You need to find the best product innovation research tools for your projects. What's the first step?

The most widely accepted definition for product innovation is creating and introducing something new to the market. It could be anything, including new products and services, processes, and incremental improvements to existing products.

The golden rule...."Know Thy Consumer". Time for a needs-based and tribal oriented consumer segmentation! The absolute essential first step in innovation.

1st step of innovation research tools from my experience is start with your powers: attitude and mind. Then focus your creativity onto a "proof of concept". I call this process "Creative Puzzle Building". It breaks down a challenge into the critical few pieces to do a "good enough" experiment to learn if the product idea is realistic. Example: a new tire cleaning formula, a spray bottle, and a piece of rubber tire. If the new formula looks better than previous formula, the innovation earns a "next step". You don't need to test every tire, every formula, every trigger sprayer. None of the 3 puzzle pieces needs to be fully developed but the experiment tells you idea feasibility and reveals "deal breakers" like "new formula clogs nozzle".

The first step is to clearly define the problem you're aiming to solve. Once you have a precise problem statement, you can then research the “tool” (both internally and externally) that aligns with your strategic goals for product innovation.

Tools being considered for use should first be shown to facilitate the different activities that need to be done to prove up: 1) Technical Feasibility 2) Market Feasibility 3) Ecosystem Feasibility If the tool is not able to directly show how it will do so within the parameters defined by the firm's innovation process either the tool itself is not suitable or the innovation process currently in use needs to be updated.

Needs Assessment: Identify the primary research needs, such as market analysis, customer feedback, or technological trends, to guide the search for specific tools. Market Options Review: Research and compare various available product innovation research tools, considering features, user-friendliness, and user reviews to assess their suitability for project needs. Pilot Testing: Conduct pilot tests with the selected key options, experimenting with the tools in scenarios representative of the projects, to evaluate their practical effectiveness before full implementation.

Quality (interviews) - to acquire insights. Quantity (surveys) - to validate the hypotheses. Integrating qualitative insights with quantitative validation is a well-regarded approach in market research. This method combines the depth and nuance of qualitative data from interviews to form hypotheses, with the breadth and statistical significance of quantitative data to test these hypotheses. This holistic approach ensures a more comprehensive understanding of the target audience, enhancing the reliability of research findings and decision-making processes.

A research method booster is to think out the box and "not choose" but, rather, synergize conventional and unconventional methods! Case: take a focus group involving market researchers to discuss unmet needs to improve a current product. This does help companies design product innovation roadmaps. However, group moderator can add folks like scientists and inventors, and synergize creative thinking with focus interviews. So? Multiple new hypotheses can be tested and get "data" beyond basic improvement needs e.g. ask "what if product was more convenient and had a new ergonomic shape? How would that drive purchasing habits?" Doing this enriches innovation portfolio by adding disruptive projects to the incremental innovation projects.

One thing to remember- it's not necessarily just one method that may be necessary to get all of the feedback you need. It can involve multiple methods to be able to make better decisions. You may want some surveys of specific groups of people and then based on that feedback, put some specific pages through user testing.

It isn't just about the demographics, the pyscographic aspects that come about from understanding customer emotions and their values, goals, lifestyle choices etc make all the difference.

I like to start by researching reputable online platforms for technology reviews and comparisons, paying particular attention to customer feedback. I look for products offering free trials to gain hands-on experience, and schedule demos with tool providers to ask detailed questions. Additionally, tap into my professional network for referrals, seeking insights from colleagues or industry peers who have firsthand experience with similar tools. This multi-pronged strategy, combining research, customer reviews, hands-on trials, demos, and referrals, will equip you with a well-rounded perspective to make an informed decision tailored to your project requirements.

