Markets and Competitors

Abstract

This chapter focuses on humans as consumers of products and services as well as participants in designing these products and services. Human-centered design is a process of considering and balancing the concerns, values, and perceptions of all the stakeholders in a design. Attributes of importance to stakeholders, and the functions that provide these attributes, can be modeled and explored to plan new products and services. Modeling tools that are independent but share representations and data can enable the formulation and exploration of these models. Model-based analyses should compare planned offerings to those of the competition, including the likely reactions of competitors to these offerings. The status quo is compelling because the customer already has it and knows how to use it, and it requires little if any additional expenditures.