Making Good Designs or Making Design Good

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Making Good Designs or Making Design Good?

• Prof. David Owens
• Owen Grad School of Management
• david.owens_at_vanderbilt.edu

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About Me

• BS Electrical Engineering
• PE EE (Professional Engineer)
• SFO Airport Power Systems Design
• MS Product Design (ME / Art)
• IDEO Product Development Inc.
• Product Design (Apple, HP, Steelcase, Coleman,
  Wine-in-a-Box, etc.)
• PhD Management Science and Eng.
• Management New Product Development
• Vanderbilt LEGO Systems (SeriousPlay.com)

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Homework

• Compile the R/E survey results for your team
  members
• Describe an example of an R-Type innovation
  (besides the ones used in class)
• Describe an example of an E-Type innovation
  (besides the ones used in class)
• Draw an S-Learning Curve with an arrow
  indicating where your team is right now on that
  curve.
• Write a short paragraph explaining whether your
  team needs more R or more E control right now.

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Which is the Better Design?
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Personal Innovation Style Survey

• Please answer the following 10 questions about
  your working habits in your design team

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• When I am working on a task, I tend to
• E) Go along with a consistent level of work
• R) Work with high energy at times and low energy
  other times
• If there is a problem, I usually am the one who
  thinks of
• R) Many solutions, some of which are unusual
• E) One or two solutions that that other people
  will generally accept

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• When keeping records, I tend to
• E) Be very careful about documentation
• R) Be more haphazard about documentation
• In meetings, I am often seen as the one who
• E) Keeps the group functioning well and
  maintains order
• R) Challenges ideas or authority

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• My thinking style could most accurately be
  described as
• E) Linear thinker, going from A to B to C
• R) Thinking like a grasshopper, jumping from one
  idea to another
• If I have to run a project or group, I
• R) Have the general idea and let people figure
  out how to do the tasks
• E) Try to figure out goals, time lines, and
  expected outcomes

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• If there are rules to follow, I tend to
• E) Generally follow them
• R) Question whether those rules are meaningful
  or not
• I like to be around people who are
• E) Smart, stable and solid
• R) Clever, stimulating, and change frequently

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• In my home or workspace, things are
• R) Here and there in various piles
• E) Laid out neatly or at least in a reasonable
  order
• I usually feel the way people have done things
  in the past
• E) Must have some merit and comes from
  accumulated wisdom
• R) Can always be improved upon

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Scoring I

• Count the number of Es and Rs
• If R is higher, you are Type R
• If A is higher, you are Type E
• Write this down
• Subtract R from E
• Write down the absolute value

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Style Assessment

• Type R with dif. 8-10 Strong R
• Type R with dif. 5-7 Mid-Level R
• Type R with dif. 2-4 Moderate R
• Difference of 1 or less MID R/E
• Type E with dif. 2-4 Moderate E
• Type E with dif. 5-7 Mid-Level E
• Type E with dif. 8-10 Strong E

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Which of these is most important to the success
of innovative designs?

• The Personality of the Innovator
• A Smart or Brilliant Idea
• A Good Problem that Needs Solving
• Persistence of the Innovator
• Expertise of the Innovator
• The Process or Schedule

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Creative People may be Characterized as...

• ???

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Creative Personality Indicators

• Introvert or Extravert ?
• Optimist or Pessimist ?
• Others?...

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Creativity Research Findings

• Creativity Correlation
• -0.10
• 0.13
• 0.17
• 0.19

• Trait
• Neuroticism
• Extraversion
• Openness (to Experience)
• Agreeableness
• Conscientiousness

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What does it take to generate a truly good idea?

• Creativity?
• Luck?
• Familiarity with the problem?
• Beer?
• ??

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Creativity Research Findings

• Creativity Correlation
• -0.10
• 0.13
• 0.17
• 0.19
• 0.26

• Trait
• Neuroticism
• Extraversion
• Openness to Experience
• Agreeableness
• Conscientiousness
• General Cognitive Ability

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Ranking all the factors

• The Personality of the Innovators
• A Smart or Brilliant Idea
• A Good Problem that Needs Solving
• Persistence of the Innovators
• Expertise of the Innovators
• The Process or Schedule

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Ranking the Innovation Factors

• Trait Creativity
• Neuroticism
• Extraversion
• Openness to Experience
• Agreeableness
• Conscientiousness
• General cognitive ability
• Task motivation
• Domain-relevant skills
• Use Creative Processes

• Indiv.
• -0.10
• 0.13
• 0.17
• 0.19
• 0.26
• 0.41
• 0.46
• 0.62

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So What Happens in Teams?

• Trait Creativity
• Neuroticism
• Extraversion
• Openness to Experience
• Agreeableness
• Conscientiousness
• General cognitive ability
• Task motivation
• Domain-relevant skills
• Use of Creative Process

• Indiv.
• -0.10
• 0.13
• 0.17
• 0.19
• 0.26
• 0.41
• 0.46
• 0.62

Team 0.11 0.37 0.52
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Whats this about PROCESS?
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S-Curve Learning Process
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3
Performance
2
1
Time
1 Exploration
2 Innovation
3 Implementation
4 Exploitation
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S-Curve Design Process
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So What?

• The group cannot jump ahead in the process
• The group must have different goals at different
  times
• The group must have different behaviors at
  different times
• The group must agree it is time to switch!

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If only it were that easy.
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Your Creative Personality?

• Type E ?
• Type R ?

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Styles Unveiled

• Revolutionary Innovators
• less disciplined
• manipulate problems
• work in short bursts
• take control
• challenge rules
• seek radical change

• Evolutionary Innovators
• prefer precision
• resolve problems
• work steadily
• act as authority
• work within rules
• seek implementation.

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S-Curve Design Process
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Which is a Better Design?
Type E
Type R
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Paper Clip Innovation
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Paper Clip Type R
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Gem Clip Machine ca. 1899
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Paper Clip Type E
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Evolutionary Innovations
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Final Points About Process

• You cant ideate forever (and still get done)
• Rev. 2.0 will always be better (so leave
  perfection for then)
• Groups need processes for making decisions
  (before they need to make decisions)
• Control your group process(and then let someone
  else control it)
• A schedule is the only way to live (for routine
  innovators)

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Homework

• Compile the A/R survey results for your team
  members
• Describe an example of an A-Type innovation
  (besides the ones used in class)
• Describe an example of an E-Type innovation
  (besides the ones used in class)
• Draw an S-Learning Curve with an arrow
  indicating where your team is right now on that
  curve.
• Write a short paragraph explaining whether your
  team needs more E or more R guidance right
  now.

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New Product Design InnovationMgt 541 / 542
(Spring 2005)

• Identifying Customer Needs
• user research
• Concept Generation and Selection
• generating good concepts
• Concept Testing and Costing
• choosing features and setting price
• Prototyping
• models with meaningful information
• Industrial Design
• usability and aesthetics
• Product Architecture and Specifications
• design for manufacturing

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Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) Monitor
Design Project
Sleep happy
Sentries against threat
Small and Intricate
Its how we market it
Two kinds of kids
This isnt really it
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Contact me if you are interested

• MGT 541 / 542
• 4 Credit MBA Project Class
• Youll be on a team of MBA students
• Email david.owens_at_vanderbilt.edu

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Questions or Thoughts?