Creative Product Design: A Practical Guide to Requirements Capture Management

Achieving commercial success through innovation is highly desirable, but difficult to achieve in practice. 50% of product development costs are likely to result in a failed product and in some sectors, such as FMCGs, this figure is more like 75%.

What is the problem?
Typically, out of nine month′s product development cycle, only two weeks are devoted to the generation of ideas and creative design – the "front end". This is the missing link – insufficient idea generation and creativity management, or the pre–development phase, can lead to the failure of the product.

So, what can you do to avoid product failure?
Requirements Capture is the "front end". It is the processs by which the needs, preferences and requirements of individuals and groups significant to product development are researched and identified. Requirements cature defines:
∗ Customer, user and market requirements
∗ Design requirements
∗ Technical requirements
The requirements capture model constitutes three phases:
∗ Information gathering
∗ Information transformation
∗ Requirements generation

In this book, Margaret Bruce and Rachel Cooper present and explain requirements capture in a step–by–step, practical guide that will enable you to plan and implement the process successfully within your organisation. Whether you produce food products or technically complex products, this book will be an invaluable asset in assisting your product development process.

Acknowledgements.

Introduction.

REQUIREMENTS CAPTURE.

New Product Development.

Requirements: Ideas, Research and Strategy.

Requirements: Market Research Tools and Techniques.

CAPTURING AND MANAGING REQUIREMENTS CAPTURE IN PRACTICE.

Introduction to the Case Studies.

Colossus Case Study.

Vantage Case Study.

Bandage Case Study.

Construct Case Study.

GUIDELINES TO REQUIREMENTS CAPTURE.

Requirements Capture Process.

Integrating Requirements Capture with Product Development.

References.

Index.

Dr. Margaret Bruce is Professor of Design Management and Marketing and Head of Department of Textiles, UMIST. She has written several books and papers on design and innovation and carried out international research programmes in these fields. She has developed courses and run executive programmes in Product Development Management and Design and edits the International Journal of Product Development, Innovation and Management.

Dr. Rachel Cooper is Professor of Design Management and Associate Head of Research in the School of Art and Design at the University of Salford. She is Chair of the European Design Academy and edits the international journal, The Design Journal. She has published several books and papers in design management, new product development and conducted major research programes in this field.