Design-inspired Innovation

James M Utterback is David J McGrath jr. Professor of Management and Innovation in the Sloan School of Management and Professor of Engineering Systems in the School of Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is a Fellow of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences and a Member of the Board of Governors of Argonne National Laboratory. Bengt-Arne Vedin is Professor of Innovation Management at Malardalen University in Eskilstuna, Sweden. He is a Fellow of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences, the Swedish Society for International Affairs, the Swedish Academy of Verbovisual Communication, and the World Academy of Art & Science. Eduardo Alvarez is a graduate of MIT where he did his thesis on Managing Creativity for Effective Innovation. He is a designer and entrepreneur and is President of VIGIX, Inc, which he founded. Sten Ekman is Doctor of Industrial Ergonomics at the Department of Innovation, Design and Product Development at Malardalen University in Eskilstuna, Sweden. He has been honored as "The Entrepreneur of the Year in Academic Leadership in Sweden 2001" and also for the Malardalen Program on Innovation Management as "The Entrepreneurial Program of the Year in Sweden 2000." He is the Head of an international four-year project "University Business Development Centres at Ukrainian Universities" from 2005. Susan Walsh Sanderson is Associate Professor at the Lally School of Management at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York. She is recipient of the Boeing Outstanding Educator Award and the Hesburg Award for Educational Innovation. Bruce Tether is Professor of Innovation Management and Strategy at the Centre for Research on Innovation and Competition, Manchester Business School and a Ghoshal Fellow of the United Kingdom's Advanced Institute of Management Research. Roberto Verganti is Professor of Management of Innovation at the School of Management and at the Faculty of Design of Politecnico di Milano, and Director of MaDe in Lab, the laboratory for Marketing, Design and Innovation of MIP-School of Management of Politecnico di Milano. He is a Member of the Scientific Committee of the European Institute for Advanced Studies in Management, and member of the Advisory Council of the Design Management Institute, Boston. A project Sistema Design Italia in which he participated as a Member of the Scientific Organizing Committee was awarded the most prestigious design award in Italy, the "Compasso d'Oro" in 2001.

"Successful design has been the least understood dimension of successful innovation. This book, authored by first-rate scholars, makes a major contribution towards closing this gap."Clayton M ChristensenRobert and Jane Cizik Professor of Business AdministrationHarvard Business School, Boston, MA"The authors of Design-Inspired Innovation argue well that in this world of increasing complexity, simplicity and elegance in a product or system design greatly empowers the user. Keep this thought in mind, read the book, and you and your teammates will be well served. Utterback and his colleagues have developed a truly useful guide for students, engineers, and executives alike."Marc H MeyerMatthews Distinguished University Professor, Northeastern University andAuthor of The Power of Product Platforms (Free Press, 1997) andThe FASTPATH to GROWTH (Oxford, 2007)"Within the AB Traction group of companies, quite a few are design-dependent; in fact, we strive to rely ever more upon design to strengthen our business offers. Thus Design-Inspired Innovation is a welcome book. Its broad international scope and focus on innovation make it all the more useful. The quality that industrial designers always focus on the end user cannot be emphasized enough."Bengt StillstromChairman and Founder, AB Traction"Design is increasingly seen as a competitive tool by businesses. This is based on the growing understanding that companies in the UK and elsewhere in the developed world cannot compete on price, but rather need to differentiate themselves by using design process to add value to their products and services. As a result, management books such as this describing how design can drive and enable innovation will become increasingly important."Harry RichDeputy Chief Executive of the Design Council in London"If you are determined to make a difference in this world you must, somehow, break new ground. This stunning new book reveals how. Design-Inspired Innovation tells us that technology will, at best, put you in the game. But if you want to win it you must understand the power of design -- and how it drives innovation. The authors met at the intersection of their different fields and cultures and brought the insights they found there to life. So take a deep breath and see for yourself what they discovered!"Frans JohanssonEntrepreneur and Author of The Medici Effect, Harvard Business School Press"This book is a must-read, and should be kept close by for any designer. It will also make an outstanding textbook sure to inspire lively discussion."Professor A CooperUniversity of Pittsburgh, USA"Design-Inspired Innovation is an important contribution to better understanding the hidden role that design plays in the innovation process -- from the product to the enterprise itself -- and the different skills, methodologies, and sensibilities that industrial designers bring to innovation. Of equal importance, this work delves into the organizational culture and management sensibilities enterprises need to develop to become design inspired. With careful reading, the book can unlock new opportunities for senior management in the utilization of design as a primary competency of any organization. Particularly refreshing is the in-depth exploration of different philosophical approaches to design as practiced in Italy, Scandinavia, and North America. The insights are potentially invaluable in stimulating a cross-pollination of ideas and approaches in design-inspired innovation for a global market."Gianfranco ZaccaiPresident and CEO, Design Continuum, USA"This book should prove very valuable to individuals and firms working with, or contemplating a relationship with, designers and design firms."Journal of Product Innovation Management

• What Makes Products Great?; Creating Design Classics; Integrating Function and Design; Managing the Design Process; The Work of Designers; Design-Inspired Innovation and the Design Discourse; Broadening Human Possibilities Through Design; Design -- Vision and Visualizing; Interview Questions for Designers and Design Firms; From Sketch to Product.