Nachiket Kiran Thakur
--
Synopsis
Study of
impact of new product design process on automobile & bamboo sector in
Mumbai-Pune region
Submitted to
Savitribai Phule
Pune University
for
the Award of the Degree of
Doctor of Philosophy
in
the
Faculty of
Management
By
Nachiket Kiran Thakur
Master in Design, IDC, IIT Bombay
Under the guidance of
Prof. Dr. B. V. Sangvikar
Head & Professor
Department of Management Science (PUMBA)
Savitribai Phule Pune University
Pune 411007
--
1.
Background
2.
Introduction
3.
Need of Study
4.
Objective of Study
5.
Scope of Study
6.
Hypothesis
7.
Review of Literature
8.
Research Methodology
9.
Data & Analysis
10.
Discussion & Conclusion
11.
Utility of research
12.
Limitation
13.
Future Scope
1.
Background
Indian economy is at a very crucial
stage. After the IT revolution, ‘Knowledge’ economy became the buzz word. Joining
the bandwagon of knowledge and information, “Design” has caught on the
imagination of the world. Globally the “Design” based economy has grown multi-folds.
It has impacted the social structure of the global society. Countries like
Italy, Korea, France and Sweden have become pioneers of Design Economy and set
standards for the global citizen. Global giants are coming to India for their
design needs.
With
a view to enhancing Design consciousness in the country, it is imperative to
study the level of design reach in the industry. There should be a constant
thrust on innovation and there should be close Industry-Academia tie-up. There
have been constructive efforts in this direction by the Indian government by
advocating the need for a National Design Policy.
Design
has the potential to create employment, business opportunities and to integrate
holistic social development.
The
rate of change in the marketplace of the globalised economy is so rapid that
design now becomes a continuous value adding activity which needs commitment
and involvement at global, national, regional and local levels.
The prime objective of this study
is to find a link between Product Design, Economy and how it impacts the corporate
decision making
2. Introduction
Design is a
multidisciplinary activity involving masters of various expertises. The
designer is an amalgamator / catalyst who creates meaningful products for the
society at large
The new world order now influences
a country's relative position in economic development. One of the drivers
behind this relative differentiation among countries is the design-oriented
creative edge that a nation adopts to create global competitiveness and
distinctive strategies.
Design has a major
role to play in Indian industry at this stage in global competitiveness. Design
Enablement would help the country to move away from cost and price based competition
to value based competitive advantage
The society needs to create competitive advantage for “Developed India” through
its business and industry. Social goal of development, encouraging rural design
and products for the needy and the large disadvantaged population in India can
be achieved through the use of appropriate design.
Design is a strategic tool for economic progress and improved competitiveness,
as well as its undisputable national role in creating employment and business
opportunities and upgrading quality of life. Design if used strategically will
help Indian industry, commerce and service sectors to compete on value rather
than price apart from giving a distinctive position in the market place. Design
should be seen today as a deliberate approach by any organization, society,
country to create a value-addition strategy in the global arena.
These perspectives have already been understood and appreciated by the academia
as well as the industry. Management Science schools, such as WE School –
Welingkar Institute of Management Development & Research, Mumbai, have
introduced a new full-fledged program called Business Design, where Design Process is the focal point. Several
other institutes have ‘Design Process’ as a separate course in their two year management
program. Industry gives preference to these students for handling the
assignments involving new product development.
3. Need for Study
An attempt to derive a relation
between the success of an organization and the “design” component of the
product or business process, a critical study is desired. How the people
involved get affected during the entire design cycle of the product needs to be
analyzed. The chain starts from the user aspirations – market requirement –
design – engineering – manufacturing – sales and back to the user. This entire
value chain needs to be probed. This study would be fruitful with analyzing the
data with the help of case studies.
‘USER Centric’
The most important dimension is
establishing the involvement of the user in the design process. How is a particular user targeted ?
How does he impact the design process ?
How does he react to a certain product design ?
How does he relate himself to a product ?
How does user profile lead to evolution of a product ?
How he impacts the success or failure of the product ?
A critical probe into the various
faculties of design is of primary importance. Selecting the right sample and
the sampling plan will determine the success of the study
When we look around we see various
design domains like Fashion, Furniture, Interior, Fabric, Electronic Products,
Automobile, Craft, Engineering, Software, Systems, Signage and Graphics. From
these diversified domains the Automobile design emerges as the frontrunner to
affect the society in various ways. Design by far becomes the driving force for
a sustainable economy and in turn leads to a progressive society.
A very distinctive example to the
effect is the success of Tata’s ACE and Mahindra’s – XUV 5OO. The state of art
design inputs from global leaders coupled with Indian talent made these
companies competitive the world over. This design-driven product development
led to setting up second tier & third tier industries. The overall economy
boomed as a result. It boosted the confidence in the Indian Auto industry to
match global standards. The user centered design approach created these success
stories.
Similarly the traditional craft
industry is also looking at Design to give it a new lease of life. Constructive
efforts from all directions to promote traditional art are underway. Our
cultural heritage can be revived and new platform can be created through
design. With specific inputs in creating world class products the Craft
Industry can strive for the Auto Sector success story. This unique heritage can
be brought into the main stream economic development of the rural sector.
Specifically Bamboo craft is focused in this study.
