What are some ways to ensure your innovative designs are practical and feasible?

We need to encourage teams to have a keen eye towards real world problems around them or in the market. At this stage, focus needs to be more on problem identification and also on relevant requirements/ standards/ compliances to meet with. Having a well defined problem statement helps at later stages while selecting technology for solution or estimating cost etc

Understanding the constraints is a great way to start our innovation journey. Asking the question, “ what is holding me back from improving the system / Process ?” Can reveal the underlying contradictions. For example, It may be that when you improve the efficiency of the engine (by operating it at a higher temperature), you are worsening the life of the engine - that is what is holding you back from improving it. Now you can ask how to improve the efficiency without reducing the life ? There is a very useful systematic innovation framework TRIZ that is based on formulating a contradiction at the beginning of problem solving. There are very many TRIZ experts across the globe using this method to create innovative new products.

Define your problem, avoid feature creep and communicate with the right teams. Companies need to use all the knowledge around them and avoid the dangers of assuming knowledge they don't have. There is no point in developing the most fantastic product if it cannot be made, cannot be sold and increasingly these days, it cannot be serviced.

You may need to assist or guide your stakeholders and target audience in problem definition. The worst you can do is assume the end user fully understands the problem; resources invested in problem definition are well worth it. You should also consider the lifecycle of the solution and incorporate a measure of future proofing based on time horizon, lastly the least complex solution is always best.

Innovation must align with sustainability, not just practicality. As engineering managers, we must ensure our designs consider long-term impacts on the environment and future generations. 1. Environmental Impact: Analyze ecological footprints. Use sustainable materials and reduce waste and energy consumption. 2. Long-term Viability: Designs should be future-proof, working efficiently in the long run. Consider compatibility with emerging technologies and prevent obsolescence. 3. Stakeholder Engagement: Engage a wide range of stakeholders. Identify concerns that might be overlooked. Incorporating sustainability elevates innovation to a higher level of sustainable excellence, ensuring a responsible and enduring future.

In my experience, identifying the problem is the most difficult step in problem solving. I’ve found that often people are unclear what problem they’re solving, or people think they are solving different problems. How can a team or organization work together to solve a problem if they can’t even agree on what problem they’re solving? Maybe this could be addressed by simply asking people: “What problem do you think we’re solving?”

As per my practical experience of almost 40 years in the Railroad industry in India, there is often a lack of understanding of the total impact, an innovation has, on say, life cycle costs, reliability & safety as also external impacts such as on environment etc. The innovator has to be able to see and explain to the stakeholders, the total value proposition of the innovation, taking into account the above. The innovator also has to be wary of the negative impact on existing products and of the competition, who will always have a vested interest in killing the innovation and the competing new product, howsoever beneficial, it may be. The innovator has to be able to anticipate and negate such forces.

One effective way to begin is by crafting a compelling, real-life narrative that can serve as a guiding example. Utilizing facts and figures can enhance the story's impact, making it not only more engaging but also increasing its potential to resonate with and rally people around your ideas. Do not confuse the buyer persona with the user persona.

One of the best ways to truly understand the requirements is to get out of the office or the cube and go see. Gemba, as it were. Engineers should accompany Sales to customer sites with eyes open, ears open, mouth shut, except to ask questions. Mostly… WHY?

It is important to describe the problem to be solved in ways that are agnostic to the solution. This is harder than it sounds but if you don’t do it that way you artificially constrain innovation. For example, the longevity of an implanted device can be a point of distinction between two different products. People may say, “We need a rechargeable device.” rather than exploring other options to extend the life of the device.

Research is hard work in support of that most fragile entity, the new idea. Having scoped the problem and your potential solution, survey the intellectual property landscape to identify competitor concepts and evaluate strengths, weaknesses, advantages and faults both of your and other concepts. Examine foreign as well as domestic markets. And document, document, document your findings. The linearization of a concept into your language framework is a brutal but necessary step in the concept evaluation process, particularly for novelty.

