Design for Global Markets

In a global economy, no company can safely assume
that their products will be accepted in foreign
markets. The main challenge is to understand and meet
the latent needs of culturally diverse groups.
This book examines from users' perspective the issue
of developing new products for global markets. Given
that the primary goal of any design is to create
value for users, Boztepe argues that the concept of
user value could be a driving force in design
decision-making. Through interviews with women about
their kitchen practices and observations of their use
of kitchen appliances, she presents an ethnographic
account of users' value assignment to everyday
products as they interact with them. She also
examines the cultural elements involved in the
process of value assignment. Boztepe uses these
findings to propose a user-value-based adaptation
framework to assist marketers, product designers and
managers in dealing with the complex issue of
designing and tailoring products for local needs.

Autorentext

Suzan Boztepe is Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at Århus School ofArchitecture, Denmark. She has a Ph.D. in Strategic Design fromthe Institute of Design, Illinois Institute of Technology. Herresearch focuses on how design generates business value andinnovation, design policy, and user-centered design.

Klappentext

In a global economy, no company can safely assumethat their products will be accepted in foreignmarkets. The main challenge is to understand and meetthe latent needs of culturally diverse groups.This book examines from users' perspective the issueof developing new products for global markets. Giventhat the primary goal of any design is to createvalue for users, Boztepe argues that the concept ofuser value could be a driving force in designdecision-making. Through interviews with women abouttheir kitchen practices and observations of their useof kitchen appliances, she presents an ethnographicaccount of users' value assignment to everydayproducts as they interact with them. She alsoexamines the cultural elements involved in theprocess of value assignment. Boztepe uses thesefindings to propose a user-value-based adaptationframework to assist marketers, product designers andmanagers in dealing with the complex issue ofdesigning and tailoring products for local needs.