Innovation PlanningThe Institute of Design process

Innovation is typically characterized as a flash of creative insight—typically by some solitary genius—that is followed by the intense efforts of a dedicated engineering and marketing team to overcome all obstacles en route to great success.

The reality is far less dramatic, of course, and far more likely to lead to failure than success.

The typical innovation project is managed by a team uncertain of what it is trying to do, using a process that is murky at best, and getting challenged relentlessly by others not on the team about head count, budget, timing and expected probability of success.

The Institute of Design uses a systematic, analytic approach to design, problem solving and innovation.

The ID curriculum was developed in large part by The Doblin Group, IDEO, Motorola and Steelcase. The strongest influence on ID’s approach to design and innovation has come from The Doblin Group.

Innovation Planning | Innovation Discipline Model

diagnose situation

declare intent

set conditions

authorinitiative discover launchinvent extend

The discipline of innovation can be represented by the following model:

foster initiatives

Innovation Planning | Innovation Discipline Model

The key features of the innovation model are given below:

DiagnosticsThe field of innovation diagnostics is used to evaluate innovation effectiveness. The metrics used to diagnose innovation effectiveness cuts across four levels: industry innovation patterns, enterprise assessment, network assessment, and performance assessment.

IntentA critical place for senior leadership to get involved is ensuring that innovation has a clear strategic goal. See “Strategic Intent” by Gary Hamel and C.K. Prahalad, Harvard Business Review, May-June 1989.

ConditionsAnother critical place for senior leadership to get involved is ensuring that innovation has the appropriate metrics and rewards.

Foster initiativesThese are accomplish by the methods and tools presented in the sections that follow.

discover invent launch

IssueAnalysis

Hypothesis SynthesisImmersionsBriefsInnovations

Roadmap

discover

Discover | Overview

ISSUE

Secondaryresearch

Companyanalysis

Competitiveintelligence

Market analysis

Trend research

Others

ANALYTICALFRAMEWORKS

The concept discovery phase progresses from the issue facing the enterprise to the tools that support analysis of the issue.

Discover | Issue

The issue is an important topic or problem directed to the innovation team as a result of the situation diagnosis, the strategic intent and the conditions of the enterprise.

Discover | Secondary Research: Industry Convergence

This is an example of a framework that illustrates the set of macro trends of the networked economy.

ENTERTAINMENT

TELECOMMUNICATIONS

COMPUTING

Discover | Company Analysis: McKinsey’s 7S’s

This framework is used to figure out what made the organization successful in the past and to determine what needs to be tweaked to shape the success going forward.

Structure

Strategy

Skills

Staff

Style

Systems

SubordinateGoals

Discover | Competitive Intelligence: Three Generic Strategies

“How many ways are their to run a railroad?” Michael Porter offers the shortest and most elegant answer to this question ever.

STRATEGIC ADVANTAGE

DIFFERENTIATION OVERALL COST LEADERSHIP

FOCUS

Uniqueness Perceived by Customer Low Cost Position

Particular Segment Only

Industrywide

Discover | Market Analysis: Porter’s Five Forces

Bargaining power of suppliers

Bargaining power of buyers

Threat of substitute products or services

Threat of new entrants

BUYERS

POTENTIAL ENTRANTS

SUPPLIERS

SUBSTITUTES

INDUSTRY COMPETITORS

Rivalry among existing firms

Basic to strategy, this model is useful for helping to describe base dynamic patterns that affect industries and thus shape the actions of individual firms.

Discover | Trend Analysis: Product Planning Maps

Is it growing, shrinking or flat?

Discover | Other Analytical Frameworks: Position Map

While hot twenty-five years ago, this tool can still be a useful device for quick efforts to clarify differences between alternatives

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TARGETRETAIL

CHANNELS

PARTNERSHIPS

SUPPLIERS

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LIES

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PRODUCTS, SERVICES

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VACATIONOWNERSHIP

INVESTMENTS

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CUSTOMERSINFORMATION, $

PRODUCTS, EQUIPMENT,

INFRASTRUCTURE,RAW MATERIALS

INFORMATION, $

PRODUCTS, SERVICES

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INFORMATION

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Discover | Other Analytic Frameworks: Value Web

When a customer has many alternative pathways to meet needs, this tool allows the planner to determine where value is added and how to strategically act within.

invent

?HYPOTHESIS

Ethnography

Analysis & Transform

ScenarioPlanning

Others

SYNTHETICFRAMEWORKS

Invent | Overview of Innovation Process

The innovation planning phase progresses from hypothesis to synthesis...

Observational Research

Experiencemodeling

Invent | Overview of Innovation Process

The innovation planning phase progresses from hypothesis to synthesis, to innovations and breakthroughs.

Ethnography

Analysis & Transform

ScenarioPlanning

Others

Observational Research

ExperienceModeling

Briefs

Innovations &Breakthroughs

Immersions

Invent | Hypothesis: Innovation Planning Hierarchy

The hypothesis must have clearly defined boundaries. The planning hierarchy illustrates possible levels that can shape innovation initiatives.

