Product Analysis

Question 1

What is useful to do when a designer is developing a new design?

Answer 1

When a designer is developing a new design, it is useful to analyse existing products to see how successful they have been and identify any areas in which they could be improved.

Product analysis is a key feature in researching and developing a new product and a key feature in the continuous improvement of a product.

Question 2

Why is researching existing products or products that are available on the market is a good place to look for inspiration for new products?

Answer 2

• You can determine how to make your product better than what is currently available on the market.
• You can find problems with existing products and design a new product that solves these problems.
• Most products that you buy are very rarely products that are a completely new invention

Question 3

What is considered during a product analysis?

Answer 3

• Aesthetics
• Cost
• Consumer
• Environment
• Safety
• Size
• Function
• Materials

Question 4

Why does analysing other products help the designer?

Answer 4

• it helps to avoid copying other designers’ work - this is called plagiarism
• it identifies features or aspects of existing products that could be improved, eg reducing the cost, adding extra features, making it easier or more comfortable to use, or making it look more attractive to certain groups
• it can identify technologies or ideas that could be transferred or applied to a new function or area

Question 5

What can the research from analysing existing products be used for? (JUST READ)

Answer 5

To inform your design specification and design ideas. It can also help work out the cost of manufacturing a product, including how much material is needed and what machinery is required. The percentage profit can be worked out from this and can be improved by lowering production costs, eg by using cheaper materials or fewer workers.