Empathic Design And Design Thinking.

Empathic Design

Introduction What is ‘Empathic Design’ The Whole Product Model The Kano Model Summary

Empathic Design

What is ‘Empathic Design’Delighting customers is vital requirement for survival within today’s unpredictable marketplace. Products must now appeal at the ‘emotional’ level, surprising them by giving them things they never knew they needed.

Empathic Design

What is ‘Empathic Design’Even the most talented product designer would be wise to use customers and users as a source of inspiration, however customers often find it hard to tell designers what will excite them about products in the future.

Empathic Design

What is ‘Empathic Design’Empathic design encompasses a variety of techniques that are participatory, in-depth and qualitative in nature. The aim is to equip designers with uncaptured customer information that helps to stimulate innovation and differentiate their product and to ‘delight’ customers.

Empathic Design

The Whole Product ModelIt allows a more comprehensive conception of a product, one which incorporates elements ‘beyond’ its technical capabilities. Why?

- product differentiation deteriorates over time; and many customers rank ‘intangibles’ as equally as important.

Empathic Design

PotentialAugmentedExpectedCore

The Whole Product Model

Empathic Design

Core Elements: The absolute minimum elements a product must have. For instance a car must have an engine & wheels.

Expected Elements: Those elements which the customers expect the product to have. For example – a car is expected to have a radio and intermittent windscreen wipers.

Empathic Design

Augmented Elements: Which further differentiate the product, such as Volvo’s side impact air bags, or Nissan’s 6 year corrosion warranty.

Potential Elements: Often intangible, but give added value – the feeling of driving a Mercedes or ‘above everyone else’ in a Land Rover Discovery.

Good examples..

Core elements

Expected Elements

Augmented elements

Consumer is temped to give their I-Pod unique/additional features etc.

Potential elements

Empathic Design

As a market matures, expected and augmented elements become core elements. For example, intermittent windscreen wipers, originally for lorries, became an extra for the car market, and now seen as a Core element. Airbags, first an optional extra became standard and now everywhere.

These elements often effect price..

Products that wowed!

Empathic Design

An Extremely Brief History!The Kano Model: was formally introduced to the world in 1982 by Professor Noriaki Kano of Tokyo Rika University. The paper was called “Attractive Quality and Must-Be Quality” at the 12th Annual Meeting of the Japan Society of Quality Control.

Empathic Design

The Kano Model

Excitement

Basic

Performance

Delight

Dissatisfaction

Low High

Level of achievement

Empathic Design

The Kano ModelThe Model shows that customer responses can be classified into 3 types:

Basic Performance Excitement

Empathic Design

Basic:For example, when going for a meal, the customer expects there to be a place setting. If there isn’t one the customer will be dissatisfied. If there is one, no credit will be given – because there is supposed to be one!

Empathic Design

Performance:The customer expects their order to be taken promptly, accurately and the food delivered in reasonable time. The better the restaurant meets these needs, the more satisfied the customer is!

Empathic Design

Excitement:Excitement is generated because the customer received some feature that they did not expect. That is to say the restaurant providing free champagne “on the house”.

Empathic Design

SummaryCompetitive products must flawlessly execute all three types. Meeting customer needs provides the foundation for removing dissatisfaction. Exceeding the customers performance expectations creates competitive advantage.

Quick Break.. Grab a drink, back in 10 mins please. Point of interest: Future phone design

concepts from the 1970’s !!!

> There are four principle psychological factors:

(1) Motivation

(2) Perception

(3) Learning

(4) Beliefs/Attitudes

Psychological influences

Market Segmentation

> Human needs and wants are an essential catalyst within the marketing concept. Maslow advocates that there varying levels of need:

> Basic Physiological Needs (food, sleep, temperature)

> Safety Needs (protection from danger)

> The Need for Recognition (love, belonging)

> Ego Needs (self esteem, respect from others)

> Self-fulfilment (realisation of one's total being, creativity)

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Self Actualisation

Esteem Needs

Belongingness and Love Needs

Safety Needs

Physiological needs

Consumer Behaviour

> Many consumer purchases are individual. When purchasing a Mars bar a person may make an impulse purchase upon seeing an array of confectionery at a newsagent's counter

> However, decision-making can also be made by a group such as a household. In such a situation a number of individuals may interact to influence the purchase decision. Each person may assume a role in the decision-making process. Five roles are outlined below. Each may be taken by parents, children or other members of the buying centre

Buying decision process

> This involves focusing on three distinct elements:

(1) The buying roles within the decision making unit;

(2) The type of buying behaviour; and

(3) The decision process

Consumer Behaviour

Within the buying process there are five roles:

(1) the Initiator

(2) the Influencer

(3) the Decider

(4) the Buyer

(5) the Users

Consumer Behaviour

> Initiator: the person who begins the process of considering a purchase. Information may be gathered by this person to help the decision

> Influencer: the person who attempts to persuade others in the group concerning the outcome of the decision. Influencers typically gather information and attempt to impose their choice criteria on the decision

> Decider: the individual with the power and/or financial authority to make the ultimate choice regarding which product to buy

Consumer Behaviour

> Buyer: the person who conducts the transaction. The buyer calls the supplier, visits the store, makes the payment and effects delivery

> User: the actual consumer/user of the product

Consumer Behaviour

> One person may assume multiple roles in the buying group. In a toy purchase, for example, a girl may be the initiator, and attempt to influence her parents, who are the deciders. The girl may be influenced by her sister to buy a different brand. The buyer may be one of the parent who visits the store to purchase the toy and brings it back to the home. Finally, both children may be users of the toy

> Although the purchase was for one person, in this example marketers have four opportunities-two children and two parents-to affect the outcome of the purchase decision.

