The PDMA Handbook of New Product Development

24.4. General Product Design Situations

In formulating design strategy, it is imperative that the product design situation be considered. Product design situations, which have been discussed by various researchers (e.g., Gilles and Gilles, 1989; Veryzer, 1998), may be grouped into four general categories that reflect different considerations and challenges. These are:

• Renovative design: This involves the updating or overhaul of an existing product with little change with respect to the technology employed or the functionality delivered.

• Adaptive design: This involves adjusting an existing product to new circumstances or a changed situation (e.g., improvements in technological capabilities, reorienting the design direction of an existing product). In the more extreme cases, adaptive design can entail a drastic shift in the design direction of a product.

• Evolutionary design: Involves the design of new products, where the progression from previous products that exist is relatively continuous in terms of product capabilities delivered, the technology employed, and design direction (e.g., form and appearance).

• Discontinuous design: This involves a dramatic break in the progression from the course of previous products. Discontinuous design situations may be further subdivided into three cases: (1) primarily technological discontinuity (such products may be perceived as being essentially the same as previously existing products even though they utilize revolutionary new technology— solid ...