Design-Driven Innovation
by Roberto Verganti
10 out of 10
Insightful perspectives for a bolder and more purposeful design, rather than being overly user-centric. In addition to his books, I attended classes and engaged in conversations with Verganti. I admire his work.
5 highlights
"The more you create bridges to worlds that are relevant for your users but that are unusual for your competitors, the more you have a chance to end up with breakthrough proposals."
"How does radical innovation of meanings occur? [...], Ernesto Gismondi has been clear: “Market? What market! We do not look at market needs. We make proposals to people.” Gismondi is saying that radical innovation does not occur when companies get closer to users and understand what they currently need. He is not alone. Executives who have invested in radical innovation of meaning acknowledge that rather than start with user needs, the process goes in the opposite direction: the company proposes a breakthrough vision."
"The best way to attract key interpreters and empower their expressions and visions is to pay them back not merely in cash but with assets: technological capabilities, experimentation ground, seductive power (the capability to deliver a new message to the market because of your brand and distribution channels), and your own knowledge of meanings. In other words, if you want to be more attractive to interpreters, you need to be an interpreter yourself. That is why I talk about participating in the design discourse, and not simply exploiting it. You need to have a vision—something to say to the design discourse—and bring assets to the table."
"Another important criterion that firms can use to select ideas to pursue—used intensively, for example, by Bang & Olufsen—is a product’s have a distinctive language and a personality that can survive aging? Does it satisfy deeper needs and earn people’s loyalty? Is it clearly linked with the company’s brand identity so that imitators can appropriate only little value through imitation? Does it help start a learning process for the firm and an interaction with the design discourse that could last for a while? In other words, to what extent does the product help build a firm’s long-term assets."
"For a company to hold to the path initially envisioned, the key is leadership. “This process is not democratic,” says Lowie Vermeersch, a chief designer at Pininfarina, well-known automotive design and engineering firm. “To design distinctive products with a clear personality, you need a leader to protect that personality.”"