HOW TO INNOVATE THE SYSTEMATIC WAY?

Wendy Tam Vice President of User Experience

Jan 15, 2016

@ MotherApp, Hong Kong Science Park

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Five key points

Determine what types of innovation initiative to pursue

Start from problems & needs, not from features

Use constraints to spark creativity

Separate ideation from selection

Plan and execute innovation attempts as learning experiments

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Determine what type of innovation initiative to pursue

1

Product or Service Innovation

- Results from improvements made to existing products and services, typically due to competitive market pressure.

- Segment customers by outcomes is more powerful than by simple demographics.

Approach Uncover

Metrics - How a product / service is

being ‘rated’ by consumers?

What outcomes (metrics) are highly important but not

satisfied?

New Market Innovation

Are there tasks out there that one would struggle to

perform?

- Happens when a company discovers: - People (individual / organization) are struggling to get a job done because

no products exist

- Device creative product or service that enables customers to get that job done faster and cheaper than before.

Approach Uncover

Operational Innovation

Employees’ Desired

Outcomes

Customers’ Desired

Outcomes

- Happens when a company discovers inefficiencies in a business operation - Especially appealing to commodity business / mature market where product

or service innovation would be difficult

Approach Uncover BOTH

Disruptive Innovation

- Made Popular by HBS Professor Clayton Christensen

- Uses new technology to disrupt prevailing business model

Approach Aware and uncover

Technology breakthrough

Undesirable areas caused by

existing business model

Start from problems & needs, not from features

2

Watch out …

Define problem and intent

- Market target - Financial target - Opportunities & Threats - Strengthen weakness - Leverage strengthen - Align to company mission

Business

- End-users .. who are they - Influencers - Understand the job-to-be-done - Understand how they ‘judge’

the product / service - What is their experience

journey look like?

Customers

Stakeholders - Those who are affected, have a say (rather than being informed) - Value Chain

Get uncomfortable >> Get out of the building

- Uncover what is happening in the lives of these people - pain, needs, and context.

- Do: - Prepare ahead - Ask open-ended questions - Get their stories (context of use) - Take notes - Listen, assume you know nothing.

- Don’t: - Sell - Ask about future behaviour - Ask leading questions

Use constraints to spark creativity

3

How to use constraints to boost creativity

Well defined objectives and

criteria for success

Focus on the Vital

Opportunity

Not too many - suffocate ideas

Dealt with realities

Not too few - Counter-

productive

Insulate ideation from selection

4

Insulate concept ideation phase from selection phase

- GOAL: - Promote diverse idea - Desire to have good numbers

of variety

- ATTITUDE: - Uncritical - Empower others to speak up

- AVOID: - Self silencing - Social influence

Concept Ideation - GOAL:

- Select the optimal solution - Rigorous evaluation decision

making process

- ATTITUDE: - Critical - Anxious

- AVOID: - Bias evaluation - Decision making without

deep discussion

Selection

Plan and execute innovation attempts as learning experiments

5

Running Effective Experiments

- Start with the smallest team possible, but not smaller.

- Do the smallest possible thing to learn

- Optimal experiment requires: - Speed - Learning - Focus

image credit: Running Lean - Ash Maurya

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To Recap

Determine what types of innovation initiative to pursue

Start from problems & needs, not from features

Use constraints to spark creativity

Separate ideation from selection

Plan and execute innovation attempts as learning experiments

1 2 3 4 5