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FutureProductEcosystems:discoveringthevalueofconnections

TimWilliamsa,MarianellaChamorro-Kocb

QueenslandUniversityofTechnology,Australia*Correspondingauthore-mail:tim.williams@qut.edu.au

Abstract:ProductEcosystemTheoryisanemergingapproachtohelpunderstandthevalue networks that exist between productswithin a system. As products becomeincreasingly interconnected, understanding the value that is gained from thoseconnections becomes ever more important. This paper explores the concept ofproduct ecosystems and how this concept can be employed in mapping currentproducts’ evolution as well as that of new product conceptual development. Casestudiesusingbothhindsight fromhistoricaldesignand foresight fromnewproductpropositions reveal the different connections that take place or need to beconsidered in the emerging landscape of product ecosystems. This paper seeks tocontribute to Product EcosystemTheory through a discussion of the literature andanalysis of emerging connections within a product ecosystem revealed in selectedexamples,aswellasbyproposingaconceptualtooltohelpmapoutproducts’valuenetworks.

Keywords:IndustrialDesign,ProductEcosystemTheory,InnovationTheory,InternetofThings.

1.IntroductionProductscanmeetwithsuccessorfailureformanyreasons.Whilsttheauthorsacknowledgethatsuccesscantakemanyforms,inthiscontextweareconsideringsuccesstobecommercialsuccess.Thatis;onethatmakesasatisfactoryfinancialreturnoninvestment.Accordingtothesubstitutioneffectinconsumerchoicetheory,demandisconsideredtobeproportionaltoperceivedvalueanddemandinessentialforcommercialsuccess(Sanchez-Fernandez&Iniesta-Bonillo,2007).Therefore,inthiscontext,perceivedvalueandsuccessareproportional.Conversely,failuresareassociatedwithalackofperceivedvalue;thatisafailureinthepremiseofaproduct,orfailuretocommunicatethevaluetocustomers.

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Becauseapproximately70–80%ofallnewproductsfailintheirfirstyearoflaunch(Savoia,2014),understandingthevaluethatproductsprovidebecomesveryimportant.ThetraditionalapproachofValueAnalysisorValueEngineering(DeSarbo,Jedidi,&Sinha,2001;SAVEInternationalValueStandard,2015)isusefulasitallowsavaluetobeascribedtoeachfunctionoftheproduct.Thisiseffectiveforstand-aloneproductswhereallthevalueoftheproductisintrinsictothatproduct.Howeverasproductsbecomemorereliantonextrinsicecosystems(Williams&Chamorro-koc,2013a),amoreholisticapproachisrequired.Thispaperaimstocontributetoourunderstandingofhowproductswithinanecosystemgainvaluefromthatecosystem.

Productinnovationhaslongbeenamechanismforproductdifferentiationandameanstogaincompetitiveadvantage.Itiswidelyacceptedthatinnovationcanbeeitherdisruptiveorincremental(Christensen,1997;Verganti,2009).Oneofthemaincharacteristicsofdisruptiveinnovationishighriskandpotentiallyhighgainwhereasincrementalinnovationisassociatedwithlowerriskandcorrespondinglylowergain.Disruptiveinnovationcreatesnewvaluenetworks,itdisruptsexistingones;thereforeunderstandingthesevaluenetworksisseenasakeystrategyformanagingtheriskassociatedwiththeintroductionofnewproducts.

ProductEcosystemTheoryisanemergingapproachthathelpsvisualizeandunderstandproducts’valuenetworksbyidentifyingwherevalueiscreatedandtransferredbetweenthevariouspartsoftheecosystem(Williams&Chamorro-koc,2013a).Aspreviouslymentioned,valueandsuccessareproportionalandsoincreasingtheoverallperceivedvalueofaproductmaybepossiblebyidentifyinglinksthatprovidevalueandperhapsquestioningthelinksthatdon’tprovidevalue.

