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This is the Secret to Successful Innovation

Innovation is a lofty word that can easily be heard in and about the tech industry nowadays.

But successful innovation—the type of breakthrough ideas that truly move the world forward—is hard to come by. And when successful innovation happens—think Apple, Google, and Amazon—the world remembers.

The secret to successful innovation, according to David Schonthal, Director Of Entrepreneurship at the Kellogg School Of Management, is to focus directly on the progress that consumers want to make—even when people can’t tell you what exactly that progress is. Schontal recently explained how innovators and companies can get to the heart of true consumer needs and, in turn, start to bring successful innovation to the world.

“Customers can’t always tell you what they want, but they can most certainly tell you what they are hoping to accomplish,” Schontal says. “This is much easier to do when we pay attention to functional, social, and emotional value, understand the ‘why’ behind the ‘what,’ and reduce the friction that almost always stands in the way of adoption.”

“FOCUS ON THE PAST, NOT THE FUTURE”

The first step to getting to true consumer needs, according to Shontal, is to look towards the past, rather than the future. Doing so will allow you to understand the core of what a consumer seeks.

“It’s almost impossible for someone to tell you with certainty what they will do a month from now, but they can tell you with accuracy what they did a month ago,” Shontal says. “What products and services did they purchase to make the progress they were seeking in the past? How did they make those decisions? What were their moments of struggle? What got them past their concerns? Such questions will provide key clues to the kinds of solutions needed and how to communicate their value to buyers.”

DEPTH > BREADTH

When done right, interviews can reveal the true social and emotional value that people seek. To uncover that value, Shontal says, innovators need to get to the “why” behind each person’s story and answer.

“A good researcher can learn a ton from interviewing 10-12 people for 60 minutes each,” Shontal says. “Moreover, from a group of this size actionable patterns will begin to emerge. The key is unpacking their answers to get to the underlying meaning behind them.”

“REDUCE FRICTION AND STOP ADDING FUEL”

Successful innovation, according to Shontal, happens when innovators focus more on the audience and less on the product or solution. Additionally, it’s easier to see successful innovation come to life when you focus on making your innovative product or solution accessible and familiar to the people it serves.

“As you design new offers, make sure you also think hard about how to reduce obstacles to consumers’ adopting them,” Shontal says. “These frictions are often less about your new offer than about the concerns and worries of the customer. To sharpen that point even further, when someone does not eagerly adopt our new product or service, our instinct as entrepreneurs and innovators is that we have not marketed it correctly, priced it appropriately, or included the right set of features. If we can just find the right mixture of these ‘fuels,’ we believe, people will eventually say ‘yes.’ Instead, aim to spend more time forecasting and removing the sources of functional, social, and emotional friction that might stand in the way of those you’re selling to.”

Sources: Inc., Northwestern Kellogg

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