Doug Engelbart didn't "invent" the mouse -- he "discovered" it. Identifying patterns of design and innovation that are common to various contexts and applying them within a product category -- or even across product categories -- is a cognitive strategy that enjoys an advantage over handling each creative opportunity as new and unrelated to past ideation. We'll introduce the concept of systematic innovation and identify the various genres of systematic techniques. We'll explore the history and the potential advantages / disadvantages of systematic approaches to innovation and we'll compare the theory to our practical experiences. We'll review a recent case study of a rather remarkable disruption in the user experience domain that resulted from systematic techniques.

1. Anatomy of Disruption
© 2015 Virtual Coast Associates, Inc.
Systematic Innovation and Product Development
David Quimby
dhquimby@virtualcoast.com
11/7/2015
1“Anatomy of Disruption”

2. What is Systematic Innovation?
© 2015 Virtual Coast Associates, Inc. 2“Anatomy of Disruption”
Doug Engelbart didn't "invent" the mouse –
he "discovered" it.
A. The actual invention of the mouse was the result of analyzing
the various characteristics of other pointing / input devices.
Much as the Periodic Table of the Elements has characteristics
that define groups along rows and columns, we laid out a grid of
existing devices. And just as the periodic table’s rules have led to
the discovery of certain previously unknown elements, this grid
ultimately defined the desirable characteristics of a device that
didn’t exist. That device was the mouse.
Q. How did you happen to invent the mouse? Did you simply
wake up one day and say, “today I shall invent the mouse”?

3. © 2015 Virtual Coast Associates, Inc. 3“Anatomy of Disruption”
What is Systematic Innovation?

4. © 2015 Virtual Coast Associates, Inc. 4“Anatomy of Disruption”
What is Systematic Innovation?

5. What is Systematic Innovation?
© 2015 Virtual Coast Associates, Inc. 5“Anatomy of Disruption”
Identifying patterns of design and innovation that are
common to various contexts
And applying them within a product category…
Or even across product categories…
Is a cognitive strategy that enjoys an advantage over
handling each creative opportunity as new and
unrelated to past ideation

6. What is Systematic Innovation?
© 2015 Virtual Coast Associates, Inc. 6“Anatomy of Disruption”
low quantity high quantity
systematic
random

7. © 2015 Virtual Coast Associates, Inc. 7“Anatomy of Disruption”
1975: quantifying creativity = a large flow of ideas
increase in flow  increase in quality
2015: quantifying creativity = original ideas
original ideas result from organized thinking and structured processes vs.
random generation
organized thinking  “low stimuli”, unencumbered by a large flow of ideas
Quantity vs. Quality
The Creativity Debate

8. Quantity vs. Quality
© 2015 Virtual Coast Associates, Inc. 8“Anatomy of Disruption”
low quantity high quantity
ordinary
original 2015
1975

9. A Palette of Systematic Techniques
© 2015 Virtual Coast Associates, Inc. 9“Anatomy of Disruption”
TRIZ
Genrich Altshuller
Systematic
Inventive Thinking
(SIT)
Ginadi Filkovsky
Morphological
Analysis
Fritz Zwicky
The
Adjacent Possible
Stuart Kauffman
Lateral Thinking
Edward De Bono
Design Patterns
Christopher Alexander
Idealized Design /
Interactive
Planning
Russell Ackoff
Integrative
Thinking
Graham Douglas /
Roger Martin
A Core Theory of
Technology
Rias Van Wyk
Integral Theory /
A Theory of
Everything
Ken Wilber

10. A Palette of Systematic Techniques
© 2015 Virtual Coast Associates, Inc. 10“Anatomy of Disruption”
A pattern of patterns?
Is there a pattern among various "systematic" / structured innovation techniques...
Can we explore the various perspectives...
Identify commonalities / intersections...
Discern a pattern in the pattern-recognition / pattern-generation approaches?

11. A Palette of Systematic Techniques
© 2015 Virtual Coast Associates, Inc. 11“Anatomy of Disruption”
A pattern of patterns?
Is there a pattern among various "systematic" / structured innovation techniques...
Can we explore the various perspectives...
Identify commonalities / intersections...
Discern a pattern in the pattern-recognition / pattern-generation approaches?

12. A Case Study in the User Experience Domain
“UX Ubiquity”
© 2015 Virtual Coast Associates, Inc. 12“Anatomy of Disruption”
relatively
large
relatively
long
relatively
infrequent fixed
smaller shorter
more
frequent
fixed
smaller shorter
more
frequent
fixed
smaller shorter
more
frequent
variable
interaction
area
interaction
interval
interaction
frequency
interaction
proximity
laptop
computer
tablet
computer
smart
phone
smart
watch