The Auto and Bamboo sectors have
been identified for the study of impact of design because Automobile industry
involves high technology, design inputs and huge investment for development of
product. It requires sophisticated tools and equipment for designing a new
product. Its potential customer is by and large defined. The user profile is
diversified depending upon the type of vehicle.
The bamboo sector, on the other
hand, does not require high technology and investment comparable to automotive
sector. It deals with the raw material available from nature. Workforce is not
highly skilled as in auto sector. Customer is not defined. In fact designer’s
role will be to think of potential customer depending upon the type of design.
Success of involvement of designers is expected to have a positive impact on
the poor families or artisans.
The study was expected to find out that
the impact of product design on these two sectors in India. Effort was to
connect parameters of design leading to the product success of automobiles to
that of products in bamboo craft.
4. Objective of Study
- To study various new product design processes used in
the Industry
- To document case studies of design of products for
business success
3.
To study the impact of new product design process on
automobile sector
4.
To study and analyze the importance of ‘Design’ in the
craft and Bamboo sector
5.
To study the
similarities in new product design process for these sectors
5. Scope of Study
- Studying Product Design Processes used in the
industry in Pune region
- Studying products designed by design companies in
Pune
- Studying vehicles designed and developed in
Pune-Mumbai-Nashik region
- Documentation of success stories of products in
craft, bamboo and automobiles
- Study was conducted for the products designed and
launched after 2005
Limitation of Study
·
Funds and availability of time
·
Secrecy and confidentiality of companies
·
Lack of established companies in bamboo sector
·
Availability of literature
6. Hypothesis
H1 : A good
designed product positively impacts directly as well as indirectly on the
society.
H2 : Good
Designed & Styled vehicles in the same segment are more successful than
others.
H3 : Adoption
of New Design processes in developing new products in Bamboo craft sector
has a positive impact on the success of the artisan entrepreneur.
H4 : New
Product Design Processes are common and can be effectively used for
the Automobile and the Bamboo Sector for
commercial success.
There is not enough research on New Design Processes studied by Indian
academicians and design experts. This researcher complied various
documentations available through secondary data stated bellow.
A.
Design In
India
Various design related books, Websites,
journals & other publications ( magazines & newspapers ) were studied.
Information on Design centric organizations like India Design Council,
Association of Designers of India, Design for India, Confederation of Indian
Industry, National Design policy.
B.
Product
Design Processes
Study of Product design processes at leading design companies world over
to understand how the process if followed in development of new products.
·
IDEO, an
inter an international design firm and innovation consultancy founded in Palo Alto, California,
United States in 1991 by Tim Brown with other locations in San Francisco,
Chicago, New York, Boston, London, Munich, Shanghai,
Singapore, Mumbai, Seoul, and Tokyo.
·
Design process followed at the design studios in
Pune – Design Directions, Elephant Design, Lokus Design, Onio Design, Ticket
Design
C.
Automotive
Industry
- Studied the automotive industry in India
with focus on the Western Zone – Pune, Mumbai, Nashik, Aurangabad through newspapers, magazines, websites
- Policy document like Automotive Mission
2016 by Government of India
- Various organizations like Confederation
of Indian Industry, Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) ,
the author is part of the Design Initiative, ACMA ( Association of
Component Manufacturers )
- Information was collected from Product
specific broachers, Product specific websites, automotive company
websites, books, journals, papers
D.
Bamboo Craft
- Websites : National Bamboo Mission,
KONBAC, INBAR, CIBART,
- Blogs : MP Ranjan, National Institutes
of Design
- Books, articles, journals
A. Type of Research: Combination
of Quantitative, Qualitative, Exploratory and Action Research
A. Secondary Data: Websites, newspapers,
magazines, books, reports, research papers, and journals
B. Primary Data through the following methods:
Type of
Research
|
Area of
studies in this research
|
Exploratory
Research
|
Design
processes used in the industry
|
Qualitative
Research
|
Case
studies of design impact on product design , automobile companies and craft
based industry
|
Action
Research
|
Evolution
of ICAN design process and adoption of
this design process in bamboo and automobile industry – case studies
|
Quantitative
Research
|
User study
for UV (Utility Vehicle ), LCV ( Light
Commercial Vehicle ) and Passenger car segments of automobile industry
|
The primary data was decided to be
collected mainly through following categories of
respondents:
A.
Product Designs other than automobile industry
a.
Designers – design companies
b.
Design enablers – design users from product
manufacturing companies
c.
End users of the product
B.
Automobile Industry
a.
End users of the vehicle: Owners/Drivers of automobiles
b.
Designers – Design strategists
C.
Craft Industry
a.
Promoters of NGOs and Commercial organizations
D.
Bamboo
a.
Promoters of commercial organizations and NGOs
b.
Entrepreneur and crafts man
B. Research Instruments
a. Questionnaires : Open ended and
close ended questionnaires used
b. Interviews conducted
c. Case Studies : Case study
analysis was carried out for successful designs.
