BUSI 650 Key Concept:Functionality

BUSI 650 Key Concept:Functionality

Key Concept Explanation
Why are there hundreds of websites devoted to the upcoming iPhone 5? And, why will people stand in lines for hours, on the day this product hits the market, for this phone? It’s just a phone, right? Well, it is…but it’s also a lot more. There are theories abound on the internet about what new functions that will be available for the iPhone 5; it’s these new functions that will have thousands, trade in their iPhone 4s that they bought just a year earlier. With that being said, my wife has told me that she may not be standing in line for hours, but she will upgrading her phone sometime in the near future.
In today’s gadget-filled society, it is functionality that sells. Albert and Thirupathi state in a 2009 article, “A product’s functionality is the consequence of the combination of features required by customers, and is used as a basis for the product development. A functional structure describes what the product is for, and how the product works and this determines the overall functionality of the product.” With that being said, it is extremely important for decision makers to be informed of all of the proposed parameters of product functionality; it is this information that is vital for further product development. Not only does this affect the design process, but it also the starting point for future marketing strategies.
Comparison
Our textbook did not devote very much page space to covering functionality. What the authors did, was to use electronics as an example. This was simply an easy way to make their point concerning the importance of functionality. The textbook’s definition was very similar to the one given in the article by Albert and Thirupathi. Functionality “involves the activities the product or service is intended to perform, thereby providing the benefits to the customer” (Meredith & Shafer, 2010, p. 18). Also, the textbook also mentions that functionality is often confused with quality (Meredith &...

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