In their team roles with the engineers, the consumers share in the responsibility for taking project ideas from their inception, through the development of working models, to their submission to manufacturers for commercialization. The Consumer Innovation Laboratory currently supports three active design teams. Following is a short description of the objectives of each. The goal of this team is to create a product that will break an egg and cleanly remove the contents for people with limitations in hand function. The Consumer Innovation Laboratory uses a total design process.
All designs begin with a blank sheet of paper and progress through a series of stages.
A short description of the activities of which follows. This stage involves discussing the desired criteria for the end product. These criteria are independent of any form of the final product. In addition, the criteria are rated as either vital to the product or useful if possible. The top five or ten vital criteria are also identified.