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Mastering Technologies in Design-Driven PDF
Mastering Technologies in Design-Driven PDF
DESIGN-DRIVEN INNOVATION
How two Italian companies made design a central part of their innovation process.
OVERVIEW: Only a few companies have mastered technology as an enabler of new product meanings for
the design-driven approach to innovation. This paper the customer, and the importance of supply networks that
examines what it means to make design a central part allow manufacturers to change product technologies
of the business process, able to add value to products quickly and experiment with new technologies.
and create new markets. More specifically, it focuses
on the interplay between the functional and semantic KEY CONCEPTS: innovation management, product
dimensions of a product. Case studies of two leading aesthetics, Kartell, Luceplan.
Italian companies in the furniture industry—Kartell and Design is increasingly viewed as an important strategic
Luceplan—illustrate two principal interpretations of the resource. Nevertheless, only a handful of companies
role of technology in radical design-driven innovation: have truly mastered the design-driven approach to
Claudio Dell’Era is a research assistant in the Depart- program offered jointly by the MIP School of Manage-
ment of Management, Economics and Industrial Engi- ment and the Poli.Design School of the Politecnico di
neering of the Politecnico di Milano (Italy), where he Milano, and holds a Ph.D. from the Department of Man-
is also a contract professor of innovation management agement, Economics and Industrial Engineering at the
and a lecturer in design and project management. He Politecnico di Milano. alessio.marchesi@polimi.it
is also co-director of MaDe In Lab, the laboratory for
education in management of design and innovation of Roberto Verganti is professor of management of innova-
the Politecnico di Milano’s School of Management. He tion in the Department of Management, Economics and
has published in the Journal of Product Innovation Man- Industrial Engineering at the Politecnico di Milano,
agement, Long Range Planning, R&D Management, where he is also scientific director of the MaDe In Lab,
the European Journal of Innovation Management, and the laboratory of Management of Design and Innovation
other international journals. His paper investigating the of the School of Management of Politecnico di Milano.
development of new services in turbulent environments He is also a visiting professor of design management
won the award for best paper at the EIASM (European at the Copenhagen Business School, and a member of
Institute for Advanced Studies in Management) Interna- the Board of the EIASM (the European Institute for Ad-
tional Product Development Management Conference vanced Studies in Management), of the Editorial Board
in 2004. He received his Ph.D. in management, econom- of the Journal of Product Innovation Management and
ics and industrial engineering from the Politecnico di of the Advisory Council of the Design Management
Milano. claudio.dellera@polimi.it Institute. He has published seven books and over 100
papers, including 45 papers in such international jour-
Alessio Marchesi is a contract professor at the Politec- nals as the Journal of Product Innovation Management,
nico di Milano and LUISS Guido Carli University for Management Science and the Harvard Business Re-
Design and Innovation Management. He is also a part- view. He was awarded the “Compasso d’Oro” in 2001
ner in Acrobatik, a strategic design consulting studio in (Italy’s most prestigious design award) for the Italian
Trieste, Italy, and is on the staff of the MaDe In Lab of Design System research project, for which he served
the Politecnico di Milano. For the last five years he has on the Scientific Organising Committee. His most
managed several EU research projects related to inno- recent book is Design-Driven Innovation (Harvard
vation and management, and is currently doing research Business Press, 2009). He has a master of science
on design management and strategic design. He grad- degree in electronics engineering from the Politecnico
uated with honors from the master in strategic design di Milano. roberto.verganti@polimi.it
March—April 2010 13
Figure 1.—Market-pull, technology-push and design-push are three approaches that
allow introducing different degrees of radical innovation (5).
products, is another good example of design-driven independent of user interpretation; they allow product
innovation. Its use of specific design languages such as innovation and refer to an intrinsic characteristic of the
daring colors and transparent plastic made it possible to product. In contrast, results in this model focus on the
convey particular product meanings such as irony and a interaction between the product and the user.
sense of childhood (7). At the same time they don’t im-
prove performance in comparison to competing products. Finally, the effectiveness classification benchmarks
the type of interaction in terms of the performance
Market drivers become relevant for incremental inno- characteristics or the meanings that the product holds for
vation, where incremental adaptations of product meanings its user. In other words, this third classification measures
are determined by the continuous and natural evolution of the effectiveness of the product’s functional and semantic
explicit cultural models adopted by customers. However, dimensions. The three approaches to innovation
market factors lose importance in radical innovation, previously introduced (market-pull, technology-push
where innovations originate from new cultural scenarios. and design-push) focus on specific dimensions and
In the technology-push approach the availability of new levels as shown in Figure 2.
