Lesson video

Hello, my name's Mrs. Taylor and thank you for joining me today.

The lesson today is "Product evolution and development" and this is part of the "Developments in new materials: supporting new parents" unit.

The outcome for today's lesson is I can identify the stages of product evolution and development.

There are four keywords.

Product development, which is the steps to create or improve a product.

Product evolution, how products change and improve over time.

Market pull, which is a demand from people drives the creation of new products.

And technology push, when new innovations or advancements in technology drive the creation of new products.

There are two parts to the lesson today, "Product development" and "Product evolution." We're going to start with "Product development." Let's begin.

Product development is the steps used to create or improve a product.

Designers will use a design process to support this.

It is not a quick process and can require a team of designers.

Often this design process will consist of five main stages.

These are empathise, define, ideate, prototype, and test.

Here we have a check for understanding.

Identify the stages that are included in the design process for product development.

Is it A, prototype; B, develop; C, empathise; or D, renew? Pause the video and have a go.

Wonderful, let's check.

That's right, it's both A and C.

It's prototype and empathise, well done.

Product development can be challenging, messy and frustrating.

A clear pathway forward is usually discovered later on in the process.

Here we can see the design process scribble and the five stages of product development.

Product development includes empathise, define, ideate, prototype, and test.

Here we have a check for understanding.

What are the missing stages in the design process used for product development? Pause the video and have a go at filling in the gaps.

Fantastic, let's check.

That's right, define comes after empathise, followed by ideate, and then, after prototype, it's test, well done.

When designing something, we need to think about the people who will use it.

These people are called users.

User-centered design, sometimes abbreviated to UCD, is all about putting the user first.

It means thinking about what they need, what they like, and what's important to them at every step of the design process.

This is showing empathy for the user.

Define.

Part of the product development process is to identify a specific problem that affects your user.

"What is the problem? Why is it important to the user?" are questions that you might ask at this stage.

"How will solving it help?" is another question you may ask at this stage.

Defining your focus and narrowing your options supports creation.

Ideate.

Ideating is generating lots of ideas that could solve the problem defined.

One option is to use an iterative design cycle to come up with ideas before refining them down to ones to take forward to the next stage.

There are still many unknowns at this stage.

Here we have a check for understanding.

Ideate is to generate many.

A, problems; B, ideas; C, final solutions; or D, users.

Pause the video and have a go.

Fantastic, let's check.

That's right, it's B, ideas, well done.

Prototype.

Prototyping is developing your designs and testing that they work, often using physical models.

Making models enables designers to learn from them.

Designers use them to quickly work out what works and doesn't.

Test.

Testing occurs throughout the product development process to ensure the solution meets the user's needs and wants.

Testing can include various methods, such as user feedback and product testing.

An example of a product developed for new parents is the baby feeding bottle.

Here we can see a picture of a feeding bottle, and here we can see the separate components of that bottle.

An important component is the bottle teat.

The feeding bottle.

To empathise, the context is childbirth and feeding, and the users are mothers and babies.

The define stage.

The need to feed the infants who cannot feed from their mothers.

And ideate.

Wet nurses, animal horns, sponges, bottles, and teats.

Prototype.

Different prototype designs for bottles and teats are created.

Test.

Rigorous user testing, including functionality, suitable materials, and safety of the bottles and teats.

We now move to Task A.

Practise the product development process by completing the following.

One, think of something that annoys or frustrates you in everyday life.

Two, write a short sentence explaining the problem.

Three, find or think of one or two examples of how this problem is currently solved.

Four, identify what works well and what does not.

And five, sketch a new idea for a solution to the problem.

Pause the video and have a go.

Wonderful.

Let's see how you got on.

Jacob says, for part one, "An everyday thing that annoys me is how much mess my two-year-old little brother makes when eating." And for part two, Jacob says, "He eats lots of snacks.

This could be at home, in his pram, or travelling in his car seat.

He creates lots of mess and crumbs, especially in the car, and this mess can get left and make the car smell." For part three, Jacob says, "Some examples of products that exist already to address this problem are products like snack bags, lunch boxes, bibs with food catchers, and even car vacuum cleaners." For part four, Jacob says, "Snack bags and lunch boxes are great at carrying the food but don't stop the crumbs from getting all over him and the car.

The food-catcher bibs have to be worn and then only catch larger bits of food.

Vacuum cleaners clean the crumbs really well.

