Product longevity is one of the cornerstones in the transition towards a more sustainable society and a key driver for the circular economy model. This book provides designers, developers, and creators with five distinctive expert strategies, detailed case studies, action guides and worksheets that support both beginning and advanced design practitioners in creating new product concepts with long-lasting strategic fits.
Designing for Longevity shows how expert design teams create original and long-lasting product concepts from the early development phase. It focuses on integrating business knowledge, market conditions, company capabilities, technical possibilities and user needs into product concepts to make better strategic decisions. It demonstrates how, for products to be durable, designers must create a long-lasting strategic fit for the customer, company, and market. Key case studies of products such as Bang & Olufsen’s A9, LEGO Ninjago and Friends and Coloplasts’ Sensura Mio, among others, offer readers inspiration, guidance and real-world insights from design teams showing how the strategies can be applied in practice. Action guidelines and worksheets encourage broad, analytical problem-solving to identify and think through challenges at the early concept stage.
Beautifully designed and illustrated in full colour throughout, this book combines original research and the hands-on tools and strategies that design practitioners need to create useful, sustainable products.
Author(s): Louise Møller Haase, Linda Nhu Laursen
Publisher: Routledge
Year: 2022
Language: English
Pages: 278
City: London
Cover
Half Title
Title
Copyright
Acknowledgements
Contents
01 Introduction
Design for product longevity
Strategic durability
A study of expert designers’ practice
Why is this book relevant?
State-of-the-art research
The basic assumption and reasoning behind the research
Case selection
A short note on how we conducted the research
What’s in store?
02 Circular economy and product longevity
What is circular economy?
Why is product longevity important?
Product longevity and product integrity
Appropriate product lifetime
Physical durability
Obsolescence and emotional durability
Circular business models
Design strategies for different longevity business models
03 Long-lasting strategic fit
Conceptual design
Strategic fit
Products as a means of creating a strategic fit
Strategic durability and long-lasting strategic fit
Long-lasting strategic fit map
04 Challenges when seeking a strategic fit
Different challenges and different strategies
The five strategic fit challenges
Strategic fit challenge 1: Transferring a long-lasting strategic fit
Case: The Vipp V1 kitchen
Strategic fit challenge 2: Strengthening the product-company fit
Case: LEGO Friends
Strategic fit challenge 3: Strengthening the product-user fit
Case: The B&O A9 speaker
Strategic fit challenge 4: Strengthening the product-market fit
Case: Coloplast’s SenSura Mio
Strategic fit challenge 5: Framing a new and lasting fit
Case: LEGO Ninjago
Summary: The five strategic fit challenges
05 Expert strategies
Renewing a strategic fit
Reframing a strategic fit
Framing a strategic fit
Expert strategies complement the design process
06 Expert strategy 1
Expert strategy 1: Renewing core principles
Expert example: The Vipp V1 kitchen
Expert strategy 1 in practice
07 Expert strategy 2
Expert strategy 2: Leveraging objections
Expert example: LEGO Friends
Expert strategy 2 in practice
08 Expert strategy 3
Expert strategy 3: Foreseeing future mismatches
Expert example: B&O A9
Expert strategy 3 in practice
09 Expert strategy 4
Expert strategy 4: Extending product value
Expert example: Coloplast SenSura Mio
Expert strategy 4 in practice
10 Expert strategy 5
Expert strategy 5: Searching for hooks
Expert example: Lego Ninjago
Expert strategy 5 in practice
11 Expert strategies and longevity challenges
Designing for product longevity
Longevity challenges and strategic durability
Application of the expert strategies
12 The road ahead
The road ahead
For practitioners
For researchers
13 Action guides
Applying the expert strategies in practice
How to use the action guides
Bibliography
Index