C. Sampling methods
Non-probability
convenient sampling method was adopted
as follows
Respondent type (a) : End Users
: 50 respondents for each vehicle
studied
Respondent type (b) : Designers&
Designer enablers : 20
D. Geographical Area of research
Research
was conducted in the Mumbai – Pune region as follows
Mumbai Region – Mumbai, Thane, Konkan, Kandivali, New Bombay
Pune Region – Nashik, Bhor, Welha, Mulshi, Maval
E. Conceptual Framework
Product
design is a process of creating a new product for the users for commercial
gain. It is directly related to the effective, efficient generation and
development of ideas to create new products. Design is a multidisciplinary
activity involving masters of various expertise. The designer is an amalgamator
/ catalyst who create meaningful products for the society at large. Design is
the best creative and feasible solution for a given problem for commercial
success.
Product
designers conceptualize and evaluate ideas, making them tangible through
products in a more systematic approach. Their role is to combine art, science,
and technology to create tangible three-dimensional goods. Product design is
the process that brings that sort of artistic form and usability usually
associated with craft design to that of mass produced goods.
The stages of the present study were as
follows:
·
An
initial desk research project for the background study summarized the evolution
and development of design process methodologies from an academic perspective as outlined in this chapter above. This data
was collected from brochures, annual reports, and websites of the companies.
·
The
researcher took face-to-face interviews with the design or creative heads of
the users of design, and sought and received responses through email or
telephone.
·
Prior to
each interview, basic corporate data and information was gathered for each
company. This was useful to understand the strength of each company.
·
This was
used both as a background for the interviews, and in the formulation of the
summary report and the case studies. With this background and methodology as
its starting point, the interviews were planned and conducted.
To study the Design processes used in the
industry the researcher felt the need to study various design processes used in
the design companies. He felt that it will help to substantiate the use and
impact of the design process to create successful products. He selected 6 design
companies, Tata Elxsi, Lokus Design, Elephant Design, Onio Design, Design
Directions and Ticket design operating from Pune for this study. The consumer products
studied by this researcher as part of this case study were from the industrial,
consumer durables, automobile equipment, medical device, home appliance and
FMCG sectors. The aim was to study product design processes deployed in a
various different field of the industry.
This researcher then focused on design
processes of automobile companies around Pune, Maharashtra. He faced several
problems, mainly because of the copyrights and confidentiality concerns of the
designers. Design professionals and corporate leaders were reluctant to part
with the data on design processes because of, mainly, the confidentiality
restrictions. Some professionals did agree to respond to questions raised
during the interviews by this researcher. Their responses have been part of the
data included in the chapter Data and Analysis.
The next part of the study was to study the
craft sector in general and bamboo craft in particular. Since the bamboo craft
is not an established industry, it was pertinent to first evaluate the craft
sector for the use of design processes in developing products. Prominent companies using design in the craft
sector in India were identified. The researcher collected secondary data from
websites, portals and primary data through interviews of key decision making
people in the following organizations – Industree, Fab India, INTACH &
Crafts council of India for the craft based industries and bamboo product based
organizations like Bamboo Masters, Bambooed, VEDA, Rhizome, KONBAC.
The
conceptual frame discussed earlier indicates that the present research has to
be multi-disciplinary. This study explores product design processes that have
been researched only by a few academicians in the world. (Candi & Gemser, 2010).This study’s focus
was to explore impact of product design and its performance.
The study
was divided into four segments as follows:
- Study
of Product Design processes adopted by various companies and its impact on
various product designs other than Automobile
- Impact
of new product design process on Automobile sector
- Impact
of new product design process on Craft and Bamboo sector
- Action
research for design of a mini tractor and a bamboo craft product
Conclusion of the study on each
sector was drawn separately. These conclusions were compared to find if the new
product design process had similar, identical or different impacts on the two
industry sector
F.
Explanation of the method of research
1. Study of Product Design processes adopted
by companies
The study was descriptive and exploratory as
was carried out by the UK Design Council. It was aimed to understand the design
process adopted by companies to design products of different sectors.
Interviews were conducted with design heads of design companies in Pune to
explore how a design process is formulated and executed on a design project.
Impact of the process was assessed by the final outcome of the design.
Interviews were conducted with the senior executives of the product companies (
Design Enablers ) to gauge the utility of ‘design’ for their respective
products and the company. Interviews were also conducted of the End users. The
study was qualitative and exploratory.
2.
Impact of new product design process
on automobile sector
The study
was descriptive and exploratory. It was aimed to find if the new product design
process impacts the stakeholders - Users :
Designers, Producers & Buyers
It was a
combination of qualitative, quantitative research, and case studies.
Methodology adopted for this
study
A.
This researcher first studied the Design Process
& Design Thinking along with its
impact on creation of good Product ( Product Design ). It ensured all aspects
/attributes of user needs were captured toward evolution of the ideal product.
B.
This study concerned itself with Ergonomics, Aesthetics
/ Styling which are the two of the three pillars for success of a
product. The third pillar, namely Technology was not consider for this study.
Amongst these aspects of good design, the primary impact which was decided to
be accessed from the actual ( Owner / driver ) user was selected for the study.
C.
The researcher selected two leading companies having
their design centers in the area of research – Mahindra & Mahindra –
Kandivali, Mumbai and Tata Motors – Pune. These companies constitute major
market share (SIAM report) in number of units manufactured in the Pune-Mumbai
region. The Utility vehicles, Passenger
and the Light Commercial Vehicles segment were selected for this study.
