5.1 Invention

Definition of an Invention: An invention is the process of discovering a principle which allows a technical advance in a particular field that results in a novel or new product.

Drivers for Invention/Motivation for Invention: Drivers for invention include personal motivation to express creativity or personal interest, scientific or technical curiosity, constructive discontent, desire to make money, and desire to help others. Some reasons that drive invention are:

• A personal motivation to invent in order to express one's creativity or personal interest

• Scientific and/or technical curiosity

• Constructive discontent with an existing invention/design

• Desire to make money

• Desire to help others

The Lone Inventor: A lone inventor is an individual working outside or inside an organization who is committed to the invention of a novel product and often becomes isolated because they are engrossed with ideas that imply change and are resisted by others. Individuals with a goal of the complete invention of a new and somewhat revolutionary product:

• Have ideas that are completely new and different

• May not comprehend or give sufficient care to the marketing and sales of their product

• Are usually isolated and have no backing towards their design

• Have a harder time pushing forward their designs, especially in a market where large investments are required for success

• Their ideas, because of how different they are, are often resisted by other employees and workers

Intellectual Property (IP): A legal term for intangible property such as "creations of the mind" such as inventions and designs that are used in a commercial setting. Intellectual property is protected by law.

Benefits of IP: Benefits of IP include differentiating a business from competitors, selling or licensing to provide revenue streams, offering customers something new and different, marketing/branding, and its value as an asset. Benefits include:

• Differentiating a business from competitors

• Allowing sale or licensing, providing an important revenue stream

• Offering customers something new and different

• Marketing/branding

• Establishing a valuable asset that can be used as security for loans

Effective Strategies for Protecting IP:

Patents: An agreement from a government office to give someone the right to make or sell a new invention for a certain number of years.

Trademarks: A recognizable sign, design, or expression that distinguishes products or services of a particular trader from the similar products or services of other traders.

Copyright: A legal right created by the law of a country that grants the creator of an original work exclusive rights to its use and distribution, usually for a limited time, with the intention of enabling the creator (e.g., the photographer of a photograph or the author of a book) to receive compensation for their intellectual effort.

Patent Pending: An indication that an application for a patent has been applied for but has not yet been processed. The marking serves to notify those copying the invention that they may be liable for damages (including back-dated royalties) once a patent is issued.

First to Market: When a company or a person has or thinks they have an innovative idea or product, they will rush to have it on the market before anyone else. Some innovators decide not to protect their IP as an alternative strategy to ensure success by allowing them to get first to market rather than spend money on patents or waste time.

Shelved Technologies: Technology that is shelved for various reasons. Sometimes shelved technologies will be rediscovered or taken off the shelf.

5.2 Innovation

Definition of Innovation: The business of putting an invention in the marketplace and making it a success.

Reasons Why Inventions Become Innovations: Few inventions become successful innovations due to the following reasons:

• Marketability: Low product demand or not readily saleable.

• Financial Support: There is little monetary backing from the organization or an outsider. The invention would need more sponsors to financially aid the product.

• Marketing: The process of getting products from the producer or vendor to the consumer or buyer, which includes advertising, shipping, storing, and selling. Poor marketing strategies or wrong target markets can lead to failure. The invention would need to be advertised as a product the public would want.

• The Need for the Invention: Examples include alternative energy resources to combat our insatiable need for oil; however, if oil prices are low or there is a ready supply of oil, the alternative energy invention will not take hold.

• Price: Affordable, cost-effectiveness, or value for money. If too expensive to purchase or manufacture, consumers may not see it worth its cost compared to its use. The product's price needs to be equivalent to the income of the specific age group that would buy the majority of the product.

• Resistance to Change: People and organizations can be resistant and reluctant to change, feeling comfort and security in the familiar, thus resisting new ideas/products.

• Aversion to Risk: Risk aversion is a concept in economics, finance, and psychology related to the behavior of consumers and investors under uncertainty.

Process Innovation:

• Definition: Improvement in the organization and/or method of manufacture to reduce costs or benefit consumers.

• Example: Automobile industry innovations such as Ford's assembly line production and Toyota's lean manufacturing.

Architectural Innovation:

• Definition: The technology of the components stays the same, but their configuration is changed to produce a new design.

• Example: Electric cars, Sony Walkman.

Modular Innovation:

• Definition: The basic configuration stays the same, but one or more key components are changed.

• Example: A new type of switch/button on a toaster. Also known as incremental design.

Configurational Innovation:

• Definition: Modifying arrangements of components to improve performance, usability, and function.

