Each week I scour articles, wading through the dogs, and bringing you the best insights to help product managers, developers, and innovators be heroes.

 

Product Innovation Tips Around the Web

Learn how to conduct a Google Ventures-style Design Sprint. “Recently at SEEK, we identified a market opportunity that was not addressed by any of the products on our current roadmap. We hypothesised that the best solution might be a significant departure from what we do today — in other words, radical innovation rather than progressive improvement.

To come up with ideas on how to address this opportunity, and quickly test the ideas, we decided to use a process similar to the Google Ventures Design Sprint.” Read more at Medium https://medium.com/seek-user-experience/using-design-sprint-to-accelerate-innovation-part-i-of-ii-f643ad42cf60

Key findings from the 2015 Nielsen Breakthrough Innovation Report. “The report is based on a two year study examining over 3000 products launched in the US. It debunks conventional wisdom that new product success is random. Instead, it shows that success in new product innovation is repeatable and scalable when the science of innovation is applied.” Read more at Innovation Excellence http://www.innovationexcellence.com/blog/2015/07/15/the-2015-breakthrough-innovation-report/

10 steps to develop buyer personas. “Buyer personas, like marriages, are not rushed: They are well thought-out and tuned up to guide product development and marketing efforts. Would you take a gamble? Try these tested steps…”
Read more at B2C http://www.business2community.com/online-marketing/10-steps-develop-buyer-personas-business-01266459

How to take a vacation to stimulate your innovation. “Here’s what I have discovered about designing ‘innovation vacations,’ and five marketing leaders who share their experiences…” Read more from Forbes http://www.forbes.com/sites/onmarketing/2015/07/09/five-ways-marketing-leaders-can-design-innovation-vacations/

An interview that investigates drivers of innovation in health care. “Wharton management professor John Kimberly is doing research in this area of health care with the goal of further refining theories of innovation within the context of large, complex organizations. He says part of the issue is choosing the chief innovation officer: Is it better to have a doctor or someone who knows the medical industry? Or would an outside technologist who can take a broader view of innovation be a better choice? Also, what are the outcomes of these efforts at innovation?” Read more at Wharton http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/what-drives-innovation-in-health-care/

The many types and sources of innovation. “An innovation is a new combination of these three things. Entrepreneurs, as innovators, are people who create new combinations of these factors and then present to the market for assessment by consumers. This is a technical conceptualization of what is innovation is about. It does not give the practicing entrepreneur much of a guide to what innovation to make, or how to make it, but it should warn that innovation is a much broader concept then just inventing new products. It also involves bringing them to market. Some important areas in which valuable innovation might be made will be discussed below.” Read more at Go Entrepreneur http://goentrepreneur.net/innovation-and-entrepreneurship/

Ideas for innovating through  constraints. “Feeling short on money, time or expertise? Congratulations! Your lack of resources may actually hold the key to success.” Read more at Take It Personel-ly http://takeitpersonelly.com/2015/07/16/resource-starved-or-innovation-hungry/

Innovators fail – 3 questions to learn the most from those failures. “You can turn failure from a regrettable event into a strategic resource to drive your company’s growth, innovation and employee engagement? Here are three suggestions…” Read more at Entrepreneur http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/248365

Making disruption the norm. “I believe that what keeps company leaders from striking the right balance between today’s success and tomorrow’s survival is that there are currently no broadly accepted approaches for defining success in the future. If it can’t be defined or measured, then it won’t be done.” Read more at Ellen Di Resta http://ellendiresta.com/2015/07/15/disruption-as-the-norm-part-1/

5 tips for getting the licensing deal done. “There are a number of things that can derail the process along the way. Here are a few tips to keep you and your potential licensee on track.” Read more at Inc http://www.inc.com/stephen-key/5-ways-to-prevent-a-potential-licensing-agreement-from-stalling-out.html

The Six Degrees of Innovation identifies how and why innovation occurs. “These six points are meant to serve as a guide for business owners on how to both identify potential opportunities for transformative innovation and how to adapt to the constantly changing technologies and new electronic paradigms of today.” Read more at Business News Daily http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/8199-innovation-technology-adoption.html

Leveraging company culture for innovation. “As innovation cycles shrink and companies become more competitive, the only sustainable advantage one company will have over another will be its innovation, says InMobi’s chief revenue officer Abhay Singhal.” Read more at Fast Company http://www.fastcompany.com/3048361/most-creative-people/how-to-make-company-culture-stick