WhilstProductEcosystemTheoryisstilldeveloping,agapinextanttheoryisperceivedastherearenowidelyacceptedstrategiesormethodsinplaceformappingandunderstandingtheflowofproducts’valueincomplexinterconnectedecosystems.Asthereisageneraltrendtowardsproductsthatexistinmorecomplexecosystems,Industrialdesignmustnaturallyfollowthistrend.Forexampleatelevisionofthe1960srequiredapowersupply,transmissionofprogramsandnotmuchelse.Amoderntelevisionincontrast,maysitwithinanecosystemofDVDplayers,payTV,streamedcontent,freetoaircontent,remotecontrols,surroundsoundsystems,internetconnectivityandsoon.Additionally,asthe“InternetofThings”(IoT)gathersmomentumandwirelesscommunicationbetweenproductsbecomescommonplace,productswillinterconnectinmanynewways.Increasinglydesignersarenowrequiredtoconsiderand/ordesigntheentiresystem.Asproductsbecomeincreasinglyinterconnectedandinterdependent,therequirementtounderstandproducts’emergingecosystemsbecomesmoreimportant.Currentlythereisalackofsuitablemethodstoenablethis.Tothisend,andcomplimentingcurrentProductEcosystemTheory,aninitialmodelhasbeendevisedtoidentifyexistingandemergingconnectionswithinproductecosystems..

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ThispaperdiscussesapartofalargerresearchprojectthatinvestigateshowUltraSmallVehicles(USVs)interactwithandgainvaluefromtheirecosystemandwhataspectsoftheecosystemcanbemodifiedinordertoimprovetheperceivedvalueofUSVs(Williams&Chamorro-koc,2013a).ThemainaimofthisaspectoftheongoingresearchistoidentifywhataspectsoftheecosystemcanbemodifiedinordertoimprovetheperceivedvalueoftheUSVandmakethemmoredesirable.Theneedtodeviseamethodevaluatethistypeofvalueflowandconnections,ledtotheconsiderationthatproductstendtobehaveinwaysthatareanalogoustonaturalecosystems.Thestudyofnaturalecosystemsisamaturescience,andthus,manymethodsformappinganddescribingnaturalecosystemsarealreadyinplaceandcanbeadaptedforuseinthestudyofproductecosystems.Forexample,innaturethenotionthattheintroductionofanewspeciesintoecosystemcanhaveadramaticimpact,oftenleadingtotheextinctionofotherspeciesthatareunabletocompeteisanideathatdatesbacktoCharlesDarwin(Oldroyd,1986).Inaproduct’secosystem,theintroductionofanewproductoftenhasasimilarimpactontheincumbentproducts,alsoleadingtotheirdemise(Massey,1999).Thisisespeciallytrueofdisruptiveinnovation.

ThispaperintroducesadiscussionaboutthetheoryofProductEcosystemsandthecriticalimportanceofunderstandingproducts’valuewithinanecosystem.Theintrinsicrelationshipbetweenproducts,innovationandecosystemsisthenexplored.Onthisbasis,atheoreticalframeworkforproductevolutionispresented,andanIndustrialDesignapproachispresentedthroughtwotypeofcasestudies,onerespondingtohindsightandexemplifiedwithexistingproductinnovations,andthesecondrespondingtoforesightapproachwithexamplesfromindustrialdesignstudents’IoTdesignprojects.Amodelfortheanalysisofproductevolutionandecosystemsinterconnectionsispresentedanddiscussed.Finally,theconclusionsectionlaysoutthestepsforthecontinuationofthisresearchanddevelopmentofthisemergingtool.

