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Hybridizing physical product development: Experts propose new hybrid framework could address current issues

Increasing complexity, evolving consumer expectations, and tightened development timelines means that physical product development increasingly comes unstuck when conventional methodologies are used. The predominant systems engineering frameworks have structure and predictability, but often falter when innovation is needed to fill the gap in modern markets.

Companies have turned to agile approaches to help them transform their approach to software development, for instance. But, there are major obstacles to the adoption of that kind of approach for the development of physical products, where material constraints, prototyping costs, and supply chain integration are always critical factors.

A new hybrid framework is in the Journal of Design Research that might address some of the issues. Frank Koppenhagen, Tobias Held, of Hamburg University of Applied Sciences in Hamburg, Tim Blümel of Porsche AG in Weissach, Paul D. Kollmer of the University of Hamburg, Germany, and Christoph H. Wecht of the New Design University in St. Pölten, Austria, describe a new model, Systematic Engineering-Design-Thinking (SEDT).

In this approach, the strengths of systems engineering are combined with the user-centric principles of design thinking to create a more adaptive and innovative product development pathway. SEDT builds on the Stanford University ME310 process, which has proven itself to some degree in academia and industry, but an expansion was always needed.

By integrating systematic exploration techniques from systems engineering, SEDT refines the ME310 framework to better support the development of solutions to problems. The result is a process capable of accommodating greater degrees of uncertainty and complexity, enabling teams to pursue transformative innovation rather than simply incremental improvement. The approach reimagines project structures to emphasize collaboration, fluidity, and cross-disciplinary interaction.

The next step is to test SEDT in both academic and industrial environments to determine its usefulness as a comprehensive framework for physical product innovation.