The iPod is a harbinger of a revolution in product design: innovation that targets customer emotion, self-image, and fantasy, not just product function. Read the hidden stories behind BodyMedia's SenseWear body monitor, Herman Miller's Mirra Chair, Swiffer's mops, OXO's potato peelers, Adidas' intelligent shoes, the new Ford F-150 pickup truck, and many other winning innovations. Meet the innovators, learning how they inspire and motivate their people, as they shepherd their visions through corporate bureaucracy to profitable reality.  The authors deconstruct the entire process of design innovation, showing how it really works, and how today's smartest companies are innovating more effectively than ever before.

Amazon.com® Reader Reviews (Ranked by Helpfulness)

Average Amazon.com® Rating:  Based on 19 Ratings

In Praise of Multidisciplinary Innovation Teams and Leaders - 2006-02-28
Reviewer Rating:
If you're wondering what that object is on this book's cover, wonder no more. It's a walking toaster of course! Surely you want one.

That robot is a walking irony for this book's theme: Apply pragmatism to innovation. The alternative is innovation that amuses but doesn't sell.

I first heard the mantra of multidisciplinary teams for new product development in 1976 from Perdue's Mike Pessemier based on his pioneering research. I was surprised to see these authors argue so strenuously for the same thing. It seems like some lessons have to be relearned before they stick.

Of more novel significance are other aspects of this book:

1. The assertion that the next arena for intense competition that makes a difference will be in design rather than quality, production and delivery;

2. Seeing fantasy desires as being worthwhile needs to satisfy for even the most mundane, non-consumer goods;

3. Recognizing that multidisciplinary teams will work best if led by people who have multidisciplinary backgrounds, experiences and interests; and

4. Factor of 10 perspectives to help those involved see the bigger . . . and small pictures of who else is involved with a new product or service.

All the best books about new product development emphasize process, communication, understanding and adding new perspectives. The Design of Things to Come is a winner, too, in those departments.

Like all good books about product development, this one has lots of entertaining stories about interesting new offerings and how they were developed. Most of the examples were new to me or contained details I hadn't heard or read about before.

Many books that argue for more of a design perspective in new products tend to be somewhat unconvincing. They frequently sound like a pitch from those who sell such services. The Design of Things to Come follows that theme, but the book's arguments and examples are more credible than other pro-design product development books I've read.

It's Worthy - 2006-08-03
Reviewer Rating:
A plethora of points and specific examples are examined in "The Design of Things to Come," by Craig M. Vogel, Jonathan Cagan, and Peter Boatwright. Each chapter has several sub-chapters that describe a variety of different concepts and case studies pertaining to innovation, marketing, branding, and invention. Some of the sub-chapters are: The New Breed of Innovator: Global Brand and Industrial Design, Apple: Trend Reader, Powers of 10, The Redesign of the (Ford) F-150, and PayPal.

Chapters:

1. The New Breed of Innovator
2. Pragmatic Innovation - The New Mandate
3. the Art and Science of Business
4. Identifying Today's Trends for Tomorrow's Innovations
5. Design for Desire - The New Product Prescription
6. The Power of Stakeholders - People Fueling Innovation
7. B-to-B Innovation - The New Frontier of Fantasy
8. Making Decisions for Profit - Success Emerging from Chaos
9. A Process for Product Innovation
10 Creating a Blanket of IP to Protect Your Brand from the Elements
11 To Hire Consultants or Build Internally - That is the Question

Epilogue: The Powers of Innovation - The New Economy of Opportunity

One sub-chapter is called "The Fantasy Economy." This title has meaning; it says a lot. One quote from page 92: "The increase in global consumption has driven the pursuit of desire, or fantasy to achieve everyone's pursuit of happiness." I witness this, and this fantasy is directly related (as the authors note) to the acquiring of consumer products. Fantasy, may be what it is.

Another statement is: "The end of communism and the overthrow of dictators around the world has increased the potential of the individual to achieve a life where liberty is a basic right" (Vogel, 92). This is true in some countries in Eastern Europe but for other parts of the world, this is simply not true. Market economies do not necessarily coincide with individual freedom, civil and political liberties, legal protection, and the freedom of speech. I'd like to know what specific nations and regions of the world these authors are referring to.

The authors also comment on the "Dummy" series books. ('This and that' for Dummies.) There are over 2,519 entries on a major website vendor selling "Dummy" books. But I don't agree with the book's claim that those who buy and read the Dummy-series books just want prescribed step-by-step information, and want to learn and do without any risk or thought, as the authors claim. These books are superior to many other "info." and "how-to-do" books because of their succinctness and organization. The authors go on to claim that those who read the Dummy series book carry out task without the need to think, hence the name "Dummy" in the title. This series of books is merely a foundation of which a person can build upon in one's own informational pyramid.

Over-all there is a lot of relevant and current concepts and case studies in "The Design of Things to Come." It's worth the read.

Don't waste your time - there are far better innovation books - 2009-04-28
Reviewer Rating:
I'm at a loss to understand a high rating for this book. I found this to be a shallow effort - a book that touches on a variety of themes regarding innovation, but fails to offer a systematic approach or provide any new insights.

The subtitle, "How ordinary people create extraordinary products," implies the authors will offer some useful analysis of the innovation process. Instead, the book is a pastiche of anecdotes and cliches that offer little guidance to anyone who's actually trying to foster their own (or their company's) ability to innovate.