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2.Products,innovationandecosystems

Productsarebecomingincreasinglycomplexandincreasinglyconnected.Manyproductsthatwerestand-alonearenowreliantonotherproductsaswellastheenvironmentinwhichtheyexist.Thismeansthatmanyproductsareplatformsthatnowhavelittleornoinherentvalue,butrelyongainingvaluefromtheecosystemofwhichtheyareapart.Forexample,aniPadgainsmuchofitsvaluefromitsabilitytoconnectwithotherdevices,includingtheinternet.Theabilitytoaddfunctionalityintheformofappsisalsoakeyvalueprovider.Eventhechargerisalsopartoftheecosystem,withoutwhichtheiPadwouldbecomeinoperative.Manyoftheseinteractionsprovideobviousvaluewhereothersmaynotbeasobvious.Asperceivedvalueisclearlyanimportantcomponentofproductsuccess,understandingthatvalueiscritical.Theimportanceofthisisillustratedbythestatisticsofnewproductfailures.Whilstthedefinitionofaproductfailureisopentodiscussion,itisfrequentlycitedthatbetween70–80%ofallnewproductsarecommercialfailures(Savoia,2014)Ofcoursetherearemanyreasonswhyproductsfail,manyofthemunrelatedtothepremiseoftheproducthoweveraspreviouslynoted,disruptiveinnovationcarriesahigherriskoffailure(Christensen,1997).Theconsequencesoffailurecanberuinousforamanufacturerbothfinanciallyandintermsofbrandreputation.Soevensmallimprovementsinsuccesspredictionhavethepotentialtosavemoney,effortandbrandreputation.

Theterm“ProductEcosystem”ismostoftenusedtotalkaboutproductsthatareconnectedelectronically.Forexamplethe“Appleecosystem”isatermusedtodescribeasuiteofproductssuchasaniPhone,acomputer,anApplewatchandaniPad.Theseproductscommunicatewitheachotherandthereforecreateanecosystemwhereeachproductgainsvaluefromtheotherproducts.However,ecosystemsaremorecomplexthanjusttheproductsmentioned.Forexamplethesoftwareneedstobeconsideredbecausewithoutitthewholesystemhasnovalue.Valueisalsogainedthroughcontentontheinternet,sothisisalsopartoftheecosystem.Withoutanelectricitysourcetheentiresystembecomesuselessandsoon.Thevalueofanindividualcomponentislessandsometimeinfactworthlesswhenremovedfromtheecosystem.Thereforethevalueofthesystembecomesgreaterthanthesumofthestandaloneparts.

Ourresearchsuggeststhatoncetheproductecosystemisunderstooditthenitispossibletomanipulatetheecosystemtofavouroneproductoveranother(Williams&Chamorro-koc,2013a).Forexampletoaddresstheproblemsoftrafficcongestionandpollution,vehiclesthatreducetheseproblemsshouldbeencouraged.Ultra-SmallVehicles(USV)areaclassofvehiclespecificallydesignedtoaddresstheseproblems.Howeverinthecontextofthecurrentroad-vehicleecosystem,theperceivedvalueofUSVsislessthanthatofconventionalcars(Mitchell,Borroni-Bird,&Burns,2010).ForexamplethedriversofUSVsarestillaffectedbythetrafficjamscreatedbylargerconventionalcars.Ithasbeensuggestedthatcreating

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specialnarrowvehiclelanesandtherebymanipulatingtheproductecosystem,theperceivedvalueofUSVscanbeincreased(Williams,2014).

Departingfromtheseconsiderations,thefollowingsectionpresentsatheoreticalframeworkofproductevolution,whichprovidesthebasisforthedevelopmentoftheinitialmodelfortheanalysisofproductecosystems.

3.ATheoreticalframework:ProductEvolutionWhenonelooksatsustaininginnovationitisnormallycleartoseehowanewmodelisrelatedtothepreviousmodelandhowthereisaclearprogressionfromonemodeltothenext.Withdisruptiveinnovationthepredecessors’influenceisnotalwaysasobviousaswithsustaininginnovation;howeveritisalwaysthereandoftencomesfrommorethanonesource.ForexampletheDVDplayerhasclearlyadoptedtechnologyfromtheCDplayeraswellastheVCR.WhilsttheCDplayerstillexists,(thougharguablyindecline),theVCRisnolongermadeinanyreasonablequantitiesandhasnearlyceasedtoexist.

