Over the last two days I attended the first two parts of a pilot programme on New Product Development at the London Metropolitan University. It is a module style course that helps start-ups, furniture designer/makers, and manufacturers pin points weaknesses and develop strengths in their product development. Pli being a company that focuses on effective product development both Christopher and I jumped at the chance to attend the free pilot of this programme.

Day One: Product strategy

We started with an introduction, then quickly moved on to the first module focusing on product strategy. Delivered by Matthew Lewis, from Furniture Works, we went through different elements of product strategy including, market placement and adding value to products. Some of these elements I knew well while others were gems of knowledge that cleared up various confusions I had been “living with” up until now.

It was hard to secure a lot of detail on the various topics talked about, mainly due to the wide range topics covered. The question-and-review time at the end of the day provided the most useful forum for specific questions. During this time I was able to gain a deeper knowledge on pricing, a field that has frustrated me for a while. I now see how the cost and value of a product are two very different things, which has given me a further insight into Pli’s pricing structure and where we should head in the future.

Another valuable discovery of the question-and-review section was the power of a round-table discussion. As a group, made up of like-minded companies, individual designers and industry experts, we were able to link ideas and technologies together quickly, with very promising solutions. Watch out for further development on the “round table discussion” idea at Furniture Works, a separate series of events was suggested and will hopefully come to fruition. So all in all a good first day.

Day Two: Roadmapping and market assessment

The second day was delivered by Clive Coker and Joe Simmons of the London Business School and focused on Roadmapping. Roadmapping is a tool that was created by the Cambridge School of Engineering and is used to explore the development of a product/service/idea to a pre-set goal. I found it a really interesting and useful structure system to work with. Unlike a more informal “brain-storming” session it has a heading structure and facilitator keeping the thinking focused and goal orientated.

Roadmapping’s other strength is how it brings together various disciplines from throughout the product development process, so barriers and potential issues can be highlighted and even solved before the occur. This collaborative and all-inclusive approach to product development is something we strongly agree with and will be a invaluable tool in for future product development projects, whether they are in-house or in a consultancy role. We did a dry run-through in the afternoon which was informative, but didn’t really capture the true potential of this form of planning.

Christopher is attending the day 3 module on Design Management. This module will look at the different roles/styles of a designer and (somewhat more worryingly for me) how to get the best out of a designer. It will be interesting to hear his feedback on this section.

Keep your blog-eyes pealed for more posts on the NPD programme, there are another 7 modules to run and Christopher or myself will be doing a quick summary on each during the next few weeks.