Amparo López Vicente1; Pedro Vera Luna1; Carolina Soriano García1, Miguel Tito Malone1; Javier Sánchez-Lacuesta 1,2; Raquel Marzo Roselló1; María Sancho Mollá1; Begoña Mateo Martínez1
1Institutode Biomecánica de Valencia
2 Grupo de Tecnología Sanitaria del IBV, CIBER de Bioingeniería, Biomateriales y Nanomedicina (CIBER-BBN)
Throughout our history spanning more than 30 years, the Instituto de Biomecánica (IBV) has promoted user involvement as an information source for developing products and services. This commitment to including users in R&D&I processes has become the methodological framework that enables active user involvement in all stages of development, assigning roles such as idea generators, co-designers and validators. In this context, this article presents the keys to IBV’s Innovation strategy.
INTRODUCTION
The strategy of people oriented innovation (Sánchez, 2010) defines innovation as “the socially useful application of knowledge under the limitations imposed by social, environmental and economic sustainability.” The ultimate aim of this strategy is for the product or service developed to provide value to the people for whom it was designed, defined by its capacity to satisfy their needs and preferences (Vera, 2010). Innovation is understood as an increase in the ratio between the perceived value of what is innovated and the price one must pay for it in economic, social and environmental terms.
According to the above paragraph, there is evidence to suggest that understanding client or user requirements is a crucial factor in the success of product development. Kaulio (1997) presents a compilation of research that demonstrates the importance of explicit knowledge of user needs.
The development of user involvement in product design has followed a reverse order. Traditional models of design processes describe the evaluation of prototypes and nearly finished products by the end user. Given the high costs involved in the manufacturing process and in making changes at this stage of development, researchers have sought methods to test concepts before they are fully engineered (Rooden, 2001).
Methodological proposals have sprung forth from different disciplines, focusing on usability (human centered design), with an emphasis on the invention of new products from co-creation (design thinking). Using social research as a basis, these proposals have developed tools for active user involvement (“user” is understood as all those people who interact with the product/service on which the innovation is centered).
These methodological proposals represent an opportunity for the public sector and for the markets, with the end goal of creating products and services that better satisfy individual and collective wishes. The latest concept developed in this area is social innovation, defined as the development and implementation of new ideas (products, services and models) to meet social needs and create new social relationships or collaborations (European Commission, 2013). Social Innovation emphasizes the relevance of strategies such as that defined by the IBV.
METHODOLOGY
The innovation strategy advocated by the Instituto de Biomecánica takes off from this fundamental premise: user involvement in innovation processes enables us to design products and services that adapt to user needs. As a result, users adhere greater value to them and these products and services will be more successful once on the market.
We call this People Oriented Innovation to highlight their active involvement and, graphically, we place them at the center.
Figure 1. Diagram — People Oriented Innovation Strategy
Innovation is presented as a process structured into different stages. In each stage, value is created in a different and complementary way. Active user involvement is present in all of them, with an aim to increase the ratio between user-perceived value and cost.
The POI strategy represents a methodology to tackle the challenges currently faced by companies and enables them to:
♦ Know what people need/want.
♦ Analyze these needs with people.
♦ Generate new ideas and/or new concepts.
♦ Create solutions.
♦ Select and prioritize alternatives.
♦ Specify design details.
♦ Validate solutions with users.
♦ Implement validated solutions.
The starting point is the identification and analysis of needs and opportunities. This is the phase with the greatest strategic content, in which people participate by explaining their needs or in which their needs are observed and analyzed while they carry out their normal activities.
The most suitable solutions to these needs are analyzed and selected using representative samples from the target market, who act as co-creators.
The solutions are then designed in detail, ensuring they are accessible, usable, efficient, comfortable and, in general, suitable for the people who will use them, in addition to guaranteeing their safety, resistance and adequacy in accordance with the applicable technical standards.
The production stage is also an opportunity for innovation. Employee involvement enables improvements to be made in products or services, but it also optimizes the workstation or work environment, which impacts productivity and employee wellbeing. Likewise, the most suitable productive technologies and processes are selected at this stage, with an aim to maximize the ratio between the value of the good or service and its price.
The supply stage encompasses the recommendation, communication and marketing of the product or service developed. This is a key moment as users and clients must perceive the value of the solution being offered. This perception is favored by having involved them in the design process and understanding their needs, the value created as a response to these needs and the language used to communicate. In many cases, opinion leaders play a fundamental role as they act as mediators between people’s needs and the solution we are proposing to them.
The last stage of the innovation process, maintenance and recovery, is centered on the solution being satisfactory for the user, in addition to being sustainable from an economic, social and environmental perspective. We seek products and services that are not only effective but also efficient, extending their useful life and recovering the materials once their life cycle has concluded.
The activity carried out not only involves people, but also engages with businesses and institutions that may act as allies, regulators, clients or suppliers — a diverse set of roles according to the stage and case in question. And all the available technology and knowledge is used to serve this purpose.
RESULTS AND SUCCESS STORIES
The people oriented innovation strategy is a result of many years of work and first-hand experience at the IBV. This section presents a brief historical survey of the principal methodological lines followed until the strategy was defined.
Figure 2. Methodological lines followed by IBV
CONCLUSIONS
People Oriented Innovation (POI) enables products and services to be developed that directly improve quality of life and that incorporate the values that enable businesses to be more competitive.
The POI Strategy considers the consumer/user to be a partner in product and service development. It provides tools to carry out systematic interventions and allows product or service development to be addressed comprehensively, from strategy definition all the way to marketing.
The activity of the IBV with regard to Business Models and Social Innovation complete the POI Strategy and position the IBV as a comprehensive consulting system provider for businesses.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This article would not have been possible without the collaboration of our clients and the trust they have placed in us throughout all these years.
