Publisher's Synopsis
The concept of product phases is related to the economic (or marketing) product life cycle (m-plc) - both consist of six phases. Introducing product phases opens up the possibility of analyzing the relationships between the different fields of industrial design: ergonomics, marketing, construction, and styling. The styling of a product can be analyzed in relation to its (primary and secondary) functionality, its ergonomic qualities, its production technology, and the marketing techniques that are used to sell the product. This book proposes six qualitative product phases - performance, optimization, itemization, segmentation, individualization, and awareness - that are complementary to the (essentially quantitative) phases of the product life cycle. Placed in chronological order, a more-or-less general pattern reveals itself, enabling the possibility of explaining and predicting a product's development. Each product phase can be described in product characteristic terms which apply to the product itself to: its market, its production technology, the services that accompany the product, and the ethical aspects of the product in question.
