Design Futures
Future Product Ecosystems : discovering the value of connections
Tim Williams, Marianell Chamorro-Koc
Queensland University of Technology, Australia (2)
tim.williams@qut.edu.au
Keywords: industrial design, product ecosystem theory, innovation theory, internet of things.
Abstract
Product Ecosystem Theory is an emerging approach to help understand the value networks that exist between products within a system. As products become increasingly interconnected, understanding the value that is gained from those connections becomes ever more important. This paper explores the concept of product ecosystems and how this concept can be employed in mapping current products’ evolution as well as that of new product conceptual development. Case studies using both hindsight from historical design and foresight from new product propositions reveal the different connections that take place or need to be considered in the emerging landscape of product ecosystems. This paper seeks to contribute to Product Ecosystem Theory through a discussion of the literature and analysis of emerging connections within a product ecosystem revealed in selected examples, as well as by proposing a conceptual tool to help map out products’ value networks.
This paper is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International licence.
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Cite this paper: Williams,T., Chamorro-Koc, M. (2016). Future Product Ecosystems : discovering the value of connections. Proceedings of DRS 2016, Design Research Society 50th Anniversary Conference. Brighton, UK, 27–30 June 2016.
This paper will be presented at DRS2016, find it in the conference programme