Forecasting the design of eco-products by integrating TRIZ evolution patterns with CBR and Simple LCA methods

As is well known in biology, organisms adapt and evolve in response to their surrounding environments, a phenomenon similarly found in product development. Among the factors that may influence product changes include functional improvements, consumer habits, and the emergence of new technologies. Humans must develop products that impact the environment minimally to ensure sustainable living. This work presents a forecasting novel model to acquire innovative ideas more easily to design eco products, followed by evaluation of whether the new design is more effective than currently available ones in the concept design stage. The innovative approach to solving design problems is based on TRIZ evolution patterns, in which the index system of case-based reasoning connects the innovative idea to cases located in a database to accelerate the process. Finally, simple life cycle assessment is introduced to determine whether if the solution is better for the environment than the currently available ones. A novel eco-innovation concept for a cell phone is also presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed model.     

A decision support framework for identifying novel ideas in new product development from cross-domain analysis

In current competitive times, product manufacturers need not only to retain their existing customer base, but also to increase their market share. One way they can achieve this is by generating new ideas and developing novel products with new features. As highlighted in the literature, in generating new ideas to develop novel and innovative products, it is important that product designers satisfy the needs of both current customers and new customers. However, despite the large number of existing studies that identify novel features in the ideation phase, product designers do not have a systematic framework that utilises additional information relating to products from either far-field or related domains to generate such new ideas in the ideation phase. This paper presents our proposed framework FEATURE which provides just such a systemic framework for product designers in the ideation phase of new product development. FEATURE has three phases. The first phase identifies and recommends to the product designers novel features that can be added to the next version of a reference product. In order to incorporate the customer's voice into the ideation phase, the second phase ascertains the popularity of the proposed features by using social media. The third phase ranks the proposed features based on the designer's decision criteria to select those that should be considered further in the next phases of new product development. We explain the importance of each phase of FEATURE and show the working of its first module in detail.     

Managing product/process knowledge in the concurrent/simultaneous enterprise environment

Innovation is a critical factor in the success of industrial companies, and just as important is the need to get innovative products to the market quickly. Therefore, it is important to talk about ‘management of product development time’ because, under this new paradigm, companies able of ‘mastering’ the development time will launch the product into the market just spending the planned time and resources and at the real moment. This will give back to the company higher market share and faster market penetration. The main objective of the project Acceleration of Innovative Ideas into the Market (AIM) is to provide the means of stimulating the creation of innovative ideas in general, and specifically on potential product/process improvements and on problem solving. These ideas are collected throughout the extended enterprise from people involved with the products and processes; this knowledge will be further developed into innovations in a project-basis process.     

浅谈产品的创新设计

在现代工业产品设计中,设计创意与创新设计对产品设计的成功起着举足轻重的作用,设计师的创意与创新设计能使其设计的工业产品给大众留有深刻的印象,因为新奇能给予人很深的印象,此论文谈及了设计的表现基础,同时对一些名师的设计进行了分析,使大家更加了解到工业设计中的创意与创新对工业产品的作用,希望通过此论文的学习,使大家能更多的了解创意与创新设计,并能在以后的设计中突发其想,做出更多优秀新奇的工业产品设计。     

Evolving improvised ideation from humour constructs: A new method for collaborative divergence

This paper reviews and applies key principles from improvised comedy (“improv”) to overcome common barriers in effective group ideation, resulting in the formulation and presentation of a new creative idea generation method. The emergence of an innovative product design can be compared to the telling of a funny joke: both combine seemingly unconnected ideas in a way that is both surprising and satisfying. Our research expands upon this link between humour and creativity, and operationalizes the improv principles best suited to the conceptual design process. A workshop‐based methodology was used to select, develop, and refine the method protocol and facilitation technique. Participant feedback and observations have demonstrated how this approach can expand the solution space to support the generation of bold, innovative ideas. Finally, we present a step‐by‐step guide for the new “design improv” method and discuss its potential value in the generation of creative ideas in a group ideation context.     

