Posted by Dave Lundahl on June 30, 2011
I am a big fan of baseball. This is the season (spring / summer) where baseball is top of mind for many. It has led me to consider how winning at baseball is analogous to how to improve new product innovation. Success comes from thinking behaviorally in how you approach innovation. Traditional innovation thinking uses a push-to-market strategy where products are developed and then marketed on the basis of filling identified feature “white space” within target product categories. Behavior-driven innovation transforms the innovation strategy from a “push” to “pull” strategy with a focus on delivering product experiences that consumers seek. This transformation in thinking starts with research at the front-end of innovation that provides insight into how habits are or can be disrupted through innovative growth platforms. This leads to product success by focusing innovation and product development on the first of four basic consumer behaviors – seeking behavior. What follows is a new approach to innovation that successively moves consumers from seeking to selecting, sharing and ultimatly sensing -the behavior assocaited with the formation of new habits.
The change in behavior that consumers must go through is analogous to progressing around the four bases of the baseball diamond (see Figure on the right). The application of emotions research methods and techniques within the disruption phase provides a roadmap to move consumers to first base. Take the example of Swiffer® Sweeper.
P&G targeted two different use contexts: the sweeping job-to-be-done and the mopping job-to-be-done. This value-add created enough intrigue to disrupt consumers’ habitual behavior and send them seeking a new kind of cleaning experience that Swiffer® promised to fulfill.
To get consumers to second base, behaviors must shift from seeking alternatives to selecting a new product for trial. This is accomplished through emotions research within the anticipation emotions phase (i.e., concept design) that helps the innovation team build concepts that fit with the experience consumers seek. In the case of Swiffer®, P&G looked to reduce the sensory feeling of disgust that consumers felt when handling traditional mops. They achieved this by intriguing consumers with a promise of a sleek cleaning product (replacing your mop and broom) that reduced the “yuck factor” (i.e. disgust) and delivered sensory appeal.
This required a shift in thinking about how to design product concepts through the use of cues built into concepts that trigger anticipation emotions. As P&G VP Claudia Kotchka was quoted saying, “Functionality is not enough. We want to identify consumer desires, rather than needs. What gives you the ‘wow’” (Berner 20051).
To move consumers to third base, selecting behaviors must shift from trial to repeat use. This is accomplished through the design of products that deliver against the promise of the concept – the emotionally intriguing anticipated experience. Swiffer® accomplished this by delivering new feels towards the new “hybrid mop-broom” product. The product elicited not just satisfaction but also enjoyment from the experience of using the product. The promise that Swiffer® made to its customers was not only delivered, it provided a high experience of emotional impact by building cues into the packaging and packaged goods. The bright translucent colors were similar to those of Apple computers. They focused on making the product elegant for display, rather than hiding it away. This resulted in high experience impact, which led to desired repetition of the experience.
Getting consumers to home base requires the reinforcement of experience emotional impact and the establishment of associated environmental cues that signal and motivate habitual use of products. In the Swiffer® case study, interactive design was used. An image of a surfer telling the story of the Swiffer® experience provided “design language” that consumers understood. They gave the product an ergonomic shape to better fit hands and round hooks at the end for easy hanging on the wall. The aesthetic qualities of the product no longer required people to hide it away. There was no shame in hanging it on the wall where others might see. This was accomplished through a designed gold standard for the experience developed into a commercial product that consistently delivers the same experience.
By achieving high desire to repeat the Swiffer® experience, the herding nature of consumers naturally drove more sharing behavior. People felt a need to share their positive experience with their friends, family, and on their blogs. As more consumers become disrupted and seek to be influenced by trusted peers, products naturally drive more trial.
To learn more on how to achieve disruptive behavior – download White Paper 120 – By Dave Lundahl, PhD, Achieving Disruptive Product Design – Using a Behavior-Driven Innovation Approach.
1Robert Berner 2005. P&G quest for “wow” design. Business Week Aug. 1, 2005 – Special Report – Get Creative / Online Extra, http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_31/b3945423.htm