Vehicles were selected for the study on the basis of number of units sold. Success of the vehicles
were determined by the number of vehicles sold in the same vehicle segment. The
vehicle under study was compared against a similar vehicle under the same
segment. A detailed design analysis of the vehicles – successful as well as not
so successful was conducted.
D.
Vehicles selected for the study according to segments
were as follows
|
Segment
|
Under Study
|
Comparison against
|
1
|
Utility Vehicle
|
XUV 500
|
Tata Safari / Sumo
Grande
|
2
|
Compact Sedan Car
|
Tata Manza
|
Mahindra Logan
|
3
|
Light Commercial Vehicle
|
Tata Ace
|
Mahindra Maximo
|
E.
A detailed Design analysis of vehicle features from design
& styling standpoint was conducted
F.
Vehicle Sales Data for these vehicles was studied and
analyzed to define the success of the products
G.
To access the impact following types of users were
selected with the sample size as follows: The sample of the users was purposive
and snowball sampling. The following number of users were selected as per the
categories mentioned below:
a.
Owner/Driver : 50 users for each vehicle studied
b.
Designer – Design strategist : 20
H.
Field Research was conducted as follows:
a.
Questionnaire was prepared considering the objectives
of the study
b.
The questionnaire was pre-tested among a select group
of users known to the researcher
c.
After analyzing the results, the questionnaire was
modified for different set of users as described in G above
d.
A pilot study was carried out for all the user
segments. With a favorable outcome as per requirement the questionnaire was
administered for the chosen sample size.
e.
Field research was obtained through a questionnaire to
get data from Owner. ( Annexure 1 )
f.
The Designer-Design strategist views / comments were
recorded through interviews via mails and personal interactions ( Annexure 2
& 3 )
g.
Field research captured the following issues thru the
questionnaire
Success parameter
|
Attributes
|
Aesthetics
|
a.
Looks / Styling
|
Ergonomics
|
b.
Comfort
c.
Noise level
|
Technology
|
d.
Mileage
e.
Safety
|
Aesthetics and Ergonomics were
taken as the key features describing ‘Good
Design’ of the product.
h.
Feedback on impact of the good design of the
products was sought from senior executives, business development &
marketing professionals via email and face to face interviews.
3.
Impact of new product design process
on Craft & Bamboo sector
a. Study of craft based industry was
carried out which used Design as a core strength of doing business
b.
Case studies of products developed at Design lead
organisations working in Bamboo Craft were carried out
1.
National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad
2.
Bamboosa, Bamboo Factory at Lavasa Corporation, Pune
3.
KONBAC, Kudal
4.
Sangaru Designs, Banglore
5.
Rhizome, Ahmedabad
The type of research done was
Qualitative and Exploratory
4.
Action research
a. Orchard Tractor: A case study was
done to explain the design process in detail for the development of
mini-tractor for Mahindra Gujarat Tractor, designed and developed at Mahindra
Composites Ltd., Pune as part of the
action research.
b. Bamboo : A
case study of design and development of terra-bamboo pendent under Bamboo
Vishwa and Bamboo Masters, at Hadapsar, Pune.
The development team began its study with the principles enunciated in
the NID’s Model of Design and implemented I-CAN design process as part of the
action research.
The study project was undertaken to
evaluate the hypothesis of use of design process for automotive and bamboo
sector.
Prof. Rory
O'Brien, the faculty of Information Studies, University of Toronto, has
explained the salient features of Action Research. He says action research is
known by many other names, including participatory research, collaborative
inquiry, emancipatory research, action learning, and contextual action
research. These are variations on a theme. Put simply, action research is
“learning by doing” - a group of people identify a problem, do something to
resolve it, see how successful their efforts were, and if not satisfied, try again.
While this is the essence of the approach, there are other key attributes of
action research that differentiate it from common problem-solving activities
that we all engage in every day. A more succinct definition is,
"Action
research aims to contribute both to the practical concerns of people in an
immediate problematic situation and to further the goals of social science
simultaneously. Thus, there is a dual commitment in action research
to study a system and concurrently to collaborate with members of the system in
changing it in what is together regarded as a desirable
direction. Accomplishing this twin goal requires the active
collaboration of researcher and client, and thus it stresses the importance of
co-learning as a primary aspect of the research process." What separates
this type of research from general professional practices, consulting, or daily
problem-solving is the emphasis on scientific study, which is to say the
researcher studies the problem systematically and ensures the intervention is
informed by theoretical considerations. Much of the researcher’s
time is spent on refining the methodological tools to suit the exigencies of
the situation, and on collecting, analysing, and presenting data on an ongoing,
cyclical basis.
Several attributes
separate action research from other types of research. Primary is
its focus on turning the people involved into researchers, too - people learn
best, and more willingly apply what they have learned, when they do it
themselves. It also has a social dimension - the research takes
place in real-world situations, and aims to solve real
problems. Finally, the initiating researcher, unlike in other
disciplines, makes no attempt to remain objective, but openly acknowledges
their bias to the other participants. (O’Brien,
2001)
Method adopted for the action research
The I-CAN design process for development of
new products was evolved by the researcher, as part of his profession and was
deployed on a live case to understand the impact for Design of
Mini Orchard
Tractor and Design of Terra Bamboo
pendant
Figure : 19: I-CAN
design process formulated by the researcher
a. Research Questions for the Mini Orchard
Tractor design team
1.
