insights on innovation

ideas and embodiments

is having ideas considered design? maybe it seems obvious to you. i would argue no. the idea is not the design. only an embodiment of the idea is design. it is this important distinction that people so often overlook in organizations as they work on what they want to bring to market next. everytime ideas are debated verbally, an organization wastes resources.

an idea, verbally described, has very little value. an idea, demonstrated through an embodiment is powerful. this distinction is what defines design in a meaningful way. to design, one must be able to embody ideas, not just have them. there are a range of ways of doing so, from drawings to models.

it is why in both professional practice and education that when someone has "an idea", i insist that they show it to me rather than describe it. people assume one can talk about an idea, and to the degree that one describes an embodiment of the idea, it works, but it is far more effective to make a drawing or a model to show the idea.

how often have you had someone, who found out you were a designer say something like, "oh great, i have an idea, maybe you'd like to work on it with me." and they assume the value is in the idea and so are suprised when you would actually like a piece of the action. they just thought you would be honored to work on their idea. well, most of the value lies in what you would do as the designer as you actually realize the idea.

this is why designers (and others) need to be able to draw and model. not because the technical skills define the expertise of a designer, but they are required to design. perhaps a parallel can be drawn with writers. of course they need to know how to use words in sequences. but this does so little to define the value of good writing as to seem silly.

the expertise of a designer, then, is the value they bring as they embody an idea. through drawing and modelling, they can work through an embodiment that achieves something against goals, constraints, and requirements.

next time someone says, "i have an idea about a new product," tell them, "i'd love to see it."

prototypes - a lingua franca?

prototypes have been on my mind for a host of reasons. i just started my class, prototyping methods; i just spoke at the professional model makers annual conference; and my phd student's dissertation will be on how prototypes mediate evaluation of new ideas. oh yeah, and i'm "collaborating" with jed wood on a weblog-iki about prototypes, http://www.protolithic.com.

its is hard to over emphasize the value of prototypes and easy to dismiss taking the initiative to make one. why do you think that is? my main goal in studying prototypes is to move them from the realm of craft to an actual discipline.

if you have any principles about prototyping you'd like to share, please post. also, if you have any research questions you think would be interesting to answer, post that as well. a great question can drive very interesting research work!