Perspectives on high-tech product design for better supporting product-service systems

Nowadays, product-service systems are seen as enhanced and optimal integrated solutions of products and services with the purpose of improving business sustainability, customer satisfaction, environmental impact and production-consumption balance. The ability to integrate various value added vectors characterizing the concept of product-service system within high-tech product design is still a complex task, requiring systematic and comprehensive innovation. This means high-tech product design has to be seen from a broader perspective, as a process emerging from an integrated model of product innovation, marketing innovation, production process innovation and business model innovation over their life-cycles. On this basis, the present paper reveals various key strategies required in new high-tech product design for better supporting product-service systems. A model that establishes priorities for integrating these strategies in the design framework of high-tech products is further proposed.