Fromthisitcanbeseenthatallnewproductshaveclearpredecessorsandthereforecanbeseentohaveevolvedfromotherproducts(Crawford&Tellis,1981).Someproductlinesevolverapidlywhileothersevolveslowlyovertime.Someproductsareregularlysupersededbyothersinagradualprogressionwhilstoccasionallynewproductsemergethatareradicallydifferenttothosethatcurrentlyexist.Occasionallyaproductlinewilldeclineandeventuallydisappearaltogether,becomingextinct.Allproductscompeteformarketsharewhileonlythefittestthrive.Thesepatternsofbehaviourareseeninbothnatureandconsumerproducts(Massey,1999)

Broadlyspeaking,bothbiologicalspeciesandconsumerproductsrespondtoexternalopportunitiesandthreats.Inbiologytheopportunitiesandthreatscomefromtheenvironmentandotherspeciesandforproductstheopportunitiesandthreatscomefromthemarket,socialtrendsandlegislation(Williams&Chamorro-koc,2013a).Theyalltendtothrivewhentheyarewelladaptedtoexploitopportunitiesanddeclinewhenunabletoadapttothreats.Theybothcompeteforresources;whetherthoseresourcesareconsumerdollarsorfood.

Inbiology,theprincipleofphyleticgradualismdescribestheprocesswheretheriseofadescendantspeciesslowlydisplacesanancestralspeciesaclearlytraceablelineage.Thisisbasedonsmallchangesinphysiologythatallowspeciestobecomebetteradaptedtotheirenvironmentsotheycanthrive.Inaresourceconstrainedenvironmentthistendstodisplacethoseancestralspeciesthatarenowlessabletoexploitthoseresources.Thishasparallelsintheevolutionofproductsasnewproductswithslightchangesarereleasedontothemarket.Ifthechangesarewellreceivedbytheconsumerthentheproductwillbesuccessful;ifnotthenthechangeswillbedroppedinsubsequentmodels.Thisispartlydescribedbytheterm“sustaininginnovation”coinedbyClaytonChristensen(Christensen,1997).Thedifficultywiththeconceptofsustaining(orincremental)innovationisthatit

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presumesthateachnewmodelisaslightimprovementonthepastandthereforelikelytobesuccessful.Therealityisthat80%ofallnewproductsfailwithinthefirstyearoflaunch(Savoia,2014).Whenonelooksatvaluenetworkofproductsthatundergoincrementalinnovation,thevaluestendtobesimilartothepreviousgenerationwithrelativelysmallperformanceimprovements.Asaproductlinematuresitbecomesincreasinglydifficulttocontinuallyimproveperformanceandthereforeincreaseperceivedvalue.

Bycomparison,disruptiveinnovationtypicallyhasacompletelynewsetofvalues.Someoftheexistingperformancecharacteristicsmayinfactbelessthatpreviousproductsandtherewillbesomecompletelynewvalues.Ifthesumofthesevaluesisperceivedtobesuperiortothepredecessorthenthenewproductislikelytobeasuccess.ProductEcosystemTheoryhelpsidentifyanddocumentthesevaluenetworks,whichcanassistIndustrialDesignerstodevelopproductsthatareabletocapitalizeonextrinsicvaluefromtheecosystem.

