The cost of learning from failures and mistakes in product design: Reviewing the literature

Ali Shafqat*, Josef Oehmen, Torgeir Welo, Pelle Lundquist Willumsen

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingArticle in proceedingsResearchpeer-review

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Abstract

In the design phase of product development (PD) process, most new products face significant uncertainties and risks. Uncertainty is typically associated with a lack of information, while learning is a process that acquires information. Therefore, learning fast and at low cost decreases the uncertainty and increases the efficiency of the product design phase. This paper investigates the concept of the cost of learning in PD’s design phase. Reviewing the literature, we conceptualize the cost of learning and review the learning methods considering three aspects in the design phase of the PD process: (1) costs associated with learning from mistakes and failures, (2) learning methods and (3) categories of learners. This paper thus provides the conceptual foundations for future work to increase the efficiency of the PD process by reducing the cost of learning from mistakes and failures.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationProceedings of the 22nd International Conference on Engineering Design (ICED19)
EditorsSandro Wartzack, Benjamin Schleich
PublisherCambridge University Press
Publication date2019
Pages1653-1662
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2019
Event22nd International Conference on Engineering Design (ICED19) - Delft, Netherlands
Duration: 5 Aug 20198 Aug 2019

Conference

Conference22nd International Conference on Engineering Design (ICED19)
Country/TerritoryNetherlands
CityDelft
Period05/08/201908/08/2019
SeriesProceedings of the International Conference on Engineering Design
ISSN2220-4342

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