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H3.1 Factors Impacting on Successive Innovation (Charlie)

THIS PAGE IS STILL PROVISIONAL. IT CURRENTLY LISTS AND DESCRIBES (USING SOME EXAMPLES) OF FACTORS AFFECTING DESIGN... THIS WILL SOON BE MOULDED TO LIST "FACTORS AFFECTING INNOVATION"

Designs influence society and factors that are part of that society. In return, factors of society (listed below) affect and influence design. Factors are influences and aspects in, which the design is compared and considered with the criteria in the MDP and the design process in general. Innovation reflects and impacts on design. The factors listed below are factors that affect AND impact on the innovation's success.

Appropriateness of the Design Solution
"A designer must consider the appropriateness of the design solution" Excel. This means that the design needs to be fundamental and relevant to the need or want as well as considering the user. This is what "Factors" are all about! Innovations have to be appropriate in order for them to succeed.

Needs
Needs are the bare necessities a person needs to survive and grow. A want is something a person "wants" or "would like" to have but is in fact unnecessary in their life and their values. Perceived needs are items that a person thinks he/she must have... this is often created through advertising schemes and peer opinion. Perceived needs are not essential for life.

In the end; needs and wants are very similar, in the world today; marketing and peers often influences these opinions and ideas to the nomadic consumers of our world. An Innovation must be able to capture both aspects of the “need” and “want” to be a successful product.

Individual Needs: # Physical Needs - food clothing, shelter, health, care, rest, exercise. # Psychological Needs - love and affection, a sense of security, spiritual guidance, approval and recognition. # Social Needs - relating to others, cooperating, making adjustments and showing tolerance.

Community Needs: Needs perceived by the community as a whole to be important and tend to vary from community to community. EG: - religious values (and therefore variations of religious designs), cultural values etc.

Marketed Needs and Wants: As stated above; these types of needs are generated through marketing and advertising that that influence the community OR individual to think they "have" to have the product. Trends include:
Belonging to a Group: By designing and the general public consuming sporty products, individuals may fell that they are part of the "fit and healthy" sector of the community.
Identify with a Role Model: Advertisers often use large role models to endorse a product so they may at least "feel" that they can relate to, or "be like" the star and his/her achievements.
Be Healthy: EG: certain breakfast cereals, healthy lifestyle products, bouncy balls, home weight systems etc... Maintain their Status: EG: buying a new, cool car creates the idea, feel and entity that the individual is a new, cool "guy".
Keep up with Peers: No matter what age group, this is almost always evident; not just in design but also in style which reflects back on design and the individual's opinion.

Personal Values
This factor often refers to the values not of the individual consumer but the designer and what they deem important to their personal self. An example of this are the scientists working on IVF/Stem Cell research at Monash University. This project gives hope to some couples who value having a family of their own and who have failed to conceive through normal means. These scientists at Monash Uni Medical Centre obviously considered this process important and also valued the discovery and development of IVF for families and couples who may consider this design. This factor impacts on the design and it's creation.

Function
Function refers to the practicality of the product in relation to use and also in relation to design. According to Excel, in current, modern designs, "Function" is not considered as important as aesthetics in today's society. Excel states that earlier designs were based on function and the fact that they were functional allowed the design to become attractive as opposed to neo designs where aesthetics are considered more important. This is a driver in innovation; often, new innovations are both functional and aesthetic. Function should still be considered important in today’s society. Function can be assessed in respect of the following factors:
• safety
• strength
• ease of use
• efficiency
• simplicity
• durability
The use of function is important for successful innovation, as it needs to work and be appropriate for the user and function. I guess in essence; the function needs to be appropriate to the function.

Aesthetics
This term basically means "look". A factor of successive innovation is predominantly the look in today's society. "Aesthetically Pleasing" products are usually received very well depending on style etc. A key factor that drives innovation is aesthetics. Consumers want products that look modern, sexy, smart; o basically that look good… that are aesthetically pleasing. Today’s society is heavily based on packaging and marketing and therefore; the aesthetics of the innovation is an important contributor to success.

COST
The cost factor in design and innovation impacts on various stages of the design process and product life cycle from manufacturing to selling to using and through to becoming obsolete.
• Financial costs must be considered in designing, manufacturing and marketing of the product/system or environment.
• Environmental costs include the effect of production on the environment and the impact of obsolescence on the environment.
• Social costs including the effects on accepted cultural values and changes to established cultures.
Costs can be divided up into short term (EG: Financial) and long term (EG: Environmental). Cost seems to be a factor not so important in innovation financially. However; Financial costs in production must always be considered as well as the impact on the environment. There is an increasingly growing trend of product/system/environment innovations to compliment the environment in helping decrease Global Warming (or slow it down), water saving devices, electricity farming using renewable sources and more… These ideas are in innovation themselves added to which, more products are starting to consider environmental costs in manufacture and use.

