
Professional designer expertise is useful on some projects, but mainly used to 'tart-up' the product
Professional designers are key to innovation and always have input from idea stage
Designers are essential drivers of strategy and have input from a pre-project stage. Design is a fundamental part of the organisational culture

3. G o o d Design .

4. Useful
It works well and functions as promised. It does what it is expected to and satisfies a minimum or appropriate level of performance.
Usable
It has appropriate ergonomics and user interface, considering how, where, how often and who will be using it. 1

5. 2
Desirable
It looks good! What looks good will be dependent upon the nature of the market, the lifestyle, culture, age, gender, education, occupation and place of use. What looks good is also dependent upon other competitive and complementary products. In general, it is important for the product aesthetics to be appropriate for the market, users and usage environment. A good test is if customers are prepared to pay a premium because they desire it.

6. 3
Producible
It must be capable of economical volume manufacture using appropriate production methods, considering the impact on the organisation of new components, assemblies and processes. Producible products combine optimisation of assembly and manufacture with modularity and platform strategies.

7. 4
Profitable
It must result in sufficient business rewards, measured in terms of market share, gross margin, break even, turnover or sales volume. Financial rewards may also be supplemented by other business benefits.

8. 5
Differentiated
The benefits of good design are seen in products which are clearly differentiated. Differentiation can be gained through satisfying core user benefits in new ways, by delivering excellence in one of the product's physical attributes or by providing leading support services around the physical goods.

9. Guiding principles of
Good Design

10. An effective New Product Development (NPD) process
The NPD process must provide a balance between providing managerial structure whilst at the same time not constraining creativity. Thus, there must be an appropriate degree of structure and control in order to secure success repeatedly. A good process facilitates effective teamwork, encourages strong communication and provides management control without unnecessary bureaucracy. Good companies also never rest on their laurels and seek to improve the process with each project.

11. Choosing the right projects for investment of valuable resources
Few companies can afford to waste valuable time, money and skills developing a product which is not demanded by their customers or is to be sold in a shrinking market. An effective product strategy, linked closely to the overall business strategy is crucial to the selection of the right projects.

12. Early integration of specialist designers into the core team
It is unrealistic to have all of the required skills available in one company. A project may demand a human factors expert, stylistic input or software interface design skills. A team may need input from a specific scientific discipline such as optics or robotics. Strong teams recognise their weaknesses and understand when external support is required.

13. Strong design partnerships to fill competence and skill gaps
External specialists should be viewed as a central part of the design team. Strong partnerships with external designers is often a critical ingredient of success.

14. A shared design 'vision' based on clear market understanding
Having a shared vision of the product to be designed, bringing together marketing, industrial design, production and engineering perspectives is essential. This vision should be based on a clear understanding of the market, how it is segmented and where the opportunity is to be targeted. Where possible, this vision should be communicated simply in a single and shared product specification.

15. Maintaining the integrity of the design vision, from idea through to production
Sharing the vision at the outset of a product is not enough. The team should strive to maintain that vision throughout the project from idea through to production.

16. User and customer involvement throughout the design process
One of the most significant ingredients of success is the involvement of users and customers throughout the design process. Users can help generate valuable insights into future needs and wants and are the single most valuable source of information during product definition. User involvement during concept selection can help to reduce subjectivity in decision making. Finally, users should be involved in market testing and post launch reviews.

17. Encouragement of a creative culture and divergent search for ideas
Many companies hope to develop innovative and creative new products without providing an appropriate supporting environment. A key element of strong design teams is the ability to be divergent in the search for solutions to problems and a culture which supports play and creativity.

18. Early and frequent prototyping
Product design is recognised as having high inherent risks, with a combination of market, business and technical risks. Prototyping, model making, simulation, concept testing and evaluation is often a quick cheap and effective way of exploring and reducing these risks. In many companies, the development of quick and relatively inexpensive prototypes is highly underutilised

19. Equal consideration of the 'tangible' and 'intangible' product attributes
In technically driven companies, design teams tend to focus on performance and functionality - the 'tangible' product attributes - those that can be quantified and measured. Such teams often pay little attention to 'intangible' attributes, such as how the product will be used, where it will be used and who will use it, what it will look like and how it will feel. These intangible qualities tend to be subjective, difficult to specify and hard to measure but are critical in designing products which are useful, usable, desirable, producible and profitable. Indeed it is often these intangible qualities that lead to product differentiation.

20. Up front consideration of the downstream implications of design decisions
Ensuring that design for production principles should be considered as early as possible in the design process. In addition, other 'downstream' issues should be considered early, including distribution, point of sale, transport, usage and ultimately disposal.

21. Minimising complexity to the company, whilst maximising variety to customers
Products are often designed one at a time. Each product is different and has a different set of parts, assemblies and processes to other similar ones. Strong design teams consider issues of modularity early in the design process and where possible develop core platforms of technology which can be used in many products addressing different markets.

22. I D Level 1: Silent Design Level 2: Superficial Styling
Level 3: Design led innovation
Level 4: Strategic Design
Designers viewed as expensive & impractical. Aesthetics not perceived as important and product appearance is typically tackled by engineers
Professional designer expertise is useful on some projects, but mainly used to 'tart-up' the product
Professional designers are key to innovation and always have input from idea stage
Designers are essential drivers of strategy and have input from a pre-project stage. Design is a fundamental part of the organisational culture

23. Design Management Operational Design Management
Design management refers to an approach whereby organizations make design-relevant decisions in a market and customer-oriented way as well as optimizing design-relevant (enterprise-)processes. It is a long-continuous comprehensive activity on all levels of business performance. Design management acts in the interface of management and design and functions as link between the platforms of technology, design, management and marketing at internal and external interfaces of the enterprise.
Operational Design Management
Functional Design Management
Strategic Design Management

24. Operational Design Management
The goal of operational design management is to achieve the objectives set in the strategic design management part. It deals with personal leadership, emotional intelligence and the co-operation with and management of internal communications.

25. Functional Design Managementb)
Functional Design Management
The goal of functional design management is to create a structure for design in the company. It includes the managing of design departments and fills the gap between operational and strategic design management tasks.

26. Strategic Design Management
The goal of strategic design management is to support and strengthen the corporate strategy, to create a relationship between design, strategy and the identity/culture of the company. It controls the consistency of design in the company, allows design to interact with the needs of corporate management and focuses on design’s long-term capabilities.

27. • Identification of the actors involved in the definition of the service, using appropriate analytical tools
• Definition of possible service scenarios, verifying use cases, sequences of actions and actors’ role, in order to define the requirements for the service and its logical and organizational structure
• Representation of the service, using techniques that illustrate all the components of the service, including physical elements, interactions, logical links and temporal sequences

29. “Do one thing every day that scares you.”
Eleanor Roosevelt