Purpose – Companies are increasingly adopting design processes as a key driver for their innovation practice. Design processes help companies develop innovations that produce high user value as well as economic value and business value. The purpose of this paper is to describe how design...

Purpose – As companies try to gain a deeper understanding of consumers, they are increasingly turning to user-observation and ethnographic processes. However, because of this work is normally done in an informal manner, it tends to only have value for the small number of team members working...

Purpose – The paper seeks to use a case study to describe work by a Japanese qualitative research specialist with leading office furniture manufacturer to spur innovation in product development and sales strategy in a newly targeted hospital furniture market. It aims to show how qualitative...

Purpose – The structure of health care financing, the lack of vertical and horizontal integration, and the slow translation of basic research into meaningful health outcomes for the population conspire to make innovation in health service delivery a difficult task. However, health service...

Purpose – The recent mix of economic constraints and new capabilities has encouraged web‐based businesses to explore creative new strategies and unusual innovation processes. After years of refining these practices online, a potent set of approaches are surfacing that could transform...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to propose that high quality innovations benefit both companies and customers. Most businesses have formal systems to ensure benefit to company, and weaker, informal systems to retain or add value to customers. This paper aims to provide a way to formally...

Purpose – Improving your company's ability to execute its strategy requires increase alignment, greater agility and a singular clarity regarding the desired outcomes. This paper aims to describe how the SAP Design Services Team uses design thinking and its principles to improve the...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe innovation planning methods used at Microsoft. Design/methodology/approach – The paper examines the cultural environment and changes that needed to occur to implement these methods and looks at a selection of product development efforts at...

Purpose – This paper aims to cover the authors' experience with applying the latest methodologies in identifying and articulating product opportunities within a large, global corporation and dynamic marketplace. Design/methodology/approach – The study conducts a course of multiple...

Purpose – This paper aims to outline the approaches used by the UK Design Council to embed design and innovation capability in small businesses. Design/methodology/approach – Case studies of Design Council programmes are outlined and the design methods, tools and processes used to embed...