This paragraph underscores the importance of thorough research and analysis as a foundation for informed design decisions. It rightly highlights the need to consider current trends, best practices, and various external factors in the decision-making process, which can provide valuable insights and inspiration for innovative solutions.

It is important to be careful to not fall victim to one of the more common fallacies in design research. It is easy to get fooled by silent evidence (i.e. interpreting the absence of evidence as evidence of absence). Very often we see projects exploring spaces that no competitor is present in, solely because they have interpreted the absence of other players as evidence of an opportunity. There could be trivial, fundamental, or non-trivial reasons why competitors aren't present in a given part of a design space/market. Make sure all those are ruthlessly ruled out before diving deeper.

Considering Innovation / tech. Breakthrough, here is my take on research and analysis In addressing innovation resistance, such as "Our customers aren't asking for this feature," it's crucial to foster a culture where new ideas are valued, even if they initially seem unconventional. Early-career engineers especially should be encouraged to think beyond existing customer feedback. Innovation often involves anticipating needs that customers haven't yet articulated. While it's essential to base decisions on data, relying solely on current customer requests can hinder groundbreaking developments.

Support agile learning: Learning agility is a critical skillset to develop. Encourage your team to upskill and reskill themselves by providing access to training and development resources. Ensure they have the necessary time and resources to pursue these opportunities. Align organizational goals with fostering a culture of innovation and learning. Recognize and reward those individuals who excel and exhibit their talent by embracing a learning culture.

This is an often rushed segment of the process. Everyone usually wants to make quick decision on the status of the market and move out in a direction. By slowing down long enough to fully canvas the design space you can illuminate trends in competitive products and select best of breed features to incorporate into your solution. This additionally gives a level of creditability to the proposed solution that is supported by research on fielded products.

The research often ignores getting real time inputs from the community or your target audience one is innovating for. One can’t innovate first and then find the target audience. It has to be other way round. Find problem first and then solution.

I like to perform a SWAT analysis towards the start of the projects before too much effort has been put in; it will help target where the early research and analysis will go which ultimately means less surprises as the detailed design works begin (i.e. high risk items have been understood and hopefully mitigated early). I also like performing a pre-mortem for the project; imagine the product flops or doesn't even get through product development: what caused this? The perspective often reveals risks that were not uncovered in more traditional risk (project and product) analysis approaches.

This is where a varied and deep customer base really comes into play. In a given industry, as an enterprise, we service many different customers who each have their own playbook. While there is no single "best approach" as this would stifle innovation, gleaning from each of our customers some unique insight allows us to formulate a well-rounded scalable, and extensible, solution.

pt 2: Data-driven research should extend beyond immediate market demands, incorporating broader trends, potential technological advancements, and latent customer needs. This approach ensures that innovation is not stifled by a narrow focus but is instead nurtured through a balanced blend of data analysis and forward-thinking creativity.

One thing that has helped us as a team is to validate all assumptions and implied decisions with a quick proof-of-concept and scaling it to a meaningful size. Lessons learned from this exercise had helped avoid a lot of pitfalls which were unanticipated during brainstorming and ideation stage.

Based on my experience, innovative designs tend to be inherently risky due to their lack of clear solutions or sometimes the absence of existing solutions. However, with the continuous advancement of technology, previously elusive solutions to unsolved problems become progressively attainable. To navigate this landscape successfully, it is crucial to continuously challenge your assumptions through the rapid prototyping of your evolving product. Over the years, I have ardently championed the "fail fast" mentality, employing rapid prototyping to accelerate design progress while systematically mitigating risks.

Here is my take: To ensure practicality in innovative designs, rigorously test assumptions and hypotheses. Key steps include: # developing prototypes or simulations, # conducting experiments, and #gathering user/customer feedback through a structured "VOice of Customer" (VoC) process. This data-driven approach allows for measuring and evaluating results against established criteria. Effectively testing underpins refining or discarding elements of the innovation, and enhancing alignment wirh real-world needs and feasibility, and enhancing the final design's viability and user/customer satisfaction.

