For this activity:

You will need to write down your answers in your Mahara e-portfolio.

Read the following case study and answer the questions below

Case Study

Almost all companies will say that they listen to their customers and find out what they want before they design products and services. However, some experts think that most companies do not go anywhere near far enough in giving customers real influence over the final design.

Rather than design for customers, increasingly design is being carried out with customers, or even by customers.

There are many opportunities for customers to contribute. For example, some of the 100,000 and more visitors at the Boeing Tour Center in Everett, Washington contribute to the design of Boeing aircraft interiors.

Boeing, has teamed up with Teague, a Seattle firm that designs Boeing airplane interiors, to establish the Passenger Experience Research Center adjacent to the normal tour center.” The purpose of the research is two fold,’says the company.” To influence the design of airplane interiors with input from actual users, and to provide our airline customers with valuable information that will help them select their interiors. We like to do this kind of research to find out what passengers prefer rather than designing interiors according to what we think passengers might want.

After being measured in an outer lobby, participants are given hand-held remote-control devices and shown their assigned airplane seats. A survey is shown on the screen at the front of the cabin and participants answer a series of multiple choice questions, submitting their answers using the remote control ‘’It’s not hard to get volunteers,’says the company.’People are happy to have a choice to make their preferences known.’

Questions

1. What do you think are the advantages and disadvantages of involving customers closely in the design process?

2. How could providers of education products adopt this idea?