• Example: Toaster with new buttons, interface, dials, better heating elements, or four slots instead of two.

Radical Innovation:

• Definition: Changing the paradigm of the market that the new product is produced in.

• Example: The invention of smartphones changing the phone industry, Sinclair C5 electric car.

Sustaining Innovation:

• Definition: Innovative ideas that are constantly updated to maintain their success. This includes new or improved products that meet consumer needs and sustain manufacturers.

• Example: Evolution of the wheel from stone to modern tires.

Disruptive Innovation:

• Definition: A product or type of technology that challenges existing companies to either ignore or embrace technical change.

• Example: The iPod, which changed the way we managed and listened to music, and mobile phones, which liberated us from being restricted to landlines.

Innovation Strategies for Markets: Diffusion and Suppression

1. Diffusion:

   • Definition: A process where a market accepts a new idea or product. The rate of acceptance can be increased by several factors.

   • Examples:

     • Widely diffused products: light bulb, refrigerator (100%), ATM cards, Music CDs (now mp4 format).

     • Once widely accepted, these products often become dominant designs.

2. Suppression:

   • Definition: A process where the market actively slows the adoption of a new idea or product.

   • Reasons:

     • Difficulties competing with a dominant design.

     • Ambiguity over patent ownership.

     • Competing companies actively petitioning against a new product perceived as threatening.

     • Natural resistance to an unfamiliar concept.

5.3 Strategies for innovation 

Act of Insight

• Description: Often referred to as the "eureka moment," a sudden image of a potential solution is formed in the mind, usually after a period of thinking about a problem.

• Example: Newton watching an apple fall and gaining insight into gravitation forces.

Adaptation

• Description: A solution to a problem in one field is adapted for solving a problem in another field.

• Example: The principle of how a hovercraft works was adapted for the hover lawn mower.

Technology Transfer

• Description: Technological advances that form the basis of new designs may be applied to the development of different types of products/systems.

• Example: Laser technology transferred into surgery or audio/data CDs.

Analogy

• Description: An idea from one context is used to stimulate ideas for solving a problem in another context.

• Example: Sonar modeled on how bats navigate and used now in ships to check depth or placement of fish.

Chance

• Description: An unexpected discovery leads to a new idea.

• Example: Velcro was developed when a chap walking with his dog found lots of seed pods stuck to his socks and dog. He looked under the microscope and made his discovery of the pods having many little hooks.

Technology Push

• Description: Scientific research leads to advances in technology that underpin new ideas. This is where the driving force for a new design emerges from a technological development.

• Example: The Sony Walkman.

• Key Points:

  • Innovation is created, then appropriate applications are sought to fit the innovation.

  • Did the market ask "please give me an iPod with a download store" or a camera phone? Most likely not; so this would be a technology push.

Market Pull

• Description: A new idea is needed as a result of demand from the marketplace.

• Example: The car market has separate sectors for the supermini, family cars, mini-vans, executive cars, sports cars, SUVs, and so on.

• Key Points:

  • Implemented on platforms

  • Platforms are open-ended and can evolve based on changing needs

  • Has low market-related risk because application is known

  • Has low technology-related risk because solution is not known

  • When the market asks for better safety features in a car, this would be market pull.

5.4 Strategies for innovation 

The Lone Inventor

Description: The lone inventor is an individual working outside or inside an organization who is committed to the invention of a novel product and often becomes isolated because he or she is engrossed with ideas that imply change and are resisted by others.
Characteristics of Lone Inventors:

• Individuals with a goal of the complete invention of a new and somewhat revolutionary product.

• Have ideas that are completely new and different.

• May not comprehend or give sufficient care to the marketing and sales of their product.

• Are usually isolated and have no backing towards their design.

• Are having a harder time to push forward their designs, especially in a market where large investments are required for success.

• Their ideas, because of how different they are, are often resisted by other employees and workers.

The Product Champion

Description: An influential individual, usually working within an organization, who develops enthusiasm for a particular idea or invention and "champions" it within the organization.
Profile of a Product Champion:

• Has business experience in the domain.

• Can speak intelligently about the issues.

• Acts as a good facilitator.

• Works and plays well with others.

• Accepts responsibility for the product.

• Defends the team's ability to produce the product.

• Is willing to make hard decisions about scope.

• Treats the team as knowledgeable professionals.

• Sets reasonable performance expectations.

• Communicates with the team, the customer, management, sales, and marketing.

• Has a willingness to learn—from everyone.

• Doesn’t trust everyone; does trust the right people.

