PRODUCT INNOVATION — DESIGN & DEVELOPMENT

HOW WE LEAD AND EXECUTE

For each project, we begin by establishing a clear understanding of your objectives and constraints — and therefore our deliverables.   Once we have done this, we craft a Master Development Plan reflecting all of the activities needed to deliver on those objectives.   Because we know which activities will add value and which will not – and thus which activities are best-suited to your particular project – we are able to develop the most effective plan possible.   Also, since we custom tailor each project to your needs, you have a voice in the plan and thus in how and to what extent we employ each activity.   We ensure the Master Development Plan is structured to stay within your budget and that it will fit with any complimentary organizational capabilities you wish to integrate into the process.   We structure progression of the project according to the eight phases of the Emergent NPD Process.

Once we have agreed on the Master Development Plan, we will initiate and lead the project from start to finish in a turnkey manner.   Being a research & design collective, we execute the project using members of our collective — a broad network of some of the highest caliber providers in the world, covering every aspect of New Product Development from start to finish.   This includes areas such as market research, user research, branding, ideation and concepting, user experience design, human factors, industrial design, package design, technology applications, engineering, prototyping, validation, documentation, launch planning, and so on, down to final delivery.   There is no area of product development that we cannot deliver and manage via the collective.

Upon initiating the project, we select, enlist, and manage collective members from each of these areas based on their expertise in your key markets.   Because of our broad and seasoned experience in NPD leadership, we know how to assemble and lead the best team for each project, with each team being custom–matched to the unique needs of the project so as to bring the right skills to bear on the challenges at hand.   We closely manage this team throughout the entirety of the project.   Along the way, we orchestrate all resources, including your representatives, to establish agreement on market characterization, offering definition, and offering design, and to thereafter manage commercialization so that the final result is true to that definition.   Throughout each phase of the project, we provide the leadership necessary to maintain momentum toward progressive milestones, keeping the project on track with its agreed–upon timeline.

To the extent possible, we prefer to start projects from ground zero – at their very beginning – and to take them through to their logical conclusion.   However we also realize that sometimes you have existing insights you wish to integrate into the process that will influence how we address the project, and for that reason we remain flexible in our approach.   In all cases, our objective is to help you deliver the products that will let you lead your markets.

APPLYING THE EMERGENT NPD PROCESS

We employ our proprietary Emergent NPD Process for the research, conceptualization, definition, design, development, and commercialization of all new product innovations.   This process ensures that a structured and systematic approach is followed and that all work is carried out in an effective and holistic manner.   Unlike most NPD processes, this process has been developed specifically to enable major product innovations rather than just simple line extensions.

For new product innovations, all eight phases of the Emergent NPD Process are used.   These eight phases are as follows.

For details on the work associated with each phase, select the corresponding link.

Phase 1:   The Context — Characterizing the Market Environment

Phase 2:   The Insights — Discovering User Needs

Phase 3:   The Strategy — Speaking to the Market

Phase 4:   The Experience — Defining the Desired Product Experience

Phase 5:   The Path — Establishing the Design Strategy

Phase 6:   The Plan — Crafting the Go-To-Market Strategy

Phase 7:   The Execution — Engineering the Product

Phase 8:   The Delivery — Building the Product

We manage the process of moving from one phase to the next using this structure.   Phases 1 – 6 are carried out sequentially but left ‘open’ so as to integrate any new insights gained throughout the process.   In particular, the strategy work of Phase 3 is a ‘living’ artifact that continues to evolve as it is informed by the subsequent work.   The last two phases – 7 & 8 – are led concurrently for maximum effectiveness and timeliness.