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Minds Product Innovation Strategies

Get Innovative Stay Competitive

Gareth Loudon Light Minds Ltd.

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Minds Product Innovation Strategies

Why Innovate?

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Minds Product Innovation Strategies

Only 65% of registered businesses in the UK survive longer than 3 years

National Statistics Office (2000)

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Minds Product Innovation Strategies

In the UK, at least 50% of new products fail within their launch year, while many of the remainder never become a major success (90% in total)

National Statistics Office (2000)

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Minds Product Innovation Strategies

How can this happen?

• Because people: – Do not want to use them (desire) – Do not use them (purpose) – Do not enjoy using them (satisfaction) • Notice no mention of technology – You don’t have to invent a new technology to create an innovative and successful new product © Copyright, Light Minds Ltd. 2004

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Minds Product Innovation Strategies

Good to Great Companies

• Good-to-great companies never use technology as the primary means of igniting a transformation • However, they are pioneers in the application of carefully selected technologies • Technology by itself is never a primary, root cause of either greatness or decline – Jim Collins, also author of

Built to Last

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Minds Product Innovation Strategies

“It’s trivial technology that disrupts the business model of the leading company, and that’s what makes it so hard” Andy Grove, Chairman and former CEO of Intel Corporation © Copyright, Light Minds Ltd. 2004

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Minds Product Innovation Strategies

Discriminating Success Factors

• Different studies covering the 1970’s, 1980’s and 1990’s show that understanding of users’ needs is the main discriminating factor between successful and unsuccessful products – UK study at University of Sussex - project SAPPHO – US Study by Booz, Allen and Hamilton – Hewlett-Packard internal findings in the 1990s © Copyright, Light Minds Ltd. 2004

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Minds Product Innovation Strategies

Successes & Failures

• What made one succeed and one fail?

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RATNERS

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Minds Product Innovation Strategies

Meeting a Customer Need

• Every product has a – Use (purpose) – Level of usability – Meaning (symbolism) • All must be considered during the R&D phase to create a successful product • Innovating around these areas will have benefits © Copyright, Light Minds Ltd. 2004

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Minds Product Innovation Strategies

Meeting a Customer Need

• “Often the product’s meaning is most influential in the customer’s purchase decision and in the creation of a positive ownership and use experience”

Sara Beckman & Johannes Hoech, Harvard Business Review, 2000.

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Minds Product Innovation Strategies

Use, Usability and Meaning

• The use, usability and meaning of these products are very well researched and developed © Copyright, Light Minds Ltd. 2004 Timeless, Elegant, Powerful

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Minds Product Innovation Strategies

Meeting a Customer Need

• Use, usability and meaning covers – Design – Manufacturing – Marketing – Branding – Advertising – Packaging • Therefore ALL your company needs to be involved in innovation © Copyright, Light Minds Ltd. 2004

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Minds Product Innovation Strategies

“A successful product is the physical embodiment of a strategy that aligns users, technology and culture”

Michael Barry, Point Forward Inc.

(inventor of Huggies Pull-Up nappies) © Copyright, Light Minds Ltd. 2004

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Minds Product Innovation Strategies

So how do you innovate on a low budget?

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Minds Product Innovation Strategies

Customer Ideas

• Can you just ask users what they want and then make it for them?

–

Not usually!!!!!

– However customers are a key element in the new product development process © Copyright, Light Minds Ltd. 2004

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Minds Product Innovation Strategies

Low-Budget Innovation

• Have visits to potential customers –

Listen

to “what they say” –

Observe

“what they do” –

Observe

“what they use” • This is known as

ethnographic

research • Combine with market analysis to describe the customer needs – Validated by observations and market data © Copyright, Light Minds Ltd. 2004

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Minds Product Innovation Strategies

Ethnographic Research Benefits

• Provides real life accounts of customers’ everyday activities, needs, desires, beliefs and values • Highlights the differences between what people do and what they say they do, and as a result find needs that have not been directly expressed • Describes what meanings people place on products and how products are used • • Gives insight into new product opportunities

It’s cheap

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Minds Product Innovation Strategies

Translating Customer Insight

• Turn customer insights into product design ideas – Brainstorm with key people from your organisation • Marketing, design, engineering, etc. – Use storyboards to show product in its context of use – Create mock-ups of sample products • Physical mock-ups out of foam • Paper drawings • Mock-ups of interactive software interface • Take concepts back to users to get feedback © Copyright, Light Minds Ltd. 2004

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Minds Product Innovation Strategies

Exploration and Design

• Use the customer as design assistants • Iterate through market analysis, user need assessment and rapid prototyping until satisfied • “Serious Play” – Michael Schrage © Copyright, Light Minds Ltd. 2004

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Minds Product Innovation Strategies

Case Studies

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Minds Product Innovation Strategies

Huggies Pull-Ups

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Minds Product Innovation Strategies

GoGurt

• General Mills make breakfast cereal and needed a new product to boost their sales • General Mills employed a consultancy company called GVO to help discover new customer insights based on ethnographic research © Copyright, Light Minds Ltd. 2004

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Minds Product Innovation Strategies

GoGurt

• The result was GoGurt portable yogurt for kids • In just two years, it captured 7% of the $2 billion yogurt market • The product is healthy enough for Moms to give to their kids any time of the day and is "cool" enough for kids to eat during their morning recess © Copyright, Light Minds Ltd. 2004

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Minds Product Innovation Strategies

The Fridge Pack

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Minds Product Innovation Strategies

Local SMEs

• No. 6 Software Ltd.

• WISE KIDS - WAG • IBBD “Home Life Work Life” Solutions • Spin Out Wales • Training through Cardiff University, Centre for Lifelong Learning © Copyright, Light Minds Ltd. 2004

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Minds Product Innovation Strategies

Summary

• Innovation is not just for the technology research department (Apple Computer closed theirs) – Get marketing, design & engineering involved together – Use potential customers as design assistants for new ideas • Iterate through market research, ethnographic research and rapid prototyping to create and refine your product – Meets a customer need – Simple low-tech approach – Keeps your development costs down • Use, Usability and Meaning © Copyright, Light Minds Ltd. 2004

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Minds Product Innovation Strategies

Interesting Books

• Good to Great Companies, Jim Collins • Serious Play, Michael Schrage • The Invisible Computer, Donald Norman • Creating Breakthrough Ideas, Susan Squires • The Innovators Dilemma, Clayton Christensen • The Purple Cow, Seth Godin • Eureka!: Making Brilliant Ideas Happen , Philippa Davies • Riding the Waves of Culture, Fons Trompenaars • Built to Last, Jim Collins • The Design of Everyday Things, Donald Norman © Copyright, Light Minds Ltd. 2004

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Minds Product Innovation Strategies

Thanks

© Copyright, Light Minds Ltd. 2004