A stakeholder-oriented innovative product conceptualization strategy based on fuzzy integrals

Knowledge, experiences and skills of corporate members promote new ideas into products, in the context of innovative design. This dynamism is especially important in the critical product conceptualization stage. In customer-oriented design paradigm, most methodologies focus on exploiting end-user requirements, instead of considering project stakeholder requirements in a holistic manner. Previous research in the area of innovative product conceptualization focused on such aspects as functional, cognitive, marketing and commercial perspectives. It involves the participations of customers, designers, engineers, marketers and business managers. Accordingly, a stakeholder-oriented innovative product concept development system (IPCDS) is established to integrate the bespoke four perspectives so as to evaluate product concept innovation comprehensively. To resolve the incomplete, ambiguous, uncertain and subjective nature of innovative design knowledge, the product platform represented in a design knowledge hierarchy (DKH) is generated using general sorting. Subsequently, an innovative design criteria matrix (DCM) constructed using repertory grids technique is rated with regard to specific design option. The ratings are then used as input features to the fuzzy integrals technique, for the purpose of innovative design. A case study on cellular phone design is used for system illustration and the results are discussed on the basis of product concept innovation.     

User idea implementation in open innovation communities: Evidence from a new product development crowdsourcing community

In collaborative crowdsourcing communities for open innovation, users generate and submit ideas as idea co‐creators. Firms then select and implement valuable ideas for new product development. Despite the popularity and success of these open innovation communities, relatively little is known about the factors that determine the implementation of the user‐generated ideas. Based on research on individual creativity, we propose a conceptual model integrating users' previous experience, idea presentation characteristics and feedback valence to explain the likelihood of idea implementation. We validate our research model with a panel data analysis of 43 550 ideas submitted by 16 360 users in the MIUI new product development community hosted by Xiaomi, a large electronics manufacturing company in China. We find an inverted U‐shaped relationship between users' past successful experience and idea implementation. Furthermore, the length of ideas is positively associated with the likelihood of idea implementation. There is also an inverted U‐shaped relationship between supporting evidence and idea implementation. Finally, we demonstrate the negative effect of positive feedback and the positive effect of negative feedback on idea implementation. These findings offer rich insights to understand the phenomenon of open innovation better. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

浅谈情感化设计在产品中的应用

科学技术的发展,使得消费者和制造商对产品满足人的心理需求方面提出了更高的要求。情感化的设计只是一种创意工具,表达和发挥设计师的思想和设计目的,随着时代的发展,这种创意工具将变得日益锐利。然而让人们带着情感接受产品,接受设计者的思想,本文从全新的角度将产品的使用功能、产品造型、材料、色彩等方面,对产品中的情感化和趣味性元素进行分析和比较,说明情感化设计在当前具有广阔的发展空间。     

Microcontroller design advantages for portable computing

ARM processors have achieved wide recognition for their suitability for handheld computing applications, and a number of products already use these CPUs in discrete roles. The traditional route to further reducing costs and power consumption is integration-that is, integrating the peripherals with the CPU. The ARM7100, the first of a series of high integration portable computer microcontrollers, follows this route. It also incorporates innovative features that solve design, test, road map, and time-re-market issues. The ARM7100 resulted from a collaboration between Psion Software and ARM. Psion had specific requirements for CPU performance, peripheral integration, and low overall power consumption, including several power management features. Prior to the ARM7100, ARM had designed a number of high-integration parts, and ARM designers used this experience to develop new bus architecture ideas. ARM incorporated these ideas into the ARM7100 to produce a highly modular design, which benefited both the silicon designer and the product manufacturer. This article first describes the ARM7100 and then highlights key device features by describing two innovative products using this microcontroller-one from Psion and one from a new stare-up company, OptionExist     

Sources of Innovation and Ideas in ICT Firms in Australia

This paper examines a sample of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) firms in Australia drawn from a wide range of product and service providers in the Sydney region. It researches the sources of information and ideas that firms utilize to sustain their competitive position through innovation. While the firms in the survey varied in size in terms of turnover, number of employees and level of business activity, most see themselves as innovative. Not all firms utilized the same sources of innovation‐related knowledge and most used research and technology organizations (RTOs) or other publicly funded sources of information for help with ‘technical’ (standards etc) or trade issues. While ICT firms are often regarded as leading‐edge developers of new ideas, this research indicated that ICT firms still see their sales force, customers and suppliers as the most important sources of innovation knowledge and ideas.     