For example, the book opens with a story about Dee Kapur, who arrives from India as a college student with $200 in his pocket and eventually leads the rejuvenation of Ford's F-150 pickup truck. But from what little the authors tell us, bringing innovation to a Ford mainstay was a simple - Kapur and a few enlightened colleagues saw an old roadster with nice leather interior, and suddently the F-150 King Ranch Edition was born. Nothing is said about how the team validated their design choices, approached design/engineering tradeoffs, or how Kapur managed the inevitable resistance to change within a large bureaucracy.

Of the book's 230 pages, a slim 17-page chapter addresses "A Process for Product Innovation." In this section the authors cite a real-life case study about developing a new product for the exercise market. But their simplistic review of the case is typical of the entire book. Consider the statement: "After discussing the merits and features of more than 50 concepts, the team worked on the idea of a smart insole, one that would track and record exercise throughout the day." Okay, but how and why? What was the process for generating new product concepts? Why did they think consumers would particularly like this one? Was any customer research done? Was there any debate about which product idea to select? Did they find quick and cost-effective ways to prototype the idea for feasibility? These are the kinds of questions that the book consistently fails to answer.

I could list a host of other shortcomings, but I've probably made my point. It's simply not worth wasting time on this book when there are far better options out there.

If you want to understand the importance of innovation, and the systematic challenges it presents to businesses, I'd recommend any of Clayton Christiansen's books ("The Innovator's Dilemma: The Revolutionary Book that Will Change the Way You Do Business (Collins Business Essentials)," etc.) To learn how innovation is really done, you'd be far better off to invest the time in reading books by actual practioners. A few of my favorites are "The Art of Innovation: Lessons in Creativity from IDEO, America's Leading Design Firm" by Tom Kelley (of design powerhouse IDEO), "Subject To Change: Creating Great Products & Services for an Uncertain World: Adaptive Path on Design" by Merholz et al, and "Sketching User Experiences: Getting the Design Right and the Right Design (Interactive Technologies)" by Bill Buxton.

How trends are fostered - 2006-04-13
Reviewer Rating:
Many successful products represent a revolution in product design which is driven by customer need and self-image, and there's a new generation of inventors out there who are using this inspiration and vision to create new products. THE DESIGN OF THINGS TO COME: HOW ORDINARY PEOPLE CREATE EXTRAORDINARY PRODUCTS charts their efforts, discussing trends, innovations, fantasy designs, and more. Particular products are featured throughout along with case history examples of their inventors' unique routes. An intriguing, inspiring survey examines the roots of trend-setting products.

It Takes More Than a Good Idea...a Helpful Guide Toward Innovations That Enthrall - 2006-02-18
Reviewer Rating:
Yesterday I bought a conically-shaped plastic measuring cup called the Perfect Beaker. I like the concept behind the shape because its aesthetically pleasing design combines the function of a standard measuring cup with a tablespoon and fluid ounce measurement all in one container. Silly, I was thinking to myself, but the product actually reflects the tenets of this insightful book by three academics - Craig M. Vogel from the University of Cincinnati and Jonathan Cagan and Peter Boatwright from Carnegie Mellon. Separately, they are each experts in design, engineering, and marketing, and together they propose an integrated approach to design that combines everything from chaos theory to fantasy fulfillment. Their concept is deceptively simple but like all good ideas, complex to execute, which is why the book is helpful beyond the examples of innovation provided here.

According to the co-authors, each successfully innovative product exhibits a discernible value which fulfills wishes and meets expectations of fantasy. Users of such products see the value as a way to augment their lifestyles. Toward that objective, companies should take seven considerations into account when innovating - emotion, ergonomics, aesthetics, identity, impact, core technology and quality. While the categories may sound like marketing-speak, they resonate clearly when seen as parts of the whole equation. More specifically, the trio asks the innovator what fantasy do people expect from use of the product (emotion), how easy and intuitive is the product to use (ergonomics), how sensory is the product for a user (aesthetics), how compatible is the product to the established brand (identity), how will the consuming public will accept the product and influence each other to buy the product (impact), how does the product function for best performance (core technology) and how long the product will last beyond the initial purchase (quality). Consequently, innovation is a synthesis of these seven considerations and not simply a good idea, as there is a network of decisions that depends on others to fulfill toward a successful product.

Given the number of like innovations in various stages of development, the trio provides helpful guidance on the different kinds of patents available to innovators. Some product designs can be subject to personal interpretation. Design patents have been developed to protect the effort to create aesthetic innovation by protecting the form of an article of manufacture, i.e., a violation occurs if another design looks like the one drawn in a figure that is patented. For products in an even more nebulous state, there is a trade dress, which provides trademark protection for the look of a product or service that associates the product with the manufacturer. In either case, design patent or trade dress, as long as one can use it, one can maintain it. Finally, there is a provisional patent, which gives a company a year of protection at a reasonable cost before it needs to invest in the more expensive full patent. These nuances help motivate what could be a long gestation period before a product is ready to launch.

Seeing what is not obvious to others is what it takes to succeed to innovate. While this is not exactly a ground-breaking conclusion, the co-authors offer a strong stepwise tome to ensure the journey toward fruition is a thoughtful one. As another fine book from the Wharton School, "Making Innovation Work: How to Manage It, Measure It, and Profit from It" states with compelling evidence, the future of competition is innovation and creativity. By refining products with insights into what consumers want, companies will gain a market edge in the new millennium. The Perfect Beaker is a good example of this trend, as it conveys a sense of delight to me, which is the core of pragmatic innovation.

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