The Entrepreneur

Description: An influential individual who can take an invention to market, often by financing the development, production, and diffusion of a product into the marketplace.
Profile of an Entrepreneur:

• Business acumen.

• Self-control.

• Self-confidence.

• Sense of urgency.

• Comprehensive awareness.

• Realism.

• Conceptual ability.

• Status requirements.

• Interpersonal relationships.

• Emotional stability.

Roles of the Product Champion and Entrepreneur in the Innovation of Products and Systems

Sometimes, an inventor may develop skills or profiles of a product champion and/or entrepreneur. James Dyson and Thomas Edison are two examples. Edison (later it was discovered that Swan invented the light bulb) used profits from his earlier inventions to bring the light bulb to market.

James Dyson is an example of an inventor, product champion, and/or entrepreneur. He invented the cyclone technology for suction. At first, no one was interested in this radical design, so he "championed" his product until he found a Japanese company willing to take it on. Later, he used the profits to fund further improvements and novel products. He built an understanding of business.

Comparison Between Lone Inventor and Product Champion

The lone inventor may lack the business acumen to push the invention through to innovation. The product champion is often a forceful personality with much influence in a company. He or she is more astute at being able to push the idea forward through the various business channels and is often able to consider the merits of the invention more objectively.

Inventors often take the role of product champion and/or entrepreneur because:

• Their product or idea is novel

• Too novel or 'out there' for a company to take a risk on

• Can't find a backer or company to produce it

• The inventor will have to "champion" their product to different companies

The Advantages and Disadvantages of Multidisciplinary Approach to Innovation

Effective design draws from multiple areas of expertise, and this expertise can be utilized at different stages of product development. Most products are now extremely complex and rely on expertise from various disciplines. Most designs are developed by multidisciplinary teams.

• Modern products such as smart phones, printers/scanners are very complex.

• Requires knowledge from many disciplines.

• It would be unlikely that a lone inventor would have the expertise in all the disciplines.

• Most modern day designs are developed in multidisciplinary teams

5.5 Product Life Cycle

Key Stages of the Product Life Cycle: Launch, Growth, Maturity, Decline

Including examples of products at different stages of the product life cycle, including those new to the market and classic designs:

1. Launch: There are slow sales and little profit as the product is launched on the market.

2. Growth: The market gradually accepts the product, so diffusion starts and sales expand.

3. Maturity: Sales peak but remain steady, so maximum profit is achieved.

4. Decline: Market saturation is reached and sales start to reduce as well as profit.

Obsolescence: Planned, Style (Fashion), Functional, Technological

Obsolescence affects the product life cycle:

• Planned: A product becomes outdated as a conscious act either to ensure a continuing market or to ensure that safety factors and new technologies can be incorporated into later versions of the product.

• Style (fashion): Fashions and trends change over time, which can result in a product no longer being desirable. However, as evidenced by the concept of retro styling and the cyclic nature of fashion, products can become desirable again.

• Functional: Over time, products wear out and break down. If parts are no longer available, the product can no longer work as originally intended. Also, if a service vital to its functioning is no longer available, it can become obsolete.

• Technological: When a new technology supersedes an existing technology, the existing technology quickly falls out of use and is no longer incorporated into new products. Consumers instead opt for the newer, more efficient technology in their products.

Length of the Product Life Cycle Considering the Effect of Technical Development and Consumer Trends

• Length of the product life cycle considering the effect of technical development.

• Length of the product life cycle considering the effect of consumer trends including fashion.

Product Versioning/Generations

A business practice in which a company produces different models of the same product and then charges different prices for each model. Product versioning is offering a range of products based on a core or initial product market segments. A company can maintain a pioneering strategy and consistent revenue flow by introducing new versions or generations of a product to a market. Apple uses this strategy effectively, creating multiple versions and generations of their iPod®, iPhone®, and iPad® products.

Advantages and Disadvantages for a Company of Introducing New Versions and Generations of a Product

• Advantages:

  • Improved consumer choice: Consumers can choose the version that suits them.

  • Improved consumer choice: Can choose a budget level such as Quicken tax software.

  • Maximize profits for the company, hopefully through increased sales.

• Disadvantages:

  • (Not explicitly mentioned in the provided text but implied)

    • Higher development and production costs.

    • Potential market confusion with too many versions.

5.6 Rogers’ characteristics of innovation and consumers 

1. The Impact of Rogers’ Five Characteristics on Consumer Adoption of an Innovation

Five characteristics identified by Rogers that impact consumer adoption of an innovation are:

• Relative Advantage: The degree to which the innovation is perceived as better than the idea it supersedes.