A vision-oriented approach for innovative product design

Nowadays, business globalization, complex consumer requirements, and high technology development have led to vigorous business competition and market uncertainty. In new product design, it is increasingly important to put more emphasis on innovative concerns than quality and speed of production. Providing unique, innovative and value-added products becomes a crucial strategy for success. This study aims to develop a new product design process that concentrates on radical innovations. Visioning thinking, TRIZ, Image Scale, and Morphological Analysis are integrated for developing designs with a balance of rational/logical analyses and intuitive/creative thinking. The proposed process fulfills the need for radical innovation through enriching heuristic thinking. It is a useful methodology that adds value to products in terms of technological functions, form perceptions, and holistic usability. A proposal of therapy bike design for cerebral palsy children is demonstrated using the new process. Through case demonstration, designers could enhance products with human-centered values while coping with market uncertainty effectively. The applicability of the vision-oriented approach for innovative product design is verified.     

Tuning Users' Innovativeness During Ideation

Although there is increasing acknowledgement that consumers can contribute useful ideas during the development of innovative services, there has been little empirical examination of how such users can best be managed in order to contribute their ideas to the ‘fuzzy front end’ of new service development. The present study examines the relationship between the nature of user‐created ideas regarding new technology‐based services and the characteristics of the users supplying the ideas. In particular, the study investigates whether users' ideas become more incremental or more radical depending on the users' awareness of technological restrictions and their utilization of use experience. The results show that idea creators with high use experience who are unaware of any technological restrictions tend to produce service ideas that are more radical in nature, whereas idea creators with high use experience who are aware of technological restrictions tend to produce service ideas that are more incremental in nature. The study provides empirical support that, in order to provide innovative ideas, ordinary users involved in ideation must both have a contextual use experience and not be restricted in their ideation by ‘too much’ technology information and restrictions on potential feasibility.     

The Adoption of Electronic Innovations with Indirect Network Externalities that Compete with Standalone Physical Products

The authors consider how a change in product form impacts the adoption decision for an innovative product based on digital technology. Examples of changes in product form often arise in products that feature indirect network externalities, such as MP3 players, PDAs and e‐readers. Existing research suggests that, for innovations with indirect network externalities, the consumer's hardware adoption decision is influenced by the availability of complementary products. However, these studies of complementary products tend to focus on products that exist only as complementary products, such as DVDs, CDs, and video games. This research focuses on the case of an innovative hardware product that uses digital complementary products that compete with standalone versions of the same products. The authors argue that high levels of experience with a standalone product that competes with an innovative hardware/software bundle should increase the consumer's appreciation of (1) the utilitarian benefits of the hardware/software bundle and (2) the hedonic benefits of the standalone product, some of which may not be transferable to the electronic hardware. An analysis of data collected from 549 potential adopters of e‐readers in Japan support these hypotheses. The findings have important implications for the design and marketing of digital innovations that involve a change in product form.     

Ideas in the Workplace: A New Approach Towards Organizing the Fuzzy Front End of the Innovation Process

This article pinpoints requirements for organizing the fuzzy front end of the innovation process. The author derived the conditions for computer‐aided idea management from benchmarking the fuzzy front ends of several German and European companies and proposes differentiating between general and company‐specific requirements for organizing the fuzzy front end. It is suggested that structuring the fuzzy front end involves low financial investment but highly sensitive and transparent leadership. Using specific properties of ideas in the workplace as springboards, considerations on further new requirements for successful idea management are developed. Placing a particular emphasis on the interface between the idea owner and the idea‐adoption system, an ‘idea types’ model is developed, which defines four different extreme types of employees and their inclinations to solve problems. An extended set of requirements for managing ideas in the workplace as a useful instrument in creation and implementation of idea‐pipelines in companies and in checking software programmes for idea management or the early stages of new product development programmes is presented.     