Testing hypotheses is a key function. Often, we don't fully understand the dimensions of a problem and start assuming them away. Hypothesize, then test.

Assumptions are often swept up in the beginning of a creative process when ideas are flowing freely, but the deeper one gets into the evolution of an idea, the easier it is for a bold-faced assumption to become so tightly woven into the structure of the innovation that it becomes indistinguishable from a solid fact. On the other hand, it can severely hinder the creative process to stop and flush out those suspicions and hunches before the concept development even gets off the ground. To satisfy the need to identify assumptions early-on, start a hunch-list or parking lot to quickly off-load those suspect ideas when they first come into awareness, knowing you will come back later on to firm them up once the creative work is captured.

Engage the technical team early and thoroughly assess costs and risks to ensure technical feasibility. Fail as quickly as possible by iterating the proof of concept development until your team has something viable.

When it comes to testing, it's vital to approach it systematically, setting up controlled experiments, prototypes, simulations, or surveys designed to validate or challenge our underlying assumptions. The selection of appropriate metrics and criteria for evaluation is also critical. These should be aligned with the project's objectives and the needs of the end-users, providing a clear benchmark for success. The rigorous testing of assumptions and hypotheses is a non-negotiable step in the innovation process. It ensures that the designs are not only novel but also grounded in reality, meeting the practical needs of users and stakeholders, and complying with industry standards.

Following Proof of Concept ( PoC) approach can help here. Certain points can be clarified based on result of PoC and then cost & technological aspects of scaling the PoC to the actual product level need to be explored. Simulations, rapid prototyping will become useful at this stage.

I personally prefer using critical thinking aspects: - find cons for a hypothesis itself - find pros for a contrary hypothesis - modify your hypothesis (if needed) - succeed!

Clients, stakeholders, and end-users are crucial in the feedback loop. They offer a firsthand perspective on how the innovation aligns with their needs and expectations, providing a reality check on the practicality and usability of the design. Effective communication is key in this process. Presenting and demonstrating the design while being receptive to feedback ensures a productive dialogue. Actively seeking and integrating feedback and collaboration ensures that the design is not developed in isolation but is continuously refined and validated through diverse perspectives, leading to more robust and user-centric innovations.

Feedback from whomever is going to fabricate your design needs to be sought early and included into the design work. Regardless of the volume of the product this is true; I have worked with design/manufacturing of both medical devices (mass produced) and buildings (each building is unique - so bespoke manufacture) and both industries share the same outcomes if the design has not considered fabrication early enough. This feedback should be sought often and regularly through design till handover

Feedback and collaboration play a pivotal role in honing innovation (hint: your network matters) Collaboration - Mutual Growth, Collaboration is a two-way street. While you gain insights from peers, mentors or experts, they too learn from your approach and perspective - Diverse Input, Engaging with a broad spectrum of contributors brings a bouquet of perspectives, which leads to a better outcome Feedback (honest Feedback) - Objective Analysis, direct feedback from clients, stakeholder provides you with real-world assessment of the design. - Continuous Improvement, honest and constructive feedback, though sometimes tough to swallow, paves the way for improvements and ensures that the final product meets requirements

One thing that is absolutely essential is feedback from stakeholders during design, through design reviews with constructors, end users, maintainers and other key stakeholders. Often overlooked or paid lip service in the sense it is often just a progress meeting rather than design review. 3D and 4D modelling can really help, alongside an open common data environment that allows constructors, maintainers, clients and stakeholders to view WIP, but does require a higher technological maturity in the involved organisations, so many of the benefits of BIM aren’t realised. It is common data environment but there’s not a common understanding of its uses or the benefits it can bring.

Development teams need to have an open minded discussion with domain experts, technology experts, business owners, engineering management, sales, production plants, business development and marketing teams and seek feedback. Voice of customer / client/ end user shall be considered through appropriate channels.

