Posted: January 20th, 2012 in Addressing Consumer Needs, Innovation
By Megan Portanova
“The Tower”, Rush University Medical Center’s new hospital, opened last week. Driving down I-290 in Chicago you can’t help but notice the building. It doesn’t look anything like the other buildings in that area, and definitely not like any of the other hospitals in the Chicago-area. Its curved, white façade looks more like the corporate headquarters some tech company might dream up. Rush’s website talks about all of the new important technological advancements in the hospital: from the lobby that can quickly convert to usable space if there is a disaster in the Chicago area to the interventional platform. However, one of the most interesting parts of this new building for me is the use of qualitative research and innovative architecture to solve some of the problems of a hospital.
The design for the building emerged from conversations the architect had with doctors and nurses in order to uncover how best to situate the building to improve the work that goes on within it. This is such a fundamental step in any successful innovation – and one of K&A’s Innovation Best Practices. You need to understand the needs of the end-user in order to create a solution that truly solves a problem. One of the outputs of these conversations is the most striking visual aspect of the building: the curved bed tower. The tower was designed to provide a central nurses’ station on each floor that allows easy access to patients. Talking to doctors and nurses also influenced the windowed corridors by surgery and the green roof, in order to provide some relief from the pressures of the job.
Hopefully, by taking into account the needs of the end-users in the space, “The Tower” will help Rush provide better healthcare.
Posted: January 6th, 2012 in Addressing Consumer Needs, Innovation, Innovation Training, Solution Generation
By Rishu Mendolia
Although innovation is best executed (with the highest rates of success) by using a disciplined customer-centric process, it is not uncommon for creative thinkers to come up with unprompted ideas for new products, services, and businesses. This is especially true for those closest to the market, as they are regularly exposed to customer needs and market opportunities. But how can the individual decide how to best evaluate the idea before bringing it to a larger group? Here’s a set of 5 questions that can help you think through an idea. Not all of these questions can be completely answered at this early stage. But by thinking through these topics, the idea can be better defined and evaluated.
1. Strategically, how does the idea fit the company’s growth goals? Which specific company strategies does the idea address?
2. How does this idea benefit the company? Is it new revenue through incremental business? It is higher customer retention? What are the potential financial returns?
3. Who is the target market for this idea? What need/opportunity does this address? Would customers change their behaviors to make use of it?
4. What does the current competitive space look like, including direct competitors and possible substitute solutions? How easy would it be for someone to copy this idea?
5. What kind of developmental effort would it take to commercialize this idea?
Of course, extreme care should be taken that this does not become the start of the innovation process – real innovation starts by identifying customer needs and THEN generating ideas. But in such an instance where an individual first comes up with an idea, the company should carefully conduct primary market research around the opportunity this idea is attempting to address, and then reevaluate – and shape - the idea if it still fits the uncovered needs. Additionally, thorough prototyping and market testing would also be required to maximize the impact of the idea.
Taking an idea through the rigorous innovation process is generally a lengthier effort than hurried commercialization. But by doing so the company can maximize the chances of its success and avoid substantial losses that would otherwise be realized by launching the untested offering.
Posted: October 28th, 2011 in Addressing Consumer Needs
By Gabriela Mendieta
I just finished attending part of the Kellogg School of Management’s “Managing New Products and Services for a Competitive Edge” Executive Education offering and I was incredibly lucky to have the opportunity to listen and learn from some of the foremost thinkers and experts in the world of innovation, marketing, and customer insights. Some of the topics covered included how to generate and lead an innovation strategy, process, and teams; sourcing for new product introductions; customer insight leadership; and new product marketing strategies, just to name of few.
What impacted me the most over the course of two days was how strong of an emphasis each lecturer placed on understanding one’s customers and in the importance of solving against their needs, wants, and frustrations in order to create successful new products and services. It was probably the most important learning of the entire class, one that I hope that the other participants will take back to their organizations.
To truly create a new product or service that is both successful and differentiated in today’s marketplace, an organization has to get out into the market and really get to know their customers through both qualitative observation and interaction, not only looking at survey results and quantitative studies. Without that knowledge and understanding, an organization will simply create products and services that customers don’t want to buy. Many organizations fall victim to the belief that they know their customers through quantitative research when in reality it can require really walking in the customer’s shoes to understand what they need and what frustrates them in their day to day lives. Ultimately, a fresh understanding of customer needs and frustrations can become the basis for a business opportunity when an organization invests in really understanding their customers. I’ll leave you with this quote, which is from Steve Bennett, former CEO of Intuit:
“Empathy is not just about walking in another’s shoes. First you must remove your own shoes.”