Ergonomics
Ergonomics refers to the relationship between the product/system/environment (innovation) and the user/consumer. This is a factor all designers should consider when designing; the appropriateness and ease of use for consumers for successful innovation. Innovation should also consider this important factor, as it will contribute to success. For instance; a computer that is user-friendly would be considered ergonomic (PLEASE CHECK THIS STATEMENT MISS) and products that can relate to the user in terms of physical features also become a success. For instance, The Ergonomic Electric Violin (EV) is designed to allow the user to have more comfort when playing such a difficult instrument. (See Case Study for more details).

Use of the Design
Products are of various levels of difficulty. For instance; some are user-friendly and some are industry standard and more complex. For every design and innovation there is a target market, which consists of those who will use the product. The designer of the innovation must consider this and what “exactly” the consumer will use it for. This will allow them to design more of what the “consumer” will want rather than what the designer “thinks” the consumer will want. This will therefore make the innovation more successful as it is directed at the consumer. Sustainability Sustainability is the use of renewable resources. This allows the ecological footprint to have less of an impact on the environment, future generations and the environment. That is why it is referred to as “sustainability”. For example; wind farms, solar power or photovoltaics, hydro power, tidal power, biomass power, geothermal power, wave power and more are examples of renewable energy resources. Contrasted to non-renewable sources such as oil, coal and natural gas. Designers and innovators use sustainable resources because consumers prefer to use them. For example; they may choose to buy plantation or recycled timber furniture, or may choose to dye fabric using natural rather than coal tar dyes. Innovation adds to this, finding resources and ways of making them useful to add to the list of sustainable technologies and help the environment, an issue and trend that is becoming more and more dominant.

Energy
The amount of energy used is the factor here. Innovators who want to support the environment will often find ways of saving energy or using renewable energy. This factor is considered throughout the Product Life Cycle (PLC), considering the design process, manufacturing, marketing and use.

Recyclability
Waverly and Wollarah over the past few years have become dominant on recycling papers and plastics using various coloured bins. Garbage in today’s society is increasing and the various councils act to decrease this. Recycling is the preferred option and involves identifying recyclable products and discarding them into the right bin for them to be recycled. Paper, plastic and tins are the main ones currently. The use of this means that there is less garbage and less industrial fumes in mass manufacture. Innovation plays on this even more; developing special recyclable products that, in turn, compliment the environment and the consumer. For example; Green Bags save plastic bags being reduced and therefore, even save recycling for something that is sustainable, durable etc! A more relevant example would be the recycling program Apple computers have implemented for iPods. As well as the mentioned above one; the implementation of local councils of household recycling.

Safety and Health
Occupational Health and Safety is a factor that rules everyone’s lives in New South Wales through the OH&S Act of 2000 as well as people in other countries such as England, America and so on. That said, H&S is considered very important for those manufacturing the product/system/environment and/or the consumer. The designer and innovator should consider this, as it is a primary, necessary tenet in determining and contributing to the success of the innovation. The general public do not want a product that is unsafe to use, and neither do the manufacturers who have to make it.

Quality
Quality is both a marketing tool and is necessary for a successive innovation. Quality has two dimensions: level and consistency.
Level of Quality: the ability of a product to perform its function for an acceptable period of time. It includes the product’s overall durability, reliability, precision, ease of operation and repair etc…
Consistency of Quality: consistently developing the targeted level of quality to consumers.
For Example: Mercedes Benz cars market the cars as being “high quality” products. Innovative design has to be of sound quality, at least in order for it to work and be of acceptable standard into the marketplace as well as it being successful.

Durability
“The ability of a design to last for its designated life in the situation or environment for which it has been targeted as a reflection on its durability” Excel. Durability is important in innovation and can be considered a large factor contributing to its success as it basically determines the strength. A product may not be durable due to poor quality, bad design, poor raw materials or prolonged use. Durable items are products that are used over an extended period of time. (such as refrigerators, cars, houses and so on.

Obsolescence
Obsolescence refers to when a design is no longer of any use and must be discarded or recycled. Obsolescence may not always have to do with function but also can be aesthetic… a style that isn’t fashionable anymore, for example. Built-in or Planned obsolescence is when a product only lasts for a certain time period in order to promote a higher turnover. It may result in a lower quality product as well as increased waste products. Obsolescence is a changeable factor in innovation. A perfect product should not be obsolete, both functionally and aesthetically. However, as styles change, so do products and it is inevitable that a better, new product will arise. Some innovation may indeed have built-in obsolescence in order for the designer/company to generate more profit and turnover.

Life Cycle Analysis
A designer should always analyse and monitor the design/innovation throughout all stages of the Product Life Cycle (PLC). This should comment on all the factors listed above and should recognize the product/system/environment as being either Cradle-To-Grave or Cradle-To-Cradle, depending if it is recycled or not.



Latest page update: made by 12DT , Oct 5 2007, 10:17 PM EDT (about this update About This Update 12DT Edited by 12DT


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