Where does the innovation apply?Arena Research: Some of the most valuable parts of modern life are changing fast enough that even the terminology is not yet stable. Arena research scans the field and defines the broad outlines of an emergent field.

Who’s innovating?Multi-enterprise: Many innovation opportunities transcend many firms and yet can be managed for integrated effect. These can be actively or passively coordinated. Conventions and technology ‘architectures’ are often key at this level. Examples: PC, ATM, MP3

Single-enterprise: Most innovations tend to occur at this level or below. Examples: Quicken, Microsoft, Amazon, Calloway.

Invent | Hypothesis: Innovation Planning Hierarchy

The hypothesis must have clearly defined boundaries. The planning hierarchy illustrates possible levels that can shape innovation initiatives.

Who’s the innovation for?User, user group, market: Innovations usually target populations, situations, or modes of use. Mostly these methods come from marketers, brand or category managers, but there are more and more methods that are truly based around end user understanding. The Institute of Design uses several methods such as user observation, user experience, usage situations and modes, extreme users, and life cycle states.

What are you innovating?Product or service: A single product line can be critical to the perception and value of a whole company or brand. Products are considered the lowest level of innovation that is useful on a standalone basis. Examples: Sony Playstation, Nike AirJordens, Microsoft Windows

Component or subsystem: Sometimes you are innovating an ingredient or portion of a product or service. The test is that this would not be useful on a stand along basis. Examples: Intel Pentium, Velcro.

Base technology: Usually the province of engineers, this can be a process or a proprietary capability that is developed and then applied or adapted. Examples: carbon fiber composites, RFID.

Invent | General Synthesis: Balanced Breakthroughs

One of the simplest and most insightful depictions of where breakthroughs come from is given by the 3 forces framework. The power comes form its ability to conceive innovations that cut across each of the separate areas and to pull them together.

What’s Next ?

ACTIVITIES

INDUSTRIES

CAPABILITIES

what’s possible?

what’s desirable?

what’s viable?

Invent | Analysis & Transform: Insight Matrix

This tool manages ‘elements’— goals, items, issues, etc. and helps discern relationships among these.

Invent | Analysis & Transform: Insight Matrix

This is a fast and rigorous planning technique that can help yield insights from complexity in a matter of hours.

Invent | Observational Research: AEIOU

This theoretical framework asserts that a reasonable understanding of users can be sorted into five aspects. Methods used to gather data are often ethnographic.

Activities Environments Interactions Objects Users

A E I OU

Invent | Ethnography: Social Science Research

Social science research tends to yield innovations that are truly ‘grounded’ in what users want, need and will embrace. It is almost inconceivable that great innovation planning can be done without using one or multiple forms of user research.

Human FactorsThe study of how individuals and groups specifically interface with artifacts. Four kinds: physical, cognitive, social, and cultural. Selection of which ones to use depends on the project.

EthnographyStudies the origins and characteristics of racial and cultural groups. Video ethnography and photo ethnography is of particular use in innovation planning for observing, analyzing, documenting and explaining insights from user research.

SociologyThe study of organizations, institutions, and structures of human society. Sociologists are used whenever you want to unpack the relationships between multiple users and artifacts, environments and each other.

AnthropologyStudies the origin and the physical, social and cultural development and behavior of individuals. Use anthropologists when you want to figure out how artifacts or environments are used by and affect users.

Invent | Ethnography: User Camera Study

Camera studies can be used to gain insights into users.

Invent | Precursors: SWIPES

Every now and then you sense that lots of stuff is going on that might add up to a new trend. Of course it is generally the case that the trend is diffused, coming in many ways, from lots of places, all at once in ways that make it hard to put your fingers on the pulse of what really matters.

Statistics Written Intense Pitches Exits Superhits & broadcast focus & promotions & entrants

SWIPES

Invent | Precursors: SWIPES

SWIPES help systematically profile diffuse trends. With a name derived from an acronym but also capturing some of its frenzied pace, SWIPES is a way to leverage smart secondary research in:

StatisticsThe full panoply of available surveys, demographic studies of sociological trends and government or industry-stated sources.

Written and broadcast materialsFocuses on articles found using keyword searches of mass media materials and the Reader’s Guide to Periodical Literature.

Intense focusLooks at a small number of print or broadcast items chosen for strategic relevance, then examined intensively over a period of perhaps a year to determine patterns and trends of topical coverage. Examples of such focus include magazine covers, specific columns or features.

Invent | Precursors: SWIPES

SWIPES help systematically profile diffuse trends. With a name derived from an acronym but also capturing some of its frenzied pace, SWIPES is a way to leverage smart secondary research in:

Pitches and promotionsExamines company material announcing or advertising products or services. This gives insight into what companies are promoting and the methods for getting public attention. Includes print advertising, press releases, catalogs and other promotional literature.

Exits and entrantsLooks at what things were new and what things were old. This includes varied items like new products, fads, services found in “new product” listings, patent registrations, product category growth rates.

