Evolutionary product development as a design tool

Abstract

In an earlier study, the six phases of the economic product life cycle were complemented with a set of six qualitative 'product phases', which allows us to explain in what phases of the product life cycle qualities such as functionality, ergonomics, production technology, styling, as well as the service level and the ethical behaviour of a company are important. The six product phases are called: performance, optimisation, itemisation, segmentation, individualisation and awareness. In the original study, it was proposed that the product phases follow one after another. In a follow up study, it was concluded that the last three phases often exist simultaneously. In this paper, first the results of the follow up study are summarised. After that, the results will be presented of research into if and how master students of Industrial Design Engineering were able to use the theory to create starting points for new product development.

Nursing Innovation, from Process to Product: A Scoping Review

“…Contrastingly, it was also acknowledged that those nurses further along their product journey may have published some experimental papers on their devices, also bearing relevance to this review. Given the recognised lack of evidence pertaining to the nurse inventor [9] and the envisaged breadth of appropriate evidence, a scoping review was considered the most desirable method to explore this subject.…”

“…Te nurse inventor journey is said to be a subjective experience and each journey will vary in its aims, required resources, methods, and outputs [8], thereby limiting any generalisable evidence available for those nurses with the capacity to undertake inventive practices [9]. Te purpose of this review was to explore a speculated evolving body of evidence relative to nursing innovation with a specifc focus on nurses' innovation by invention.…”

Product evolution: how new (types of) products come about and develop over time into families of advanced versions

“…Initially, the phases postulated were assumed to appear sequentially (Figure 1.1). A recent study (Eger and Drukker, 2012) defined three sequential phases plus another three that appear to co-exist as a fourth phase as shown in Figure 1.2.…”