Continuous improvement is not easy. If you keep using the same methods you will experience less results. We’ve gathered the best tips and ideas on how to innovate products. Below, you’ll find 7 tips on reinventing any products you have.
Competition has increased as a result of wider access to new technologies. Because of that, it’s getting harder and harder to carve a piece of the market share. Unless you have the opportunities to create something better.
Most new ideas do not lead to successful products. Especially if you are reinventing the wheel. Aside from that, the marketplace is becoming over competitive. One of the best ways to stand out is by innovating your products or services.
Run Brainstorm Meetings On How To Innovate Products
Brainstorm meetings can be an effective way of generating tons of ideas. You can ask people’s opinions on specific features of your products and ideas for improvement. Then, filter and review those to know which ideas are the best. And what would help you to reinvent or improve your products.
When innovating products, coming up with unique ideas is hard. So brainstorming will allow you to get more ideas from other people. As a result, you can innovate your products efficiently.
One of the most efficient and effective strategies in brainstorming is “Design Thinking.” It’s a system of generating ideas using practical processes and design concepts. It’s effective especially when innovating products or creating new ones. You can also use it to think of new ways to position your offer. You can learn more about it on this video.
Create an Innovation Plan
Planning is also a great way to innovate new and amazing products. You need an innovation plan if you want to maximize the creativity of the ideas you generate. It will ensure that you’re implementing only the best ideas.
Include targets and guidelines on how to innovate products and services that you offer when you create this plan. Here’s a list of things you can include on your innovation plan.
- Goals to meet or problems to be solved
- Participants/People included
- Budget
- Resources
Experimentation
One way to get ideas on how to innovate products is by doing experimentation. This is best even when your ideas and products are technical in nature. Experimentation is basically putting together different components and seeing if they work.
Once you start to get ideas, remember there’s a tendency for people to settle for the first idea that comes. So you need to dedicate more time and ask more questions to draw out ideas on how to experiment your products.
Experimentation is critical in the innovation process. It helps you identify possible mistakes, reducing costs and preventing errors later on. How? Because you can see early results without spending thousands and thousands of dollars. So it’s much better to experiment the product first.
Eliminate
What could you simplify, reduce or remove entirely? What would it look like if you split or totally remove one aspect? Elimination is one technique to avoid mistakes yet end up with high quality products.
One example that comes to mind is Apple. When they created and designed the iPhone, Steve Jobs knew he had to remove all the buttons. He knew he had to keep the few critical ones. The result is the home button in front and volume buttons on the side.
Success in innovation comes from filtering ideas and doing the hard thinking. It’s about thinking differently about your products or service. Then making something remarkable.
Ask Customers
Customers have a lot of ideas on how to improve your products or services. Ask them. They can recommend new features or functionalities in your product.
According to MIT researcher Eric von Hippel, users can see problems with existing products. They can identify new ways of using it while using them. In fact, they could inspire you to push the boundaries of your existing products. Customer feedback can make you realize what your products are lacking.
Listen to these requests carefully and choose the ones that have great potential. This is a great technique on how to innovate products. Aside from that, your customers will feel appreciated. that you’re willing to listen and work with them.
Leverage Customer Complaints
If customers have difficulty using your product, that’s a starting point for innovation. Using negative suggestions can guide you as you start to improve your products.
Not all customers are right. But when the complaints are becoming more and more common, it’s a clear sign that you need to make the product better.
Make your product easier to use and remove some components that make it inconvenient to use. Introduce improvements or educational materials to inform your customers and overcome the complaints.
Use Social Networks
Follow trends and ask questions on groups like Twitter or Facebook. Ask your market what they want to see in future products or what problems in their life they want solved.
Many early adopters are active on social network groups. They are happy to give their suggestions. You would receive a lot of ideas and suggestions online since people tend to stay on phones most of the time. It’s also a great way to advertise your existing product and have it innovated to what the customers want.
The best example of this is Appsumo. They created a Facebook Group where people can request deals their deals. Instead of thinking for themselves, Appsumo are crowdsourcing ideas. As a result, they know how they can serve their market better.
You can adapt this strategy on how to innovate products in your company. Sure, you might need to keep the community managed. But when you see the results a community of supporters brings, it will be well worth it.
Final Thoughts
Your people have ideas or suggestions on how to innovate your products or services. Sometimes you just have to get out of your way and be open to new ideas. We need to digest criticisms, accept negative feedback, and pivot. It’s the way to create amazing products that people would love to buy.
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