II. CONCEPT GENERATION PROCESS

I. CHAPTER ROAD MAP

Concept generation, as a journey in product development (Figure 10.1).

II. CONCEPT GENERATION PROCESS

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The underlying goal of concept generation is to develop as many ideas as possible. One or two alternative concepts are unacceptable. Tens of concepts are acceptable; the more the better.

Figure 10.2 illustrates a process for meeting this goal. The process begins with a review of the customer needs, highlighting the primary needs that are the initial focus. Ultimately, all the needs must be satisfied through concept generation. Yet the process begins by considering the most important needs first. Iteration in the process may then be used to create further concepts for secondary or supporting functions.

Based on the process shown in Figure 10.2, methods are needed that help us generate concepts for product functions and combine them into alternative product ideas. The next section discusses basic methods for the first case: product function solution principles.

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III. BASIC METHODS: INFORMATION GATHERING AND BRAINSTORMING

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Concept generation, as described in this chapter, is the divergent development of many alternatives, where the focus is on innovation, structural layout, and function satisfaction. A convergent strategy is adopted once a breadth of ideas is formed. This ensuing strategy provides a means of converging to a single solution (or finite portfolio of solutions) that will ultimately be the product in the marketplace. The remainder of this book focuses on a convergence toward a single product or a set of products that form a portfolio and product architecture.

Formal concept generation methods may be classified, broadly, into two categories: intuitive and directed (logical).

The intuitive category relates to the methods that focus on idea generation from within an individual or group of individuals. The intent of such methods is to remove barriers to divergent thinking so that new connections and features in a product may be visualized. By removing these barriers, the environment of idea generation may be filled with conditions that promote creativity. Example methods include brainstorming and morphological charting.

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Directed methods, on the other hand, use a systematic, step-by-step approach to searching for a solution (Shah 1998). These methods rely on technical information, expertise, and guidelines to seek solutions to technical problems.

Information Gathering: Conventional Aids

As a first method for concept generation, let's consider information gathering. This activity entails the dynamic search for data that will contribute to the technology, physical principles, or industrial design of a product. Usually, the search seeks documented ideas on solving a product function with a form solution. It also seeks concepts for producing, analyzing, or testing a product idea once it is conceptualized.

In today's colossal information infrastructure, the task of information gathering can be inundating. A classification of informational sources is thus needed to aid in the process. Figure 10.4 illustrates one such classification. One primary category in this classification is literature. "Published" media represent a large resource for obtaining ideas for product functions. Examples of this media include patents, journal or government articles, catalogs, textbooks, consumer product periodicals, and product information, all as discussed in Chapter 7.

In addition to published media, information should be gathered from analogies, the World Wide Web, benchmarking, and people. Analogies consist of a similar product or artifact that operates in a different domain. It is similar because it implements an architecture or function that is in common with the product being designed. For example, a product function for a coffee bean grinder is to "dissipate noise" produced from the milling process. Analogous products include power tools, sound rooms, automobiles, aircraft, and food processors. All of these products also "dissipate noise." By studying their solutions, we can develop analogous solution principles for the coffee grinder. Analogies may also be obtained from artifacts, such as those that exist in nature. If we are considering the function of "support or resist loads," natural analogies may be considered as possible solutions, such as honeycombs.

Date: 2016-01-14; view: 732