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LAP-PM-127-SP © 2017, MBA Research and Curriculum Center® Unleash Your Mind 1

Explain the nature of product ideation.

Objectives

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Techniques for Generating Product Ideas

Unleash Your Mind Ideation Is Ideal

Describe techniques used to identify product ideas.

Venture Outside the Box

Why bother learning about techniques for generating product ideas?

What would you do?

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Use what you’ve learned—right now!

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Wherever you are right now, take a look around you and focus on any item you see—large or small, new or old. Some-one, somewhere, at some time came up with the idea for that item. The idea may have been for a totally new item, something that had never before been produced, or the idea may have been for making something that already existed better in some way.

How many times have you seen some product for sale and thought to yourself, “Why didn’t I think of that?” Well, not anymore. You, too, can be a creative thinker, if you put your mind to it. You can actively look for an opportunity that awaits your discovery, explore ways for thinking “outside the box,” and come up with one, or many, marketable ideas for exciting new products.

Ideation Is Ideal

Every single item you buy was once someone’s idea. Not only that—every service

that someone provides was once either a new idea or an idea for a better way of

doing something.

How did many of these ideas originate? Through the ideation process. Ideation,

which sounds a lot like the words “idea” and “creation” combined, is the process

of generating and developing new ideas. The ideation process can be used in

many different situations—from deciding what to do on Saturday night to choos-

ing a name for a new pet. One of the primary purposes of ideation in business,

though, is to generate ideas for new goods and services.

New product ideas are a key factor in deter-

mining the long-term survival, profitability,

and success of a business. The market’s

needs and wants change constantly, and

businesses must respond to—or better

yet, anticipate—these changes by creating

new and improved products that appeal

to customers. If a market’s requirements

change but a business serving that market

does not, customers are likely to look else-

where for products that will fit their needs.


Wavebreakmedia Ltd/Wavebreak Media/Thinkstock


Businesses also need to stay ahead of the competition. As the global economy grows, the number of competitors in the market

grows as well. To gain or maintain an edge over competitors, businesses continually search for ways to improve their existing

products, develop new products, and identify the next “big thing.”

But changing market needs and increased competition aren’t the only reasons why businesses devote their time and energy to

ideation. Products’ life cycles are becoming shorter and shorter. As products near the ends of their lives, the market puts pressure

on businesses to develop new uses for these existing products or replace them with something completely new. Allowing goods and

services to die out without coming out with new or improved products to replace the old ones would be devastating for many of

today’s businesses.

gmast3r/iStock/Thinkstock


Where Did You Get That Idea?

Most new product ideas don’t just materialize out of thin air. Businesses—both big and small—look for inspiration for new goods and

services in many different places.

Trends. A trend is the general direction in which people or events are moving. Trends fall into all kinds of categories—fashion, tele-

vision shows, music, etc. By studying trends, businesses get a sense of customer needs and, therefore, the types of new products

that they should offer. Businesses study trends within their own industries and in society as a whole to determine what will be suc-

cessful in the future. Trends can also include new technological developments or academic breakthroughs that allow new products

to be developed.

Many trends can be discovered through simple observation, so it’s important to pay attention to the world around you. Trends can

also be uncovered through market research, talking to industry experts and academics, and reading reports and publications.

Yoga has become a popular health trend, and with it has come increased popularity of yoga classes, fitness clothing, accessories, and even yoga retreat vacations!

One growing trend is the growing emphasis on health and

fitness. Lots of goods, services, and businesses have been

developed in response to this trend: wearable fitness devices

that sync with mobile apps, a diverse range of workout class-

es, and clothing retailers that specialize exclusively in athletic

wear. Many restaurants are also responding to various health

food trends by providing organic, local, gluten-free, vegetar-

ian, and low-carb options.


Another trend to watch is changing population demographics. For

many years, the largest segment of the population, and therefore

the target of many products, was the “Baby Boomers.” Now, how-

ever, more companies are beginning to focus more on Millennials

(those born between approximately 1980-2000) and Generation Z,

the people born after Millennials. Both of these populations are

substantial in size. Many companies want to develop brand loyalty

with these individuals at a young age in order to maximize their

buying potential. More and more products are aimed at capturing

these generations’ interest, whether it be a social media platform,

a trendy clothing brand, or new technology.

