Mastering Product Innovation

On an ongoing basis, I continue to say designing and inventing is so very easy, but going to, and then actually getting to market with successful products is really difficult. This book reveals the insights from an author with not only an incredibly successful career in design development, but also one who is an academic leader in this subject matter.
This is a handbook about product design and development and the leadership required to successfully maneuver one’s way to excellence, with the design of new-to-the-world products. By its very title it is a “charge” to “master product innovation”. Those who need to master the subject certainly include individuals on both the right- and the left-brain sides of the integrated design development teams. The total team includes the right brainers, who are the researchers, designers, sales, and marketing folks, while the left brainers are the engineers and supply side members. And it needs to be noted that without support from the very top, the entire system collapses.

Having successfully designed and developed products to a large client base, with a range from the very smallest entrepreneur to those in the Fortune 50 category, the methodology is consistent. Granted, the players may differ from “the one-person band” entrepreneurial bases, to the very largest structured organization, with their own version (or not) of structure.

The handbook’s seven chapters are developed in the basic order of how one progresses in order to “master product innovation.”

Chapter 1 references the research required to understand the opportunities, as opposed to the internal mandates based on assumptions. I make a point of that, as too often product design is driven by leadership who “have an idea,” and as such, all take it as a directive. Once there is solid footing based on research and confirmation of the opportunity, design thinking becomes the logical next step and next chapter.
Chapter 2 explores design thinking, which is not a catchphrase for designers but rather an organizational mindset that allows for broad exploration. In this chapter, the actual methods of design thinking are reviewed.
Chapter 3 concentrates on the hidden but very powerful force of emotional design, which is the basic driver of consumption and needs to be recognized and fully appreciated. As is sometimes the case, and in spite of the prior defined and structured activities, one often searches for continued opportunities through technology only, forgetting about the driver of emotions.
Chapter 4 delves into the Search for Solutions with technology transfer and line extension opportunities. Knowing all success in product design and development is based on methodology, this process is explored in this next chapter.
Chapter 5 takes us deeper into methodology that has proven itself consistently. The examples and methods reference actual situations and have stood the test of time over the years.
Chapter 6 references the structure required and the value of design with the methodology of strategy and how that translates in business success. Based on the active and successful history of the author and his companies, the stories told reflect a range that few, if any, can replicate.
Chapter 7 is the final takeaway and call to action. It summarizes the preceding chapters and discusses AI and the effects on the designer and the process.