Innovation Community Resources on Product Development

Overall key takeaways from the Product Development track detail some of the main innovation themes from the 2024 edition of FEI. All Things Innovation has endeavored to curate the list with a selection of key resources devoted to each topic.

FEI 2024 R&D, Product Development & Design Key Takeaways

1. Innovation as a Strategic Imperative:

• Embedding Innovation in Culture: Foster a culture that encourages experimentation and rewards innovative thinking across all levels of the organization.

• Alignment with Business Goals: Ensure innovation strategies align with business objectives and include key performance indicators (KPIs) for success measurement.
• Additional Resources: “You Need an Innovation Strategy,” from Harvard Business Review.
• “Effective Innovation Begins With Strategic Direction,” from MIT Sloan Management Review.
• “The Imperative for Business Model Innovation,” from Cambridge University Press.
• “The Innovation Imperative,” from Project Management Institute.

2. The Power of Human-Centered Design

• Empathy in the Design Process: Conduct thorough research to understand user emotions and motivations through interviews and usability testing.

• Iterative Prototyping and Feedback Loops: Use rapid prototyping to gather user feedback quickly, allowing for continuous refinement of solutions.
• Additional Resources: “Human-Centered Design Is More Important Than Ever,” from BCG.
• “Connecting Human-Centered Design to Innovation,” from All Things Innovation.
• “Here’s why human-centric innovation is necessary,” from McKinsey & Company.
• “The Power of Human-Centered Design: Why Empathy Is a Must for Organizational Change Management,” from University of Minnesota.

3. The Role of Technology

• Enhancing Data-Driven Decision Making: Utilize AI for fast data analysis to gain insights that inform strategic decisions and optimize processes.

• Automation and Efficiency Gains: Implement robotics to automate repetitive tasks, freeing up resources for creative development.
• Additional Resources: “Driving impact at scale from automation and AI,” from McKinsey & Company.
• “Automation with intelligence,” from Deloitte.
• “15 Ways Technology Can Drive Innovation And Improve Your Offerings,” from Forbes.
• “Data-Driven Innovation For Informed Decision-Making,” from Itonics.

4. The Importance of Collaboration

• Leveraging Diverse Perspectives: Collaborations with startups introduce fresh ideas, fostering innovative solutions that drive product development.

• Resource Sharing and Mutual Growth: Partnerships enable sharing of technology and talent, accelerating innovation and market adaptability.
• Additional Resources: “What Makes Innovation Partnerships Succeed,” from Harvard Business Review.
• “The Power Of Partnership In Driving Innovation,” from Forbes.
• “Driving a new era of innovation through collaboration,” from Fast Company.
• “Unleashing the Innovation Power of Alliances,” from BCG.

5. The Future of Work

• Flexibility and Hybrid Work Models: Adopt flexible work arrangements that blend remote and in-office work to enhance employee satisfaction and productivity.

• Upskilling and Continuous Learning: Prioritize employee training programs to equip teams with the necessary skills for a dynamic work environment.
• Additional Resources: “Predicting the unpredictable: How will technology change the future of work?” from Deloitte.
• “Workforce of the future,” from PWC.
• “The Future of Work is Reshaping Trends in Innovation,” from All Things Innovation.
• “What is the future of work?” from McKinsey & Company.

Click the following links to dive into each Product Development session:

1. Intrapreneurial Value: Creation Via New Product Innovation: Milan Ivosevic, VP of R&D and Innovation, CooperSurgical Inc
2. Who. How. WOW. Product Communication – Where Science and Marketing Collide.: Mike Thomas, CEO, Upstream360
3. Partnering With Your Disruptor: Marci Ruman, Global Innovation Strategist, Kimberly-Clark
4. Capturing Actionable Insights And Ultimately Saving Lives: Omar Eleryan, Founder and CEO, Cleo Robotics
5. Next Generation Product Development: Commercializing What’s Next: Fred Schonenberg, Founder & CEO & Pritam Bhattarai, Director of Innovation & Partnerships, VentureFuel
6. Evolving R&D, Product Development, and Innovation to Outpace Disruption: Sebastian Osswald, Director, Emerging Technologies Lab, Miele
7. Influenced: Using Social Media Driven Purchases to Uncover Areas of Opportunity and White Space for Innovation: Amanda Pizarek, Director of Research, Watch Me Think