Building Blocks of Innovation
Mastering Product Architecture and Platforms.The blueprint for success
Concept: This post explores product architecture, the fundamental structure linking functions to physical components. It introduces different architectural types and delves into the powerful strategy of product platforms, which leverage commonality and differentiation to create product families efficiently.
At its core, product architecture is the master blueprint that connects what a product does (its functions) to what it is (its physical components). It’s the fundamental structure that dictates how a product is built, used, and even repaired. Getting the architecture right is a critical early step, as it transforms an idea into a tangible form and influences every stage of development that follows.
Every product has an architecture, which generally falls into a few key types:
Modular Architecture: Think of LEGO blocks. There is a clean, one-to-one relationship between a function and a physical part. Components are independent and have standard interfaces, making them easy to assemble, upgrade, or replace.
Integral Architecture: This is a more interwoven approach. A single component might perform multiple functions (like a smartphone’s unibody chassis providing structure, heat dissipation, and antenna housing). This can lead to higher performance and more compact designs but makes changes more complex.
Open vs. Closed Architecture: This refers to how proprietary the design is. An open architecture (like Linux or Android) has public specifications, allowing other companies to develop compatible components. A closed architecture (like Apple’s iOS ecosystem) is proprietary and tightly controlled.
The choice of architecture is a strategic decision influenced by performance goals, production costs, and marketing strategy. High-performance products may lean towards an integral design, while products offering high variety and customization often rely on a modular approach.
One of the most powerful strategies stemming from product architecture is the product platform. This is the secret behind how companies like Volkswagen Group can produce an incredible variety of cars—from a Skoda to an Audi—all while maintaining efficiency.
A product platform is a shared set of common components, manufacturing processes, and core technologies that serve as the foundation for a whole family of products. By building a family of products on a single platform, companies can:
Drastically reduce development time and cost.
Achieve economies of scale by producing common parts in high volume.
Lower the risk of new product introductions.
Streamline supply chains and after-sales service.
This strategy allows businesses to offer tailored products for different market segments without having to reinvent the wheel each time. It’s the engine of mass customization.
The success of a platform strategy hinges on mastering a fundamental trade-off: commonality versus differentiation.
Commonality refers to the shared components and processes within the platform. This is what drives cost savings, efficiency, and speed. From the company's perspective, maximizing commonality is ideal.
Differentiation refers to the unique features and characteristics that make each product in the family distinct and appealing to specific customers. This is what the customer values and is willing to pay for.
The challenge is to strike the perfect balance. Too much commonality, and the products become indistinguishable clones. Too little, and the benefits of the platform are lost. The goal is to make the differentiation highly visible to the customer while keeping the underlying components and assembly as common as possible.
This balancing act isn't guesswork. It’s a deliberate, strategic process. Companies can develop platforms proactively (a "top-down" approach, designing a platform from scratch for a future family) or reactively (a "bottom-up" approach, redesigning existing products to share parts). This involves detailed planning to identify which attributes customers value most and where commonality can be implemented without harming that perceived value.
In short, product architecture sets the stage. When leveraged into a smart platform strategy, it enables companies to build a diverse and competitive product family on an efficient, common foundation—a true blueprint for sustainable success. For more details delve into chapter 3 of my book,Product and Service Design Innovation, Springer, 2023.