We’ve all heard the famous quote from Albert Einstein: “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” The quote seemed apt based on several conversations with current and prospective clients I’ve had in the past couple of weeks. The conversation goes something like this…”Kip, we have a new product development mandate and we need take a...
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One of the best descriptions I’ve heard of the front-end of innovation was shared with me by a long-term client: “a simmering cauldron of risk, uncertainty, and politics.” Navigating the front-end is hardly a linear process, nor should it be. Yet, filling your pipeline with new-to-world or new-to-company product concepts requires a somewhat linear process to move the team from point A, to point B,...
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Recently, I was invited to facilitate a session with a prospective client about how to better utilize market research and voice-of-consumer in its innovation process. Apparently, it was a hot topic: the room was filled with people from R&D, product development, marketing, sales, and even finance. I expected to spend four hours going over the basics like determining consumer needs and building product concepts. Within...
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In many cases the time we spend on developing overly detailed discussion guides for qualitative research is what I call “client window dressing.” In order to appease large project teams, clients feel compelled to make sure everyone’s “burning question” is reflected. Qualitative research is not an interrogation. A skilled moderator knows when to go “off script” and what to ask to satisfy the team’s appetite....
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For ethnography, immerse yourself in the trenches, and get your head “out of the clouds.” Effective ethnography requires a great deal of self-awareness and sensitivity. Some people are much better at this than others. By definition, ethnography is a combination of observations, interviews, and collection of artifacts. Interviews are kept to a minimum and warranted when the ethnographer observes a behavior and wants to...
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