In this section some possible responses are outlined to the challenges posed by smart products.

A knowledge framework for smart design

The key to the design process for smart products is the effective management of all the disparate areas of expertise. This not only involves explicit formal knowledge that you find written down in blueprints or manuals. It also involves other less recognised types of knowledge which may support the expertise of the designers. For example, much useful information is held in the experience and memories of the people working on the project: this is often called "tacit knowledge". Other useful information is held in the databases and filing cabinets of the organisation itself, and essentially registered in the working context, as knowledge relevant to the particular design process followed.

As well as managing the expertise in the design process itself, the design of smart products requires the careful management of the various forms of knowledge found in the user contexts as well. This is because of the interactive nature of smart products. The products themselves interact and communicate with the users and their environment - the domestic household in the case of smart consumer products, for example. Some smart products will require consideration of other relevant contexts and environments. Car navigation systems for instance need to take into consideration roads, traffic characteristics and local geography.

The task is made even more complex by the multiplicity of different user contexts, and the probable need to draw on the different bodies of knowledge typically required in the development of smart technologies. Different assumptions in different contexts usually lead to different patterns of action and reaction. Design for smart products will be most effective when these varying contexts and patterns are anticipated or accommodated. For instance, the use of a hotline for continuing the education of the user-population and continuous feedback about product performance is now a standard approach. Ideally this needs to be designed at the outset, as an intrinsic part of the overall smart design process.

Designing for use

In conventional design, the designer's main focus is the product itself. With smart products, however, the major focus is the interactivity between the product and the user. This requires a thorough understanding of the user.

Traditionally, of course, good designers have always understood the users of their products, but usually in intuitive ways. Often, the designer's own personal responses are the implicit model for the general user. Market research can provide indications about what particular features people want. And specific customer requirements can be communicated to the technicians refining the design through methodologies such as Quality Function Deployment (QFD).

But the design of smart products demands far better understanding of users; not only what users want but also how they will behave and respond in different contexts and under a variety of different conditions. We can expect to see the development of more explicit and detailed models of user behaviour and interaction. These will probably build on the foundations set by ergonomics and cognitive ergonomics.

In addition, designers of smart products have to understand the complex and dynamic nature of use, the dimensions of use, usability, usefulness and usage, and how these interrelate. They have to anticipate and accommodate the varying ways in which the products are likely to be interpreted and used. Unfortunately, these are difficult to get at through the more traditional approaches of market research, and require active experimentation with cross sectional samples of users. Prototyping, piloting and beta testing (as used in software development) are advisable, if not necessary. Indeed, provision for the continuing education and support of the user communities, and for the continuing refinement of the product over its lifecycle, by means of a helpline, has already been found useful.

Managing teams to design smart products

Managing expertise and knowledge
Knowledge management is especially relevant for the design of smart products. Some of the major issues addressed include the:

• importance of information and communication technologies
• problem of identifying and measuring knowledge assets
• importance of looking after Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) via patents, copyright, registered design and trademarks, etc.
• need for appropriate organisational structures for knowledge work
• problem of control when those being managed are more knowledgeable than their managers.

The appropriate organisational structure for the successful management of knowledge is more "organic" than "mechanistic," meaning that

• people are organised into groups or teams according to what they know
• there is greater emphasis on horizontal communication flows than vertical patterns of command and control
• teams are relatively autonomous and manage themselves and
• an individual's work varies and is dictated by the nature of the projects being dealt with.

This contrasts with the traditional hierarchical structure in which people do tightly predefined tasks and are allocated to very specific job categories.

Managing interdisciplinary teams
This is the key to successfully managing the design of smart products. Careful selection of teams is crucial. Individuals have to be chosen on the basis of what they know - what specialist expertise they bring to the team - and on how their respective thinking styles complement each other. The role of project manager, or team leader, is particularly sensitive, and the group dynamics of the team need to be understood - what has been described as the forming, storming, norming, performing and mourning cycle. Suitable resources have to be allocated and relevant boundaries (adherence to standards, company strategy etc) set. Finally, the setting of sufficiently challenging goals to maximise motivation and performance is critical.

Managing the wider interest groups involved
In designing smart products, designers typically will need to call upon the services of external suppliers of the new bodies of knowledge, so this knowledge can then be incorporated into the product. Designers have to consider the populations of users - who might be very diverse and come from quite different communities - to increase the potential of smart products for interaction with a wider environment. Unless there is sufficient alignment of interests between the respective suppliers, the final product is unlikely to be a success.

Finally, in common with any design activity, those managing the design process will need to monitor competitors, regulators and parties providing supporting or complementary services - such as the communications infrastructure. All of these various constituencies should be considered, and where necessary actively managed.

The management of this wider array of interest groups and communities is usually a background activity in conventional design. It only comes to the fore when a radical new departure is envisaged, necessitating new alliances or organisational arrangements. Such is typically the case with smart products, since they are very much at the beginning of their lifecycles. Moreover, because of the wider ramifications of smart products due to their interactive nature, a wider range of groups is likely to be involved. Smart housing is an example where it is very clear that a wider range of interests is engaged. An awareness of the relevant range of socio-technical constituents is only the starting point.

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