What other trends can you identify? Can you think of any goods and

services that might take advantage of that trend?

iStock/Thinkstock

To learn more about current trends, specifically in technology, check out Ericsson’s

ConsumerLab YouTube playlist, which features in-depth videos on upcoming trends

and insight into customer behavior:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL196D1EDED68E39B8.

Brands try to develop loyalty with younger customers by appealing to their interests and preferences. Can you think of any companies or products that target your generation?

Rasica/iStock/Thinkstock


Customers. Customers are also a great source of new product ideas. After all, customers personally use the goods and services

that businesses produce. Smart businesses learn what customers need and want, and then they work to make needed products

available to those customers.

Imagine for a minute that you work for a retailer that sells

smartphones and tablets. Recently, you’ve experienced

an increase in sales to senior citizens interested in com-

municating with their children and grandchildren via text

messaging, email, and video chat. Although these cus-

tomers have been very motivated to buy, many of them

don’t know how to use their new equipment. They need

someone to teach them. As a savvy business owner, you

see this need as an opportunity to offer a new product:

evening and weekend tutoring sessions to teach your older

customers how to communicate with their loved ones

using mobile devices.

To learn what customers need and want, successful mar-

keting professionals are very observant. They watch peo-

ple, and they notice when problems exist or when people

seem to have an unfulfilled want. They talk with customers

via formal as well as informal methods (think of surveys,

focus groups, customer reviews, and one-on-one conversations). They also talk with other professionals who interact with custom-

ers on a regular basis. Salespeople, customer service representatives, and channel partners (suppliers and distributors) are all

good sources of information when developing new product ideas. These sources can also keep you informed about what the com-

petition is doing. Competitors’ products, strengths, and weaknesses can be a starting point for a new idea.

Senior citizens might not seem like the target market for technology, but out-of-the-box ideas often lead to untapped opportunities and exciting new products.

AndreyPopov/iStock/Thinkstock


Existing products. You can also find inspiration for new products by identifying the limitations of current goods and services, both

your own and those of competitors in your field. Consider, for example, any complaints that you’ve received about existing prod-

ucts. How could you make those products better?

For instance, let’s say that you own a pet-boarding kennel. Although business is going fairly well, you’ve heard a few complaints

about your services. Some customers have discovered fleas on their dogs and cats after a stay at your kennel, while others have

mentioned that your boarding facility occasionally smells unpleasant. By giving all outgoing pets a flea bath, improving your facility’s

ventilation, and sanitizing it more frequently, you could potentially put an end to such complaints.

Carter Bryant, creator of the Bratz doll line, has quite a reputation. MGA Entertainment, which has grossed more than a billion dol-lars on the Bratz franchise, views Bryant as a hero. But, Mattel, another toy company, sees him as a traitor—and a criminal. Why? Because Bryant developed his concept for the Bratz dolls while employed by Mattel as a Barbie fashion, hairstyle, and make-up designer. Based on the terms of a contract that Bryant had signed for the company, Mattel claimed that it owns the rights to all ideas and inventions that Bryant developed while working for the company, including Bratz. However, Bryant worked on his idea in his spare time, not during work hours. While still on Mattel’s payroll—but not on the clock—he developed drawings and models of Bratz dolls and showed them to several toy companies (although not Mattel). MGA jumped at the chance to manufacture Bryant’s creations, lured him away from Mattel, and became Mattel’s fiercest competitor in the fashion doll market. Did Bryant behave ethically? Should he have given his idea to Mattel, since Mattel was his employer at the time? Or, since he worked on Bratz in his spare time, was it okay for him to sell the idea to MGA? What would you have done?


Don’t limit yourself to simply changing problem products, however. Follow the lead of companies such as Apple and find ways to

improve your best goods and services. Even though many of Apple’s recent products have been extremely popular, the company

works to improve even its best-selling items. For example, Apple updates its software continuously and releases updated products

with better features every year. The result? More satisfied customers. Apple must continue to make the improvements that people

want in order to add value and retain its customers.

The SCAMPER method is a great way to generate new ideas from existing products. To learn how

to use this method, check out “SCAMPER: Improving Products and Services” from MindTools:

https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newCT_02.htm.

