Importance of upstream design in product development and its methodology

It is said that 80% of all life-cycle costs of the product are fixed at the product planning and the design stages. Design is thus an important element of product development. On the other hand, the design greatly depends on the designer's abilites, and so-called standardization is insufficient It is therefore necessary to clarify what the requirements are at the design stage in order to development a product strategically and efficiently. This keynote speech introduces the design for X (DfX) methodology for strategic product development. DfX is a systematic activity at the planning to conceptualization stages of product development that (1) analyzes the nature of the project, (2) identifies effective design tools and activities (the "X" in "DfX"), and (3) guides the deployment of these tools in the subsequent development stages.