Anatomy of an Ikea product | Crave : The gadget blog

“When we decide about a product, we always start with the price,” Deboehmler said. “Then, what is the consumer need?”

For example, the product designers might begin thinking about designing a new flat-screen-television stand. Assuming that there’s evidence such a product is needed–like a trend of many people buying flat-screen TVs–Ikea will set out to design it.

“When we start in the development process, we say we’d like to have a cabinet to hold a large screen TV that’s 42 inches, and priced out to come in at X dollars,” Marston said. “OK, now we’ve said we want it to retail at $500, arbitrarily. What can you make, what can you design, to make it at that price?”

And here’s the evidence.

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