Will ICAN design
process be successful in the design & styling of a small tractor?
2.
Will this process be
profitable to the product company?
3.
Will it help the
product company as a brand developing contemporary products?
4.
Will it help the
design & manufacturing company of the styling components get to establish
itself as a design led organization and increase the value addition for its
customers?
b. Research Questions for the
Terrabambu pendant design team
1. Will ICAN
design process be successful in a small cottage unit of bamboo products?
2. Will this
process be profitable to the entrepreneur and will it improve the skills of the
artisans in making bamboo products?
3. Will it
improve efficiency of the artisans?
4. Will it
increase earnings of the artisans and the profitability of the entrepreneur?
Similarities
or differences in the Design processes used in the automobile and the bamboo
craft sector will be compared as the concluding part of this research.
Product Design Process
case studies
To substantiate the importance of design and the design
processes used, the researcher felt the need to include research of some design
companies in Pune.
Includes discussion of case studies of different products
designed by various design companies using a defined design process, its
development journey, impact on products through user feedbacks and views
expressed by senior executives of the respective product companies
Automobile case
studies
- Vehicle segments studied – Passenger
Car, Sports Utility Vehicle, Light Commercial Vehicles.
- Design
Processes executed by Mahindra and Tata Motors
- Products commercially successful were
selected and compared with similar vehicle in the category using defined
parameters
- Design Audit (analysis of design
features) was conducted on selected vehicles in the above segments by this
researcher.
- User survey conducted to access the
buying decision which eventually helps the vehicle to succeed in the
market was conducted
Design for Bamboo
Craft
·
Discussion about various craft forms and craft
based industries
·
Discussion on how design has helped the
enterprises to grow
·
Bamboo Craft industry in India
·
Various bamboo craft based organizations and its
journey through design
·
Case studies of design process used in
organizations and its impact
Action Research
case study of I-CAN Design process for Mini Orchard Tractor and TerraBambu
Pendant
A. Product Design Process case studies
Various design
processes adopted by organisations are analysed
The design process
used has helped this organisation to bring successful products to market, which
has significant impact on the fortunes of the company. Case studies of
successful products and its design process were generated. A field survey of
actual users of the products was conducted and the data analysed to study the
impact of design.
- Automobile Sector
- Vehicle segments were studied –
Passenger Car, Sports Utility Vehicle, Light Commercial Vehicles.
- Design
Processes executed by Mahindra and Tata were studied
- Products commercially successful in the
given segment were selected and compared with similar vehicle in the
category using parameters mentioned above. Six vehicles in three
categories were studied.
- Design Audit ( analysis of design
features ) was conducted on selected vehicles in the above segments.
- Data analyzed shows definitive trends in
features a vehicle should have which makes it a success. These Design
‘USPs’ – Unique selling propositions are found to be important factors for
buying decisions when other technical parameters are at par with each
other.
- Following is one example of the outcome
of the field survey of users of Mahindra XUV 5OO compared against Tata
Safari/Sumo Grande.
- These set of 20 users rated Styling/Looks and Comfort as in important parameter for their
buying decision. This shows the direct impact on higher sales of the XUV
5OO in this segment of vehicles
- The success of a product from ‘Design’
perspective co-relates to the ‘Commercial’ success of the product as one
of the important factors. It shows how the Design Process adopted has a
leading impact to the success of a vehicle compared to the other
equivalent products.
- With the success of a product the allied
industries also flourish. It was evident with the data analyzed of the
Tier 1 suppliers to the Auto OEMs through data made available from ACMA
(Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India.
C.
Bamboo Craft
Sector
·
Action
Research lead to the outcome of the research in the form of a detailed case
study
·
This
case study involved the use of the ICAN design process to develop the product.
Operational management for manufacture of the product with spoke and wheel
supply chain arrangement was deployed. It
involved the community house holds for the project execution. Financial
analysis of sale price against development & manufacture cost was arrived
at. The success of the product in market with livelihood development for the
manufacturer was achieved
- Similar case studies were analyzed with
commercial organizations dealing with bamboo craft products using
industrialized ( mass manufacturing ) approach
- Sangaru Designs is one of the leading
organization working in Banglore which works with similar design approach.
A case was studied of a product
designed by them.
- The development of craft industry in
India was studied as an overview. Specific Bamboo craft design
interventions were studied. Prof AG Rao’s efforts thru IDC, IITB and Prof
MP Ranjan’s initiative at NID were studied. The use of Design Process for
evolving a contemporary product was analyzed with case studies done by them.
D. Action Research
A very important part of the present study
was Action Research. As explained by Prof. Rory O'Brien, the faculty of
Information Studies, University of Toronto, the action research is known by
many other names, including participatory research, collaborative inquiry,
emancipatory research, action learning, and contextual action research.
It is “learning by doing” - a group of people
identify a problem, do something to resolve it, see how successful their
efforts were, and if not satisfied, try again. While this is the essence of the
approach, there are other key attributes of action research that differentiate
it from common problem-solving activities. A more succinct definition is,
"Action research aims to
contribute both to the practical concerns of people in an immediate problematic
situation and to further the goals of social science
simultaneously. Thus, there is a dual commitment in action research
to study a system and concurrently to collaborate with members of the system in
changing it in what is together regarded as a desirable direction.
