Several readers have asked how we get our ideas for products. We have several creative minds working on our team, each with their own interests and views. If left on their own, the ideas and projects would wander wildly. They would be fun and interesting – two of our goals – but we are a business and need to ensure that our research and development resources are spent wisely. So how do we herd this bunch of cats?
In this and the next couple of blog entries we will take you through the process, from idea to innovation.
The first thing we do when we want a new product is to look for pain. Ouch… that doesn’t sound good does it? But as creative designers who are also entrepreneurs, we don’t want to develop a solution looking for a problem. We want to find a real life problem (pain) first and then find a solution. Finding what makes people unhappy, frustrated, dissatisfied, finding their pet peeves, is a great place to start in developing a new product. Think about it…what really bugs you about your day to day life? Dislike your alarm clock? Hate making breakfast/your boring commute/your uncomfortable desk? Hmmm. How many people are there who feel the way you do? Probably a lot. Chances are by finding the pain, you may have uncovered an opportunity for a profit making product or two.
So begin a collection of all those observations of what annoys people, how you can make a situation better, and we’ll show you how to take those ideas to reality.
In the next entry we’ll talk about Vision.