Visual Aesthetics in Product Development a Balance Between Commercial and Creative Imperatives
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Linköping Studies in Science and Technology Dissertations, No. 1553 VISUAL AESTHETICS IN PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT A BALANCE BETWEEN COMMERCIAL AND CREATIVE IMPERATIVES Ingela Lindahl 2013 Department of Management and Engineering Linköpings universitet, SE-581 83 Linköping, Sweden © Ingela Lindahl, 2013 “Visual aesthetics in product development. A balance between commercial and creative imperatives.” Linköping Studies in Science and Technology, Dissertations, No. 1553 ISBN: 978-91-7519-485-1 ISSN: 0345-7524 Printed by: LiU-Tryck, Linköping Distributed by: Linköping University Department of Management and Engineering SE-581 83 Linköping, Sweden Tel: +46 13 281000 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ”You will never be complete, that’s how it is meant to be.” Thomas Tranströmer No, as a human being, you never become complete and the above line by Tranströmer is sometimes very comforting. Constantly, new experiences are being enjoyed and new lessons learnt. Life is short and you need to make the most of it. These past years’ work on this thesis have been an important part of my life journey. This thesis is the most tangible result of my years in academia, and I have many to thank for it now that it is being published. First and foremost, I would like to thank my supervisors Fredrik Nordin, Staffan Brege and Daniel Kindström for being excellent supporters and advisors. Fredrik, you have given me the best support all through this process and for that I am truly grateful. Staffan, thanks for taking me on-board and for giving me good advice. Daniel, thanks for all feedback, discussions and excellent suggestions on improvements. I would also like to thank Christina Grundström and Christian Kowalkowski for their most constructive feedback regarding earlier versions of the thesis. I have had the pleasure of several interesting meetings with designers and other representatives of the designer furniture industry and I really appreciate all the information they have provided me with. I am especially grateful to Andreas Wadskog at Karl Andersson & Söner and Åke Jansson at Lammhults Möbel. Moreover, I would also like to thank the research project Lean Wood Engineering (LWE) for providing an excellent platform in wood manufacturing research. Additionally, I would like to thank all my colleagues at the university for the interesting discussions and for brightening up my days! Lastly but most importantly, I will for ever be grateful to my wonderful family - Per, Ellen and Måns. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to make this journey. Without your support and love it would have been impossible. I have not always been easy to live with during these years but still you have been there for me. Jag älskar er gränslöst. ABSTRACT The literature presents a number of advantages regarding companies’ strategic focus on product design, arguing that the dimension of visual aesthetics in products may help a company to create commercial success, e.g. through product differentiation and as a means of company brand recognition. However, developing new products that have visual aesthetics as an important dimension is not without difficulty, and may lead to a number of managerial challenges. The purpose of this doctoral thesis is to describe and analyse how companies develop products that have visual aesthetics as an important dimension. The thesis describes and analyses: how the dimension of visual aesthetics affects the characteristics of the new product development process; how companies strike a balance between commercial and creative imperatives during new product development; and how companies source and collaborate using artistic design resources during new product development. Based on findings from five new product development projects and from interviews with managers at twelve Swedish designer furniture manufacturers, the thesis concludes that the dimension of visual aesthetics in products affects new product development in different ways. First, companies’ development of visual aesthetics calls for a more creative, artistic development process whereby, for example, idea generation and evaluation are often flexible in relation to plans made. Moreover, the different and subjective judgement of the aesthetic value of products has implications for new product development, e.g. that the company needs to address and balance imperatives stemming from different audiences, i.e. the designer’s self, peers, and the mass market, during product development. Also, it is concluded that the sourcing of designer resources and the composition of designer portfolios are both critical and related to companies’ desired brand image. A close and trustful working relationship between the designer and