Philips Design magazine on involving users in the beginning of an innovation process

Philips just released the July issue of new value by One Design, its online quarterly design magazine.

In ‘Making the future more tangible‘, the magazine explores how, by involving stakeholders in the ‘fuzzy front end’ of innovation, Philips can truly design around them, together creating and shaping desirable futures.

In the article Stefanie Un, senior research consultant at Philips Design (who is also profiled in a separate story in the magazine), describes in more detail the Philips approach of inclusive innovation in which the user and other stakeholders are involved right from the beginning of the process:

“Through research, home visits, on-line conversations and experience testing, an ongoing dialogue is established that generates deeper insights. It also means that propositions and concepts are much more in-ine with what people like, because they themselves have been involved in developing them. The experience testing in particular is crucial. By creating a demonstrator that brings a particular experience or potential application to life, you make ideas much more accessible and understandable. These prototypes are not intended to represent possible fi nished products, they stimulate discussion at a much earlier stage, and embody the directions we want to be taking as a company.”

Also in the magazine, Dr Howard Moskowitz, expert in psychophysics and inventor of world-class market research technology, shares his view on how best to approach the fuzzy front end in ‘Talking about design‘.