technical opportunities is the key driver in the innovation
process. The more the technology represents a means of The Zurlo model has two different dimensions: a product
generating a change in meaning, the more the technology- can be innovated upon by acting alternatively or jointly
push approach to innovation can be considered design- on the functional and semantic dimensions. If one
push. splits the functional dimension according to the three
interpretative levels previously mentioned, it is possible
Zurlo et al. proposed another model that helps to to identify technology, function and performance. From
understand the design-push approach. In this model this point of view, the innovation can be implemented
the relationship between product and customer can be by developing new technologies that, incorporated in
analyzed at three levels: tools, results and effectiveness the product, allow one to access new functionalities and
(8). Tools refer to the product’s intrinsic characteristics, improve performances as perceived by the customer.
which are its building blocks from a functional and
semantic perspective. A peculiarity of this classifica- If, instead, we look at the semantic dimension, we see
tion is that the tools are considered to be completely that it allows the company to innovate by creating new
messages and proposing new meanings in relation to the From a managerial point of view, the framework
socio-cultural models that govern the context in which proposed in Figure 2 suggests we combine research
the product will be introduced. Of course, as illustrated activities about product technologies with socio-cultural
in Figure 2, there is a strong interaction between these analysis and lifestyle scanning. Both the industrial design
two dimensions on all three interpretive levels. This and academic worlds have understood the importance
characteristic of the model underlines the reciprocal of the semantic/design dimension in the development
influences that each dimension has; for example, a of successful new products (9). In fact, some scholars
product language is typically not defined solely in go so far as to state that design is “making sense of
semantic terms but is often influenced by technological things” (10). The semantic dimension is able to modify
opportunities and user desires. the meanings embedded in products in order to allow
March—April 2010 15
them to evolve with society. Acting on the semantic reinterpreted to the point where it assumed the rank of a
dimension of a product, a company can create new “noble” material.
languages and propose new meanings in relation to the
socio-cultural models that govern the context in which After a few experiments in the automobile accessory
the products will be introduced. Consequently, several field, Kartell entered the furniture industry promising
practical models and tools developed by design theorists revolutionary home products made of plastic. Gradually,
can support the innovation of product semantics. the core of the business moved toward processing
plastic products and also conducting frontier research.
Research Objectives and Methodology The historical “heart” of the company is in its R&D
department, which strongly distinguishes Kartell from its
As mentioned earlier, this paper focuses on technologies competitors. Plastics were no longer restricted to rounded
adopted by two leading Italian design-driven companies forms but corners and grooves were implemented; they
for breakthrough innovations in the furniture industry, became opaque and acquired a particular touch, and the
with the purpose of highlighting the interplay between colors were customized product by product.
technology and design. The companies are Kartell, which
produces furniture like chairs and tables, and Luceplan, As the technology advanced, the technological frontier
which is a lighting company. became wider and the product focus shifted from “hard”
to “soft.” Today, Kartell is the undisputed market leader in
We believe the case study methodology is well-suited to plastic household production, with a worldwide presence.
the exploratory nature of this research because it allows Its ability to manage its image, its distribution skills, and
us to not only explore the phenomenon in its complexity the way it markets and sells products are critical factors
but also to discover those variables that we deem critical for Kartell, but they are not as important as its traditional
to understanding the problem better. Consequently, the ability to work in plastic. New product development is
case studies are exploratory, retrospective and multi- managed in collaboration with mold manufacturers and
faceted, and have been replicated (11). chemical companies that help to define the materials and
molds that will be used in production.
Each case study was developed using a brief question-
naire and two in-depth interviews. The questionnaire Generally, Kartell prefers to use outside companies
allowed us to collect general data on topics such as that are located nearby, as strong cooperation between
turnover, employees, history, organization, and awards. company managers and suppliers has always been
The interviews were planned around a protocol that per- necessary.The collaboration is primarily based on
mitted tracking the decision-making process involved long-standing relationships and rarely formalized with
in the development of a new product, specifically the specific contracts.
concept-generation phase (the trigger for the innova-
Bookworm, a bookcase designed by Ron Arad in 1994,
tion, the initial idea, sources of stimuli, key actors)
is an excellent example of the Kartell approach to
and the development phase (eventual concept changes,
innovation (13). Arad created a sculpture that could serve
implementation, technical problems, key actors).
