Podcast: Demetri Coupounas on Product Development

Carol Crooker interviews Demetri Coupounas of GoLite about factors that change designs between concept and production.

Email This | Print This | Jump to Reader Comments

by Carol Crooker | 2007-01-29 03:00:00-07

GoLite co-founder, Demetri Coupounis, gives a tutorial on the basic steps (concept, design, development, marketing, prototype, test samples, bulk production, quality assurance, customer feedback) from design conception to production. He likens the process to writing, where the original design concept is similar to a prose piece and the final product is the equivalent of a poem that results from continuous refinement throughout the process.

There are many factors throughout the process that change the initial vision. Impactors like material availability, material behavior during joining or dyeing, input from retailers, mission creep (eg features that are so nice that weight and cost increases are overlooked), tester feedback, new material development, etc.

Coup talks us through the Virga rain jacket development as a specific example of some of the impactors listed above adding 2 ounces to the weight of the prototype Virga.

Finally, Coup addresses issues with GoLite sizing and the recent spat of price reductions in GoLite products in the context of the design to production process.

Download MP3 File

Citation

"Podcast: Demetri Coupounas on Product Development," by Carol Crooker. BackpackingLight.com (ISSN 1537-0364). http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/podcast_demetri_coupounas_golite_design_production.html, 2007-01-29 03:00:00-07.

Reader Comments

You must login to post comments.

Forum Index » Outdoor Retailer Winter Market 2007 » Podcast: Demetri Coupounas on Product Development

Sort By:

Ryan Jordan
( ryan - BPL STAFF - M)

Locale:
Greater Yellowstone

Podcast: Demetri Coupounas on Product Development on 01/29/2007 23:36:52 MST

Companion forum thread to:

Podcast: Demetri Coupounas on Product Development

Steve .
( pappekak - M)

Locale:
Tralfamadore

Re: Podcast: Demetri Coupounas on Product Development on 01/30/2007 00:22:19 MST

MP3 is about shoes not GoLite...

Carol Crooker
( cmcrooker - BPL STAFF - M)

Locale:
Desert Southwest, USA

Re: Re: Podcast: Demetri Coupounas on Product Development on 02/01/2007 03:49:26 MST

Thanks Steve,
It's GoLite now.

View the main forum index

New Visitors: Create a new account
Username:
Password:
Remember my login info.