Curious:
Does your organization have a process for ideation?
Does anyone “own” the idea-generation duty? Executives? Marketing? Anyone? You?
Are your ideas primarily technology, market or user-needs driven?
As a designer, do you feel it’s your responsibility in the earliest front end?
As a designer, have you lead team brainstorming sessions? (With and without designers present?)
In general, how’s it working for you?
How do you think it should work?
No.
No.
User driven.
The task is mine. My resources are the responsibility of the CEO.
Yes, without other designers.
It’s functioning as well as it can under the circumstances. To improve within the current framework, we need to have a better understanding of the future needs of our customer base. It is relatively easy to deliver when the customer is creating much of the spec. The trick is to be able to make something the customer does not yet know they want. Did that once so far and the product drives current sales. A follow-up product should start driving revenue in about 18 months. But so far, nothing for outwards of 2 years.
To really change the design process, all department heads should have a better understanding of how products are developed, from idea to proto - especially the departments with greatest customer contact. Customer-oriented staff must be able to translate user feedback into needs, wants and pipe dreams. All this information must be communicated back to the designers continuously, rather than on-demand.
:)ensen.
Not a formal process.
Merchandising managers and myself (only in-house designer) are supposed to carry out the ideaation of new furniture, but it ends up that everyone, including dealers, retailers, and sales reps (among others) get a chance for their input
A good mix of tech, market, and user-needs, but also a lot of pandering to certain styles or materials/production techniques
Its not my sole responsibility unless a I am asked to generate ideas for a specific piece or group of furniture
Never lead one officially
I think our ideation process works relatively well as is, although it could be a lot better. In the short time I have been with the company I work for, the design process has been revamped and many needed changes made, but ideation still lags behind. With the management looking for positive change, some good ideas will be seen in the future (pun intended).