4.ADesignResearchapproachProductEcosystemTheoryhasgreatestpotentialwhenappliedtotheconceptualpremiseofanewproductasopposedtoaspecificproductdesign.ProductEcosystemTheoryallowsustoexplorebothhistoricalandconceptual/futureproductecosystems,sothatproductscanbedevelopedthatareabletofullyexploitthelatentvaluewithintheecosystem.Withalackofappropriateecosystemtheoryandtools,IndustrialDesignhastypicallytendedtofocusondevelopingstand-aloneproductswithlittleconsiderationoftheecosystem.Aspreviouslymentionedtheoverallvalueofaproductiscomprisedofbothintrinsicandextrinsicvaluesthatcontributetotheperceivedvalueofaproduct.Tocreatemaximumperceivedvalueforaproduct,designersneedtoconsiderthevalueobtainedfromtheecosystem.Thiscanbeachievedbyconsideringpastandfutureecosystems:thatisthroughgaininginsightsfromhindsightaswellasforesightthinking.Hindsightthinkingreferstotheunderstandingofpastandcurrentecosystems.Thepastcanbeanalysedtogiverichinsightintofactorsthatcontributetotheevolutionofproducts.Thestudyofcurrentecosystemsallowsforidentificationofstrengths,weaknesses,opportunitiesandthreats.Inforesightthinking,evaluatingpotentialfutureecosystemshasgreatestpotentialtoidentifyfutureproductecosystems,andnewproductconnections,whichinturn,wouldprovideaframeworkfordevisingnewscenariosofemerginglandscapesofnewproductecosystems.

4.1Hindsightthinking:Pastecosystemanalysis

Successiveiterationsofconsumerproductsexhibitsimilarevolutionarypatternsasthosefoundinbiologicalecosystems(Tobias,2007;Williams&Chamorro-koc,2013b;Zhou,Xu,&Jiao,2010).Evolutionarytheoriessuchasphyleticgradualismandpunctuatedequilibriumcanbeobservednotjustinbiologicalevolutionbutareanalogousinproductevolution.(Massey,1999).Phyleticgradualismdescribesthegradualevolutionarymorphologychangesinspeciesovertime.Incontrast,punctuatedequilibriumdescribeslongperiodsofstasis

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occasionallypunctuatedbyrapidchangesorbranchesinspecies(Gould&Eldredge,1993).ThiscanbeseeninFigure1

Figure1:Graphicalcomparisonofphyleticgradualismandpunctuatedequilibrium.Reproducedfrom(Williams,2014),basedon(Gould&Eldredge,1993)

Inbiology,changesinmorphologyaredrivenbyenvironmentalpressuresoropportunities.Whenthemorphologyofaspecieschangesandisbettersuitedtotheenvironment,thatspeciestendstoflourish(Oldroyd,1986).Sometimesgradualchangesarenotenoughtokeepupwithachangingenvironmentandradicalchangeisrequired.Thesamepatternscanbeobservedinproductlines.Asweknowthatinproducts,radicalchangeisachievedthroughdisruptiveinnovationandgradualchangeachievedthroughincrementalinnovation,wecanseedirectanalogiesbetweendisruptiveinnovationandpunctuatedequilibriaaswellasincrementalinnovationandphyleticgradualism.Asinnature,thetwoformsofevolutionoccuralongsideeachotherinproductevolution.Figure2depictsanexamplebasedontheevolutionofwatches,whereincrementalinnovationisdepictedbythehorizontalgreenlinesanddisruptiveinnovationisdepictedbytheverticalredlines.

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Figure2-Anevolutionarydiagramofwatches.(Williams,2015)

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Eachstepintheevolutionarydiagramcanbeevaluatedtoseewhatnewtechnicalopportunitiesallowedthechangetotakeplaceandwhatadditionalvaluestheproductofferedthatcontributedtoitssuccess(Williams,2015).Thistypeofevolutionarydiagramallowstheanalysisoftheproductsthatfailedandbecame“extinct”givinginsightintothereasonsbehindthefailure.TherearemanywellestablishedmethodsforthistypeofanalysissuchasValueAnalysis(Rich&Holweg,2000),FMEA(Carlson,2014),andSWOTanalysis(Pardeshi,Shirke,&Jagtap,2010).

