Vectors of Innovation Definition for Application During Conceptual Design Stage of Product Development Process

Abstract

The quest for product with unique attributes and added value, along with the shortening of product life cycle are directly related to the degree of competitiveness of organizations. The identification of innovation opportunities in the early stages of the product development process is seen as a means for increasing competitiveness. Among those stages that have relevant impacts during the design process, is conceptual design, when many important decisions related to the degree of novelty of a design solution are taken. This study aims at identifying elements connected to innovation issues that can contribute to the selection of conceptual proposals that have potential to be transformed into novel and successful products. To map these elements, a literature review was conducted in parallel with a reverse analysis of a set of so called innovative products. From the recognition and grouping of these elements that can induce innovation, a field research was conducted with professional designers in order to identify if they recognized the set of elements as representing vectors of innovation, as well as, their relative importance. Next, a descriptive application was run, considering a real design situation extracted from literature, illustrating how to select a conceptual design solution that presents the greater potential for innovation, from the set of elements identified. Thus, this study provides the identification and determination of degrees of importance for inducing elements innovation in order to demonstrate the possibility of assessing potential for innovation in the early stages of the product development process.