Question

1. How does do frog's activities affect its ability to (a) maximize the fit with customer needs, (b) minimize development cycle time, and (c)control development costs?

2. What are the advantages and disadvantages of involving customers fairly early in the design process?

3. What are the pros and cons of using computer-aided design/manufacturing (CAD/CAM) and photorealistic renderings instead of functional prototypes in the development process?

4. Would frog’s approach be more suitable for some kinds of development projects than others? If so, what kinds would it be appropriate or inappropriate for?
   

Answer 1

How does do frog's activities affect its ability to (a) maximize the fit with customer needs, (b) minimize development cycle time, and (c)control development costs?

At frog, design meant more than creating new products. It wanted to help firms discover themselves and plan their strategic directions for the future. Frog engaged in three different activities－Evolving, Expanding and Envisioning. These activities took place with the customers’ involvement, which helped to improve the fit of the design based on the customers’ need. The development cycle involved the use of rapid prototyping with simple, non-functional mockups, which enabled faster evaluation and tuning of product features. Besides this, frog paid little attention to deadlines and budgets, this helped to focus more on creativity which in turn reduced development costs

What are the advantages and disadvantages of involving customers fairly early in the design process?

Advantages: Involving customers early in the design process helps to understand the customers at a deep, emotional level. In this way, it enhances the product according to the customers needs and requirements. Moreover, this could also help minimizing development costs and development cycle time. Disadvantage: One of the major disadvantages is the coordination between the customer and the project. Different inputs from different parties may cause a misleading objective of the product in the end. Another disadvantage is the detailed or elaborate model of the product which constrained consumers' suggestions for modification of the potential product

What are the pros and cons of using computer-aided design/manufacturing (CAD/CAM) and photorealistic renderings instead of functional prototypes in the development process?

The design team at frog uses design charrettes, which is a rapid design session where multiple designers participate to create a design solution using various tools. One such tool is (CAD/CAM) that created simple, rudimentary mockups. The pros of using such a tool helps to obtain the best feedback from the customers, which resulted in better product designs due to early identification of design priorities. It also helped save time and avoid costly rework. The cons of using (CAD/CAM), restricted customers’ to provide suggestions for modification of the potential product due to its complexity in its detailed features. Thus some customers preferences might not be captured

Would frog’s approach be more suitable for some kinds of development projects than others? If so, what kinds would it be appropriate or inappropriate for?

Being a design firm that has an approach that starts from its idea phase to the completion of a product, shows that it would be appropriate for some kinds of development projects such as: electronic product, mobile product, Internet services, the energy, healthcare, software computer, and media, among others. Its three phases (Discover, Design and Deliver) often focuses on customer suggestions about the product. Besides this, these phases connects aspects of the technology, brand and consumer experience in new ways.