Lost Opportunity?
September 19, 2011
Often when innovation is discussed the conversation revolves around products rather than services. This led me to ask the question are designers and design firms missing a unique opportunity?
This is a very interesting article about the power of proposition innovation. This case study centers around an Italian manufacturer who has become a worldwide leader in it’s product category by creating a culture of innovation. What if designers and design firms extrapolate from this model and rather than waiting for a client to arrive with a problem, what happens if we start with the premise of proposition innovation, which is that as problem solvers we might already know what a market or business needs.
As designers if we are always waiting for clients to bring us their unique challenges than I think we are missing an opportunity to express our full talents with larger markets. Everyday we interact with processes, services, and products that could be easier to use, more helpful, or even have added beauty. We must accept the challenge of designing solutions on our own and think of our practices and studios not only as agencies for client-directed work, but as places where ideas and innovations can be explored and grow. We have to begin to think of ourselves not only as creators, but initiators.