A service that restaurants such

as McDonald’s, Bob Evans, and

Panera Bread now offer customers

is free Wi-Fi Internet access.

hanohiki/iStock/Thinkstock

iStock/Thinkstock

Another way to develop new product ideas

is to look for goods or services that could

be added to products that already exist.

Complementary products are those that

go with something else—think scarves

and mittens, smartphones and protective

cases, burgers and fries, car washes and

oil changes. Can you think of other goods

or services that could be added to your

current products?


Substitute goods and services are also a good source of new product ideas. A substitute

is a product that takes the place of another product. One example is video streaming

services, which can be substituted for DVDs or cable television

service. Digital books and e-readers are another example; they

are substitutes for real paper books. What substitutes could

you create to take the place of existing products?

What Do You Know?

When generating new product ideas, keep your business’s

strengths in mind. Think about what your business does best.

What are your areas of expertise? How could you channel your

strengths into successful new products?

Imagine for a minute that you own a cafe specializing in soups

and sandwiches. Business is good, but you’re interested in

offering a greater variety of products. When determining what

foods to add to your menu, you should consider your and your

employees’ professional backgrounds. If anyone has past experience in

baking, perhaps cookies, cakes, and other pastries are the way to go.


Watch Your Step—Pitfalls Ahead

Pitfalls abound in idea generation. Many business professionals are reluctant to generate new product ideas—for a number of

different reasons. For instance, some are not good at thinking “outside the box.” This problem is especially prevalent when employ-

ees have been in the same roles, performing the same tasks, for a long time and are used to a certain way of doing things. It may be

challenging for them to gain new perspectives.

Others are worried about the unknowns and risks

that come with new products. Still more are afraid

to voice new product ideas due to criticism and ridi-

cule that their ideas may attract from closed-minded

coworkers and supervisors. If idea generation is

performed in a group, problems may occur if there

are too many group members, if the members are

not diverse enough to form unique ideas, or if cer-

tain members of the group tend to veer off topic or

lose their concentration.

Regardless of the reason why, every idea not spo-

ken or shared is a potential product not realized.

By acknowledging that these types of pitfalls may

occur, you can prepare to combat them in order to

maximize idea generation potential.

Large group brainstorming sessions can be a gold mine of exciting ideas—but they can also be overwhelming and challenging to manage.

monkeybusinessimages/iStock/Thinkstock


Summary

New product ideas are a key factor impacting a business’s long-

term survival, profitability, and success. These new product

ideas come from a number of different sources, including trends,

customers, and existing goods and services. When developing

new product ideas, a business should consider its strengths and

areas of expertise. Business professionals should also be careful

to avoid pitfalls in idea generation, including a reluctance to gen-

erate new product ideas due to a lack of creativity, concern over

the unknown, challenging group dynamics, and fear of criticism.

1. What role do new product ideas play in a business’s long-term success?

2. Describe three sources of new product ideas.

3. Why is it important to keep your strengths in mind when generating new product ideas?

4. Why are business professionals sometimes reluctant to generate new product ideas?


Venture Outside the Box

So far, you’ve looked at trends, at existing prod-

ucts, and at needs that aren’t being met in search

of inspiration for new products. Now, how do you

develop specific ideas for these new or improved

goods and services? Many techniques can help

you to come up with fresh product ideas, and

they all involve creative thinking.

What is creative thinking? Creative thinking is

often referred to as thinking “outside the box,” as

thinking in different ways (also known as diver-

gent thinking), or as a way of focusing your mind

on unrelated things to generate new and innova-

tive ideas.

Exactly how can you think creatively? There are

a multitude of methods you can use, either alone

or with others, to practice creative thinking and

build on your own creativity.

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Get Moving: To the Side

Many common creative-thinking techniques involve indirect, lateral thinking. Rather than logically studying and working through

an issue or problem, lateral thinking involves approaching the issue from new illogical directions and using illogical methods to

develop new ideas. Lateral thinking methods include:

Brainstorming. Brainstorming involves spontaneously identifying as many different ideas as possible during a certain time frame.

It usually works better in a group setting, but it is possible to use brainstorming individually, too.

Although brainstorming includes a variety of different methods, you should follow some general guidelines when you brainstorm.

You should always have a focus—in this case, a specific product opportunity you have recognized—for your brainstorming session.

Then, use brainstorming to come up with as many ideas as you can for a good or service for that specific opportunity.

