The Interpreters: Doing Research with the Design Discourse--Move Away from Users to Innovate with the Help of a Circle of External Research Partners

By: Roberto Verganti

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Synopsis: Every company would love to be the one that changes the paradigm, that radically redefines the meaning of things. Companies that master design-driven innovation have a distinct advantage over competitors because they repeatedly develop and release products or services that customers didn't even know they wanted, but now can't live without. Their innovations aren't flukes--these firms have a process and capabilities, built and led by entrepreneurs and managers. This chapter illustrates the basic principle underpinning the process of design-driven innovation: the need to leverage the work of outside researchers and experts from a wide variety of relevant fields to determine how customers give meaning to things. As the author demonstrates, companies that step back from users and take a broader view discover that they are not alone in their efforts to understand changes in society, culture, and technology. Firms can tap into an external research process that focuses on the meaning of things--and this chapter shows you how. This chapter was originally published as chapter 6 of "Design-Driven Innovation: Changing the Rules of Competition by Radically Innovating What Things Mean."