Delft Design Guide -Revised edition. Annemiek van Boeijen
of essential components will result from this stage, such as working prototypes, technical documents and assembly schemes.
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Step 5 - Market introduction: This stage entails the further development of a full-scale manufacturing process as well as marketing, encompassing sales, promotion, and distribution. The final result is the product launch.
Product Innovation Process
What & Why? A company often responds to changes inside and outside its organi- sation by developing new products. This kind of development can be seen with the Product Innovation Process, which is a model that describes innovation as a process of experiential learning in a continuous loop. Several stages are seen in this loop: the de- velopment can begin from people using an existing product, to the company forming its strategic product position, to the project undergoing stages of product development, and finally to the product launch where people are using the new product. The model can help you to organise and align all activities in this loop.
The Product Innovation Process model advances a stepwise approach to product design and development, and it is intended for active use by designers to set agendas and collaborate with others in innovation.
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Mindset: Broaden in your mind the position of design in innovation and make a departure from the tradition that describes design as a function to bridge a world of production with a world of consumption.
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How? The process consists of five stages that are visually similar in terms of building blocks, shape, and size. Each stage ensures creativity in innovation by requiring divergent thinking and by forcing innovators to consider the company’s internal and external environment. For each step in the model, various methods are developed to support research and development, as well as other activities in the design process. For example, for the strategy formulation stage (Step 5), you can use methods such as Strategy Wheel and SWOT & Search Areas. In the development stage (Step 4), you can try several different approaches for creativity.
References & Further Reading Buijs, J. A., 2012. The Delft Innovation Method; a design thinker’s guide to innovation. The Hague: Eleven International Publishing. / Buijs, J. & Valkenburg, R., 2005. Integrale Productontwikkeling. 3rd ed. Utrecht: Lemma. / Buijs, J., 2003. Modelling Product Innovation Processes: from Linear Logic to Circular Chaos. Creativity and Innovation Management , June, 12(2), pp. 76-93 .
Tips & Concerns
The visualised innovation process, a circular model, suggests that there is neither a beginning nor an end. This is true because a new product on the market will lead to reactions from competitors. These reactions will eventually eat away the competitive advantage of the new product, and this would necessitate the start of a new Product Innovation Process.
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Limitations
In theory, the model could also be applied to the innovation of digital services in highly networked eco- systems. However, in those cases, you need to be aware that it is hard to make a distinction between the analyses (internal and external) and between the human factors (users and providers).
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The model was not conceived for more agile forms of innovation, where ideas are quickly prototyped and marketed for faster learning cycles. In agile innovation, certain stages in the model can be skipped in order to speed up the innovation process.
The Product Innovation Process model describes the overall process of product innovation, along with an emphasis on the fuzzy front end. The model can help designers plan for and manage innovation as well as to keep an overview of the process while innovating.
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MODELS
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Decades before agile’s inception, Dwight D. Eisenhower famously declared plans useless. But many forget the second half of his declaration: ‘In preparing for battle, I have always found that plans are useless and planning is indispensable.’
Research
Uncertainty > patterns > insights
Clarity > Focus
Concept
Design
Agile Design & Development
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How? Agile in itself doesn’t tell you what to do next: it is a set of values and principles, which is mostly about mindset, not about the process to follow. To be agile, designers should cherish the diversity in the team, be comfortable in not knowing what the exact outcome will be, be proactive to inspect and adapt their work and way of working, and naturally share energy, information, and results.
The Manifesto for Agile Software Development is based on 12 principles which can be applied to innovation processes in general:
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1. Provide customer satisfaction via early and continuous delivery.
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2. Welcome changing requirements, even late in development.
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3. Deliver working results frequently, for example, in weeks rather than months.
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4. Create close, daily cooperation between business people and developers.
5. Build projects around motivated individuals, who should be trusted.
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6. Practice face-to-face conversation, which is the best form of communication.
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7. Utilise working results, which is the primary measure of progress.
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8. Attain sustainable development to be able to maintain a constant pace.
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9. Continuously focus on technical excellence and good design.
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10. Recognise the necessity of simplicity, or the art of maximising the amount of work not done.
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11.