What makes a product competitive?
A product is competitive when customers prefer it to other products that do a similar job. Customers compare value (what the product does for them: function, quality, comfort, looks, service) with price (what it costs them to buy and use).
A simple idea: competitiveness rises when value ÷ price rises. A company can raise value, lower cost, or do both. The next sections show the main tools.
Types of innovation
Innovation means putting a new or improved idea into use. The main types:
Incremental innovation: a small step, such as a lighter battery in the same phone. Radical (breakthrough) innovation: a big jump, such as the first smartphone. Process innovation: a cheaper or faster way to make the same product. Marketing or organisational innovation: a new way to sell or run the business, such as online shops or pay-per-use.
Technological innovation changes the product or the process. Each type changes performance, cost or the number of customers in a different way, as the grey and coloured bars show.
Patents, standards and industrial property
Industrial property is the set of legal rights over ideas used in business: patents (for technical inventions), designs (for the look of a product), trademarks (for names and logos).
A patent gives the owner the sole right to make and sell the invention for up to about 20 years, in return for publishing how it works. After that, anyone may use it. To get a patent the idea must be new, not obvious, and useful in industry.
Standards are different. They are shared rules, for example for sizes, safety and connectors, so products from many makers work together. A standard helps competition because everyone can build compatible products. Sometimes a patent is part of a standard, and its owner must license it fairly.
Ergonomics: comfort, efficiency, safety
Ergonomics fits a product to the people who use it. It aims at three things.
Comfort: no pain or strain, for example a handle that suits the hand. Efficiency: the job is done with less effort and fewer errors, for example buttons within reach. Safety: the user cannot easily get hurt, for example a grip that does not slip.
Designers use body measurements of many people (not only one) and test with real users. A handle of about 30 to 35 mm suits most adult hands, but a tool for children needs a smaller one.
Function, cost and need: finding the trade-off
The need is what the customer really wants done. A function is something the product does. Each function adds cost.
The first features meet the need strongly. Later features add little but still cost money. In the 3D, need met rises with each feature but more and more slowly, while cost rises in a steady line. So value (need met ÷ cost) goes up, reaches a peak and then goes down.
This is the idea behind value analysis: list every function, ask if the customer needs it, and drop or simplify the ones that cost more than they are worth. Over-featured products lose to simpler ones.
Function versus environmental impact
Each added function needs more materials, energy and parts, so it adds environmental impact: more resources used, more waste and more emissions.
Designers compare impact per year of use: total impact ÷ product life. A product used for 8 years has a far smaller yearly impact than a similar product that breaks in 2 years. So durability, repairability and recycling raise competitiveness for customers who care about the planet, and for companies that must follow rules.
A good design keeps only the functions that matter, uses less material and lasts longer.
Try it: judge two products
Pick two similar products at home, such as two water bottles. Score each from 1 to 5 for function, comfort, price and expected life. Which has the better value-to-price? Which has the lower impact per year? Check your thinking with the sliders in the 3D.
Key formulas and definitions
- Competitiveness idea: value ÷ price
- Patent protection: up to about 20 years
- Value (3D model) = need met ÷ cost, where cost = 1 + 0.9 × features
- Impact per year = total impact ÷ product life (years)
Worked examples
1. Product A has value 8 and price 6. Product B has value 6 and price 3. Which is more competitive?
A: 8 ÷ 6 = 1.33. B: 6 ÷ 3 = 2.00. B is more competitive.
2. A patent is granted in 2008 for 20 years. In which year does the protection end?
2008 + 20 = 2028.
3. In the 3D model cost = 1 + 0.9 × features. Find the cost for 4 features and the extra cost of going from 4 to 5 features.
Cost(4) = 1 + 3.6 = 4.6. Cost(5) = 1 + 4.5 = 5.5. Extra = 0.9.
4. A product has total impact 4.8 and a life of 2 years. A tougher version has the same impact but lasts 8 years. Compare impact per year.
First: 4.8 ÷ 2 = 2.4 per year. Second: 4.8 ÷ 8 = 0.6 per year. The long-life version has a quarter of the yearly impact.
Common mistakes
- Thinking the cheapest product is always the most competitive. Customers also weigh value and life.
- Mixing up a patent (one owner, time-limited) and a standard (shared rule for everyone).
- Believing more features always make a better product. Extra features cost money and add impact.
- Thinking ergonomics is only about looks. It is about comfort, efficiency and safety for real users.