Product Concept SelectionUNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTAReferences: Text, Chapter 7IDENTIFYOPPORTUNITYDEFINE PROBLEMGENERATE CONCEPTSGATHER INFORMATIONIMPLEMENTSCREEN CONCEPTSHANDOFFME 4054WSpring 2010Prof. BohlmannUNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTAProduct Concept Selection Attributes• While concept generation is easy (and fun), concept selection is difficult (and fun)• You never have enough information; you must make informed decisions nonetheless• You will likely use estimation, analysis, and some prototyping to complete the selection process• Look for new concepts during the processDocumenting the selection processis nearly as important as the result(and must be included in your design report)UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTAProduct Concept Selection Process• Start with a Product Design Specification (PDS) that is finalized and has full team buy-in• Examine ALL concepts at the same timeUNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTAConcept Selection - PictoriallyExhibit 7-4“Product Design and Development”By Ulrich and EppingerUNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTAConcept Selection Methods• External decision– Concepts are turned over to the customer, client, or some other external entity for selection• Product champion– An influential member of the product development team chooses a concept• Intuition– The concept “feels” good. Explicit criteria and trade-offs are not used. The concept just seems better.Not recommended for this courseUNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTAConcept Selection Methods• Multivoting– Each team member votes for several concepts. The concept with the most votes is selected.• Pros and cons– The team lists the strengths and weaknesses of each concepts. The group then selects the best concept based on group opinion. In this course, multivoting is sometimes used in the screening processUNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTAConcept Selection Methods• Prototype and test– Prototypes of each concept are built and tested and the selection is made based upon the test data• Decision matrices– The team rates each concept against pre-specified selection criteria which are generally weighted– A required method for this courseUNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTABenefits of a Structured Methodfor Concept Selection• A customer-focused product• A competitive design• Better product-process coordination• Reduced time to product introduction• Effective group decision making• Documentation of the decision processUNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA2 Stages of Concept Selection1. Concept screening• Reduce the many product concept ideas generated to a relative few that will get additional refinement and analysis2. Concept scoring• Use objective methods to select to your consensus final concept selectionUNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTAConcept Screening Matrix ExampleExhibit 7-5“Product Design and Development”By Ulrich and EppingerUNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTAConcept Screening1. Prepare the selection/screening matrix– Selection criteria must relate to key customer needs2. Rate the concepts– e.g., + = “better than”, 0 = “same as”, - = “worse than”3. Rank the concepts– As objectively as possible using the concept ratingUNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTAConcept Screening4. Combine and improve the concepts– Is there a generally good concept that is downgraded by one feature?– Can two concepts be combined to preserve the “better than” features while simultaneously removing any “worse than” features?5. Select one or more concepts for further refinement and analysis6. Reflect on the results and process– Are all team members “comfortable” with the decisions? If not, what needs to be resolved?UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTAConcept Screening Matrix ExampleExhibit 7-5“Product Design and Development”By Ulrich and EppingerUNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTAConcept Scoring ExampleExhibit 7-7“Product Design and Development”By Ulrich and EppingerUNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTAConcept Scoring1. Prepare the selection matrix– An optimized version of the concept screening matrix2. Rate the conceptsPage 135“Product Design and Development”By Ulrich and EppingerUNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTAConcept Scoring3. Rank the conceptsPage 136“Product Design and Development”By Ulrich and EppingerUNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTAConcept Scoring4. Combine and improve the concepts5. Select one or more concepts for further refinement and analysis• Sensitivity analysis• Build and test prototypes6. Reflect on the results and process• Down-select to the consensus final concept selectionUNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTAConcept Scoring ExampleExhibit 7-7“Product Design and Development”By Ulrich and EppingerUNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTACommons Pitfalls• Not doing it• Running with the first idea• Selection chart criteria don't correspond to PDS• Letting an "experienced" designer make the choices• Going by gut feel• Letting a manager decide• Not buying into the process as a team• Forgetting the customer• Ignoring costUNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTACongratulations!You now have a consensus product design conceptUse all of the tools in your arsenalin order to maximize your chance of