Hopefully Not or You'll Be Losing Sales. Here's How to Increase Product Durability and Guarantee Customer Satisfaction.

How many times have you bought a product because you needed it, came home, took it out of the package, and then had the product break the first time you tried to use it. It has happened all to often to me and it makes me very angry. I've often thought these types of products should be required to bear a label stating:

"For Maximum Product Satisfaction, Please Discard Before Using."

The term "durability" generally refers to the length of time a product will perform the task which you purchased it for, as compared to the length of time a similar or competitive product would perform the same task. Winning products have a lifespan which exceeds by at least one minute the purchaser's perception of how long the product should last.

A designer can usually make a product more durable by making it thicker, by using stronger materials than the competitor, or by using individual components which are designed to last longer. The tradeoff is COST, either in materials, labor or both. When evaluating the durability of a product, it's most important to make a judgment as to whether the prospective customer will want to pay an additional cost in order to have the product last longer.

A good example might be a plastic fork for use at picnics. Many times, I have picked up one of these products and immediately "blew it up" trying to cut a steak or a potato. Granted, it makes me angry, but I simply get another one and hardly miss a stroke.

If you asked me would I LIKE to have a stronger plastic fork, I would certainly say, "Yes." However, if you asked me if I would be willing to PAY MORE for the fork, I would respond with a definite, "No."

The designers of the forks know this and so design them to be BARELY strong enough for the AVERAGE picnic attendee to BARELY get through a plate of AVERAGE picnic entrees of AVERAGE texture and firmness before the damn thing breaks in half. They put no more plastic in them than is absolutely necessary because they know most people who are shopping for this particular item are shopping for price, not durability.

Durability will be of much more concern and price much less concern on items like parachutes, airplane parts, mountain-climbing ropes, lifeboats, scuba diving tanks, machine guns, bullets and gas masks.

The bottom line is that the product developer must consider:

1. The length of time the product will last relative to competitive products of approximately the same price.

2. The cost versus value trade-off that consumers perceive when evaluating competitive products which have different expected "useful lives" and different purchase prices.

Keep these issues in mind when working on your own product ideas. Good luck.

The above article was taken from James F. Riordan's classic book, HOW TO EVALUATE THE POTENTIAL FOR SUCCESS OF A NEW PRODUCT OR TECHNOLOGY. Riordan's highly-acclaimed, 36-point system is a valuable tool for inventors, product evaluators or anyone interested in the invention process. Each section is followed by a comprehensive questionnaire that can be used to evaluate your product.

The highly-recommended book can be ordered by contacting the James F. Riordan Company, 3110 Camerosa Circle, Cameron Park, CA 95682. The company can be reached by phone at (916) 676-4729. The book may also be ordered through the Dream Merchant, 2309 Torrance Blvd., Suite 104, Torrance, CA 90501. The phone number is (310) 328-1925

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