What are some of the big changes you see in the way innovative products are being developed?
For one, there’s a big move to design platforms. Companies are establishing design themes that evolve but are not replaced each time a new product is developed. This enables them to bring new products to the market really fast by speeding up their development cycles. Q: Why do companies need outsiders to help do this? A: Even the largest manufacturers are having a hard time getting all the resources and decision-making structure lined up to get goods to market quickly enough. In order to innovate quickly, you need a richer set of ideas in the first place. You need a conscious realization that you can’t only rely on your own abilities to generate enough ideas on your own. That is one reason companies come to us. We work with 35 different industries. That means we can tap into 35 different ecosystems in the idea process. Q: How are companies using consultancies like IDEO differently than before? A: Companies used to come to companies like us mainly for engineering. These days we’re worki
