This project has explored how design can be of added value in early phases of innovation in the context of the startup studio We Are Builders. Insights were gathered from multiple sources to analyse the project scope and explore opportunities. The goal of this graduation assignment is to create a method to execute ideation that We Are Builders can use to exploit opportunities when an idea pops to mind.

A startup studios form a new structure of innovating. Startup studios launch multiple startups based on a systematic approach from spark to launch. This research will build on the findings of Kohler and Baumann (2018) explaining the organisational level of a startup studio in a scientific manner for the first time. This research adds to the research on innovation structures by creating a deep insight into the startup studio ideation process.

This graduation assignment used the principles of action research to both work with the company and also executing research. This resulted in me being a design researcher creating a ideation strategy for We Are Builders as well as being a researcher in the team of the new We Are Builders startup simultaneously. This new startup is currently in the ‘ideation’ phase of the startup studio model. This double role allowed me to use the new startup as a test case to explore how design can be of value during the early phases of innovation while researching the topic.

To understand where the current ideation strategy of We Are Builders is overlapping or differing from competing venture builders and the process of design, processes are analysed. Via literature research, the process of design in a business context is analysed. Afterwards, literature on innovation will form the basis to create context understanding to be able to link this project to the broader innovation context.

A multiple and single case study research to the startups launched by the We Are Builders team in history showed that We Are Builders currently lacks a moment of problem definition in the innovation process. Without stating a clear problem definition and validating this, it is unclear if needs and wishes of clients involved later in the process are representative for a broader market. Because a clear problem definition and method to document research findings is missing at We Are Builders, entrepreneurial bias overrules the research outcomes.

This focus on problem framing and exploring opportunities resulted in the design of a framework for explorative research. This explorative research framework combines the explorative and user-centered nature of design with the practical and direct way of entrepreneurial research. This research method can support a group of entrepreneurs to approach research in early phases of innovation in a structured, holistic way.

The solution of this graduation assignment applies design in early stages of innovation, to give startup studios the confidence to execute theses stages in a design led way in the form of IGNITE!. IGNITE! consists of a explorative research approach booklet (minimum viable product), a digital wireframe of the process flow (prototype) and building plan to translate the minimum viable product and the prototype towards a digital platform for explorative research. of the IGNITE! Explorative research method. With these deliverables, the startup studio can start testing the research method today and explore competitive advantages of translating the method to a software platform in the future.

For the scientific world, this research gives insider insights in how a startup studio approaches innovation, focussed on the fuzzy first phases of innovation. The research showed that design can be of added value to innovation in translating knowledge to insights in a holistic, end-user centered and co-creative manner. Design stimulates entrepreneurs combine divergent and convergent activities, to share findings and preform research in a explorative and collaborative manner.