Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design and Management Program, 2009. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 112-114). / Design-driven business strategy has received a lot of attention in recent times, with Apple frequently standing out as an exemplar of the success of such a strategy. Most of the existing literature, while emphasizing the importance of design for market success, takes a fairly static view of design. In this thesis we provide a prescriptive guideline on adapting design strategy over time in response to the dynamics of technology evolution and market adoption mechanisms for technology products. Our Design Strategy Framework builds on existing literature in three main areas: design, technology adoption life-cycle and market adoption mechanisms. For the purposes of this thesis, we have adopted Sanders perspective of defining a product in terms of three key design attributes - usefulness (functionality), usability (ease of use) and desirability (aesthetics). We have used Anderson and Tushman's paper on the Cyclical Model of Technological Change as our basis for defining the stages in the technology adoption life-cycle. Finally, we have used Rogers' theory on Diffusion of Innovation to define the characteristics of the user base (adopter category) in each stage of market adoption. Based on this foundation, our framework prescribes emphasis on one of the three design attributes of a product during each stage of market adoption. This recommendation is grounded on the technological maturity during that stage as well as the characteristics of the user segment that leads them to value certain product attributes over others. / (cont.) This thesis includes a case study of convergent handheld devices (PDAs and smartphones) which illustrates the application of the Design Strategy Framework in providing an explanation for a product's success or failure in the market based on its emphasis (or lack of) on the right design attribute at the right time. The thesis also includes a survey of current and potential smartphone users which is used to further validate the framework. While this thesis focuses on mobile handheld devices, the findings can be applied across consumer technology products. The Design Strategy framework can be used to determine what aspects of a design to focus a firm's development efforts on, given an understanding of the product's placement in the adoption cycle. Judiciously emphasizing the right aspects of design at the right time can improve a product's chances of market success. / by Sangita Subramanian. / S.M.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design & Management Program, 2002. / "February 2002." / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 97-99). / by Thomas K. Mathai. / S.M.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design and Management Program, February 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 111-113). / Many technologies fall under the umbrella of what is commonly known as "Web 2.0," including the Wiki, a software product which allows multiple users to review and edit documents online. Like all Web 2.0 technologies, Wikis are characterized by collaboration; without an active community, they can rapidly become stale and of little use. Businesses based on collaborative web sites must effectively manage a large circle of what are essentially non-employees with perhaps no or little interest in the company other than the benefit they derive from the information offered through the site. The company must provide this benefit to them and give them a desire to keep the site running in order to do its best to ensure itself with a sustainable revenue model. This thesis seeks to discover how a business can create visibility, maintain an eager-to-contribute user base, and generate revenue from users' effort. It will examine the evolution of technology which has created the collaborative Web 2.0 tools, specifically the Wiki. It will then move into looking at the social networks that must be created to sustain the Wiki. Lastly, it will examine the business models and techniques that can enable a savvy company to earn a profit from the use of these technologies. / by Ilana Davidi. / S.M.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design & Management Program, 2000. / This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 84-89). / The goal of this study is to extend the desktop panoramic static image viewer concept (e.g., Apple QuickTime VR; IPIX) to support immersive real time viewing, so that an observer wearing a head-mounted display can make free head movements while viewing dynamic scenes rendered in real time stereo using video data obtained from a set of fixed cameras. Computational experiments by Seitz and others have demonstrated the feasibility of morphing image pairs to render stereo scenes from novel, virtual viewpoints. The user can interact both with morphed real world video images, and supplementary artificial virtual objects (“Augmented Reality”). The inherent congruence of the real and artificial coordinate frames of this system reduces registration errors commonly found in Augmented Reality applications. In addition, the user’s eyepoint is computed locally so that any scene lag resulting from head movement will be less than those from alternative technologies using remotely controlled ground cameras. For space applications, this can significantly reduce the apparent lag due to satellite communication delay. This hybrid VR/view-morphing display (“Virtual Video”) has many important NASA applications including remote teleoperation, crew onboard training, private family and medical teleconferencing, and telemedicine. The technical objective of this study developed a proof-of-concept system using a 3D graphics PC workstation of one of the component technologies, Immersive Omnidirectional Video, of Virtual Video. The management goal identified a system process for planning, managing, and tracking the integration, test and validation of this phased, 3-year multi-university research and development program. / by William E. Hutchison. / S.M.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design & Management Program, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 93-94). / by James S. Wilson. / S.M.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design and Management Program, 2008. / This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 119-124). / In-Cylinder Pressure Sensors (ICPS) today are close to satisfying the robustness, performance and cost requirements for application to closed loop control and monitoring of production automotive engines. Using the Robust Design framework as a compass, this thesis first checks the evidence for emergence followed by tracking the evolution of the sensor component itself and its application to robust closed loop control of the combustion process in internal combustion engines. After identifying the potential system level impact of the emerging ICPS technology, System Dynamic and Technology Strategy frameworks are used to find spillover triggers and to recommend a number of strategic options to generate and capture value for integrated system solution providers so that they can beat the very stable status quo that persists in the slow and mature prime mover industries. In addition, Chapter 2 gives a data driven method for identifying the Skills needed for suppliers to realize the above recommendations. This method is based on collective intelligence of 690 experienced professionals with 20 years of work experience on average from 40 targeted companies, representing a large body of engineering and managerial experience in battling complex engineering system hurdles. This approach is more effective than blindly copying the prominent integrated system solution providers or OEM's, because a side effect of long term incremental innovation in the mature prime mover industry is that the underlying reasons for their success is ingrained in their "tacit knowledge" and "organizational furniture" and hence not explicitly understood. / by Kamran Eftekhari Shahroudi. / S.M.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design & Management Program, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 102-103). / by Peter V. Panetta. / S.M.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design & Management Program, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 111-113). / by Iwao Hatanaka. / S.M.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design & Management Program, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 154-161). / by Gordon Innes Johnston. / S.M.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design and Management Program, February 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 95-97). / This thesis explores and evaluates essential strategies needed for the transit authority/operator to deal with end of life cycle challenges of Rapid Transit Systems (RTS) systems. RTS systems are elaborate systems consisting of various subsystems. It is believed that one of the greatest challenges of such systems is the integration of these various sub-systems to ensure that they work correctly; functionally and safely at the onset of development. While this is true there also exist real challenges towards the end of the life cycle which unfortunately is not dealt with during the design conceptualization and implementation. The fact that the RTS system is an elaborate amalgamation of other subsystems functioning together makes the management of its end of life cycle challenging. The life spans of these various subsystems are different i.e. the mismatch in life cycles of these systems could cause serious problems in the future. There are two approaches to manage these challenges i.e. look at it from a design standpoint and start incorporating fixes at the design stage to address end of life cycle challenges (start of the value chain) or look at the already present RTS systems around the world and see what can be done when most of the systems are mid life or nearing end of life and formulate strategies to address these challenges (end of the value chain). This thesis has focused on the latter approach given that systems at mid-life and near end of life are of priority now and further any lessons learnt from these exercises could be incorporated into new designs. Four different strategies were defined and assessed: Public Private Partnerships (PPP), reusability/remanufacturing/ recycling, life extension and leasing. In planning of the end of life cycle challenges it must be acknowledged that no one strategy is always best. / (cont.) The strategies at most allow the transit authority/operator to make more meaningful and informed decisions based on risk and cost amongst many other factors. This allows a transit authority/operator to plan ahead. The transit authority/operator should look at their RTS system and evaluate the best strategy. It may be the case that one of these strategies meets their needs or a hybrid of these strategies / by Ajmer Singh Kairon. / S.M.