Creating Breakthrough Products : Innovation from Product Planning to Program Approval

by Cagan, Jonathan; Vogel, Craig M.

• ISBN13: 9780139696947
• ISBN10: 0139696946
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2002-01-01
• Publisher: FT Press

Summary

Creating Breakthrough Productsidentifies key factors associated with successful innovation, and presents an insightful and comprehensive approach to building products and services that redefine markets -- or create new ones. Learn to identify Product Opportunity Gaps that can lead to enormous success; control and navigate the "Fuzzy Front End" of the product development process; and leverage contributions from diverse product teams -- while staying relentlessly focused on your customer's values and lifestyles.

Author Biography

Jonathan Cagan is a Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University.

Table of Contents

Foreword	xvii
Preface	xxi
Acknowledgments	xxvii
Glossary of Acronymns and Terms	xxxi
Part One The Argument	1	(104)
What Drives New Product Development	2	(30)
Redefining the Bottom Line	3	(6)
Positioning Breakthrough Products	5	(2)
Products and Services	7	(2)
Identifying Product Opportunities: The SET Factors	9	(3)
POG and SET Factor Case Studies	12	(19)
The OXO GoodGrips Peeler	14	(4)
The Motorola Talkabout	18	(4)
The Crown Wave	22	(4)
Starbucks	26	(5)
Summary Points	31	(1)
References	31	(1)
Moving to the Upper Right	32	(22)
Integrating Style and Technology	33	(3)
Style vs. Technology: A Brief History of the Evolution of Style and Technology in the 19th and 20th Centuries	36	(7)
In the Beginning	36	(1)
The Growth of Consumer Culture	36	(2)
The Introduction of Style to Mass Production	38	(2)
Post World War II Growth of the Middle Class and the Height of Mass Marketing	40	(1)
The Rise of Consumer Awareness and the End of Mass Marketing	41	(1)
The Era of Customer Value, Mass Customization, and the Global Economy	42	(1)
Positioning Map: Style vs. Technology	43	(7)
Lower Left: Low Use of Style and Technology	43	(1)
Lower Right: Low Use of Style, High Use of Technology	44	(1)
Upper Left: High Use of Style, Low Use of Technology	45	(1)
Upper Right: High Use of Style and Technology	45	(1)
Positioning Map of OXO GoodGrips	46	(2)
Positioning Map of Motorola Talkabout	48	(1)
Positioning Map of Crown Wave	48	(1)
Positioning Map of Starbucks	49	(1)
Knockoffs and Rip-offs	50	(1)
Revolutionary vs. Evolutionary Product Development	51	(2)
Summary Points	53	(1)
References	53	(1)
The Upper Right: The Value Quadrant	54	(30)
The Sheer Cliff of Value---The Third Dimension	55	(7)
The Shift in the Concept of Value in Products and Services	56	(3)
Qualities and a Customer's Value System: Cost vs. Value	59	(3)
Value Opportunities	62	(7)
Emotion	63	(1)
Aesthetics	64	(1)
Product Identity	64	(1)
Impact	65	(1)
Ergonomics	65	(3)
Core Technology	68	(1)
Quality	68	(1)
Value Opportunity Charts and Analysis	69	(9)
VOA of OXO GoodGrips	71	(2)
VOA of Motorola Talkabout	73	(2)
VOA of Crown Wave	75	(2)
VOA of Starbucks	77	(1)
The Time and Place for Value Opportunities	78	(1)
VOs and Product Goals	79	(1)
The Upper Right for Industrial Products	79	(3)
Summary Points	82	(1)
References	83	(1)
The Core of a Successful Brand Strategy: Breakthrough Products and Services	84	(21)
Brand Strategy and Product Strategy	85	(3)
Corporate Commitment to Product and Brand	88	(3)
Corporate Values and Customer Values	91	(1)
Managing Product Brand	92	(4)
Building an Identity	92	(1)
Company Identity vs. Product Identity	93	(2)
Building Brand vs. Maintaining Brand	95	(1)
Starting from Scratch: Iomega	96	(3)
Maintaining an Established Identity: Harley	99	(2)
Brand and the Value Opportunities	101	(2)
Summary Points	103	(1)
References	103	(2)