Yarn with Mates: Before locking in any idea, have a chinwag with your work buddies and some old hands. They might see things you've missed. Listen to the Big Guns: Always keep an ear out for what the clients and the top brass want. It'll help make your ideas spot on. Give it a Whirl: Chuck together a rough version of your design to see if it actually works in the real world. Dollar Check: Make sure your top-notch design won't cost an arm and a leg. Stay Sharp: The world's always changing, so keep up with the latest to make sure you're not flogging a dead horse. By sticking to these, you'll make sure your ideas are not only clever but also down-to-earth. Cheers!

Groundbreaking designs? Make sure they’re grounded in reality too. - Collaborate using tools like Figma and InVision. - Regularly seek feedback from fellow developers and end-users. - Stay open to iterations and refinements based on insights.

Anyone included in an SDLC loop is likely to share feedback. The most important action is encouraging people to share all the ideas they come up with. Gathering feedback should look like a brainstorm.

We at Edurigo seek client feedback very often on our innovative ideas. At the end of the day there has to be a user for your innovation. Sometimes, a feature or idea may look very exciting but your client may not show similar excitement. Not suggesting that you kill the idea based on some early feedback but it could give you a good visibility into what to expect on the ground. In many cases we get a commitment from a client on adoption and that becomes our playing ground to grow the innovation. So discussing with your clients about an idea is always a good idea 💡😊

By taking feedback or suggestions given by various teams, design idea needs to be improved or refined or altogether need to be started from ground zero again. This is a very crucial step as the focus later on would be on converting the design into implementation. Using a combination of systems thinking and design thinking brings in lot of value. Systems approach will help us in defining structured flow where as design thinking gives us freedom to work in an agile way and also enables us to take user perspectives into account.

SWOT and criticality analysis are essential but why focus of successive iterative development. Prior to the construction of the end unit, use digital engineering to it's fullest potential. Develop hundreds or thousands of proposed solutions in order to adequately sample the design space. Then score them all. Once you've used computers for what they were made for discard all of the dominated solutions. Use this refined data for the hard tradeoff conversation with your stakeholders.

It is good to notice that in the last 10 years, the cost of prototyping and numerical simulation of products has decreased to make it possible to test and trial with lower expenditure and with reduced investments. Define assumptions, built it, test it and iterate.

Yes, that is called Iteration, another name of the PROCESS for incremental (or by a moderate to big margin) improvement of your currently developed/released product. Rome was NOT Built in a day. Right. It takes time, I mean reasonable time to perfect a solution most cost-economically.Sometimes, market pressure demands that a product is released without full optimization. Haven't you seen Windows versions after version coming every 3-5 years? Why ? Yes, the Iterations and additions of better features / removal of nasty loopholes is what it aims. Seen Colgate ads "This The Best Toothpaste." making you forget (by extra music, new models etc) that 6 months back they had an older version of toothpaste now dethroned by this version of the BEST

The iteration should also be based on testing the prototype Both with possible users and formally in a controlled simulation environment that includes all the external interfaces

Since Innovation is getting into a sort of un-chartered territory which can be both cost and time-intensive, agility will be a prime requirement. Keeping in mind that failure may be evident- big or small, good practice will be to perform quick Jugular experiments on a certain set of potential solutions to fail early, learn and evolve, and get to the point of a minimum viable technology or product design, through a series of iterations, feedback. Change Management plays a vital role in capturing the essence of differentiation and comparison of outcomes and keeping things on record helps in this journey. Validating through rigorous simulations based on authenticated Data will certainly help in getting the order of magnitudes for fine-tuning.

Only at this stage, the research and development team can formulate the tested business potential and required investment to productize. This is the moment to make proposal for a productization project. Agility, both in HW ad SW, remains mandatory as new insights will for sure arise.

