Adding to Product Development Theory - A Language Perspective

The paper explores the effect that the languages associated with the applied methods have on product development processes. Product development does increasingly involve more diverse disciplines and expanded cross-disciplinary views. Most importantly, the new disciplines: Design Thinking, and, Innovation Management have introduced new cross-disciplinary methods and approaches. Some of the most important cognitive processes involved in product development: perceiving, meaning making, conceptualizing, communicating, and learning have been reframed and expanded as new disciplines have been introduced. An important aspect of the diversity is the introduction of the different languages that are introduced along with the new disciplines. Language is here defined as a combination of the vocabulary and the methodological approaches that are introduced by the new disciplines. The experience of the application of these new languages reveals that the traditional methods applied in product development are highly influenced and limited by the languages that are traditionally associated with the application of these methods. Though language plays an important part in these essential processes it is rarely addressed in the product development literature. This paper aims at exploring this language perspective in product development processes.