04/10/2022, 00:14 Solutions-03 - PRODUCT DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT

PRODUCT DESIGN
AND
DEVELOPMENT
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Sample Answers to Exercises and Thought

Questions: Chapter 3
EX 3.1

Visit a local specialty retail store (e.g., sporting goods, cooking products, electronics) and
identify a generic product or commodity that might be "de-commoditized" and
differentiated through innovation.

Webster dictionary defines a commodity as: "a good or service whose wide availability
typically leads to smaller profit margins and diminishes the importance of factors (as brand
name) other than price"

Breakfast cereal could be de-commoditized by:

(1) Creating a refillable container, and explaining the environmental impact of doing this.
The container itself could be innovative in the way it keeps the cereal fresh, having
multiple compartments, and easy to stack, etc.

(2) Installing a cereal dispensing machine that has an automated fill, and could provide
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suggestions to the customer based on nutrition, their past selections, etc. (it could use a
credit card swipe to identify the customer and for payment). The dispensing machine could
have other innovative features such as container washing, sealing, etc.

EX 3.2

Generate 10 opportunities for innovation based on an area of your own personal passion.

My passion is bicycles, and below is a list of 10 possible opportunities related to bicycling:

1. Keeping bicyclist dry and clean

2. Making bicycles more comfortable

3. Make bicycles more efficient, requiring less energy from the rider

4. Design more convenient ways to carry cargo on bicycles

5. Better integrate bicycles with public transportation

6. Improve safety for bicyclists when riding on the road

7. Create safer and more convenient/comfortable ways of bringing toddlers on bicycles

8. Design bicycles that require less maintenance

9. Create solutions that make it easier to store bicycles inside a garage / house

10. Design better bicycle racks for public spaces

EX 3.3

Identify the VRIN resources for a product-based company you admire. What new product
opportunities might be enabled by these resources?

Company: Kashi Foods (www.kashi.com)

Resource: Their products strike a nice balance in terms of cost, quality/healthy, and flavor
in the breakfast cereal, snack, and frozen entrée markets.  They have achieved a loyal
customer base, and brand recognition.

Valuable:  The value in their product is the level of quality/pro-health they have while still
maintaining a reasonable price and amazing taste. Their large distribution network and
high volume allow them to provide the product at a lower cost than the competition.  Their
brand recognition, broad market access, and loyal customer base give them options to
expand their product line into other market areas (e.g. bulk foods).

Rare: They have the advantage of being early to the low-cost health food markets. The
competitors were often times only at high-end health food stores. Kashi has put their

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products at a variety of grocery stores, and thus has broad customer access.

Inimitable: Their recipes have been developed since the 1980s, so it might be difficult for a
competitor to catch up. However, it is possible for another company to imitate Kashi in
terms of flavor – in some sense they are vulnerable in this area. However, the full
combination of cost, quality/healthy, and flavor is difficult to imitate.

Nonsubstitable: It would be difficult for a company to substitute Kashi, mostly because of

their existing distribution network. Kashi has penetrated a variety of stores (from low to
high-end), and it would be difficult for a competitor to come in and disrupt or join the same
network. It’d be difficult because the market is likely not big enough to support multiple
brands.

If the market expands, Kashi would have first access to introduce new products or more
variety.  Kashi has already expanded from where they started, which is proof that they have
valuable resources. They started with just cereal, but now make snacks (e.g. crackers),
desserts (e.g. cookies), and frozen entrées (e.g. pizza). A growth area could be in bulk
foods, especially since there’s an increase in environmental awareness, and the desire to
reduce waste. Kashi’s existing network combined with their loyal customer base might
enable this product opportunity.

TQ 3.1

What are the advantages and disadvantages of anonymous voting in the screening
opportunities?

Initial screening should be fast, and the objective is to eliminate opportunities that are
unlikely to result in the creation of value. Anonymous voting might be faster, since people
will go with their instinct quicker. Voting should be about individual judgment/experiences,
and thus it is not necessary to justify individual decisions at this point in the process. A
disadvantage to anonymous voting is the possibility that group discussion could be
completely removed; Discussion is often useful since certain members have expertise that
should be shared with the team.

TQ 3.2

Would consumers make good raters in an opportunity screening process?

If they are possible users, then yes. Lead users would be ideal. However, the consumer

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might be too idealistic, and not be grounded with what is actually possible in terms of
technology, cost, and performance.

TQ 3.3

Can you really answer the question of whether an opportunity is real before developing a
product concept?

It is possible to estimate the market size, potential pricing, availability of technology, and
the likelihood the product can be delivered in the required volume at the required cost.
However, these will always be estimates, and actual consumer behavior is very difficult to
predict.

TQ 3.4

Could a great opportunity identification process result in a product that fails in the market?

Absolutely. Consumer demands could change. The price of raw materials or manufacturing
could increase. A competitor could beat you to market, or find ways to have a superior
product. Also, Opportunity Identification is not the end of the process - it must be followed
by other processes such as Identifying Customer Needs, etc. Thus many additional steps
are needed between Opportunity Identification and releasing a product to market.

TQ 3.5

How do the risks differ between two types of Horizon 2 opportunities, one addressing a
current market need and the other using a current solution?

​When addressing a current market need, the risk is in developing the right
product/solution. This can be difficult since it might require the use of technology that is
not well understood by the business. Thus enough time should be budgeted into the
schedule to allow sufficient development and testing of the new technology. When using a
current solution, the risk is in finding the correct market, or making errors in estimating the
size of the market, price point, etc. Thus enough time should be budgeted for customer
surveys, user studies,  etc.

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Copyright 2019 Karl Ulrich, Steven Eppinger, and Maria Yang

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