(really) entrepreneureal

*Case in point about how ideas germinate (“Ideal Ideation”) and develop: the to-and-fro, both on- and off-line with Etan over at eL has got me thinking big time about Guerrilla Design and design process more generally.  So Hear Hear! to a great conversation!!*

Etan previously mentioned how ideal R&D includes customers in the design and development process.  Too often products and services are created in a boardroom somewhere, or with minimal end-user input, and then companies are surprised when returns, market share, or general feedback are less than stellar.

While incorporating user-input into the R&D process is certainly a step in the right direction, I think it points out something glaringly obvious:

“The R&D process as we know it, even including user input, is broken.”

Let me explain.

The typical design process “supply chain” of a given product or process looks like this:

This is fine if A. products are scarce, and B. customers aren’t accustomed to providing feedback.  However, in the age of “is that it?” (thanks Seth), products fight for shelf space and eyeballs while customers have the luxury of being able to jump from product to product and brand to brand, because an unresponsive brand is a dead brand – and easily replaceable.   How, then, should the R&D design process be reconfigured to take into account this state of affairs?  Well, it should probably look like this:

This is important for a number of reasons:

1. It takes R&D out from the back warehouse/lab bench/silo and puts it front and center.  A department whose responsibilities cover the ENTIRE value supply chain can hardly play second fiddle, can it?

2. This represents a clear shift in how a company interacts with its customer.  Sure, user research up front is useful (and necessary), but part of attracting and keeping customers is making them feel like they are all part of a special focus group.  In that sense, then, every customer feels part of the “tribe“.

Of course, companies will need to figure out the best ways to re-engage and interact with customers on an ongoing basis, which will certainly require some creative thinking.  We need to move toward on-the-spot barcode scanner by mobile phone (for product information and reviews) rather than buried 1-800 number, and then I know we’ll be on the right track.