as a wall, the idea being to exploit the stable flexibility
The first interview was conducted with company man- of tempered steel to form a series of shelves on a single
agement and the second with a critical external partici- continuous thread. Although Bookworm was initially
pant in the new product development process (e.g., a designed for professional offices, Arad’s “sculpture”
designer, an engineering studio) identified in collaboration was destined to become much more than a simple work
with the management during the first interview. The of art available to a limited number of people.
content analysis was developed with each author coding The meeting between Arad and the Italian design world
the principal phases of the innovation process (12). and, above all, its entrepreneurial approach, transformed
Finally, a preliminary report about each case study was a piece of art into a piece of furniture. In the early 1990s,
shared with interviewees to obtain final approval. In Giulio Castelli became honorary president and entrusted
order to increase the robustness of the interpretations, a the company to Claudio Luti, founder of Versace. Luti
few different interpretations by the three authors were led Kartell to collaborate with Arad in the development
verified with the interviewees by phone. of Bookworm. The implementation of the original
concept required the R&D department to find a flexible,
Empirical Results–Kartell sinuous, elastic, colored, but also sturdy and resilient
Kartell was founded in 1949 by Giulio Castelli, a chemical material. As Castelli recalled later:
engineer and student of Giulio Natta (winner of the 1963 Making Bookworm was very complex because the blend, the mixture
Nobel prize for chemistry). Castelli’s technological of polymers, had never been produced by anyone before. Firstly, we
competence and innate creativity allowed Kartell to give went to the large chemical companies like Bayer to see how they
furniture products a new sense of modernity through the produced the materials in order to understand their characteristics
use of plastic materials. The adoption of plastic was and then use them in furniture production (14).
March—April 2010 17
Figure 3.—Bookworm bookcase, designed by Ron Arad for Kartell in 1994, gives the customer great
freedom of expression by allowing him or her a say in the final shape of the product.
Figure 4.—Titania lamp, designed by Alberto Meda and Paolo Rizzato for Luceplan, is characterized by
an innovative ellipsoid diffuser.
In order to differentiate themselves from other firms, As an editor, the manufacturer is not simply someone
as well as to develop a recognizable brand, design- who provides “paper and bookshops” (manufacturing
driven companies have to define a clear “editorial and distribution capability) to any “author” (designer);
line.” The relationship between manufacturers and he has to be coherent in the context of its own editorial
designers can be likened to the relationship between line (vision and brand). Every concept that complies
editors and authors in the publishing industry. Design- with the editorial line builds upon previous concepts,
driven companies behave like the editors of books. They and together, they sustain that editorial line; they are the
choose the author(s) and maintain durable relationships incremental building blocks of a brand. Kartell studied
with them. Each project is a natural consequence of this the applications of plastic materials in several industries
relationship. The role of the “manufacturer/editor” is parallel to furniture in order to collect new ideas to
to frame and orient the relationship with the “designer/ introduce to the market. Bookworm can be considered a
author.” The manufacturer/editor manages the coherence milestone in Kartell history, able to enrich an image of a
of the “editorial line,” taking care of the portfolios of leader in the development of furniture products made of
the designers/authors, meeting with them on a regular artificial materials and characterized by new and more
basis and stimulating specific interventions, as well as expressive colors and surfaces.
considering their spontaneous proposals.
Supply Network for Technology Rotation
The manufacturer/editor provides different concrete
and Experimentation
solutions in order to free the creativity of the designer/
author from as many constraints as possible. Concept Both case studies illustrate informal relationships with
freedom is a critical factor in attracting the most talented continuous dialogue between companies and designers.
March—April 2010 19
Rather than an individual spark of creativity, the value
of each designer’s contribution is hardly identifiable if
not seen within the context of the knowledge sourced
Design-driven
from the entire array of external collaborators (20).
And vice-versa, knowledge developed through the companies behave
collaboration with a specific designer can be exploited
in several projects (and eventually developed with other
designers).
like book editors,
In other words, any single collaboration benefits from
externalities generated by other collaborations. During the
choosing authors
development process, this dialogue involves other actors
such as technical offices and engineering studios and yields and maintaining
innovative product languages and new product meanings.
Luceplan designer Alberto Meda explains the importance
of the local supply network in the following words:
durable
I believe that it is fundamental, for a person who decides to do
this type of job, to work in Milan. Here there is a dense network of
relationships with
artisans, competencies, situations—a kind of “dispersed creativity”
that is not possible to find in any other place (21). them.
