Four Effective Steps in Innovating
Innovation is the key to success in any business. But innovation doesn’t just happen, it must be planned and executed with a clear idea of what you want to do. When innovating, four steps will help you make sure your new product or service gets off the ground successfully: brainstorming ideas, creating prototypes, pilot testing the product, and commercializing and launching.
Brainstorm Ideas
Brainstorming is the process of generating a large number of ideas about possible solutions to a particular problem. This technique has been used for many years and is still one of the most effective ways to generate innovative ideas.
You should not confuse brainstorming with idea generation which includes various techniques such as mind mapping, clustering words into themes, and sorting these themes according to their level of importance.
One form involves writing every idea down no matter how wild it may seem without criticism, argument, or discussion. After the process has been completed over time, a moderator can then go back and look for patterns that may not have become apparent earlier in the process.
Create Prototypes
No matter the type, this step is essential in any innovation process. You should create prototypes for everything from products to services to a new marketing strategy. The idea behind creating prototypes is that it will help you figure out what works and what doesn’t work.
Consider partnering with suppliers like Rapid Axis for prototype parts and tools, making the process that much easier.
Prototypes can take many different forms, but they have one thing in common: They are all static representations of your concept at some point in its life cycle (whether it’s an early design drawing or a more sophisticated product model). This just helps ensure there’s no confusion about how things would look when you’re ready to go into production.
Pilot Test the Product
A pilot test is a small trial run of the product or service to ensure that you meet customer needs. It’s used as a way for startups and companies alike to predict whether their idea will be successful in the market before investing large sums of money into development. Generally, this means creating prototypes and getting feedback from potential customers – although different types may require other methods (e.g., interviews).
In addition, prototyping can help people work with others who have been involved since the beginning stages of innovation but are not located nearby through video conferencing services like Skype.
The key with any prototype is that its purpose should be focused on testing desired user experience outcomes rather than being an exact representation of the final product.
Commercialize and Launch
It’s important to remember that innovation is a process. It doesn’t happen overnight. You won’t create the next iPhone in one night and be done with it! Innovation takes time, and if you are going to do something more than just browse, please give it your best energy to put out something fantastic.
The final step in the innovation process is to promote and sell your product. This includes marketing, advertising, branding, public relations outreach (for example, a new Kickstarter campaign), pricing strategy, customer service channels, sales methods, and merchandising support. When you innovate successfully without forgetting this final step, then your innovation will be successful too!
Conclusion
In conclusion, to innovate is in the DNA of all organizations, and doing so requires a structured process. The four steps that have been outlined are only suggestions on how to get started innovating; there are many other possible ways to carry out these tasks.
Innovate by following your methodology or find insight from someone else’s experience!
