Our Foundations

Innovare’s tools and techniques are based on our extensive research on best practices in corporate creativity and innovation. The materials in this section provide information on our foundation for the research and the innovation tools and processes we use. Check back often—we’re always adding new content.

Innovare's Foundations Newsletter

News on Customer-Centered Innovation Strategies and Results
Our recent newsletter provides innovation case studies of three companies in diverse industries including health care, chemicals, and commercial digital printing and document management systems.

Flyers on Innovare Services

About Innovare - A brief overview of who we are and our services

Tricept - Our front end of innovation process

Market Drivers - Our deep dive to understand emerging drivers of your market

Vocal Insights® - Our customer needs discovery process

Tech Explorer - Our approach for linking technology development to customer needs

Innovare Greenhouse - Our team creativity and idea generation workshops

Innovare's Process Overview and Detailed Descriptions

We have prepared several PowerPoint presentations on how to approach innovation process improvement and our customer-centered innovation services.  We are available to share those with you on-line during a virtual meeting.  Please call us or send us an e-mail requesting more information.  Click here to start the process!

Research and Articles

Book Review: How Customers Think: Essential Insights in the Mind of the Market
Journal of Product Innovation Management
Beebe Nelson and Don Ross Review Gerald Zaltman's How Customers Think, and discuss its applicability to product development professionals across industries.

Research Shows Understanding Customer Needs is Critical for Effective Innovation
Beebe Nelson and Don Ross provide a summary of research indicating that top performing companies increase their innovation effectiveness through applying Voice of the Customer methods to understand contextual needs.  Further this is most effective when performed by cross-functional teams.

Product and Technology Mapping Tools for Planning and Portfolio Decision Making

Beebe Nelson recently published with Richard Albright their chapter on product and technology mapping tools in the 2005 edition of the PDMA Toolbook 2 for Product Development. 

Mapping enables innovators to visually represent their plans from high level strategic through tactical plans over the foreseeable time horizon.  It is part are the process of creating shared understanding or “mental models” through the organization which improved decision-making and innovation implementation. 

The chapter presents how to construct and use both strategic and tactical maps.  Various strategic maps presented include event maps, technology maps, product line maps, and value chain maps.  The tactical, team-based maps including experience curves, product and market architectures, and product-technology roadmaps.  When mapping is fully integrated in a company’s planning process the strtegic and tactical maps are tied together.  These provide a comprehensive picture of the market, customer, product, and technology space in which the teams execute and the company strives to be competitive.

Confused by the number of front end tools? How Kraft Foods is using three different techniques
Visions Magazine, a publication of the Product Development and Management Association
Toni Tiedemann compares the strengths and weaknesses of three front-end innovation techniques as implemented by consumer products giant Kraft Foods.

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