New and Emerging Technologies
What Drives New Technology?
Design and technology does not stand still. Every year, new materials, manufacturing methods and digital tools change the products we use and the way designers work. Understanding why new technologies emerge is as important as knowing what they are. Two key forces drive technological change: market pull and technology push.
Market Pull
Market pull happens when consumers want something that does not yet exist, or want an existing product to work better. The demand comes first; designers and engineers then create a solution. A clear example is the growth of electric vehicles. Public concern about air quality and fossil fuel costs created strong consumer demand for cleaner transport long before carmakers had perfected battery technology. Manufacturers responded by investing heavily in development because the market was pulling them towards the solution.
Market pull is closely linked to the product life cycle. When a product reaches maturity or decline, consumer demand for something better creates a new pull. Smartphone makers release updated handsets annually partly because consumers expect incremental improvements — better cameras, longer battery life, faster processors. This demand is the market pulling the next iteration into existence.
Market pull means consumer or societal demand drives the development of a new product. The market need exists before the product is created.
Technology Push
Technology push works in the opposite direction. Scientists or engineers make a discovery or develop a new capability, and this creates products that consumers did not know they needed. The touchscreen was developed through research into capacitive materials before the first smartphone existed. Once the technology was ready, designers built products around it — consumers then discovered they wanted it.
Dyson’s cyclonic vacuum technology is a well-known example of technology push. James Dyson developed the cyclonic separation principle — using centrifugal force to spin dust out of an airstream without a bag — and then built a product around it. Consumers had not asked for a bagless vacuum; the technology created the market opportunity.
Additive manufacturing — commonly called 3D printing — is a clear case of technology push. Fused deposition modelling (FDM) was developed in the late 1980s for industrial prototyping. Consumers had no concept of printing physical objects at home. As the technology matured and costs fell, desktop 3D printers became available to schools, small businesses and hobbyists. The technology pushed itself into new markets that had not previously existed. Today, 3D printing is used in aerospace (Airbus uses additive manufacturing for lightweight aircraft components), medicine and consumer goods. This shows how a technology push in one industry can ripple into many others.
Consumer Choice and the Global Market
Modern consumers can buy products from anywhere in the world, which affects how designers work. Global production means a single product might be designed in one country, manufactured using components from several others, and sold worldwide. This creates both opportunities and responsibilities. Lower production costs in some regions allow more people to access well-designed products. However, global supply chains also raise questions about workers’ rights, fair wages and environmental standards.
Consumer choice is also shaped by legislation — laws that set standards for safety, energy efficiency and environmental impact. Regulations such as minimum energy performance standards for appliances mean that designers must meet legal requirements, not just consumer preferences. Legislation can therefore act as an additional driver of technological change, pushing manufacturers to develop cleaner or safer products.
Legislation sets minimum standards that products must meet — for example, safety regulations, energy efficiency rules and restrictions on hazardous materials. This forces designers to innovate even when there is no direct consumer demand for change.
Moral, Ethical and Cultural Factors
Technology does not exist in a vacuum. New products raise moral and ethical questions that designers must consider. Planned obsolescence — designing products to have a limited lifespan so consumers buy replacements — generates profit but also waste. Many consumers now actively consider the environmental and ethical record of the brands they buy from, pushing companies to adopt more responsible practices.
Apple’s approach to industrial design under Jonathan Ive became a case study in using aesthetics and material quality to command premium pricing, shaping consumer expectations across the electronics industry. At the same time, Apple’s supply chain practices were scrutinised for working conditions in factories, highlighting the ethical dimension of global production.
A common exam error is writing vague statements such as “make the product more eco-friendly.” A strong answer gives specific, actionable improvements — for example, “replace virgin polymer components with recycled HDPE to reduce resource extraction” or “design for disassembly so materials can be separated and recycled at end of life.” The more precise and technically grounded the suggestion, the higher the mark. This applies equally to questions about new technologies — always name a specific technology and explain how it achieves the benefit, not just that it “helps the environment.”
The Product Life Cycle and Enterprise
The product life cycle moves through introduction, growth, maturity and decline. New and emerging technologies extend product life cycles by enabling redesign and improvement. Modular electronics, for instance, let manufacturers update components rather than replace entire devices. This has implications for enterprise — businesses must constantly monitor where their products sit in the life cycle and invest in the next generation before current products reach decline.
Emerging technologies also create new enterprise opportunities. Crowdfunding platforms now allow small designers to test market pull before committing to full-scale manufacture. If a product concept attracts enough backers, the designer has evidence of demand before spending on tooling or materials. This lowers the risk of bringing a new technology to market.