Notes on Product innovation

Cross function teamwork

• Marketing
• Designer
• Engineer
• Quality control
• Procurement
• Supply chain
• Consumer care

Product design

1. Know your customers
2. Product concepts vs business opportunities
3. Validated value propositions
   1. Market size
   2. Unique selling points

Tools to discover user experience

• user profile
  • Cover as much as possible
• Experience map
  • Discover pains, gains, identify product and business opportunities
• Value proposition map
  • Value of product or service vs user needs
• Two ways of innovation
  • Market push (Most case)
    • Observe market needs then come up with solutions
  • Technology push
    • Have technology first and do other way around to make it success
    • Have to work on convincing

Converting concepts into product requirements

• Define product specifications
• Ensure all products specifications can be traced back to user needs
• Ensure completeness of product specs
• Avoid over spec

Tools

• V-Model
  • Verification and validation
• Competitors analysis
  • Know their products inside out
• Critical to quality tree
  • Link consumer needs with product specification

1. Need
   1. Eg. I want a good coffee
2. Drivers
   1. E.g. Taste, Temperature, Cost
3. CTQs
   1. E.g. not acidic, rich in flavour

Product development

Methods of user research

• usability study
  • Easy to observe
  • Fast
  • But not for long term usage data collect
• Product in home use test
  • Reliable user experience data based on long term
  • Help to identify potential quality issues
  • But takes time with high cost
• Testing groups
  • Potential users
  • Expert groups

Post market surveillance

• Timely monitor consumer feedback
• Collect market feedback
  • Ratings and reviews
    • User scores and reviews online
    • Impact on purchasing intent
  • Consumer research

User research

• Data being analysed for decision making purpose
• Important factors
  • Authentic
  • Representativeness
  • Reliability
• methodology
  • Interview
  • Focus group discussion
  • Field observation
  • Questionnaire
  • Product testing
  • Big data
  • And more…

Key to successful product innovation

• Data based decision making
• Continuously collect feedback through user research and testing
• Define product requirements and specs accordingly to consumers’ biggest needs
• Thorough understanding of market and needs
• Iterative design process for optimum product design