SuperhitsExamines pop culture successes, especially those things that people suddenly bought a lot of, voting with their pocketbooks. Seeks to quantify popular through items and services that made a popular impact. Also leans on things like best seller lists, top-selling toys, movie blockbusters, political voting landslides, etc.

Invent | Scenario Planning: Ranking Trends

Scenario planning is a strategic planning method that is use to predict trends. It uses trend analysis and a ranking system to produce scenarios.

Invent | Scenario Planning: Classification

Scenarios are developed for each quadrant of an opportunity map.

Invent | Scenario Planning: Description & Illustration

Scenarios are further described and illustrated to predict direction of trends.

Invent | Briefs: Taxonomy of Briefs

The Innovation Brief makes observations, suggests specific strategies and often provides illustrative concepts useful to pursue. They are necessary because the issues addressed by innovators has grown very complex:

Arena briefsThese documents describe whole emerging areas of opportunity, usually cutting across companies, industries or technology. An Arena brief is useful to help identify an industry that may emerge from nothing.

Activity briefsThese documents focus on human beings as individuals or in groups to discern what they do, what they value, what they use and how they go about various tasks or actions. An Activity brief makes heavy use of precursors, sketches, and models and is useful to do before Strategy or Product/service briefs.

Strategy briefsThere documents focus on industries and the relationships between multiple players, in order to find specific concepts that are vital to some specific enterprise. A strategy brief is usually driving towards a crisp description of a suggested company strategy, one that is heavy on primary innovation.

Product/service briefsThese documents try to conceive and detail some specific system of products and/or services that can be valuable to an enterprise and compelling for users.

Invent | Immersion

Deep mental involvement on the part of the key members of the innovation team is a necessary ingredient for innovations and breakthroughs.

Invent | Innovations & Breakthroughs: 10 Types

The Doblin Group has produced a taxonomy of ten types of innovation. This framework can be used to diagnose a company or create something new.

Businessmodel

Finance

Networking

2. Networkingenterprise’s structure/value chain

1. Business modelhow the enterprise makes money

Channel

Delivery

Brand Customerexperience

10. Customer experiencehow you create an overallexperience for customers

8. Channelhow you connect your offeringsto your customers

9. Brandhow you express your offering’sbenefit to customers

Coreprocess

Process.

Enablingprocess

3. Enabling processassembled capabilities

4. Core processproprietary processes that add value

6. Product systemextended system that surrounds an offering

Productperformance

Offering

Productsystem

Service

7. Servicehow you service your customers

5. Product performancebasic features, performance and functionality

Invent | Innovations & Breakthroughs: Capabilities

Regular and reliable innovations require capabilities. Leading innovators have their own special culture and processes. This generalized capability model comes from Doblin research.

launch

Launch| Overview

Innovations and breakthroughs proceed to a roadmap and then to implementation in various forms.

2006 20102008

key innovations

alliance

Pilots

BrandStrategies

ChangeManagement

Architectures& Alliances

OrganizationalDevelopment

DEVELOPMENTAL ROADMAP

Launch | Developmental Roadmap: Planning Roadmap

The planning roadmap was developed by Doblin as a way to plan and depict the evolution of new industries.

Innovation

Stages

Slices over time Relative sizes

New product genres

Development initiatives

Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage 3

Often accompanied by a critical mass of technology, skills or innovation to break into new business area.

When effectively executed breakthroughs spur new genres that can be extended over time.

Having enough time to develop and refine concepts is critical to effective breakthroughs

Flexible in nature, stages help the company understand its initial challenge and how they build towards some future state.

At any given time you can view a vertical slice and characterize the kinds of businesses it is involved in.

Branch heights should indicate the relative size (revenue, market size, ROI) between various business pursuits.

Innovation Planning | Summary

diagnose situation

declare intent

set conditions

authorinitiative discover launchinvent extend

We examined the Innovation Discipline Model in a linear fashion, focusing on the discovery and invention portion.

foster initiatives

In conclusion, I have demonstrated the basic structure and key features of the discipline of innovation planning, as taught at the Institute of Design.

By using this model I believe that it will be possible to get innovation to occur more reliably and in huge multiplies over norms.

Thank You

Bibliography

The sources used in the presentation were taken exclusively from handouts and presentation that were given in classes at the Institute of Design. Special credit is given to the following sources:

Larry Keeley, CEO, The Doblin Group & Adjunct Professor, Institute of DesignSeveral portions of this presentation relied on the “Framework Pack” that Larry Keeley handed out to all students in Design Planning, Fall 2005.

Vijay Kumar, Associate Professor, Institute of DesignMany of the methods and tools in this presentation were taught to me by Vijay in Strategic Design Planning, Design Analysis and Design Synthesis. In particular, Vijay developed the Insight Matrix and an adaptation of Scenario Planning.

OthersFrameworks: Michael Porter, McKinsey & Company, The Doblin Group, Institute of Design, Tomoko Ichikawa and Morris & Miller