Grounded Innovation: Strategies for Creating Digital Products

Grounded Innovation: Strategies for Creating Digital Products focuses on the innovation processes and technical properties of digital products. Drawing on case studies, the book looks at systematic ways to ground innovation in both technology and human needs, and it explores how digital products have become integrated in the real world. It provides guidelines to innovation in a new technical environment, including prototyping and testing, within the cultural or financial parameters of a business.

The book is divided into two parts. Part 1 discusses the history and the basic properties of digital products; the different approaches to innovation; the concept of grounded innovation; and concepts and processes that are important for creating successful innovations such as inquiry, invention, and prototyping. Part 2 demonstrates how the basic properties of digital products can be used as raw material for new innovations, including interaction, networking, sensing, and proactivity. There is also a discussion on recent technology, such as rapid prototyping and mobile mash-ups. A wide variety of examples show how novel technical and conceptual innovations became commercial breakthroughs.

Grounded Innovation is ideal for product designers, interaction designers, and design-oriented engineers. It will also be a valuable resource for anyone interested in understanding how digital products are created and in a general approach to information technology.

Wide variety of examples show how novel technical and conceptual innovations became commercial breakthroughsProvides guidelines to innovation in a new technical environment including prototyping and testingDiscusses how to innovate within the cultural or financial parameters of a business

Part 1: Methods

Chapter 1: Understanding Digital Artifacts

Chapter 2: Innovation: Making a change in the world

Chapter 3: Inquiry: Finding out how things are

Chapter 4: Invention: Creating something new

Chapter 5: Prototyping: Finding out if (and how) it works

Part 2: Materials

Chapter 6: Interaction: Surfaces for input and output

Chapter 7: Networking: When Things Get Connected

Chapter 8: Sensing: Being aware of the context

Chapter 9: Proactivity: Products that decide for themselves

Chapter 10: Creating Digital Products: Mashing it up and getting it out there