Product dissection
From DDL Wiki
Products are generally taken apart in order to:
- Develop an understanding of a competitor's product for benchmarking
- Analyze the product for reverse engineering
- Developing general knowledge and intuition about design
Contents |
Product Study
Before dissecting the product, it is useful to take a close look at the product and describe / document it formally.
- What is the purpose of the product? (Ex: Consumers don't need drills, they need holes)
- What does it do?
- How is it used?
- What needs does the customer have for this product?
- How does it function (from what you can see so far)?
- What are the inputs and outputs in terms of materials, energy, and information?
- Use the product yourself and then observe another person using the product. If possible, observe a representative user who is not involved in studying the product.
- Document the product's intended function as well as how it is used with pictures and descriptions (consider making a flow chart), and make notes of annoyances, limitations, and opportunities for improvement.
- Identify different groups of users who may have different needs from the user you first identified (for example, on the basis of anthropometry, age, physical or cognitive ability, different use scenarios, etc.) Document important differences in user needs and product functionality.
- Identify other stakeholders besides the end user, such as those who manufacture, distribute, sell, purchase, assist, install, maintain, repair and manage the product's end of life. Document attributes of the product that affect these stakeholders.
Dissection
Dissection should be done in small steps - usually removal of a single component in each step - while documenting after each step with photographs and measurement. The function of components can often be determined intuitively, but a systematic approach is to remove a single component and observe the behavior of the remaining assembly without the component. The difference in behavior when the component is present or not present helps describe the function.
Photograph each component and document its function, interactions with other components, material, weight, and likely manufacturing processes. Be sure to strip all assemblies down to fundamental components or clearly identify any assemblies that you do not disassemble as assemblies with multiple components.
Documentation
Documentation of the dissection process is important for records and communication of learnings. It is common to photograph each component and the remaining product assembly each time a component is removed. A bill of materials may also be constructed containing information about each component, such as:
| Part # | Part name | QTY | Weight (g) | Function | Manufacturing Process | Material | Image |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 001 | Ceiling Bracket | 2 | 207 | Provides a base to secure pulley mounts to ceiling | Stamped and bent | Sheet steel | 
|
| 002 | U-Pulley Mount | 4 | 97 | Houses pulley assembly, mounts to ceiling bracket, provides support for pulley shaft | Stamped and bent | Sheet steel | 
|
| 003 | Pulley Wheel | 5 | 8 | Routes rope to provide mechanical advantage in lifting bike | Injection molded | Plastic | 
|
