Product-Service System (PSS) design: Using Design Thinking and Business Analytics to improve PSS Design

Companies searching for new ways to be competitive in dynamic markets are integrating product and service to better fulfill customer demands and improve sales. A well designed and efficiently developed Product-Service System (PSS) is a solid alternative to achieve this goal. The PSS design should search for new ways to add value for both company and customers. The PSS design model may help the company to innovate, strengthen competitiveness and assure the desired profit. In this paper we propose a methodology that integrates Design Thinking (DT) and Business Analytics (BA) in the PSS design in a way to build a profitable and lasting PSS. Design Thinking is a human-centered and systematic approach to problem solving and is used in the model to deeply understand customer needs and satisfy their emotional requirements considering company's resources and constraints. BA is the capacity to aggregate, to analyze and to use data in a way to optimize the business results. The large quantity of information available from sensors, logs and other machine sources, associated with information and communication technologies (ICT) advances allow companies to collect and analyze a large quantity of data. Through the data analysis, companies may evaluate consumer behavior, sense changes in the market quickly and identify new opportunities to innovate. Furthermore, companies may use the data as a third layer to add value besides the product and service layers. The proposed model addresses a lack in the literature of PSS design and adds relevant information for companies designing or reconfiguring a PSS.