Part Two The Process	105	(108)
A Comprehensive Approach to User-Centered, Integrated New Product Development	106	(32)
Clarifying the Fuzzy Front End of New Product Development	107	(3)
A New Way of Thinking	108	(1)
iNPD Is Only Part of the Process	109	(1)
User-Centered iNPD Process	110	(22)
Resource Allocation	132	(4)
Allocating the Time Resource: Scheduling	134	(1)
Allocating the Cost Resource: Financing	134	(1)
Allocating the Human Resource: Team Selection	135	(1)
Summary Points	136	(1)
References	136	(2)
Integrating Disciplines and Managing Diverse Teams	138	(36)
User-Centered iNPD Facilitates Customer Value	139	(3)
Understanding Perceptual Gaps	142	(4)
Team Functionality	146	(7)
Team Collaboration	146	(2)
Negotiation in the Design Process	148	(2)
Team Performance	150	(3)
Part Differentiation Matrix	153	(10)
Team Conflict and the PDM	160	(2)
PDM and the Role of Core Disciplines	162	(1)
Issues in Team Management: Team Empowerment	163	(8)
Understand the Corporate Mission	164	(1)
Serve as a Catalyst and Filter	164	(1)
Be Unbiased	165	(1)
Empower and Support the Team	166	(1)
Let the Team Become the Experts	167	(1)
Recognize the Personality and Needs of the Team	167	(1)
Use of an Interests-Based Management Approach	168	(1)
Visionaries and Champions	169	(1)
Summary: The Empowered Team	170	(1)
iNPD Team Integration Effectiveness	171	(1)
Summary Points	172	(1)
References	172	(2)
Understanding the User's Needs, Wants, and Desires	174	(39)
Overview: Usability and Desirability	175	(5)
An Integrated Approach to a User-Driven Process	180	(1)
Scenario Development (Part I)	181	(2)
New Product Ethnography	183	(7)
Using Ethnography to Understand Customers at Polaroid	188	(2)
Lifestyle Reference	190	(2)
Ergonomics: Interaction, Task Analysis, and Anthropometrics	192	(9)
Interaction	192	(2)
Task Analysis	194	(3)
Anthropometrics	197	(4)
Scenario Development (Part II)	201	(2)
Broadening the Focus	203	(2)
Other Stakeholders	203	(1)
Identifying Users in Non-Consumer Products: Designing Parts Within Products	204	(1)
Product Definition	205	(1)
Visualizing Ideas and Concepts Early and Often	206	(4)
Summary Points	210	(1)
References	211	(1)
Research Acknowledgments	211	(2)
Part Three Further Evidence	213	(76)
Case Studies: The Power of the Upper Right	214	(40)
Overview of Case Studies	215	(38)
Baseball Moving to the Upper Right	216	(2)
Black & Decker SnakeLight™	218	(10)
Marathon Carpet Cleaner Designed by Herbst Lazar Bell (HLB)	228	(3)
DynaMyte Augmentative Communicator by DynaVox Systems and Daedalus Excel Product Development	231	(7)
Service Industry: UPS Moves Beyond the Package Delivery Industry	238	(4)
Herman Miller Aeron Chair	242	(6)
Apple iMac	248	(3)
Freeplay Radio	251	(2)
Summary Points	253	(1)
References	253	(1)
Automotive Design: Product Differentiation through User-Centered iNPD	254	(35)
The Dynamic SET Factors of the Auto Industry	255	(2)
The Design Process and Complexities	257	(3)
Breaking Down the Process	260	(6)
Door System	263	(1)
Rear Wiper System for Lincoln Navigator/Ford Expedition	263	(3)
Positioning: Move to the Upper Right	266	(9)
The Move of the SUVs	266	(2)
The Retro Craze	268	(7)
Positioning: Segmentation through Ethnography for Compact Truck Segmentation	275	(2)
Positioning: After-Market Products for Trucks---A Case Study of iNPD at Carnegie Mellon University	277	(6)
SideWinder: Side Worktable	279	(1)
MasterRack: Reconfigurable Rail Storage	280	(2)
NoFuss: Camping Storage System with Rail Guide Technology	282	(1)
Implications of User-Centered iNPD on the Auto Industry	283	(3)
Summary Points	286	(1)
References	286	(1)
Research Acknowledgments	287	(2)
Epilogue	289	(6)
Future Trends	289	(3)
Have Faith in the Leap	292	(2)
References	294	(1)
Index	295