During the process, don’t judge the quality of ideas

that are shared. Remember, your goal is as many

ideas as you can generate. Regardless of whether

you are giving or receiving, criticism has a tendency

to kill creativity. Evaluating and critiquing others’

ideas may cause them to shut down and no longer

share their ideas. Instead, acknowledge and re-

cord even the craziest ideas. You never know when

a wacky idea will prompt someone to think of a

unique, more doable solution.

Sometimes it takes a mountain of “bad” ideas to reach your best one yet!

tadamichi/iStock/Thinkstock


During the actual brainstorming session, ideas should not be analyzed or eliminated. However, after the brainstorming session, the

ideas should be evaluated. If you have asked a group to help you brainstorm ideas, you might want to involve them in the analysis

and evaluation phase. It’s during this phase that you can explore the ideas in more depth and possibly refine them.

Brainstorming never looks the same way twice. In fact, brainstorming sessions can differ in a

number of ways: the number of people involved, the amount of time used, the noise level, the way

to share ideas (i.e., written, verbal, online), and even the amount of pressure put on individual

members to generate ideas.

There are also several different types of brainstorming techniques. Relay brainstorming, like a re-

lay race, involves multiple individuals from competing teams responding in a certain order with no

assistance from teammates. Round-robin brainstorming doesn’t involve teams, but it does require

participants to respond quickly and only when it’s their turn. Reverse brainstorming includes look-

ing at a problem from the opposite point of view. For example, if you work for a clothing retailer that

wants to launch an e-commerce site, you might ask yourself, “What would give our site a terrible

user experience?” After brainstorming these “opposite” solutions, you can look at them in reverse

and gain a potential solution that would lead to an outstanding user experience.

A fourth type of brainstorming is starbursting. To conduct a starbursting session, draw a six-

pointed star and write your product opportunity in the middle. Then, write one of the following

words at each tip of the star: Who?, What?, Why?, Where?, When?, and How? Finally, ask and answer questions that start with these

words to develop ideas based on the recognized product opportunity.


If this was your mind map for a mobile game you were creating, what other ideas could you develop from the related words here?

Mind mapping is also a visual creative-thinking technique often linked to brainstorming. Mind mapping helps you to generate ideas

by making associations. To create a mind map, you need a large piece of paper. In the center of the page, write the main idea,

which is the product opportunity that you identified. From that starting point, draw lines to other words or phrases that are related

to the main idea. For example, if you have identified an opportunity to develop a new game for mobile devices, the associated words

might be different features such as characters, levels, or design elements that you want to include in the game. From each of these

words, draw other lines that relate to that particular word, and so on. In essence, mind mapping helps you to expand your thinking

and get lots of different ideas down on paper in a short period of time.

annatodica/iStock/Thinkstock


Yet another way to visually brainstorm for product ideas is braindrawing. When braindrawing, individuals take turns randomly

sketching and doodling on a piece of paper. Each person builds on the others’ drawings until the page is covered with sketches.

Then, members of the group study the doodles, try to identify the shapes that they see, and then determine how the shapes can be

related to their product opportunity. This technique can also be done using words instead of sketches; this is called brainwriting.

In brainwriting, participants build on each other’s thoughts to generate their own new ideas. One of the benefits of this strategy is

that it reduces the anxiety people may feel in response to sharing ideas out loud.

iStock/Thinkstock

For even more brainstorming techniques, watch the video “Six Creative Ways to

Brainstorm Ideas” by VM Measures: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAidvTKX6xM.

Free association. To use the free association technique to generate product ideas, you must allow your mind to wander. When

presented with a random word or picture, name the first thing that comes to mind. Record your flow of ideas, allowing each idea to

trigger others. Repeat the process, using new random words or pictures if necessary, until you begin making connections between

your thoughts and the product opportunity in question. By doing so, you may find it easier to generate new product ideas.


Forced questioning. The forced questioning lateral thinking method is

similar in some ways to starbursting. Like starbursting, forced questioning

uses basic question starters to develop original questions to ask (and an-

swer) about the product opportunity. However, the list of question start-

ers includes more than just who, what, why, where, when, and how. When

using forced questioning, you can also start questions with words like did,

will, might, would, could, should, etc. For example, you might ask ques-

tions such as “Could we satisfy this economic want?” or “What services

could we offer to take advantage of this opportunity?”