Accomplishing this twin goal requires the
active collaboration of researcher and client, and thus it stresses the
importance of co-learning as a primary aspect of the research process."
What separates this type of research from
general professional practices, consulting, or daily problem-solving is the
emphasis on scientific study, which is to say the researcher studies the
problem systematically and ensures the intervention is informed by theoretical
considerations. Much of the researcher’s time is spent on refining
the methodological tools to suit the exigencies of the situation, and on
collecting, analyzing, and presenting data on an ongoing, cyclical basis.
Several attributes separate action research
from other types of research. Primary is its focus on turning the
people involved into researchers, too - people learn best, and more willingly
apply what they have learned, when they do it themselves. It also
has a social dimension - the research takes place in real-world situations, and
aims to solve real problems. Finally, the initiating researcher,
unlike in other disciplines, makes no attempt to remain objective, but openly
acknowledges their bias to the other participants. (O’Brien, 2001).
The
philosophy of the I-CAN Design Process is explained as follows
Initiate
it at the Start
Involve design thinking at the very
start of the development process. Ideally should be done before any bias is
built for the direction to take. Design thinking will help exlore a wheel barrow
of ides more quickly than you one could otherwise do.
User
centered approach
Human behavior, needs and preferences
to be given equal importance along with Technology and business economics. This
will allow the development team to differentiate between the needs and the
wants of the user. It captures the unexpected insights’ and helps us to
conceive a product which correctly reflects the aspiration of the user.
Fast
Prototyping and testing
The wheel barrow of ideas needs to get
tried out at quick succession. The cycle of rapid prototype, experimentation,
re-modification has to be fast. Teams should be given sufficient freedom to
make quick prototypes to test out your ideas which helps finalise the design
quickly
Expert
opinion
The design ecosystem has to be nurtured
by taking in inputs of the entire spectrum of experts. The quantity and quality
of these inputs from diversified individuals helps in arriving at the best
solution. Use what every modes of communication to get maximum participation
and inputs for the development program. Understanding different materials,
processes and methods of creating a product from the subject experts helps in
converting ideas to reality in a better way.
Co-create
Always respect the other person for
their capability and capacity to deliver. Plan to create in a team with
parallel working with as many diversified inputs as possible.
The present study included two projects of
action research as follows:
1. ICAN
design process for small tractor
2. ICAN design process for bamboo product
10
Discussion and Conclusion
A.
Design
- ‘Design’
is the key differentiator for the product success which impacts the commercial success of the
organisation
- Design
Processes in different organisations differ in execution but the intent is
same
- Design
Processes focuses on ‘User’ as a focal point for product success
- Good
design product has better chance of commercial success
Conclusion
of Product Design processes case studies
To study the Design processes used in the
industry the researcher felt the need to study various design processes used in
the design companies. Methodology adopted for this research was Qualitative. He
selected 6 design companies, Tata Elxsi, Lokus Design, Elephant Design, Onio
Design, Design Directions and Ticket design operating from Pune for this study.
The products studied by this researcher as part of this case study were from
the industrial, consumer durables, automobile equipment, medical device, home
appliance and FMCG sectors. The aim was to study product design processes
deployed in a various different field of the industry.
It was observed that all these companies had
their individual Design Processes suited for their respective philosophies. All
the design processes were based on the Double Diamond model of Discover,
Define, Develop & Deliver.
The use of the design process for developing
the product is useful and ensures that all the aspects of the product
requirement are taken care off. The design processes of all the companies are
focused on satisfying the needs of the user.
A robust design process followed judiciously
ensures a good designed product. A good designed product positively impacts the
design company, product company and the user. The entire ecosystem revolving
around the product gets positively impacted due to good design. The key
constituents of the society get directly as well as indirectly impacted as a
result of a good designed product. The good designed product is developed and
brought into the market with a view of satisfying the needs of the customer. A
happy customer who is referred as ‘user’ in this study gets directly impacted
positively with a good designed product. His / her needs and wants get
satisfied.
The design company and the product company
get the indirect benefit of increase in business due to a successful good
designed product. Since the company manufacturing and selling the product grows
the cycle of the industrial output increases impacting the entire value chain
positively, thus positively impacting the society
This proves
the hypothesis
H1 : A good designed product positively
impacts directly as well as indirectly on the society.
B.
Automobile
- Dealers
and sales representatives find it easy to pitch for vehicles which has
better aesthetic and comfort features.
- Convincing the ‘User’ – buyer of a
vehicle, is easy in case of a better designed vehicle
- Esteem
value of the ‘User’ is high due to the feeling of being pampered – taken
care of his needs through design in a Good designed vehicle
- ‘User’
takes good care of a better designed vehicle – thus increasing the life of
the vehicle
- In a
better designed vehicle the service centre mechanic also is satisfied and
happy due to better accessibility, ease of operations
- Marketing
team has the confidence of convincing the buyer due to design
differentiators in a better designed vehicles having technical parameters
similar to competition
- XUV
5OO – due to its radically new contemporary styling & design features
gained significant edge in establishing itself quickly. It helped Mahindra
& Mahindra to consolidate its position in the market with record sales
- TATA
ACE – with its unique positioning, car like comfort features first time in
LCV, unique styling with white body helped to create a niche segment which
did not exist in the market at the time of its launch. The product helped
Tata Motors to create a new segment and help revive its sales figures.
