When Nielsen analysed over 3,400 new consumer product introductions launched in the U.S. market in 2012, it found just 14 managed to generate at least $50 million in sales in their first year and sustain that momentum into their second. Out of some 17,000 new products launched since 2008, just 62 of them have had that kind of success.
According to Taddy Hall, “Breakthrough Winners don’t rely on luck or genius. The hallmark of successful innovation is that they resolve struggles or fulfil aspirations; they perform jobs in consumers’ lives.”
With that in mind, here’s my 20 suggestions on how to arrive at wonderful products.
1. Rethink what’s assumed.
2. Redefine what gets done.
3. Make something much more accessible.
4. Make it so clear.
5. Do something simpler.
6. Bridge a little gap.
7. Add joy.
8. Connect/combine.
9. Startle.
10. Lift what gets paid for.
11. Address the mundane.
12. Individualise to an unprecedented degree.
13. Rebalance.
14. Transform what’s shared.
15. Break a monopoly.
16. Protect the fragile.
17. Steal wisdom from other sectors.
18. End an outrage.
19. Introduce beauty.
20. Change what gets competed for.
