The drive for innovation in products and services and a culture of ‘fail early; fail often’ has bred a desire for very early prototypes. This approach lends itself to an entire industry tackling a problem or for the venture capitalists funding them. It can be broadly characterised as hypothesis-led. It is much less appropriate or advantageous for an individual project team within an established industry attempting to reinvent an existing product/service category. For these teams, an insight-led approach in which multiple concepts are developed in parallel is more appropriate.
This presentation will give an introduction to each of these two dominant models of design-driven innovation. It will look at the advantages and disadvantages of each; and look at the issue of localised optimal solutions and what this means for innovation.
2. Design in innovation
“In terms of practice, design’s core value is in rapidly synthesising
disparate bodies of knowledge in order to articulate, prototype and
develop alternative strategies.” - Dan Hill, Dark Matter and Trojan
Horses: A Strategic Design Vocabulary
Identify behaviours, motivators, contextual factors
- get out of the building; observe; use open questions
- don’t constrain the research before you’ve begun
Understand the drivers for the observed behaviours.
Dig for significant insights;
Don’t be satisfied with superficial explanations.
Make cognitive leaps.
Connect disparate dots.
Be bold
Ask challenging questions
Give yourself permission, for just a few minutes, to ask “What if...” and see where it takes you
Target fundamentals and challenge the assumptions that shape your industry.
Make concepts tangible. Tell a story visually.
For a concept like a business model, making it tangible can overcome initial reactions of rejection (especially when you’re countering established practice).
Sketch. Explore many concepts cheaply. Critique them based on your objectives.
Keep the ones that work; throw out the ones that don’t.
Volume protects against anchoring and ‘local optimums’.
Sketch. Explore many concepts cheaply. Critique them based on your objectives.
Keep the ones that work; throw out the ones that don’t.
Volume protects against anchoring and ‘local optimums’.
Sketch. Explore many concepts cheaply. Critique them based on your objectives.
Keep the ones that work; throw out the ones that don’t.
Volume protects against anchoring and ‘local optimums’.