Introduction

The best way to deliver to consumers is not just to have a product that works but a product that matches consumers needs and experience, reflecting into innovative and influential product design. There are more consumer satisfaction and acceptance than just delivering a product that meets consumer needs. The problem in this case study is that most companies provide products that meet the consumer needs not looking deeply into how those needs are met and whether the product delivers as required or expected by the consumer.

Background

Some companies such as IDEO have discovered one of the most effective ways of utilizing consumer behavior data to develop products that best it’s the consumer rather than just delivering to the consumer’s needs. “Whenever IDEO is asked by a client to design a new product, it turns to a highly effective form of idea generation called deep drive”(Vicky, 45). Understanding what consumers need is and how to deliver it is more important than just having a new product in the market (David, 185). The idea is not an organization bringing a new product into the market but having the product that reflects into those needs. This entails using the detailed research before embarking into developing a new product to discover what the real problem and how the consumer feels with the already existing product.

Companies must be able to ‘put themselves in the shoes’ of the consumer and get the real experience that consumer gets when consuming a product. Unfortunately, most companies do not pay attention to this.80% of companies are only concerned with collecting data about a specific gap in the market and developing a product that meets this needs but not considering innovation and improvement of consumer experience with the product.

Alternatives

Utilitarian product developments are one of the ways used to produce products that meet the needs of consumers. This method involves collecting data about consumer needs and developing the best product that meets the needs. According to the case study, this method was applied by Pittsburgh Children’s Hospital. The problem that the hospital wanted to solve was to do to with CT scanners. The scanners delivered to the needs remarkably well from a scientific perspective backed lagged when it came to the user experience. “…..they produced a traumatic experience in young children as many as 80% of the children had to be sedated before the scans could take place” (Vicky, 45). This  indicates how the scanners though they were delivering to the needs accurately as required scientifically, they performed poorly when it came to the user experience.

This approach was rejected because despite delivering a high utility from a medical standpoint they were laking ability to provide a good or even acceptable experience for the young patients. This is because the idea is not just delivering to the needs but fulfilling the needs in a way that gives the best experience to the consumer. Utilitarian method of product design does not incorporate this, and that’s why its rejected a not regarded as a useful method of product design.

Proposed solution

One of the ways to solve this problem is by adopting a hedonic means of product design. Different from utilitarian products, hedorian products does not only meet the needs of the consumer but add to a remarkable experience (Rahmat, 289). This is a method of products design that incorporates pleasure, satisfaction, and experience. According to this method, products are not just meant to fulfill the needs of the consumers but should be able to do so in a way that makes the consumer enjoy and have fun while consuming the product.95% of products that offer the best experience to the user in addition to meeting the consumers needs perform better and have high degree of acceptance than those who don’t (Danneels, 1097). This is because customers have shifted their preferences from having their needs met to having the needs satisfied most pleasingly and enjoyable.

According to the case study, IDEO suggests that human-centered design or looking at things from a user’s point of view can be one of the most effective ways of solving what seem to be insurmountable problems. According to IDEO, the idea involves developers and product designers placing themselves in the actual situation which the product is ultimately required. I like consuming a product that gives pleasure, fun, and enjoyment rather than just meeting my needs.

Recommendations

To attain this, product developers and designers should not only pay attention to consumers needs but also their emotions and feelings when consuming the product. Therefore, they should develop products that meet the requirements as well as offer the best experience to consumers. To achieve this, they should form a different kind of need identification, that is not only focused on identification of the need but also current consumer experience and how it can be improved. This will ensure innovation and creativity in product design and development.

Work cited

Danneels, Erwin. “The dynamics of product innovation and firm competencies.” Strategic management journal 23.12 (2002): 1095-1121.

David, Bengt-Ake. “Product innovation and user-producer interaction.” The Learning Economy and the Economics of Hope 19 (185).

Rahmat Hidayat. “The Contribution of Hedonic and Utilitarian Value in Creating Customers’ Satisfaction.” Advanced Science Letters 24.4 (2018): 288-291.