• Compatibility: The degree to which the innovation is consistent with existing values, past experiences, and needs of potential adopters.

• Complexity: The degree to which the innovation is perceived as difficult to understand and use.

• Observability: The degree to which the results of the innovation are visible to others.

• Trialability: The degree to which the innovation may be experimented with on a limited basis.

2. Social Roots of Consumerism

Issues for companies in the global marketplace when attempting to satisfy consumer needs in relation to lifestyle, values, and identity include:

• Disillusionment with the system.

• The performance gap.

• The consumer information gap.

• Antagonism toward advertising.

• Impersonal and unresponsive marketing institutions.

• Intrusions of privacy.

• Declining living standards.

• Special problems of the disadvantaged.

• Different views of the marketplace.

3. The Influence of Social Media on the Diffusion of Innovation

Consumers can influence the diffusion of innovation through social media by:

• Rallying support or boycotting products/systems.

• Exploring crowd-funding platforms for creative products and projects such as Kickstarter, Sellaband, Seedrs, and CrowdCube.

• Raising brand awareness through social networks like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.

4. The Influence of Trends and Media on Consumer Choice

Consumer choices are influenced by trends and media through various channels, including:

• Advertising through magazines, television, radio, sponsorship, and outdoor advertising.

• Product placement through film and television.

• Product endorsement.

5. Categories of Consumers

The categories of consumers, as described in the diffusion of innovation theory, include:

• Innovators: Risk-takers and the first individuals to adopt an innovation. They are willing to take risks.

• Early Adopters: Hedgers who are the second fastest category to adopt an innovation.

• Early Majority: Waiters who take more time to consider adopting new innovations and tend to draw feedback from early adopters before purchasing.

• Late Majority: Skeptics who adopt the innovation after it has been established in the marketplace and are seldom willing to take risks.

• Laggards: Slow pokes who are the last to adopt an innovation, preferring traditions and unwilling to take risks.

Graphs Illustrating Adoption

• The top graph shows the number of adopters over time, illustrating how different categories adopt innovations from innovators to laggards.

• The bottom graph shows market share percentage, indicating the propensity to adopt versus resistance to adopt over time for each consumer category.

5.7 Innovation, design and marketing specifications 

Target Markets

• When determining the target market, it is crucial to identify market sectors and segments.

Target Audiences

• Differentiating between the target market and the target audience is important. When determining the target audience, consider the characteristics of users.

Establishing Characteristics of Users

Questions to consider:

• Who is most likely to buy this product given its benefits?

• How can the organization tap into the buying power of these consumers?

• Where is the target market most likely to find out about the product?

Answering these questions helps position the product in the correct marketing and distribution channels.

Market Analysis

• An appraisal of the economic viability of the proposed design from a market perspective, considering fixed and variable costs and pricing, is essential. It typically includes a summary about potential users and the market.

Market Segmentation Approaches

• Geographical: Continent, country, country region, city, density, climate, population, subway station, city area.

• Demographic: Age, gender, family size, occupation, income, education, religion, race, nationality.

• Psychographic: Lifestyle, social class, AIOs (activity, interest, opinion), personal values, attitudes.

• Behavioral: Occasions, degree of loyalty, benefits sought, usage, buyer readiness stage, user status.

User Need

• A marketing specification should identify the essential requirements that the product must satisfy in relation to market and user need.

Competition

• A thorough analysis of competing designs is required to establish the market need. It is essential to understand how products compare in terms of innovation, price, and marketing schemes to effectively compete.

Research Methods

• Literature Search: Conducted using authoritative sources such as academic journals, books, theses, consumer magazines, government agency, and industry publications.

• User Trial: A trial where members of the community who will use the product are observed using it. This usually happens in a lab environment, and participants are given tasks to perform under controlled conditions.

• User research: The questioning of users about their experience using a product. Usually as a questionnaire or focus group. 

• Expert appraisal: Where an expert (chosen on the basis of their knowledge or experience) is asked to give their opinion. 

• Performance test: Where the product is tested and data is collected- crash test dummy

Design specifications

• All of the requirements, constraints and considerations must be specific, feasible and measurable. 

• A list of requirements, constraints and considerations that a yet-to-be-designed product must fulfill. 

• The design specification must be developed from the design brief and research and requirements would include: 

  • aesthetic requirements 

  • cost constraints 

  • customer requirements 

  • environmental requirements

  • size constraints 

  • safety considerations 

  • performance requirements and constraints 

  • materials requirements 

  • manufacturing requirements