Product development

A client is someone who asks a designer to design a product; the product may be for themselves, or it may be for other people to buy (the user).

Client involvement in the design process:

• help build a consumer profile
• help identify shortcomings in existing products on the market
• consult about design ideas, sketches and prototype models.

How do you create a consumer profile?

You help to answer the following questions:

• who is the target market for the product? 
• what are the needs for the user?
• what sort of furniture do they already own?
• what sort of products do they use?
• what styles do they use?

The designer is a person, or a team of people, who design and develop a product for a client. A successful designer will analyse the design brief that the client gives them.

They will carry out initial research to identify the following:

• what is the exact function of the product?
• where is it going to be used?
• what sort of person is going to use the product?
• what sort of products are likely to appeal to the user?

From the information they gathered the designer will produce a more detailed brief or design specification. This will guide the designing that follows. 

The manufacturer is the person or group of people who make a product. Eg:

• a jewellery maker
• a small fctory
• a large company assembling hundreds of cars

The manufacturere work together to ensure the designer's ideas can actually be made. They will discuss:

• using standard cmponents to reduce the manufacturing costs
• reducing the number of components to reduce costs
• the skills available from the workforce
• the equipment needed to produce the product
• making sure the product complies with national and international standards
• the scale of production
• how the product can be manufactured safely.