Reframing Strategy Tools

Abstract

Business is changing and recently there has been a call for new ways of thinking to solve todays strategic innovation challenges. One of the solutions considered is Design Thinking, but a pragmatic approach in how to implement this new way of thinking into the domain of innovation strategy is lacking. This thesis aims to bridge the worlds of Design and innovation strategy by the development of a Design Thinking tool for managers who are deal with innovation strategy. The foundation of the tool is the method Vision in Product Design, which is developed at the faculty of Industrial design engineering. This method is closely related to the mental process designers go through and is one of the few methods that captures the entire Design Process. The aim of this thesis is to modify the ViP method in a way that it can be used by managers who deal with innovation strategy. In order to develop the tool, insight in the domain of innovation strategy is needed. This was done by the use of the method Vision in Product Design. The method was used to analyze the current domain of innovation strategy and to create a vision on the future of the domain. This vision on the future of innovation strategy was used to develop the new tool. It became clear that a bridge had to be build between the two worlds, since the two are quite different. Valuable elements of the ViP method, that are also considered elements of Design Thinking, were selected and modified into different tools for the development of innovation strategy. This resulted in the trend predictor. Consumer trends are considered human behavior that is a reaction to changes in the environment. Human behavior is driven by deep human needs that every human being has. The tool therefore consists of a selection of 75 deep human needs that can be combined with different developments into new trends. It makes managers start from the users perspective, since it starts with selecting the needs from the user. It also makes managers think out of their own industry and relate to other industries. Both aspects strongly relate to the ViP method and Design Thinking. The tool helps managers to think a little bit more like a designer. Since so many elements are changing and because managers increasingly work globally, the tool is an online tool. The website is accompanied by a service system, to make managers familiar with the tool and to earn investments back. The tool is new, therefore this research is very explorative and much more research has to be conducted to validate the concept. Many more steps have to be taken before this tool and its service system can be implemented into the market, but it is expected to have a bright future.