Understanding Successful Product Development
Engineers respond to the needs of the consumer while designers respond to the desires of the customer.
This simple statement encompasses the difference in priorities between a product that is only engineered and a product that is engineered and designed.
When creating a product to sell, it is not the collection of parts alone that wins the sale, it is the acceptance of its appearance.
As a manufacturer you compete on the needs, but you sell on the attraction.
For the sake of discussion let’s underscore a difference between a customer and a consumer, even though at some point in the buying process they become one.
The consumer will realize he needs a new truck, one that has certain characteristics that suit his needs. Such things might be four wheel drive, substantial pulling power, a larger cab, etc.
Because he found more than one brand of truck that would meet his needs, he just has to decide which one he prefers.
Now the buying decision becomes based on the attraction to the product.
Once he settles on the one he is attracted to, the consumer becomes a customer.
In short, it was not the “needs” that sold the customer, the needs merely qualified the product for consideration. The purchase decision was finalized by the attraction to the product.
In some cases your product’s design appearance can become so appealing that it pulls the customer in, even before he considers his “needs”.
As a manufacturer you can work very hard to create a product that does an exceptional job fulfilling the needs that it is intended to fulfill, but if it doesn’t look like something your customer wants to own you’ll lose the sale to a more appealing product.