Many successful products today signify a revolution in product design that is driven by customer emotion, self-image and fantasy, not just function. In The Design of Things to Come: How Ordinary People Create Extraordinary Products (Wharton School Publishing), authors Jonathan Cagan, Craig Vogel and Peter Boatwright present a new generation of products that transform consumer lifestyles. The authors also profile a new generation of innovators, looking at how they inspire people around them and turn their visions into reality. Below is an excerpt from the book's first chapter.
Chapter One: The New Breed of Innovator
Innovation is about people. Companies focus on customer needs, wants, and desires as they design new products; after all, products are purchased by and for those who will use them. Those who design the products also are people -- ordinary people who apply their skills to develop new ideas and products. Yet certain individuals have evolved to a level of innovator who envisions, leads, and manages the complete context of a product or service. These people are the new breed of innovator, and they are the model for all of us to follow. Who are these innovators of today, how did they acquire the insight to innovate products that excite consumers, and how do they simultaneously inspire and motivate the people with whom they work? In this chapter we introduce three of these innovators in order to reveal their mentality and methods.
Pragmatic Business
At the age of 18, Dee Kapur left India and arrived in New York City on the first leg of his journey to California to attend Stanford University. His flight was late, and he missed his connecting flight; Kapur found himself stranded in the Big Apple with $200, his suitcase, his tennis racquet, and little sense of what to do. He eventually got to Stanford, and although economically poorer, he gained a new sense of confidence. With no money to his name, he found that he had to be innovative in small ways every day just to make ends meet.
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