Usability of Gadgets - Many are not Buying and Using Gadgets Due to Usability Problems

Many electronic gadgets are coming with touch screens and various buttons. Even the mobiles have many buttons. Many find it difficult to remember the functions of various buttons and use the gadgets. Hence they do not use the gadgets. Can a more universal system be designed so that people will not have difficulty.

Passwords are another problem. There are so many websites that want one to register, create a user name and password. How one is going to remember all those user names and passwords. One thing good is that now many are using facebook, twitter and gmail ids and passwords as access facilitators for their websites. This is to an extent solved the problem.

Usability of websites is an issue under examination, Jacob Nielsen is a guru in this field. The site maintained by Nielsen (http://www.useit.com/) has a wealth of information on the topic.

Reference
Online Marketing: A Customer Led Approach, Richard Gay et al. Pp.282-83.

New Product Development Management - Bibliography

Product Management is an organizational function dealing with the product planning, development, and marketing, for all product lines, at all stages of the product life cycle.

( http://demandmetric.wordpress.com/2008/08/06/product-management-tools-and-techniques/   )

New product management is a function dealing with the new product planning, new product development and new product marketing.

New Product Development - Body of Knowledge
http://www.npd-solutions.com/bok.html
Gives a list of concepts, tools and techniques which are required in new product development.

Achieving fast cycle time in new product development
http://www.europa.com/~preston/

Brainstorming for new product development
http://www.innovationtools.com/Articles/EnterpriseDetails.asp?a=192

SUCCESSFUL EXECUTION OF PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS:
THE EFFECTS OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT FORMALITY, AUTONOMY
AND RESOURCE FLEXIBILITY
MOHAN V. TATIKONDA,  STEPHEN R. ROSENTHAL
http://om.aomonline.org/dyn/award/tatik.pdf

NPD COMPLEXITY AND TECHNOLOGY NOVELTY AS ANTECEDENTS OF DESIGNMANUFACTURING
INTEGRATION: EFFECTS ON PRODUCT DESIGN QUALITY
MORGAN SWINK, DONGSONG ZENG
http://om.aomonline.org/dyn/award/swink.pdf

Design, Risk and New Product Development in Five Small Creative Companies
http://www.ijdesign.org/ojs/index.php/IJDesign/article/view/218/145

Time Management in New Product Development - Case Study
http://home.kelley.iupui.edu/tatikond/webpage/Publications/H_Time%20Management%20in%20New%20Product%20Development_Case%20Study%20Findings.pdf
http://www.urenio.org/medicube/administration/documents/NPD%20Stage%201.html

Identifying, Interacting and Involving Consumer Innovators

Consumer use products innovatively and marketers are observing consumer usage of their products to identify the innovative uses and if found interesting to extend the product's unplanned use over a larger market. Consumer innovation as a concept extends it to consumer adding some attributes to the manufacturer's product to give him additional benefits. Many consumers are doing it and then some of his friends may like and copy it.

Eric von Hippel, Susumu Ogawa and Jeroen P.J. de Jong authored a paper in Sloan Management Review with the title "The Age of the Consumer-Innovator" and gave the results of their surveys on consumer innovators.(http://sloanreview.mit.edu/the-magazine/2011-fall/53105/the-age-of-the-consumer-innovator/  )

Companies have to now consider consumer innovation as significant and put in place procedures to identify the innovators, interact with them and if found interesting to involve them developing the innovation further commercially.

Sustainability at Electrolux

Our products are designed with sustainability in mind—to protect health, enhance life quality and be energy and water-efficient.

As one of seven components of the Thoughtful Design Innovator strategy, sustainability is among the core criteria applied to our Integrated Product Development Process.

http://group.electrolux.com/en/innovation-955/

Global Annual Design Competition by Electrolux - 2012

The brief for Electrolux Design Lab 2012 challenges design students to draw inspiration from professional experience creators (chefs, architects, interior designers, hotel designers etc.) to design home appliances that will provide a fuller sensory experience. It might be through state of the art technology or it might be through a clever blend of textures and surfaces

Entrants will also need to consider the heritage of Electrolux. Submissions should reflect Scandinavian Design values by being sensitive to the environment, providing intuitive ease of use and aesthetic appeal.

Eight finalists will each be invited to participate in a final event in the autumn of 2012 held within a European city (to be announced) to present their individual concept to a jury of expert designers. The jury will consider entries based on intuitive design, innovation, aesthetic qualities and consumer insight when awarding the first prize of a six-month paid internship at an Electrolux global design centre and 5,000 Euros. A second prize of 3,000 Euros and third prize of 2,000 Euros are also on offer.

Deadline for entry is 23:59 CET June 1, 2012
http://www.electroluxdesignlab.com/2011/11/electrolux-design-lab-2012-theme-design-experience/