Vacuum cleaners clean the crumbs really well, but this has to be done by a grownup when the journey is over." And for part five, "Here is a quick idea I just thought of.

A kids car crumb vacuum cleaner.

A small and light car vacuum that enables the baby or child to clean their own crumbs up during a car journey.

This will also provide fun and entertainment." Well done.

We now move to the second part of our lesson, "Product evolution." Once a product is successfully developed, it often undergoes a series of evolutionary stages aimed at improving the product.

These stages of product evolution can originate from two reasons.

Market pull, which is when the demand of people drives the creation of a new product; and technology push, when new innovations or advancements in technology drive the creation of new products.

Here we have a check for understanding.

A market pull happens.

A, when the demand of people drives the creation; B, if a new technology is invented; or C, when businesses create demand.

Pause the video and have a go.

Fantastic, let's check.

That's right, it's A, when the demand of people drives creation.

An example of a product evolution originating from a market pull is the Ford Model T, and we can see a picture here of that car.

This vehicle was created to meet the growing market demand for affordable and reliable cars for personal transportation.

Another reason that prompts a product evolution is a technology push.

A technology push happens when new innovations or advancements in technology drive the creation of new products or services.

Here we have a check for understanding.

A technology push happens when, A, the demand of people drives it; B, a product is designed based on user feedback; or C, new innovations or advancements in technology drive the creation.

Pause the video and have a go.

Fantastic, let's check.

That's right, it's C, new innovations or advancements in technology drive the creation, well done.

An example of a product evolution that has originated from a technology push is a personal cassette player like the Sony Walkman.

The technological development of compact cassette technology and portable audio innovations drove Sony to create the Walkman.

Designing is creative at every stage, not just when coming up with brand new innovative ideas.

Creativity is also shown in solving problems, improving or evolving existing products, and making designs more user-friendly, sustainable or affordable.

Below are three stages involved in the product evolution of the baby and children's nappy.

Number one was a cloth nappy with a pin.

Number two was a disposable nappy.

And number three, a reusable nappy.

The origins of each stage of product evolution can be justified as a market pull, a technology push, or even both.

The cloth nappy with a pin.

The first types of baby nappies consisted of rags that were tied to hold them together.

With the invention of the safety pin in 1887, the nappy evolved to a cloth nappy being secured with a safety pin.

This evolutionary step can be credited as a technology push.

The disposable nappy.

Cloth nappies required frequent washing and soaking.

It was a labor-intensive process without modern washing machines.

The invention of absorbent paper materials and later super-absorbent polymers made it possible to create lightweight, highly effective nappies.

Disposable nappies offered a single-use, throwaway solution, saving parents significant time and effort.

This evolutionary step can be credited as a market pull and a technology push.

Here we have a check for understanding.

Read the sentence and complete it by adding the missing words.

Pause the video and have a go.

Wonderful, let's check.

Disposable nappies offered a single-use, throwaway solution, saving parents and carers significant time and effort.

Well done.

The reusable nappy.

Disposable nappies contribute significantly to landfill waste.

A single baby can use 6,000 disposables before potty training.

Many parents and carers are choosing reusable options to reduce their environmental footprint and cut down on plastic waste and non-biodegradable materials.

This evolutionary step can be credited as a market pull.

We now move to Task B.

Predict how a well-known product could evolve in the future.

Part one, name the product.

Part two, identify a possible future evolutionary step due to a market pull.

Part three, identify a possible future evolutionary step due to a technology push.

You may sketch and use annotation or write your answer.

Pause the video and have a go.

Fantastic, let's have a look at some of the answers you may have come up with.

Your answer could be a pencil.

A possible future evolutionary step due to a market pull for a pencil could be developing a smart pencil with multiple functions, like a way of assisting handwriting.

A possible future evolutionary step due to a technology push for a pencil could be the development of a material that does not go blunt.

A pencil you never have to sharpen.

Well done.

We now have a summary of our learning today.

Product development is the steps used to create or improve a product.

Designers will use a design process to support this, consisting of the stages empathise, define, ideate, prototype, and test.

Product development can be challenging, messy and frustrating.

A clear pathway forward is usually discovered later on in the process.

Product evolution originates from two reasons.

A market pull is when the demand of people drives the creation of new product, and a technology push is when new innovations or advancements in technology drive the creation of new products.

I'm so pleased you could join me for our lesson today.

Thank you and well done.