Collaboration with a supply network of varied technical
capabilities is one of the key factors in the success of
design-driven companies. As previously mentioned, Usually, theories of the management of innovation assume
it provides different technological solutions that free that design becomes relevant in the mature stages of
the creativity of designers from as many constraints industries (if ever). However, recent evidence shows that
as possible. Consequently, companies need to access the radical innovation of product meanings is a key factor
the appropriate technology in relation to the concept in the beginning stages of an industry’s development,
proposed by each designer. In order to attract the most when technology is still fluid. The case studies of Kartell
valuable designers and new talents, companies cannot and Luceplan underscore different interpretations of
focus only on a few technologies, but need to enlarge the role of technology in radical innovations of product
their technology portfolios. Said Ron Arad: meanings. By acting only on the semantic dimension,
it is possible to introduce incremental design-driven
I believe that Italy, or more specifically Northern Italy, is still the innovations (see Figure 5), while companies that interpret
centre of the design world, and I must say that it is not just because technology as an enabler of new product meanings mix
of the design that comes from Italy, but, above all, it is because of the research activities related to new technologies and studies
manufacturing culture; there is no other place in the world where
about emerging lifestyles and societal values in order to
you can find such a vast array of craftsmen and manufacturers for all
intents and purposes who know the value of design ... (22).
introduce radical design-driven innovations.
The introduction of radical innovations in product More specifically, these companies combine the iden-
meanings requires a lot of experimentation and, as tification of innovative meanings with research on new
materials, surface treatments, engineering processes,
previously mentioned, these experiments can involve
etc., that can be embedded into new products. Like
external technologies. Consequently, design-driven
technological research, design research involves the
companies need a supply network that is particularly
exploration of new languages embedded in artifacts;
flexible and willing to experiment. Rizzato recalls:
consequently it implies playing with new technologies
... Titania was born also thanks to experimentation with chemical and new materials (see Figure 6) (24).
photo-carving. This process is known by several companies, However,
if we were in Germany, where there are large companies that use The interplay between functional and semantic dimen-
this principle, there wouldn’t have been anyone who would have sions strengthens competitive advantage. Design-driven
stopped the production process to conduct an investigation for us. In companies interpret technologies as tools for expressing a
Milano there is a large local industry with very great technological clear and defined editorial line, differentiating themselves
capabilities and great opportunity to do experiments ... (23). from other firms and developing recognizable brands.
Introducing different concepts that are not aligned with
an editorial line can send weak, confused messages
Conclusions
to the market, which eventually hurts the company’s
Design is more and more viewed as an important strategic image. If any designer can work with any company, then
resource that is able to generate competitive advantage. what makes a difference to competitors is not simply the
designer (who could bring the company’s ideas, designs collaborations and partnerships with external suppliers
and knowledge to its competitors), but the manufacturer- that manage different technologies.
designer combination, in which the firm brings its own
contribution in term of vision, which in turn protects and Design-driven companies transfer applications across
differentiates it from its competitors. industries rather than introduce new-to-the-world
technologies. Research and Development departments
Firms that provide the most intriguing knowledge and aim to discover existing technologies adopted in other
technological opportunities attract the most talented industries rather than to invent new ones. Considering
designers. To do that, a firm must carry out its own that the introduction of radical innovations of product
research on meanings and languages. Rather than meanings requires many outsourced experiments, a
investing in a few core technologies, design-driven supply network that supports experimentation with
companies need to investigate different technologies new technologies is particularly important. The project
in order to propose new interpretations of product resources involved in the innovation process have to be
languages. Consequently, they need to form a number of allocated so as to favor creativity and the possibility of
March—April 2010 21
Figure 6.—Radical design-driven innovations can be introduced by combining
the identification of innovative meanings embedded in new products with
research on new materials, surface treatments and engineering processes.
exploration and recombination. It isn’t possible for a The case studies show that further research aimed at
design firm to possess or internally develop all of the enriching the empirical results would be justified. These
competencies necessary to innovate; rather, the project studies could determine whether the results can be general-
resources have to be obtained from outside. ized to other industries and geographical contexts. In the
next phase of our research, we intend to verify the results
The analysis of companies that operate in the furniture identified in the current paper, estimating more precisely
industry, an industry where collaboration practices with all the variables that influence the role of technologies in
external partners (especially designers) are usually radical innovations in product meanings.
considered as a benchmark, can also provide useful insights
for those companies that are moving their innovation
Acknowledgments
strategy from a closed approach to an open one in line
with the general trend toward business ecosystems and The authors acknowledge all the practitioners who col-
the adoption of a connect-and-develop paradigm (25). laborated with them during the data-gathering process.
March—April 2010 23