4.2Foresightthinking:fromPresentEcosystemstofutureones

Currentecosystemanalysiscanbeusedtovisualisethevalueandinfluenceofeachcomponentwithintheecosystem.Figure3showsapartialecosystemmapfortheautomobile.Themapshowsthecomplexityofcomponentsthatprovidevaluetotheautomobile.Themainreasonforproducingacurrentecosystemmapisthatitallowsaconvenientbaselineforproposingfuturescenarios.Forexamplewemightposethequestionaboutwhatwillneedtobemappedintheecosystemofelectriccars.Wemayconcludethatservicestationsandmechanicswillofferlessvalueforelectriccarsthantheydoforconventionalcarsandthereforemayneedtorethinktheirbusinessmodels.Byunderstandingtheinterdependenciesofthecarecosystemandmodifyingtheenvironmentaccordinglywegaincontroloverthedesignoftheviabilityofthecar.

Figure3-Thecurrentautomotiveproductecosystem(reproducedfromWilliams&Chamorro-koc,2013a)

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InFigure4wecanseeasimplifiedproductecosystemdiagramforaDVDplayer.Thesolidlinesrepresentcriticalvaluetransferandthedashedlinesrepresentcomponentsthataddvaluebutarenotcritical.Thearrowsshowthedirectionofvalueflow.Thatis,thearrowpointstothereceiverofvalue.ForexampletheTVisacriticallyimportanttotheDVDplayer.

DVDplayer

TVHomeTheatreAudio

Speakers

DVDdiscs

DVDshop

Movieproducers

User

RemoteControl

Electricity

Ba/eries

DVDPlayerProductEcosystem

Figure4-TheproductecosystemfortheDVDplayer

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InFigure5wecanseetheproductecosystemfordirectmoviestreamingoverlaidontheDVDproductecosystem.Thisdemonstratesthecomponentsthatareremovedfromthesystem.Thisisonlyapartialmap.Forexampleitcouldbeexpandedtoincludeamodem,internetserviceproviders(ISPs)etc.Thequalityoftheinternetconnectionisanimportantfactorinvalueflow.

DVDplayer

TVHomeTheatreAudio

Speakers

DVDdiscs

DVDshop

Movieproducers

User

RemoteControl

Electricity

Ba/eries

MoviestreamingProductEcosystem

Internet

Figure5–TheproductEcosystemmapfordirectMoviestreaming

Thereforebyunderstandingthepotentialvaluegeneratedastheconsumerenvironmentchangesandopportunitiesthattechnologyallowswecanstarttopredictwhichproductsarelikelytosucceed.Moreimportantlyitallowsustoseewhatenvironmentalvariablescanbemodifiedtomakeaproductmoreorlessviable.

ThediagrampresentedinFigure3providedthefoundationforaninitial‘tool’orconceptualpropositiontotesttheconceptofforesightthinkingandidentificationofvalueflowsandconnectionsinemergingproductecosystems.ThediagramwaspresentedtothethirdyearIndustrialDesignstudentsatQueenslandUniversityofTechnologywhowereworkingonthe

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designofaninteractiveproductforthenearfuture(fivetotenyearsintime),withintheIoTconcept,andforthefuturegenerationoftheolderadult.Itwasexplainedtothemthattheycouldemploythetooltoidentifyandoutlinetheconnectionsthattheirnewproductdesignswouldrequireinordertoexistandbenefittheenduserandsociety.Productecosystemsfromthreestudents’designprojectsarepresentedhere:thedomestichobbyproducts,thescubadivingexperientialdevices,andthebed-ritualproductsfamily.Productecosystemsandconnectionswereproducedbythestudentsaccordingtotheirprojectneeds.Thesearediscussednext.

Inthecaseofdomestichobbybasedproducts,thestudentsselectedhome-basedactivitiesthatolderadultenjoydoingontheirown,butliketosharewithothers.Theseare:mowingthelawn(apredominantDIYweekendactivityinAustralia),birdwatching,andwatchingarugbymatch.AsalargeportionofolderadultsinAustraliaprefertomaintaintheirindependenceandliveontheirown,studentsdesignedproductstosupporttheseactivitiesandenrichtheusers’experiencebyaugmentingtheirsocialisationpotentialthroughinteractivefunctions.Figure6showsthestudents’productecosystemmapwheretheconnectionsofthethreeinteractiveproductstopeople,thecentralhub,andservicesaredepicted.Inthiscase,thisproductecosystemmapdemonstrateconnectionsthataimtoaddvaluetoexistingservicesandproductsinthehouseholdthroughadigitalinfrastructuresupportingeachofthenewproductdesigns.