the manufacturer is a basis for companies’ successful product development. Theoretically, this research contributes to the product development literature through its findings on companies’ new product development processes in a seldom researched context, i.e. the development of designer products. Additionally, it contributes to the literature on design outsourcing by presenting new findings on the interplay between artistic design resources and managers. Moreover, it also contributes to the marketing literature by providing fresh insights into how companies balance their commercial and creative interests when developing new products. Keywords: visual aesthetics, product design, product development, furniture, designer products SAMMANFATTNING Design och dess relation till företags marknadsföring är något som diskuteras både i akademisk litteratur och i samhället i övrigt. Genom att förstå och utnyttja design kan företaget skapa kommersiella fördelar, t ex genom att differentiera produkten från konkurrenternas och skapa igenkänning för företagets varumärke. Dock är utveckling av produkter med design som en viktig dimension inte oproblematisk utan kan leda till stora utmaningar för företaget. Tre sådana utmaningar i företag beskrivs och analyseras i denna avhandling. För det första behandlar avhandlingen hur ett fokus på design påverkar företagets produktutvecklingsprocess. Vidare studeras hur företaget balanserar kreativa och kommersiella intressen under produktutvecklingsprocessen. Dessutom behandlar avhandlingen hur företaget införskaffar och samarbetar med formgivare. Den industriella kontext som valts för denna avhandling är den svenska designmöbelindustrin. Avhandlingens slutsatser bygger på fallstudier inom väletablerade och framgångsrika företag inom denna industri. Avhandlingen visar att dimensionen av design påverkar företagens utvecklingsarbete på olika sätt. Först visar studien att de studerade företagens utveckling av designmöbler innebär en kreativ utvecklingsprocess där t.ex. idé- generering och -urval sällan grundas i strikta produktplaner utan i stället präglas av flexibilitet och tillvaratagande på uppkomna möjligheter. Vidare är bedömningen av en produkts designvärde subjektiv och svår att formulera i ord. Urvalet av lovande produktidéer grundas därför i hög grad på ledningens goda kunskap om design och erfarenhet inom branschen. Utöver detta påverkas företagens produktutveckling på olika sätt av det faktum att designvärde också skapas genom uppmärksamhet och uppskattning av exempelvis press, mässor och utmärkelser. Det visas också att företagens urval av formgivare är kritiskt och basen för ett framgångsrikt utvecklingsarbete. I de studerade företagen sker utveckling av produkter i nära och förtroendefullt samarbete mellan managers och formgivare. Dessutom kan företag påverka sitt varumärke genom att skapa en genomtänkt strategi för urval av formgivare och samarbetsformer med dessa. TABLE OF CONTENTS Part I Extended Summary 1 INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................. 1 1.1 DEVELOPING PRODUCTS WHERE VISUAL AESTHETICS ARE AN IMPORTANT DIMENSION . 3 1.2 RELEVANCE OF RESEARCH ....................................................................................... 5 1.3 PURPOSE AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS ....................................................................... 6 1.4 OUTLINE OF THE THESIS ........................................................................................... 8 2 RESEARCH FRAME AND PREVIOUS RESEARCH .................................... 11 2.1 THE DIFFERENT DIMENSIONS OF DESIGN .................................................................. 12 2.2 SOURCING DESIGN COMPETENCE AT COMPANIES ..................................................... 14 2.2.1 The different characteristics and skills of a designer ................................ 14 2.2.2 Sourcing of external design resources ..................................................... 16 2.3 THE STRATEGIC ORIENTATION OF COMPANIES FOCUSING ON PRODUCT DESIGN ......... 19 2.4 THE PROCESS OF DEVELOPING NEW DESIGN PRODUCTS .......................................... 22 2.4.1 New product strategy ............................................................................... 23 2.4.2 Idea generation ........................................................................................ 25 2.4.3 Idea screening .......................................................................................... 27 2.4.4 Concept development and testing ............................................................ 28 2.5 RESEARCH FRAMEWORK FOR THIS DOCTORAL THESIS .............................................. 29 3 METHODOLOGY ........................................................................................... 31 3.1 RESEARCH APPROACH ..........................................................................................