Excerpts

Preface For nearly a decade, we have worked as a team in teaching, research, and consulting. As a result, we have developed a unique understanding of the product development process. We constantly identify and analyze examples of successful products, many illustrated in this book, and look for new techniques for user-centered research and integrated New Product Development (iNPD). We have come to believe that breakthrough products should provide an optimum experience for the people who buy and use them. They should also provide an equally rewarding and gratifying experience for the product development teams who create them. We have been consultants to and conducted research with small and large companies. We have also conducted professional development seminars in iNPD. During this time we have also co-taught an annual course in integrated New Product Development at Carnegie Mellon University, which has resulted in patented products. Through our consulting, research, and teaching we have identified a number of factors that contribute to successful products. We are not just talking about products that are competitive but products that redefine their markets and often transcend their original program goals to create new markets. This book summarizes our findings in a form that will aid practitioners and managers in the product development process. This book is a proof of our process. We began by identifying the opportunity for a book by recognizing the difficulty that companies have in working through the early stages of product development. We did extensive research, building on our existing base, to understand what managers and practitioners who create new products (our target market) required in their process that they did not already have. The focus on breakthrough products, the integration of disciplines, the merging of style and technology, and the creation of true consumer value, all at the Fuzzy Front End, became the themes that drove the development of this book. We identified expert users who had the vision and insight to help us identify critical issues and weed through many ideas. We created prototypes that these expert users read and used to provide feedback. After several iterations, we moved into the design refinement stage to finally deliver what we hope is a useful, usable, and desirable book to help you create breakthrough products. What to Expect from This Book In this book you will find some new ideas in product development. You will also find seasoned best practices used by large or small companies. We have integrated these different approaches into a logical framework that takes you from product planning to program approval. You can expect to gain an understanding of the following six aspects of the new product development process: methods to obtain insights into emerging trends in consumer and industrial markets; a means to navigate and control what is often called the "Fuzzy Front End" of the product development process, that portion of the design process when the product and market are not yet defined and qualitative tools are needed to complement quantitative research; the use of qualitative research to understand who the customer is; techniques to assist in the integration of diverse team players, especially engineers, industrial and interaction designers, and market researchers and planners; a complete product development process that brings the product from its opportunity identification stage through to program approval and product patenting; an approach that connects strategic planning and brand management to product development. We then provide case studies that demonstrate the successful use of the methods introduced in this book. We show that these methods apply to both products and services. The book''s logical flow is designed to provide a useful guide for anyone involved in the product development process. Readers can also use the book by first scanning and then focusing on the areas initially perceived as most relevant. In either case, we have tried to make sure that the book is interconnected and cross referenced so that issues addressed in one part are referred to again in other parts. The book is divided into three main sections. The first section (Chapters 1-4) establishes our main argument that the best new products are designed by merging style and technology in a way that connects with the lifestyle and values of intended customers. The second section (Chapters 5-7) presents a process for creating such products by integrating different disciplines with a focus on the needs, wants, and desires of the customers. The final section (Chapters 8 and 9) provides additional case studies as further support of our argument and its application to several product categories. Chapter 1 explains the forces that generate opportunities for new product development. This chapter introduces the process of scanning Social, Economic, and Technology (SET) Factors that leads to Product Opportunity Gaps (POGs) and new market segments. Four case studies of successful companies and the products or services they deliver are used to illustrate this process: the OXO GoodGrips, the Motorola Talkabout, the Crown Wave, and the services provided by Starbucks coffeehouses. Chapter 2 outlines our major premise. In order to produce new products, a company needs to commit to "Moving to the Upper Right." This phrase represents an integration of style and technology through added product value based on insight into the SET trends that respond to customers'' emerging needs for new products and services. Our Positioning Map is introduced to model and map Upper Right products. Chapter 3 focuses on consumer-based value and further refines product opportunities into what we call "Value Opportunities" (VOs). We have identified seven Value Opportunity classes--emotion, aesthetics, identity, ergonomics, impact, core technology, and quality--that each contribute to the overall experience of the product. The challenge is to interpret the VOs and their attributes and translate them into the right combination of features and style that match with current trends. Chapter 4 discusses, through corporate and product branding, how to make Moving to the Upper Right a core part of a company''s culture. Products and services are the core of a company''s strategic planning and brand strategy and they should be driven by the theme of user-centered interdisciplinary product development. The establishment of a clear brand identity necessitates the integration of customer values with company values in a way that differentiates a company and its products in the marketplace. Chapter 5 is devoted to the planning of product development programs through the presentation of an integrated New Product Development -- iNDP -- process for the early stages of product development (i.e., the Fuzzy Front End). Most product programs go through a stage where the product opportunity is researched, prototyped, and evaluated. Many companies, however, do not have clear methodologies for this frequently underdeveloped stage of the product development program costing them significant resources. The process we have developed helps companies navigate and control this process by keeping focus on the user. The process is broken into four phases that brings the development team from the stage of identifying opportunities to the program approval stage where intellectual property is protected. Chapter 6 focuses on team integration and management. Effective interaction of disciplines is integral to the product development process. We describe how team members, and in particular designers and engineers, can work in a context of positive tension where they use their different perspectives to a competitive advantage for