Innovation Speed in Small and Medium‐Sized Enterprises

In this era of fast‐paced technological change companies are frequently forced to quickly bring innovative products to a competitive marketplace. Small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) play a key role in innovative contribution and growth of the global economy, yet face unique challenges with regard to new product development. To date scholars disagree on the effect of firm size on the antecedents and outcomes for innovation speed. We review the relevant literature, develop a conceptual model of innovation speed for SMEs and test it with 158 projects across several technology‐related industries. Results revealed that SMEs had different speed antecedents from large firms, had their antecedents vary by radicalness and found speed to be synergistic with efficiency, quality and project success. Implications for managers and scholars are discussed.     

浅析产品创新设计

通过论述产品创新设计的概念,什么是好的产品创新设计,产品创新设计的方法,产品创新设计的误区,产品创新设计成功的若干因素等来阐述产品创新设计。     

An ideation method for generating new product ideas using TRIZ,concept mapping,and fuzzy linguistic evaluation techniques

The quality of initial ideas is considered a critical determinant for successful new product development (NPD). This study presents an ideation method for generating new product ideas. The aims of the proposed method are (1) to clarify and identify potential problems involved in the knowledge domain of the product design through the Su-field enhanced concept mapping diagram; (2) to abstract inventive problems and generate novel product ideas by means of the theory of inventive problem solving (TRIZ) methodology; and, (3) to develop an effective decision aiding method for evaluating alternative ideas and determining promising product ideas using fuzzy linguistic evaluation techniques. The applicability of the ideation method is demonstrated through a case study of an air purifier design. The theoretical and practical implications of the ideation method are also discussed.     

Innovation support system for creative product design based on chance discovery

Under a turbulently changing and highly competitive market, discovery of a chance is always significant for many companies to launch new and creative products or services in time, fulfilling consumers demands for occupying more market share. Many available methods on market research for designing new products are more focused on the analysis process, so that product designers run short of ideas discovery. In this paper, we present a novel innovation support system (ISS) based on chance discovery with data crystallization to assist human innovation in designing new products, especially creative products. The ISS is a human-centric system to enable value cognition and follows the following process: (1) visualized scenario graph generation, (2) human value cognition, (3) value co-creation based on shared knowledge, and (4) emerging chances evaluation. The result of a case study validates the effectiveness of ISS.     

Innovation Culture,Collaboration with External Partners and NPD Performance

Researchers and managers have found that the use of external knowledge in the process of new product development (NPD) helps to sustain a firm's competitiveness by strengthening its innovative performance. However, little is known about why some firms use external knowledge sources for NPD in an extensive manner while others hardly ever use them. In addition, there is disagreement about which external partners significantly contribute to the innovative performance of a firm as valuable knowledge sources. Based on the resource‐based view (RBV) of the firm and Kitchell's innovation adoption model, this paper expects a firm's innovation culture to have a significant impact on its openness to external knowledge – measured in terms of its collaborative behaviour with five different external partners – and for that behaviour to influence the firm's NPD performance. A sample of 254 technology‐based firms across several industries is used to empirically test the research model with covariance‐based structural equation modeling (SEM). The findings deepen our understanding of the discrepancies between successful pioneering firms active in technology and knowledge sourcing and others being less successful.     

The right kind of people: Characteristics of successful ideators' online behaviour

Open online idea calls are an increasingly popular way to crowdsource ideas. Such calls tend to attract a diverse crowd who suggest a variety of ideas. To detect the most promising from this mass of ideas, we identify online behavioural characteristics of successful ideators, i.e. those who suggest ideas that are implemented. Our study is based on binary logistic regression analyses of a dataset from a call for ideas crowdsourced by the city of Munich. We found that characteristics linked to suggesting possible solutions and to showing positive attention towards other ideas are key features of how successful ideators behave online. We also found that the first is a characteristic of ideators who are likely to suggest an idea that is implemented but not novel. The latter is a characteristic of ideators who are likely to suggest an idea that is implemented and novel. Paying attention to other ideas before suggesting one's own and providing constructive input to other ideas are not found to be characteristic for successful ideators. The findings contribute to a better understanding of successful ideators' online behaviour and thereby open up new opportunities for the detection of ideas that the idea‐seeker wants to implement.