Figure6-Studentsdesignproject–domestichobbyproducts

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Inthecaseofthescubadivingexperientialdevices,thestudentsexploredthetopicofactiveolderadultswhohaveenjoyeddoingscubadivingsinceveryyoungandwhoarenotreadytogiveupthisactivityduetoage.However,asphysicalandcognitivedeclineaffectsolderadultsperformanceandabilitytocontinuebeingactive,studentsfocusedondesigningproductsthatassistolderadults’performanceandexperiencewhendiving.Figure7showsaproductecosystemmapofthethreedifferentproductsthatarepartofthescubadivinggear.Thediagramshowstheconnectionsofeachproducttothescubadivingactivity,connectionsbetweentheproducts,andconnectionstoasocialnetwork.

Thethirdstudentprojectexampleisthebed-ritualproductsfamily.Thisprojectproposesanenhancedwayofpreparingtosleepandwakingup.Manyolderadultsincludearelaxationactivityaspartoftheirpreparationtosleep;readingabookisoneofthem.Anotherpartofabed-ritualactivityisthewakeup,whichcommonlyisassistedbyanoisyalarmclock.Toenhanceandaugmentthesebasicbed-ritualactivities,thestudentsworkedontwoproductdesignsthatwouldbeseamlesslyintegratedintothepersons’ritualactivities,helpingtotimeandprovidearelaxingreadingtimebeforesleeping,andpromptingagentlewakeupexperiencewithoutthestartlecausedbythemundanealarmclock.Figureshowsthe

Figure7Studentsdesignproject–scubadivingexperientialproject

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studentsproductecosystemmapthatclearlydepictstwoparallelbranchesthatconnecttoadiversityofservices,supportnetwork,andotherproducts.

Inthisexercisethestudentswereonlyaskedtoshowthelinkswithintheecosystemwithoutcomplicatingtheexercisebyqualifyingtheactualflowofvalue.Theaimwastoseehowstudentsapproachedthemappingprocessandtoseewhatcommonalitiesemerged.Fromthisweobservedthreedistinctproductecosystemmapsthatdemonstratethreetypesofconnections:(a)producttoproduct,(b)producttosystem,(c)productfamily.Eachof

Figure8-Studentsdesignproject–themorningritualproductsfamily

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theseconnectionswouldpotentiallyleadtodifferentvalueflowastheyrespondtodifferenttypesofproducts’innovation.