Synectics. Creative thinking involves making connections, and synectics

is a technique for doing just that. Synectics comes from a Greek word

meaning “bringing forth together.” Also sometimes referred to as “mak-

ing the strange familiar,” the synectics creative-thinking process involves

making connections through the use of forced relations, metaphors, and

imagery. It is typically more demanding and time-consuming than brain-

storming, but also more rewarding. Therefore, it’s a good tool to use

when other creativity methods have failed.

Forced relations synectics techniques involve connecting two items or ideas that seem completely unrelated to find new practical

combinations and products. Forced associations are one type of these forced relations. Forced associations require you to essen-

tially “bang things together.” This usually involves forcing random words into associations with your issue at hand. Although similar

to free association, forced associations entail making a direct connection between the random word and the product opportunity,

not allowing your mind to drift from one unrelated concept to the next in hopes of generating product ideas.

bellabrend/iStock/Thinkstock


Another type of forced relations, called forced

analogies, uses metaphors and similes to

create connections where none currently exist.

For example, let’s say you have identified a

potential product opportunity that involves a

problem—waiting for the bus on cold days—and

you’re trying to come up with a solution to that

problem. Using forced analogies, you might com-

pare this problem with what seems like a totally

different situation. In this case you might con-

sider other times when people have to wait: at

doctors’ offices, amusement parks, restaurants,

etc. You may be able to compare waiting for the

bus on cold days to one or more of these other

situations and come up with ideas for a solution

to the problem.

Can you think of a new product idea that could help solve the problem of waiting for the bus in the cold?

Interested in learning about more lateral thinking techniques? Check out the absence

thinking, wishing, role-play, six-thinking-hats, and incubation methods for generating

product ideas. Find a comprehensive list of creative-thinking methods here:

http://creatingminds.org/tools/tools_ideation.htm.

Connel_Design/iStock/Thinkstock

iStock/Thinkstock


Get With the Program

Unlike lateral thinking, programmed thinking techniques are logical and analytical. They involve structured, organized ways to develop

new ideas and products. Two of the most common forms of programmed thinking are attribute listing and morphological analysis.

Attribute listing. Attribute listing involves listing a product’s characteristics or attributes that make the item unique and different

from other goods and services. After listing the product’s characteristics, individuals using this technique focus on finding ways to

improve the product’s existing attributes. For instance, suppose that you work as a candle-maker. To generate ideas for new prod-

ucts, you could list the attributes of an existing candle: scent, color, size, shape, etc. Then, you could study the candle’s character-

istics individually to determine how to improve the overall product. You might decide to make the candle’s scent stronger, the color

darker, and so on.

Morphological analysis. Another logical approach to developing new product ideas is morphological

analysis. As in attribute listing, this technique focuses on a situation’s or product’s details. And, as

in attribute listing, it involves listing the attributes of a product.

However, rather than looking for ways to improve individual

attributes, morphological analysis involves combining some

or all of a product’s attributes in different ways to create

new products. Professionals in many fields, including

architecture, the culinary arts, and graphic design, use

morphological analysis to develop new products. By listing

and then combining different materials, production

processes, and features in different ways, they can

generate many new product ideas.


New product ideas are essential for long-term business success. But no two busi-nesses use exactly the same process to develop new ideas. Think about your place of employment or the places where your friends or family members work. How do these businesses generate new product ideas? Do they use any particu-lar creative-thinking techniques? Where do they seem to get inspiration for new products—from trends, customers, or existing products? What recommendations would you make to these businesses to improve their ideation processes?

Summary

To develop specific new product ideas, business profession-

als use many different creative-thinking techniques. Lateral

thinking methods involve approaching situations and product

opportunities from new directions and using illogical means to

develop product ideas. Brainstorming, free association, forced

questioning, and synectics are examples of lateral thinking.

Programmed thinking, on the other hand, is logical and or-

ganized. Attribute listing and morphological analysis are two

forms of programmed thinking.

1. Describe the brainstorming creative-thinking technique.

2. What impact does criticism have on creative thinking?

3. Explain how starbursting can help you to develop new product ideas.

4. Describe two types of forced relations techniques.

5. How do lateral thinking and programmed thinking techniques differ?

6. Explain the attribute listing creative-thinking technique.

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