Innovation is a team sport . . . designing/implementing and sustaining an innovation process is also a team sport . . . Michael Phillips may be the world's greatest R&D leader and he and his group have been selected to own the firms innovation process . . now I am not picking on R&D leaders but in the making of such experts I suspect less time might have been involved ensuring over the course of their career that they became experts in marketing research or ecosystem player analysis or financial modeling or or or . . . so make sure when you are looking at potential new tools you involve the experts in your company to help assess those tools people with their skill set might use in the future. . in this case no Bo does not know everything!

While evaluating tools, prioritize those that support your way of working. If you're an agile team, the flexibility of the tool will enable rapid iterations: choose tools that facilitate quick changes and adaptations in your research approach, aligning with the agile principle of rapid iteration - don't dump the whole research project if something creeps up, maximize your research project. What else to look for: - Customizability and Scalability: Ensure the tools can be customized to meet your specific project needs and are scalable to accommodate future growth or changes in research scope. - Integration: Assess how well the tools integrate with your existing systems & workflows = cut the manual work in half.

Needs Mapping: Identify specific research demands such as market analysis, customer feedback, or competitive analysis to guide the selection of the most appropriate tools. Options Research: Explore different product innovation research tools in the market, analyzing features, integration, and user reviews to select those that best meet the project's needs. Pilot Testing: Conduct initial tests with the chosen tools, evaluating their usability and effectiveness in real project scenarios before full implementation.

I like to create a spreadsheet with my requirements (needs, objectives, desired outcomes) and keep notes about each tool as I evaluate it. I also really start evaluating customer support, responsiveness of the tool provider, and how the features stack up against each other. Some features may emerge as really important and you may find that others are less important than you thought. Just like in any research, keep an open mind and be ready to pivot or consider things in a different way. In the end, though, be sure that the tool fits your ways of working and that you're not having to create or bend your processes to accommodate the tool.

Use some early stage sales forecasting tools. Fourt Woodlock is a great one. Assuming that this is a ‘for sale’ product of service- find out early if the numbers will support moving forward. You will not have exact numbers, but you can use Fermi Estimates at early stages, and the numbers will get more exact as you learn and move forward. If the Fermi estimates do not support the sales dollars needed for a successful launch, you may consider killing the project quickly. Do the Math early and often.

Goal Definition: Clearly establish the objectives of product innovation research, such as identifying trends, understanding customer needs, or exploring new technologies, to guide the search for specific tools. Needs Assessment: Identify specific research areas, such as market analysis, design thinking, or customer feedback, to determine crucial functionalities in research tools. Market Research: Initiate a market research process to identify and compare product innovation research tools, considering criteria such as features, costs, and user reviews to select those most suitable for your goals and needs.

In the initial stages when I need to gather audience insight I use qualitative research. For example, in-depth interviews with 3-10 representatives of the target group. After finding insights and a set of hypotheses, I use quantitative tests to test the hypotheses.

Don’t be afraid to look to your network and external events. Consider attending webinars, innovation focused events and pay close attention to questions being asked. Many times understanding new opportunity on the horizon is observing the world around you and translating that evolution into a new future for your own offering. Questions asked may become your early indicators for types of research you want to focus on for deeper understanding of possible opportunities.

- Define your project goals and research needs. - Identify key criteria such as collaboration features, data accuracy, and user-friendly interfaces. - Consider the scope, scale, and specific requirements of your projects.

Be open to change! During the research and ideation process, you may realize that your user may need/want something different than you initially thought! This can be where the magic happens, and you truly realize what the customer wants and why they want it. And it may take something very different from what the team thinks.

I’d add three additional things: 1. Cross-Industry Innovation and Cross-Pollination: Exploring the intersections between different industries, such as software and hardware, can unveil unique values and create disruptive products 2. Behavioral Science Integration: Understanding the social and emotional underpinnings behind purchasing decisions can elevate products from simply meeting needs to predicting and influencing user behavior to create products of the future 3. Data and AI for Market Analytics: Utilizing AI to process vast amounts of data can expose emerging needs, predict market trends, and uncover untapped opportunities.

Tools don't make or break your project. People do. The quality of ux researchers you have is far more important than any tool you can use