Phases within the buying process

> Within the buying process there are a five key phases:

(1) Recognition of the problem

(2) The search for information involving four distinct sources:

- personal sources

- public sources

- commercial sources

- experimental sources

(3) Evaluation of alternatives

(4) The purchase decision

(5) Post-purchase behaviour

The Buying Process

> The influencing factors include: the products attributes (price, performance, quality and styling); their relative importance to the consumer; the consumer's perception of each brand's image; and the consumer's utility function for each of the attributes

Design decisions

> By understanding the issues related to consumer analysis it is then possible to begin to modify the product offering by:

(1) changing the physical product (adding feature/repositioning)

(2) changing beliefs about the product (psychological repositioning)

(3) changing beliefs about competitors products (competitive depositioning)

Design decisions

(4) changing the relative importance of particular attributes - as a product moves through the product life cycle

(5) emphasising particular product features previously ignored

(6) change buyers' expectations

The notion of product change

> The main purpose of the product life cycle is to remind us of three characteristics: (1) that products have a limited life; (2) that profit levels are not constant, but change throughout a products life; and (3) that the product requires different strategies at each stage of the lifecycle (Kotler 1992)

> Within the Product Life Cycle a product travels through a series of stages. The ability to mange and react accordingly to these stages determines the success or failure of the product

Standard Product Life Cycle (PLC) Curves

> The main implication of the PLC is to avoid having a high proportion of a company's products at the end of their life cycles. Drucker (1963) has established that there are six categories of products which relate to the notion of product elimination:

(1) Tomorrow's Breadwinners

(2) Today's Breadwinners - yesterday's innovation

(3) Products capable of contributing to profit with substantial help

(4) Yesterdays Breadwinners

(5) Also Ran's

(6) Failures

Standard Product Life Cycle (PLC) Curves

> The purpose of these categories is to determine which products should be maintained, built upon or eliminated. The PLC also provides valuable information for analytical tools (such as the Boston Matrix and GEC model)

> Many of the lifecycle curves indicated are generalised and the shape of curves will vary widely from product area to area and from company to company

> It must also be noted that there is nothing fixed about the length of a cycle or the length of its various stages

Standard Product Life Cycle (PLC) Curves

> It has been suggested that the length of the cycle is governed by:

(1) the rate of technical change

(2) the rate of market acceptance

(3) the ease of competitive entry

Product life cycle phases

1: Introduction 2: Growth 3: Maturity 4: Decline

MarketCharacteristics

Sales Low Increasing rapidly Peaking Declining

Costs per customer High Average Low Low

Profits Negative Increasing High Declining/negative

Customer type Innovators Early adopters Middle and late majority

Laggards

Competitors Few Increasing, some emulators

High but beginning to decline

Decline with rapid shakeout

Competitors strategies

Unfocussed and indirect

Attempting to achieve trial. Undifferentiated products, services. Emphasis on fighting for share

Price cutting to achieve volume. Fighting for market share but experiencing difficulties. Emphasis on efficiency and low cost. Shake-out of weakest players

Exit of some competitors

Marketing Mix Strategies

Product Basic product Developing product extensions and service levels

Modify and differentiate. Develop next generation

Phase out weaker brands

Price Low price strategy Penetration strategy Price to meet or beat competitors

Reduce

Distribution Selective Intensive. Limited trade discounts

Intensive. Heavy trade discounts

Selective. Phase out weal outlets

Advertising Heavy spending to raise awareness and encourage trial among early adopters and distributors

Moderate to build awareness and interest in mass market. Greater word of mouth

Emphasise brand differentiation, special offers

Reduce to a level that maintains hard core loyalty. Emphasise low prices to reduce stock

Sales promotion Extensive to encourage trial

Reduce to a moderate level

Increase to encourage brand switching

Reduce

Planning time frame Short to medium Long range Medium range Short

Development structure

Task force Product division Business division with task for new product development

reduce

Product Adoption and Consumer Profiles

> When a new product is introduced, not everyone adopts it at the same moment. The rate of adoption within the market place has been identified as following a recognisable model

> A method of adopter categorisation is thus:

Product Adoption and Consumer Profiles

Innovato

rs

Earl

y A

dopte

rs

Early Majority

Laggard

s

Late Majority

Product Adoption and Consumer Profiles

> Innovators: young educated consumers, profitable risk taking organisations, sometimes category specific

> Early Adopters: more mainstream, opinion leaders, need wooing

> Early Majority: risk adverse, need reassurance, social pressures

> Late Majority: have greater product choice, product possibly mature by now

> Laggards (late adopters): possibly older, less well off

Basic buyer analysis..

What do they buy? Why do they buy? Who is involved in buying? How do they buy? When do they buy? Where do they buy?

Buyer Behaviour Model..

External Stimuli Buyers Black Box Buyer Decision

Political, Economical

Political, Technological

Buyer characteristics: Cultural, Social, Personal.

Product: Quality, suitability, aesthetics, ergonomics usability.

Product, Price, Advertising

Problem/desire. Brand recognition

Distribution. Searches from information.

Dealer influence, knowledge.

Evaluation. Quantity.

Decision. Purchase timing.

Buyer thinking..

Competitor Mapping

Product Mapping

Competitor Mapping

Competitor Mapping

Competitor Mapping