Posted: April 22nd, 2009 in Addressing Consumer Needs
In a recent BusinessWeek article titled How to Think Outside the Box, Bill Buxton talks about going beyond the constraints of the current role and definition of technology, and instead focus on improving consumer experiences by paying more attention to “human” considerations, like how we live our everyday lives. While the article does a great job highlighting the need for technology to integrate better in our day-to-day lives , it made me go back to a fundamental mistake in many new technology-based products- lack of solving a true need.
Developers of new technology products often focus on “design” as a way to differentiate and get credit as being “innovative.” While design can be a very useful component in addressing the totality of consumer needs, many companies incorrectly assume that products based on unique and eye-catching design alone will rise to success. The recent focus on product design is often attributed to Apple and its legacy of successful new products over the last decade. Many argue that their products have been successful due to their sophisticated design – and therein is the underlying mistake.
Apple’s focus on design is twofold. The first and more obvious is to use design to make “friendlier” and more appealing products that enhance (often by simplifying) the user experience through hardware and software. But often overlooked is the other side – that Apple products actually address consumer needs. Their use of design is not simply for making good looking products, but actually helping users make the most of the underlying benefits of the technology. Combined with great business execution, Apple’s product lines have enjoyed growing success year after year visible from the company’s revenues that grew from almost $6 Billion in 1998 to over $32 Billion in 2008.
But successful new product development hinges on not just identifying the consumer need, but a much deeper understanding, including realization of the specific solution requirements consumers have. This is important, because a product that addresses the high level need, but fails to meet the specific solution requirements area will achieve only limited success. Innovators need to work on striking the right balance between meeting solution requirements and offering a good value proposition; failure to do so can severely limit market acceptance. Even Apple, recognized as the most innovative company in the world is not immune to this fundamental truth for new products, as it found with the initial release of the Apple TV set-top box that only achieved limited success (even CEO Steve Jobs admitted they missed the mark). While the product enabled consumers to access their downloaded media content (music, TV shows and movies) on their TV, it did not meet many of the specific solution requirements that consumers had (being able to download content directly, a good value proposition – consumers don’t want to feel like they bought another computer, etc). When Apple addressed some of these concerns in their second version of the product, sales triple over the previous year.
Companies need to focus on delivering relevant benefits to consumers, instead of simply offering new features in a pretty package. And the only way to really do that is focusing on solving the problem, and doing it right by meeting its requirements.
Posted: April 6th, 2009 in Addressing Consumer Needs
We often find that one of the most commonly overlooked areas of innovation is the consumer/customer input. Many companies ideate behind closed doors without any understanding of what the consumer actually needs or wants. This is probably the worst possible way to go about creating the next new product or service that will perform well in the marketplace. The way to have a higher percentage of success is to make sure that the product/service being introduced is solving current problems and meeting unmet needs.
Although employees within any given company might think that they know their consumers, often they have grave misconceptions, especially senior management. That is why it is so important to talk to consumers during the innovation process. The only way to change that perception is to actually go out and talk to consumers and collect real world information.
Of course, companies are often reluctant to spend the time or money in conducting upfront consumer-centric research. But the important thing to take into consideration is that the money and time invested in upfront research is actually minimal compared to the time and money put into a new product launch, especially if that launch is going to fail. Another aspect of upfront research is that companies often do not see the long-term far reaching benefits. Research undertakings can continue to inform new product and service development for a number of years, since in many industries consumers change somewhat gradually and research findings are relevant for many years (outside of drastic world events, like say a global recession). Additionally, the research findings can immediately help inform base business decisions.
Upfront consumer research (and continued research all the way through development) helps companies go in the right direction with new products, and actually saves costs. Consumers help to outline what new products need to have, and what they are willing to pay for. This helps to cut down the costs (and hopefully increase margins) also eliminate unnecessary additions - for example a high cost packaging technology when consumers do not really value.
An example of a new product that was recently launched that seems to have not fully taken consumers input into account is the latest iPod Shuffle. The new Shuffle is slimmer than the previous generation with a more sleek and minimalist look. This change came with a movement of all the controls from the shuffle to the earphones. Granted, some consumers might be very happy about this change, but many have complained about the fact that this now means that they have to use Apple’s earbuds, or similarly licensed earphones. iPod Shuffles are often used for exercising, and many consumers like to customize the earphones they are using based on what works best for them. With the new iPod Shuffle, they can’t use their favorite earphones without some kind of a proprietary adapter. The technology might be breakthrough, but it also greatly impacts the way that consumers can use the product.
Consumer research is the only way to identify potential problems with new products and services both before extensive development and launch. The greater the understanding of the consumer, the greater the likelihood of success.