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The traditional methodology for inventing, designing, and selling a new product is dead. \u00a0There is something to be learned from the silicon-valley inspired crowdsourcing put on by sites like kickstarter or indiegogo. \u00a0\u00a0Essentially what is happening here is people are selling products before they are even built.<\/span><\/p>\n Traditionally, you dream up a new widget which solves a problem. \u00a0\u00a0It might be a stronger and lighter cladding or a new labor-saving metal stud which installs in less time. \u00a0\u00a0Regardless of what it is, the next step is to sketch it, design it, manufacture it, test it and then ultimately market and sell it. \u00a0\u00a0It is not until you have spent a fortune in time and money that you find out if it will be a success or a failure.<\/span><\/p>\n The online-tech world has a different way now, a leaner and smarter way. \u00a0You design the product, focusing not on how it will actually work, but on the problem it will solve and what it will mean to the customer. \u00a0\u00a0You make a great video, throw it up on kickstarter and if the idea resonates with people, they will put money in up-front to get your widget. \u00a0\u00a0If enough people do this, you meet your goal and you now have the money to actually make the thing.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n [convertkit]<\/span><\/p>\n What if you took your latest and greatest idea and created a video which used photorealistic 3d animation to demonstrate what the product is, how it works and why someone should use it in a 3 minute video? That is exactly what a few forward-thinking bpm\u2019s have been doing for years. <\/span><\/p>\n You then pass that video up and down your organization, or to an industry partner or investor. \u00a0If everyone agrees on the potential of the widget, you then use the video to put the idea in front of your potential customers and then gauge their interest. \u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n If they show a high enough level of interest, then you go ahead and manufacture the widget without the risk of it being a complete failure in the market.<\/span><\/p>\n An unintended consequence of this methodology has often been the refinement of the product design at a far earlier stage. \u00a0Typically, when someone hands me a new product design, I will make my 3d model of it, but I will also model it in-context so we can show how it is installed, where it is installed and why. \u00a0\u00a0In that process, if there is an inherent design flaw in the product, we will find it far before the thing is mass produced, or even before it exists in the physical world at all. \u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n For example, when you watch this video below, think about how this could have been created long before this product was ever actually manufactured (it wasn’t – \u00a0but I thought it would make for good food for thought). \u00a0\u00a0Consider the possible implications of that in the way your organization invents new products.<\/span>The Old-School Way of Inventing New Products<\/h4>\n
The Modern Way of Inventing New Products<\/h4>\n
I\u2019m not suggesting that building products should be created this way, but maybe there is a lesson to be learned here. \u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/h4>\n
Have a Virtual Version of Your Invention Made First<\/span><\/h4>\n
You Will Improve Your Invention Before Building It<\/h4>\n
For Example<\/h4>\n
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