The usage model is a model for the identification and depiction of all relevant activity structures in the context of product, service and system use. It depicts the individual usage aspects in detail.
Model structure
The usage model focuses on the use – which is not included as an individual element within the classic Value chain by Michael Porter or the product life-cycle developed by Raymond Vernon. It consists of use chains that describe the separate elements of product functions. Existing models and approaches only examine the subject from the company or customer/user perspective, and thus don't consider the use with all its subcategories/sections or its various and classified perspectives. Thus, the usage model depicts a development system in which the use is extended by the basis for the development of new products in the fuzzy front ends. This system consists of the various user interactions with a product, service or system. These interactions show the involved actors and roles as well as the user requirements, wishes and habits. The model is used to identify deficits, new potentials etc. from the user perspective for deriving new or extended solutions and innovations. The model was completed and tested in an electric mobility context in the research project Emotal sponsored by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research. The results of a survey with over 200 users of electric vehicles were used for a user-centred behaviour, usage, requirement and risk analysis which showed the potential consumer preferences, user profiles, needs, errors, defects and accidents as well as their probability of occurrence, meaning, and probability of detection These results formed the basis for the concept of the usage model, which gives a detailed depiction of the separate aspects of the use (e.g. maintenance, insurance, updating of existing products etc. The usage model was modified with the results. The user statements were used to generate new criteria that consider all relevant factors of influence, particularly in the context of mobility. A subsequent open innovation survey about interconnected and intermodal mobility with users of various means of transport was used for the validation/falsification of the assumed factors of influence. The adjusted model names the actors more specifically and fittingly so that the detailed elaboration contains an affiliation of the respective main statements, deficits and wishes of the participants. The usage phases, resulting from user analysis in the context of electric mobility, were generalised to develop a general model.
The usage model provides an overview of the relevant actors and areas in the context of product use from the user perspective. It allows the identification of existing gaps, deficits, optimisations, additions and innovation potentials for the development of new or further services. The usage phases, specified in the model, allow the derivation of requirements from the user perspective. They can be used for an early verification of the usability etc. of the planned development as well as a precise calculation of the financial follow-up. Thus, the approach should allow the development of sustainable product, service and system solutions. Furthermore, the model was used to derive a standardised development approach.
