From a digitalization perspective, designers can use this process to create viable products for the marketplace. A comprehensive digital twin<\/a> can allow for constant feedback in both the digital and real-world environment, leading to products optimized for performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n West\u2019s \u2018get open\u2019 concept stems from his time as a design consultant when businesses came to him and asked his team to help with the design of a new product. He would often ask if it was the best idea but found that this question was irrelevant because it was already budgeted for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n These were not usually human-centered product ideas yet because there were always potential issues. West would want to ensure the millions of dollars the businesses were investing was a good idea. It seems obvious but many companies try to mitigate risk by designing a new product first rather than initially determining what the market actually needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But West found it important to acknowledge at the beginning of the process that you didn\u2019t know if it was a good investment yet, and that this had to be figured out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf you knew what you were doing, it wouldn\u2019t be innovation. The essence of innovation is you don\u2019t know what it is you\u2019re doing. So, acknowledge it up front and accept the risk,\u201d West shares on a recent episode of The Future Car: A Siemens Podcast<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Innovation isn\u2019t about great technology but rather about solving problems. But first, you need to understand the problem – this is human-centered design. Customers are generally not going to tell you explicitly what they want. Instead, the designer should explore what\u2019s important in the customers\u2019 lives and get insights into what\u2019s working or not working for them. From there, the designer can determine what the customer will want in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Innovation comes from asking questions. So West asked, \u201cWhat\u2019s the better way to clean a floor?\u201d in order to tease out which problem needed to be solved.<\/p>\n\n\n \u201cThat\u2019s a fundamental contradiction there. Aha! That\u2019s an insight,\u201d West shares.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Initially, expert detergent chemists wanted to make floor cleaning detergents better, after spending a few hours with the moppers, they soon realized that there was nothing for them to do. That wasn\u2019t the problem they needed to solve. Instead, Swiffer became a product that could pick up dirt extremely well but didn\u2019t have to be cleaned. It became disposable and therefore a repeat business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the 1990s, West and his team observed how people cleaned floors, took note of their process and observed areas of opportunity. Through feedback and testing, he saw that people cleaned the floor, and then had to clean the mop. And the better the mop was at picking up dirt, the more difficult it was to clean the dirt off the mop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Human-centered design starts with listening and observing potential customers before innovating the next great solution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Today, there is a relentless drive for quality because any problems regarding the usability of a product is no longer \u201cthe fault of the customer\u201d, but rather the manufacturer. That\u2019s because there are usually so many available resources to explain how to use a product, that if the customer still can\u2019t figure it out, it\u2019s the manufacturer\u2019s problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Product designers must have access to as much feedback as possible during the development process to help optimize performance and keep costs low. Companies are even releasing minimally viable products (MVP), especially apps, to get feedback and see where they may be stumbling. Obviously, releasing a car has a high capital cost and wouldn\u2019t be accepted in the marketplace as an MVP that needed constant updates and improvements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With a comprehensive digital twin though, which combines the real world and digital world, designers can now access a wealth of continuous data and gain actionable insights that leads to better-informed decisions.<\/p>\n\n\n Products are also filled with complexity as more become smarter and connected. Designers must consider the varying domains, such as mechanical, electrical and software, to create a product that works cohesively and is beneficial to the customer. Removing the silos increases collaboration amongst design teams and helps ensure that all stakeholders work from a single source of truth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Finally, in a report analyzing digital transformation initiatives, it was concluded that the most progressive companies created 20 percent fewer prototypes in development. This lowers the costs of designing, speeds up time-to-market and reduces errors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Siemens Xcelerator<\/a> software for industry makes digital transformation easy, fast and at scale. It allows for companies to not just design products and production, but also build it based on human-centered product design and manufacturing. With simulation software, for instance, designers can discover issues related to how a product is used and ensure safety and comfort. Whether it\u2019s a piece of heavy machinery, a factory floor or a vacuum cleaner, human-centered design and manufacturing is a process companies must consider.<\/p>\n\n\n\nExploring new ideas for products<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Human-Centered Design: The Swiffer Story<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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