Mapping key factors in value innovation

The construct ‘value proposition’ is becoming evident in the world of design, as business and marketing intersect with the processes of design. Value proposition can be a powerful way of modelling ideas for products, rather than the actual realisation of those products. The paper offers a brief overview of literature referencing value proposition, found in relevant fields of business and innovation. The paper details a primary investigation of the usage of value proposition by design companies. This is conducted through an analysis of industrial design firms’ websites across six key countries. The findings are that value proposition is still a minor component of the offerings of design firms. However, it was found that larger companies do utilise similar forms of ‘idea modelling’. The paper goes on to propose a structured method of building and communicating a value proposition for designers – VP(d). This offers a bridge between various pre-product and post-product states. An implication is that it strengthens design and designers’ role in business and strategic innovation.

The use of the construct 'value proposition' is becoming prominent in the world of design, as business and marketing intersect more with the processes of design. Value proposition can be a powerful way of capturing, or modelling, ideas for products, rather than the actual realisation of those products. The paper makes a case that the creation and articulation of value proposition is a necessary design ability that should concern design educators, in the same way that other modelling activities are. This is especially so within a discipline such as industrial design where the application of design relates strongly to commercial new product development. The teaching and learning of early, front end strategic innovation to design students is discussed. The building of an explicit value proposition 'model' is a key element of this work. The linkage between value proposition and front end user, global and brand research strands is presented. The paper draws on primary and secondary research activities in the areas of design education and professional design which relate to the practices of strategic innovation. Forms, models, and usage of value proposition are identified from literature relating to innovation, business models, and new product development.

2014

This paper presents findings of an embedded action research project within a small to medium sized enterprise (SME). Through the implementation of design-led innovation processes, this research aims to identify the changes experienced in the participating company during a shift in the perspective of design from a product focus towards a strategic focus. Staff interviews and a reflective journal were used as methods to collect data from a range of design interventions that were facilitated throughout the engagement. A shift in perspective of design was evident through three cultural changes within the firm. First, the perceived outcome focus of design became increasingly long-term. Second, the value of design outcomes became less directed towards current projects, and more directed towards future possibilities. Finally, the perceived tangibility of design outcomes shifted from tangible to intangible. For example, design activities which produced customer insights, rather than product...

Intellectual Economics, 2016

As never before, turbulent business environments, scarcity of resources, hyper-competition and globalization have put significant competitive pressures on many businesses. Rapid specialized technology developments and increased global access to geographically unlimited markets allow consumers seemingly to have infinite choices for the best satisfaction of their needs in choosing desired products. Providing value to customers becomes vital to any organization to sustain the business in future. As a main task of design through design thinking is to seek value to customers, fosters management thinking from chaotic fluctuations in external turbulence and enables sustainable order in actions. This is why awareness of extended design application is becoming crucial hot topic nowadays among academics and practitioners. The aim of this paper is to analyze awareness of design application and design thinking in Latvia, to highlight potentials of these innovative management methods and tools to build new organizational capabilities and sustain competitiveness in the challenging business conditions, to improve the welfare of society and create better environment for living. Research was conducted to find out the stage of design application in broader sense leading to design thinking and design driven innovations was carried out in Latvia. 374 responses were collected from randomly selected companies in Latvia and as a results, due to national and regional specifics based on development level of micro and macro factors influencing entire innovation ecosystem, majority of business managers still focus on short-term business decisions and cost-reduction with limited awareness of design broader usage as a powerful innovation method for product development, improvement of business processes and renewal of business models. Research findings prove the necessity to change thinking model of business management in order to develop the skills and capabilities to recognize emerging new driving forces of innovation unfolded through design thinking to ensure continuous value generation, order in external chaos and sustainable competitiveness.

International Journal of Development Research, 2019

The goal of this study is to understand how the Design Thinking tool helps the identification of opportunities, creation and development of new products or services developed by academics. Therefore, the stages of identification, inspiration, ideation and implementation of the development of products and services were studied through observation, interviews and questionnaires applied to the teams of academics who developed a product as a curricular activity

Icord 09 Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Research into Design Bangalore India 07 09 01 2009, 2009

As the nature of design problems becomes more complex and multifaceted, it becomes important to understand the problem space/ context to arrive at opportunities for redefining design briefs and conceptual frameworks. This paper examines the creative methods involved in coming up with design opportunities for problem spaces. The research worldview taken was pragmatism and an exploratory study was carried out using qualitative methods like case studies and unstructured interviews. A literature review was carried out and a framework for study was prepared. The case studies carried out as per this framework were examined for learning. This learning was further consolidated as findings of the exploratory study. It is envisaged that the research will bring in some understanding on the initial stage of the project and how certain methods could lead to a creative way of arriving at design opportunities in the initial phase of design.

What is the value of design? Why should firms invest in design? The paper aims at clarifying the value of design, its dimensions and its variables (qualitative and quantitative) throughout a literature review and analysis. The premise is that firms invest in design to create value. Design has evolved, becoming closely related to innovation, and the need to clarify its dimensions and relationships to value within firms and society rises. Despite the global growing interest in design, it is not fully understood how it brings benefits to the company. The concept of value is found in a fragmented literature including economics, marketing, business, management, value engineering, design domains, social and environmental sustainability. In conclusion, the value of design still is under-researched and new dimensions emerge. It is shaped by designers and companies visions, creativity and interpretations. Better cross-fertilization is required to identify the mechanisms of value creation by design.

2005

International economic competition drives companies into cost reductions but also greater innovation development. In this context, our work deals specifically with innovative product design. In order to innovate, companies have to develop their own engineering culture. They also have to be able to detect new customer's needs, and to generate and select new technological options. We propose a methodology to enhance the generation of innovative solutions. This methodology is enriched, particularly regarding the requirements (functions and constraints) which a product has to fulfil, by integrating a Value Analysis approach. This phase is essential to evaluate and compare innovative solutions as objectively as possible: a graphical software interface has been designed to improve this critical phase. This methodology is developed on an industrial example, part of a project with the French national railway company (SNCF): it involves the design of a picking up system for metallic debris due to regular train wheel wear and spread on railway tracks. Our methodology has also been developed by using the student team project activity at Ecole Centrale in Lille (France) as a test.

Conference Proceedings of the Academy for Design Innovation Management, 2019

The process of value creation cannot be an exclusive preserve of designers, but it is rather the result of a diffuse problem solving capability. The creation of new value is also connected to the concept of innovation and can happen in different logical contexts, from limited and confined contexts (niches) to consolidated structures (regimes) and to wider sociotechnical contexts (landscapes). In all those contexts, design can have a different role and whoever designs should use different capabilities and tools. Furthermore, design capabilities can also be useful when aligning value creation and change in different levels, thus contributing to understand the relationships between small scale interactions and wider scale transformation of sociotechnical landscapes. This paper proposes a framework to understand the contribution of design to the value creation process at the three levels, focusing on design capabilities and tools to work across different logical contexts.

Defence Journal -July 2024, 2024

Defence Journal: July 2024 Issue https://a.co/d/hRXjgGR #Amazon via @Amazon Product details • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0D9DCQ6Z2 • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Independently published (July 13, 2024) • Language ‏ : ‎ English • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 105 pages • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 979-8333012500 • Reading age ‏ : ‎ 5 - 18 years • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 6.9 ounces • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.83 x 0.24 x 8.26 inches