PDD 3 Concept Selection

Concept Selection
Prof. Shrikumar M
What is concept selection?
 Concept selection is the activity in which various product concepts are analyzed and
sequentially eliminated to identify the most promising concept(s).
 The process usually requires several iterations and may initiate additional concept
generation and refinement.
Caselet
 A medical supply company retained a product design firm to develop a reusable syringe
with precise dosage control for outpatient use.
 One of the products sold by a competitor is shown in Exhibit.
 To focus the development effort, the medical supply company identified two major
problems with its current product: cost (the existing model was made of stainless steel) and
accuracy of dose metering.
 The company also requested that the product be tailored to the physical capabilities of the
elderly, an important segment of the target market.
Caselet
 To summarize the needs of its client and of the intended end users, the team established
seven criteria on which the choice of a product concept would be based:
 • Ease of handling.
 • Ease of use.
 • Readability of dose settings.
 • Dose metering accuracy.
 • Durability.
 • Ease of manufacture.
 • Portability.
Concept Sketches
Concept Sketches
Which concept?
 Although each concept nominally satisfied the key customer needs,

the team was faced with choosing the best concept for further
design, refinement, and production.
Why a concept selection process?
 A customer-focused product
 A competitive design
 Better product-process coordination
 Reduced time to product introduction
 Effective group decision making
 Documentation of the decision process
Two stages of concept selection
 Concept Screening: Sufficient for simple design process
 Concept Scoring
Concept Screening: A structured method
 1. Prepare the selection matrix.

 2. Rate the concepts.
 3. Rank the concepts.
 4. Combine and improve the concepts.
 5. Select one or more concepts.
 6. Reflect on the results and the process.
1. Prepare the selection matrix.
2. Rate the concepts
 A relative score of “better than” (+), “same as” (0), or “worse than” (–) is placed in each
cell of the matrix to represent how each concept rates in comparison to the reference
concept relative to the particular criterion.
 What is a reference concept? – Benchmark concept.
 The reference is generally either an industry standard or a straightforward concept with

which the team members are very familiar.
 It can be a commercially available product, a best-in-class benchmark product that the
team has studied, an earlier generation of the product, any one of the concepts under
consideration.
2. Rate the concepts
 It is generally advisable to rate every concept on one criterion before moving to the next
criterion.
 However, with a large number of concepts, it is faster to use the opposite approach—to rate
each concept completely before moving on to the next concept.
3. Rank the concepts.
 After rating all the concepts, the team sums the number of “better than,” “same as,” and
“worse than” scores and enters the sum for each category in the lower rows of the matrix.
 From our example in Exhibit 8-5, concept A was rated to have two criteria better than, five
the same as, and none worse than the reference concept.
 Next, a net score can be calculated by subtracting the number of “worse than” ratings from
the “better than” ratings. Once the summation is completed, the team rank-orders the
concepts.
3. Rank the concepts.
4. Combine and improve the concepts.
 Having rated and ranked the concepts, the team should verify that the results make sense
and then consider if there are ways to combine and improve certain concepts.
 Two issues to consider are:
 • Is there a generally good concept that is degraded by one bad feature? Can a minor
modification improve the overall concept and yet preserve a distinction from the other
concepts?
 • Are there two concepts that can be combined to preserve the “better than” qualities while
annulling the “worse than” qualities?
4. Reflect on the results and process
 All of the team members should be comfortable with the outcome.
 If an individual is not in agreement with the decision of the team, then perhaps one or more
important criteria are missing from the screening matrix, or perhaps a particular rating is in
error, or at least is not clear.
 An explicit consideration of whether the results make sense to everyone reduces the
likelihood of making a mistake and increases the likelihood that the entire team will be
solidly committed to the subsequent development activities.
Stage 2: Concept Scoring Method

PDD 3 Concept Selection

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Concept Selection

 Although each concept nominally satisfied the key customer needs,

 Concept Screening: Sufficient for simple design process

 1. Prepare the selection matrix.

 What is a reference concept? – Benchmark concept.

 The reference is generally either an industry standard or a straightforward concept with

 All of the team members should be comfortable with the outcome.

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