Towards an Approach Integrating Various Levels of Data Analytics to Exploit Product-Usage Information in Product Development

Abstract

By applying data analytics to product usage information (PUI) from combinations of different channels, companies can get a more complete picture of their products’ and services’ Mid-Of-Life. All data, which is gathered within the usage phase of a product and which relates to a more comprehensive understanding of the usability of the product itself, can become valuable input. Nevertheless, an efficient use of such knowledge requires to setup related analysis capabilities enabling users not only to visualize relevant data, but providing development related knowledge e.g. to predict product behaviours not yet reflected by initial requirements.The paper elaborates on explorations to support product development with analytics to improve anticipation of future usage of products and related services. The discussed descriptive, predictive and prescriptive analytics in given research context share the idea and overarching process of getting knowledge out of PUI data. By implementation of corresponding features into an open software platform, the application of advanced analytics for white goods product development has been explored as a reference scenario for PUI exploitation.

Identify Critical Data During Product Customisation – A Case Study of Orthoses Fabrication

“…However, since information required for product development which defines parameters of products is usually shown as single values (dimensions, colours etc. ), it is a challenge to narrow down and target the most valuable data (Klein et al, 2019). Thus, distinguishing, identifying and understanding crucial data with high influence on the customisation process from a large database is an essential for manufacturers, in order to customise their products efficiently.…”

Data-Driven Design Challenges in the Early Stages of the Product Development Process

“…It enables the possibility to continuously improve the design of products and to better meet the users' needs (Chowdhery et al 2020). Indeed, product information usage can provide relevant knowledges and valuable inputs to designers in the product development process (Klein et al 2019). For example, Lützenberger et al (2016) proposed a use case designing bearings for a washing machine.…”

The Impact of Data on the Role of Designers and Their Process

“…On the other hand, data generated in vast quantities from many connected products, services and systems, opens up opportunities for data collection and analysis at scale, providing precise and timely insights on human behaviour (Feinberg, 2017;Lazer et al, 2009;Thorpe et al, 2017). In design, this 'big' data is commonly used in the analysis of customer reviews (Suryadi and Kim, 2019) or product usage (Klein et al, 2019). Despite their distinct characteristics, 'big' and 'thick' data can offer a comprehensive understanding of users, their behaviours and context Pavliscak (2015).…”