- The
Tier 1 suppliers to the market successful vehicles also saw a change in
fortune. Riding on the success of the Vehicles, the supplier for
components also had increased sales. Mahindra Composites, supplier to TVS
registered 35% increase in sales in their auto component business. Tata
Composites supplier to ACE has 40% of their business increase. They also
had to expand their operations in Uttarakhand with the phenomenal success
of their product
- The
industry at large had a positive impact due to the success of these
products
Conclusion of Automobile Sector
This section
dealt with case studies of design processes of in-house designers of the auto
makers in the Pune – Mumbai region. The researcher selected two leading
companies having their design centers in the area of research – Mahindra &
Mahindra – Kandivali, Mumbai and Tata Motors – Pune. These companies constitute
major market share in number of units manufactured in the Pune-Mumbai region.
The Utility vehicles, Passenger and the
Light Commercial Vehicles segment were selected for this study. Methodology
adopted for this study was Quantitative and Qualitative.
The basis for
success of the vehicle was the number of units produced for a certain vehicle
based upon the data available from SIAM. With this background the following
successful vehicles were selected for study and compared with a competition
vehicle from the same segment.
|
Segment
|
Successful Vehicle :
Considered successful on basis of number
of units sold than the comparison vehicle in the same segment
|
Comparison vehicle
|
1
|
SUV
|
Mahindra XUV 500
|
Tata Sumo Grande
|
2
|
Light Commercial Vehicle
|
Tata Ace
|
Mahindra Maximo
|
3
|
Passenger Car - Sedan
|
Tata Manza
|
Mahindra Logan
|
The study of
these successful vehicles involved the following steps :
Vehicle Segment
understanding, Product details, design audit, design process used for the
development, interaction with senior design team to understand the evolution of
the product, factors affecting buying decision, user survey through a
questionnaire, T-test on the data collected, verbatim user feedbacks,
interaction with the senior marketing executives of the company to know the
impact on the market and the effect of the success of the product on the
associated component manufacturing sector.
The analysis of
the data collected from the above study led to the following conclusions
1.
Design process for development of a vehicle is
very critical and important parameter to launch a successful product.
2.
The core of any design process for having
success is ‘User Centricity’. To satisfy your user – the customer is the
driving factor to achieve commercial success.
3.
Every successful vehicle company has a defined and
very robust design process.
4.
Good looks and user comfort are equally
important factors for the buying decision of a vehicle for the customer in
addition to the performance and safety of the vehicle.
5.
The efforts of the marketing and sales team
becomes easier if it has a better designed product to sale.
6.
The brand value of the company increases with a
satisfied user which is possible when the company takes efforts to fulfill the
emotional needs and the experience of using the product. This is achieved by a better
designed product in addition to the performance of the vehicle.
7.
As per the T-test analysis, one of the major
factors affecting the success of the Mahindra XUV 5OO was due to the good
design of the vehicle compared to its nearest competitor the Tata Safari.
8.
As per the T-test analysis, one of the major
factors affecting the success of the Tata ACE was due to the good design of the
vehicle compared to its nearest competitor the Mahindra Maxximo.
9.
As per the T-test analysis, one of the major
factors affecting the success of the Tata Manza was due to the good design of
the vehicle compared to its nearest competitor the Mahindra Logan.
10.
The entire value stream of any successful vehicle impacts
various stake holders. It helps everybody associated with the successful
product to grow. The Tier 1 component manufacturing industry grows with the
succes of a vehicle model. This in a way impacts the society at large, the
people involved and the allied industries systematically shows progress.
This proves the hypothesis
H2 : Good Designed & Styled vehicles in the
same segment are more successful than others.
C.
Bamboo Craft
- Craft
sector at large has benefited by use of ‘Design Processes’ for new product
development.
- Design
interventions at various levels have helped the craft sector to grow.
- Design
gives a key differentiator for product and an enterprise commercial
success.
- Organisations
like FABINDIA, Mother Earth, Ether OR have benefited by making ‘Design’ as
a central focus.
- It
has impacted the society at large due to these interventions.
- Bamboo
craft sector is at a very nascent stage with respect to number of
organisations working in the organised sector for business growth.
- Bamboo
sector is destined to grow with the help of learning’s from the more
organised sectors like automobile
The craft based
industries have benefited with the use of design in its operations. The use of
good design practices in the craft sector has helped develop contemporary
designs using traditional skills. The importance of design has been
acknowledged in the revival of many craft form in India. Dedicated efforts have
been done by commercial organizations to develop products with modern products
with contemporary designs.
Organizations
like INTACH has worked with traditional copper ( Tambat ) ware benefiting the
revival of the dying craft. With the modern products getting designed by
trained designers, INTACH was able to popularize these traditional crafted
products globally. Fabindia is one of India’s very successful brands built on
the unique combination of co-operative societies of artisans and modern designs
using traditional crafts. Industree works on the principle of empowering the
rural artisans using design as the focus of livelihood development.
