Archives
Book Review
Creativity in Product Innovation
Jacob Goldenberg and David Mazursky
ISBN: 978-0-521002-49-3 2002 238 pages Cambridge University Press
Deanne Koelmeyer
Program Director, Industrial Design, RMIT University, Melbourne VIC
Goldenberg and Mazursky bring to the foreground the often misunderstood product design development process with insight and coherence. They bridge the gap between the knowledge domains of marketing, engineering and design through the analysis of creativity and innovation in product development. They do this by using creative templates to map and demystify both tacit and codified creative processes in product design.
The authors' core argument is that designers can use templates to bring to the fore and exploit the regularities and consistencies that occur in the product design process. They illustrate this argument with case studies and examples of both successful and unsuccessful corporate product development efforts.
They describe five key creativity templates: 'attribute dependency', 'forecasting matrix', 'replacement template', 'displacement template' and the 'component control template' which can be used either to revisit existing established products, or to facilitate the identification of new products and markets. The templates enable users to highlight patterns or consistent behaviours in the product development process. These regularities can be harnessed and improved, resulting in increased innovation and higher levels of product idea success. For example, the replacement template offers a way to identify a link between an existing product function and another defined role that needs fulfilling. An example is a keyboard on a laptop computer that transforms mechanical energy as you type, to charge the battery. In this example, the replacement template demonstrates that two independent functions can be linked in order to share products' resources.
In parallel, the 'forecasting matrix' can be applied to identify and explore other functions of the laptop by mapping operations and variables that influence the functionality of the product. The identified functions might suggest functions that can be linked to the opening and closing of the screen, or the dual functionality of the screen as a back lit projector. The underlying objective is to identify potential future product upgrades, or new product ideas that may be either directly or indirectly related to the core product under examination.
Goldenberg & Mazursky compare the template approach with the use of creative techniques such as brainstorming, mind mapping and lateral thinking. They argue that these conventional techniques have low success rates because they offer up a plethora of new and random ideas, only a small selection of which are actually valuable. If the templates are used, however, the ideas generated are much more likely to be directed towards strategic imperatives, because they exploit identified product regularities and consistencies.
They exemplify the use of templates by examining products developed by Philips Consumer Electronics, Nike, Ford and Kodak among others. The examples illustrate the different templates and how the reader might employ them in a product evaluation process.
The book is easy to follow and read, with the examples and cases contextualising the application of the templates. It is designed so the reader can select from a broad range of cases to satisfy their individual needs.
Chapters 1 through to 3 set the scene by summarizing and exemplifying well-known creative thinking techniques and providing relevant examples. The express intent is to position the reader for the wide array of techniques and approaches to creative thinking that follow.
Chapters 4 through to 8 discuss one template each in detail. They start with the 'attribute dependency template', which is the best for analysing established products. The subsequent chapters take the reader through the lifecycle of a new product, applying other templates progressively, and including techniques for generating new product ideas at each point along the way.
It is not until the end of the book in Chapters 11 and 12 that the authors articulate caveats and limitations on template theory. They anticipate and respond well to typical questions that emerge in response to the theory. In Chapter 12 the authors present empirical data with a view to persuading the reader that the templates have enabled designers to increase the number of viable product ideas for commercialisation. I am not convinced that they demonstrate that the templates are more effective than existing creative idea generation processes, though other users may interpret the results differently, and the data certainly provide disconfirmation for complete sceptics. Notwithstanding, the book should not be judged on the basis of this chapter.
The templates offer insight into new ways of conceiving product ideas and opportunities within established markets and product ranges; the ability to gain higher levels of idea success for incremental product innovations. In effect, this allows designers to 'experiment and 'predict' with greater focus and success where product lines have potential to develop.
This text differs from many others in that it transcends the underlying disciplines of product design, marketing, product engineering (product development context), and hence avoids arguing from the perspective of one in isolation from the others. Goldenberg & Mazursky use the templates to show how the disciplinary demarcation created through the various professional paradigms can be ameliorated through the application of the creative templates. The templates by virtue of their method require the inclusion (rather than the exclusion) of different professions during the critical idea generation phase.
The authors make disappointingly little reference to the product design literature and indeed the product design profession in their discussion of the design process. Such an absence is surprising, given that the book focuses on product development. My other concern is that the templates are presented as a panacea, instead of as one very valuable component of a holistic product development process - a component that will encourage lateral and inclusive thinking.
The book would be valuable reading for any professional involved in any one aspect of a product development process. It offers a divergent view that will stimulate and challenge the reader to reflect on their own product development processes with fresh insight. On balance, this is a worthwhile text.
eContent Home
