intentions

the second intention of this text is to provide a framework for innovation. My bold claim is that the principles in this book could be used to re-invent EVERY new product that is created over the next decade (2002-2012).

To mis-quote Bob Dylan, “the designs they are a changin”.
In a business world of instantaneous communication, global competition and evaporating product life cycles, the key to serving your customers lies in the design of your products.
Perhaps the most powerful example in recent years has been Apple Computer and the iMac computer. In the year prior to the release of the iMac, Apple Computer was sliding out of business. Their share of the personal computer market had slid to 4%. Less than two years after the release of the iMac, their market share was approaching 10%.
Apple had reinvented the personal computer. They killed the beige look, they killed the box look and they breathed new life into the design of computers - and their company.
This is what this text is all about: Re-inventing your products to create a significant competitive advantage for your business AND for your customers.
As Rosebeth Moss Kanter, former editor of Harvard Business Review suggests, ‘the secret of innovation lies in the temporary monopoly it gives you and this means you can charge more for it.’
The principles offered here are intended as a conceptual design framework. These are the broad stroke principles that can be brainstormed to re-design your existing products and to create entirely new products and product categories. The actual ‘how you do the specific designing’ is a topic for another occasion. This text is intended to start you thinking about what is possible!

Important Note
The term product is usually loosely to refer to any manufactured item or service that is offered to the general public for consumption.