The projects
worked on by NID ( National Institute of Design ) students and faculty utilizes
the design thinking and design processes to develop unique products for the
modern day urban user. In these efforts, design opens up the possibility of
getting instant market for the bamboo products. The unique approach of
involving the rural artisan, working with him in their own local setting and
deploying modern design process helps create products which have success in the
urban market.
Commercial
organizations like VEDHA, KONBAC, Bamboo Masters, Bambooed, Sangaru Designs,
and Rhizomes have used ‘design’ to their advantage to develop and sell
contemporary products in the commercial market. The success of these
organizations have shown how design helps in creating commercial success out of
products made out of bamboo.
This proves the Hypothesis :
H3 : Adoption of
New Design processes in developing new products in Bamboo craft sector has a
positive impact on the success of the artisan entrepreneur.
D. Conclusion of Action Research
The action research
on design of the TerraBambu pendant ,
a bamboo product shows how the ‘design process’ – ICAN Design is effectively
used to develop a successful product. This product has helped the artisan –
entrepreneur to succeed and has positively impacted him. He is able to
demonstrate how he can effectively manage a group of artisans for livelihood
development for him as well as for the fellow artisans through a good designed
product.
The outcome of
this research helps to prove the hypothesis
H3 : Adoption
of New Design processes in developing new products in Bamboo craft sector has a
positive impact on the success of the artisan entrepreneur.
The case studies of Orchard Tractor and
the TerraBambu pendant shows how the
ICAN design process is effectively used to create the products. It also
demonstrates in a sequential manner how the different stages in the design
process help the development of a product.
It is concluded that the ICAN design
process can be successfully used for the design of the Orchard Tractor which is
an example of an automobile as well as the TerraBambu
pendant a bamboo product. This shows that the design processes for developing
any product is similar and can be used to create successful products.
This proves the hypothesis
H4 : New Product Design Processes are common and can be effectively used for
the Automobile and the Bamboo Sector for commercial success.
Conclusion:
H1 : A good designed product positively impacts directly as well as indirectly
on the society
Hypothesis
Proved
H2 : Good Designed & Styled vehicles in the same segment are more
successful than others.
Hypothesis
Proved
H3 : Adoption of New Design processes in developing new products in
Bamboo craft sector has
a positive impact on the
success of the artisan entrepreneur.
Hypothesis
Proved
H4 : New Product Design Processes are common and can be effectively used for
the
Automobile
and the Bamboo Sector for commercial success
Hypothesis
Proved
Conclusion of the Research
The output of the above study on design
processes used in the industry gave the researcher the confidence and proof
that the new product design processes
have a positive impact on automobile and bamboo sector. To substantiate the
research a study of product designs from the consumer goods sector was also
conducted along with automobile and bamboo craft sectors. The positive impact
of good designed products was seen in all the cases studied. The impact on the
user, manufacturer and the entire value chain of the product was clearly
visible and was proved .
The research
proved the following hypothesis
H1 : A good designed product positively impacts
directly as well as indirectly on the society.
H2 : Good Designed & Styled vehicles in the
same segment are more successful than others.
H3 : Adoption of New Design processes in
developing new products in Bamboo craft sector has a positive impact on the
success of the artisan entrepreneur.
H4 : New
Product Design Processes are common and can be effectively used for
the Automobile and the Bamboo Sector for
commercial success.
The analysis
of the design processes used by the three sectors studied in this research
confirmed that the design processes are similar and can be adopted to design
any products. The researcher concludes the research with the following analysis
about commonality of design processes for any product to be designed and the
importance of the ‘user’ in the design activity.
‘User’
centric
A good designed
product is considered to be commercially successful if it satisfies the user
needs. The users of the product have multiple profiles. All these users become
the focal point of the universal design processes of Discover, Define, Develop
and Deliver, which has to ultimately help to produce a successful product of
any sector.
- The
aim of the research was to study the impact of New Design Processes on success of
automobile products leading to success of the automobile industry.
- The
outcome of the study will be helpful to understand the interdisciplinary
nature of users which impacts the success of the product
- It gives
insight of various users categories of the same product to help
evolve/develop a better product taking care of different perspectives
- ‘Design
Analysis’ of a product will give an added dimension to the Marketing
research activities in order to be able to find the correct pulse of the
multidisplinary nature of the users defined in this research
- With
the utility of the New Design Processes established uptill now for a high-end
industry like automobile will give impetus to find ways and means to suitably
adopt and deploy the learning’s to
the craft sector. These inputs will provide a platform to start the
efforts towards more industrialised ‘Craft industry’ in general and Bamboo
Craft in particular
12.
Limitations
of the study
- Due to high secrecy ( intellectual
property rights issues ) of the companies R&D and Design activities,
the information shared was limited regarding the processes followed for a
particular product category. The research was based on general processes
rather than specifics.
- Since there is no major company working
with bamboo craft on a commercial scale the impact of design processes was
not able to be analyzed beyond the
case under study
- The Design process deployment experiment
was conducted only at one location in Pune
13.
Scope
for Future Research
- Co-relation of addressing soft issues – empathy of users in vehicle design
- Capturing multidimensional user segments
- Exploring the field of ‘Design Management’
- Importance of ‘Design’ Thinking in
Business excellence
- Analysis of Design Processes used in the
industry.
His contact details:
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