Product lifecycle, consumers and clients

Designers need to consider a product's maintenance and disposal requirements - the whole product life-cycle - not just the design and making phase. And products and innovations may have effects beyond just the individual who buys and uses them - they can impact on society at large or the environment.

Health and safety is a key factor in all areas of industry. You need to know what implications it has for both designers and manufacturers

Product lifecycle

Products don't disappear once they're sold - they last for a shorter or longer time, and will need to be maintained and disposed of safely at the end of their life. The designer needs to think about the expected length of life of a product, and about maintenance issues such as ease of replacement of batteries or the level of skill required to replace worn-out components - because all these things influence the design process.

Consumers

Energywatch

The people or organisations who purchase and use a product are called end-users or consumers. Without consumers who want a product and are prepared to buy it, there's not much point in designing or making it. So consumer demand - what consumers want or need in a product - is a key influence on product design. Moreover, consumers want to have a wide choice of products, so they can find one that suits their individual requirements.

Consumers have a lot of power. They have organisations to represent their interests - eg, The Consumers' Association and specialist organisations such as the Electricity Consumers' Council. They also have rights, enshrined in law, which give them a means of hitting back if necessary against those who have sold them wrongly-described or faulty goods. Enough said!

The client

The O2 Arena

Designers usually work for someone who pays them to solve a design problem. This is the client - and it is usually the client (an individual or a company) who gives the designer a design brief [design brief: a set of instructions given to a designer by a client. ], and turns his or her ideas into products for consumers in the market place. Since the client is paying, their wishes are also a key influence on product design.

For example, the designers of the O₂ arena, in London, the Richard Rogers Partnership, were working for the British government, which was their client. Note that the client is different from the user, who in this example was the general public (you and I). In the designing and building the Richard Rogers Partnership would have employed specialists, such as construction companies, thus becoming clients themselves.