Design Evaluation if not a formality! Pay Attention to -Objective Metrics, utilize quantifiable measurements to gauge performance against KPIs / benchmarks -Gain Feedback, ensure your evaluation considers stakeholder feedback, End-user feedback, maybe a peer review -Comparative analysis - will help identifying unique value proposition Pitfalls Bias - Avoid confirmation bias, approach feedback open minded Subjectivity - make sure you balance qualitative insights with hard data (see Objective Metrics) Potholes Incomplete Documentation, without good documentation, evaluating any deviation or change becomes a challenge. Ignorance to External factors, keep an Eye on Environment/market changes - these could make your design obsolete

3D printing your design is a great way to evaluate it. Having a physical object to hold is so much more valuable than staring into CADtopia! Once you have your hands on your work, other senses take over and it becomes easier to establish if it looks right and feels right. Make sure you pass it round too so that others get to have some input - the more the merrier.

In the dynamic world of design and manufacturing, I believe future-proofing your creations is vital for staying competitive. Leveraging design and manufacturing experts is a smart strategy. Design experts enhance aesthetics and user experience, ensuring your products not only look great but also function impeccably. Manufacturing experts bring knowledge of materials, processes, and cost-efficiency, streamlining production. By combining these talents, you create designs that are visually appealing, practical, and cost-effective. This synergy helps you sidestep potential issues, choose sustainable materials, and optimize manufacturing, extending your product's market life.

Consider prototyping and simulation to evaluate your design. Prototyping and simulation are essential for ensuring that an innovative design is practical, because they can help designers learn from their failures, validate their hypotheses, optimize their solutions, and deliver value to their users.

To ensure that your innovative designs are practical and feasible, it's important to follow a structured approach. * Conduct thorough research to understand the problem or opportunity. * Involve cross-functional teams to gain diverse perspectives and identify challenges. * Create prototypes or conduct pilot tests to validate the design's practicality. * Regularly monitor progress and adapt the design as needed based on real-world testing. * Gather feedback and insights from users to refine the design for practicality. * Continuously evaluate and optimize the design for efficiency and effectiveness. * Establish a process for ongoing validation and improvement of innovative designs.

Ensuring that innovative designs are practical and feasible requires a systematic approach. Conduct thorough research and feasibility studies to assess technical, financial, and operational viability. Involve cross-functional teams to gain diverse perspectives and identify potential challenges. Consider scalability and long-term sustainability in the design. Create prototypes or conduct pilot tests to validate the practicality of the design. Collaborate with stakeholders and gather feedback at various stages of the design process. Continuously monitor progress and adapt the design as needed based on real-world testing and feedback. Establish a process for ongoing evaluation and improvement of innovative designs.

Consider Gall's law. Don't try to meet all customers' needs and requirements all at once. Do development iteratively with re-evaluation of customers feedback after each phase/release. Be mindful about budget and time, try to focus the development on a few things with a phases approach.

Take into account two general rules: - always leave a gap for further changes. Nothing is perfect. - encourage and process any kind of feedback.

For a proper integration and success of any innovative projects/solutions, a change management plan is required. Embarking all stakeholders is fundamental to prevent failures at any point/milestone. The inclusive management principle has to be considered.

It's crucial not to confuse genuine innovations with mere hype. Just because there's a lot of buzz surrounding a new and shiny technology doesn't necessarily mean you should hastily embrace it. True innovation should serve a practical purpose, addressing specific problems and accomplishing well-defined objectives. In essence, innovation involves finding novel and potentially more efficient approaches to tasks, whether it's reducing material costs, saving time, or enhancing maintainability. Many mistakenly equate innovation with extravagant spending on new technologies like blockchain, cloud computing, or AI. However, pursuing innovation for its own sake, without a clear purpose, can be a wasteful expenditure of both time and money.

We can say a lot of things such as "you miss 100% of the shots you don't take" or "the answer is always no if you don't ask" but candidly failure is a part of success. The key is to ensure those failures ADD value to your brand reputation through collaboration and DO NOT impact financial success. Directly - if success was easy, everyone would be doing it. This does not abdicate the need to try.

All of the tips in this article are aspects of solid engineering and architecture practice. Developing an architecture (or design) that solves the problem and meets stakeholder needs takes discipline. It is important to remember that discipline and agility should be complementary aspects of your process, they should not to compete!