5.DiscussionThispaperproposestwotools.Thefirstisatooltocharttheevolutionofaproductandthesecondmapsouttheecosystemoftheproduct.Neitherofthesetoolsgenerateoutputsoftheirown.Rathertheybotharetechniquesforcreatingavisualscaffoldthatallowsevaluationusingexistingmethodsofanalysis.Itisthisanalysisthatthatgeneratesempiricaldatathatcanbeusedasguidanceforthedesignprocess.Forexample,onceaproductecosystemmaphasbeencreatedforaproductitcanbeusedtoranktheotherentitiesbasedontheamountofvaluethattheyprovidetheproduct.Thiscanbeusefulindecidingwhichentitiestooptimisetheproductfor.Asisoftenthecasewithdesign,judgementisrequiredtodeterminewhatlevelofanalysisisrequired.Thetwovisualscaffoldscreatedcanalsobedescribedasmapsofthevaluenetwork.Theevolutionarydiagramrepresentsthelongitudinalvaluenetworkandtheecosystemmaprepresentsthecurrentorproposedvaluenetwork.Whilstanalysisofeachofthenodesidentifiesthevaluesgainedfromotherentitiesintheecosystemorhowvalueisaddedovertime,inpracticeitseemsthatthislevelofempiricaldataisnotalwaysrequired.Itseemstheprocessofcreatingthesemapsallowsadesignertovisualisethecontextinwhichanewproductmightlie.ThisissimilartoothertechniquesusedinproductdesignsuchasPersonacreation.Itisnotnecessarytoanalysethepersonaempiricallytobeofuse,ratheritistheprocessofcreatingaPersonaandtheabilitytovisualisethatperson’sarchetypeusingtheproductthatmakesthetechniqueuseful.Thenascenttechniquesofcreatingevolutionarydiagramandecosystemmappingneedfurtherevaluationtodeterminetheusefulnessinthedesignprocess.Initiallythisevaluationwilltakeplacewithstudents,astheturnoverofprojectsistypicallymorerapidwhencomparedtoprofessionalprojects.Refinementwillbeanimportantpartofthisprocess.Onceaneffectiveandreliabletoolhasbeendeveloped,thisshouldbeevaluatedwithprofessionalprojects.6.ConclusionTheneedfortoolstohelpdesignandconfigureecosystemsisbecomingmoreapparentasproductsbecomeincreasinglyinterconnected.The“InternetofThings”promisesaleveloffunctionalityformanyproductsthatwasimpossibleuntilrecently.Simultaneouslythewaythatweinteractwithproductsischangingsignificantlyaswell.ThissuggeststhatIndustrialDesignerswillfindadecreaseinemphasisfromtraditionalareasofaesthetics,formandergonomicstothatofinteractionandecosystems.Thisfollowsaprogressioninthewaythatweinteractwithproducts.WhenIndustrialDesignwasanewdiscipline,productinteractionwastypicallywithleversandhandles.Withtheincreaseinelectronicproducts,interactioninvolvedknobsandswitches.Wearenowmovingintoanerawhereinteractionisthrough

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gesturesandtouch,increasinglyremotefromtheproduct.Whilstergonomicsandformhavebeenthesubjectofdesignresearchformanyyears,interactionandecosystemsarerelativelynewsubjectsandthereforeadequatetoolsarelacking.Thiswillrequireanapproachtoproductdesignthatisasignificantdeparturefromthetraditionalapproachandthisresearchaimstohelpfillthegapinknowledge.

Aspreviouslymentioned,thispaperispartofawiderresearchprograminvestigatingproductecosystems.Itisstillaworkinprogressthathasbeeninitiallytestedwithindustrialdesignstudent’sdesignprojectsandfurtherresearchisrequiredinordertoprovideafullyresolvedtool(ortools)foruseindesignpractice.

Futureresearchinthisareaistoinvestigatemappingecosystemstoidentifyeitherasuitablewaytoplotoutalltypesofecosystemsortoidentifydifferentcategoriesofecosystemsanddevelopmappingmethodsforeach.Ourinitialresearchwithdesignstudentssuggeststhattherearedifferenttypesofecosystemsthatwillrequiredifferentapproachesalthoughitmightbepossibletodevelopaunifiedapproach.Thenextareaistoqualifyandperhapsevenquantifytheflowofvaluewithinecosystems.Asproductecosystemsareoftenverycomplexthiswouldappeartobeaverytimeconsumingtask.Howeveritmaybethatonlycertaintypesofvaluelinksneedtobeevaluated.Furtherresearchinthisareaisrequired.

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AbouttheAuthors:

TimWilliams comes fromapractice-ledbackgroundwith extensiveexperienceinapplieddesign.Particularlydesignformanufacture.Hisresearchinterestsareintransportationdesign,disruptiveinnovationandproductecosystemtheory.

DrChamorro-Koc’smainareasofinterestsare:

User experience and context-of-use issues for the design of user-productinteractions:

Humanfactorsandproductusability

Interfacedesignofdesigntools

Designprocess