My keynote at Visma UX Seminar in Stockholm, Sweden on June 1, 2015.

1. Innovation vs. Best Practice
Eric Reiss
@elreiss
Visma UX Seminar
Stockholm, Sweden
What is it?
Why bother?
Who cares?

2. in·no·va·tion
noun
1 : the introduction of something new
2 : a new idea, method, or device

3. “Whenever you hear ‘someone
might want this…’, you know
you are about to hear a really
bad design suggestion.”
Alan Cooper

4. best prac·tice
noun
1 : best way of doing a thing
2 : a tested idea, method, or device

6. Best practices represent
short-term solutions.
Innovation builds
long-term success.

7. My goal this morning is to give you:
a better, actionable definition of innovation
a process that leads to business success
some practical do’s and don’ts

8. Three bad reasons to innovate
To make your product unique
To latch on to a fad
To show off your creativity

12. being unique ≠ innovation

17. following a fad ≠ innovation

19. Inventing a problem ≠ innovation

20. Experiment

21. Invention

22. Invention

23. Innovation
15 April 1912

27. to solve a problem!
There is only one reason to innovate…

28. Six great Swedish innovations

29. J.P. Johansson
• didn’t invent the
adjustable spanner
• Richard Clyburn did
• Johansson made it
stronger and easier
to manufacture

30. Johan Lundström
• didn’t invent the
• safety match
• Jöns Jacob Berzelius and
Gustaf Erik Pasch did
• Lundström (with his
brother, Carl Franz)
made the product
commercially viable

31. Alfred Nobel
• didn’t invent nitroglycerin
• Ascanio Sobrero did
• Nobel made it stable
and easy to transport

32. Gideon Sundback
• didn’t invent the zip
• Whitcomb Judson did
• Sundback made it work

33. Nils Bohlin
• didn’t invent the seat belt
• George Cayley did
• Bohlin made it better
through the 3-point
harness

35. Niklas Zennström (and Janus Friis)
• didn’t invent VOIP
• Alon Cohen did
• Skype made it easy and accessible
• and enabled easy screen sharing
and simple teleconferencing

36. And some not-so-great
Swedish innovations

37. Anna Haupt and Terese Alstin
Hövding

40. Hövding’s mistakes
they replaced a problem, but didn’t solve one
alternatives are not always solutions
if people won’t wear a helmet, they won’t wear a
collar
poor understanding of the true problem:
non-compliance with traffic rules not non-
compliance with Swedish laws

41. Case #2
Electrolux

43. Electrolux’s mistakes
sustainability marketing myopia
asking the wrong questions of users
will people really wash less because they
pay-per-wash? NO!
is there a prestige value in owning ones
own washing machine? YES?
failure to understand inherent consumer values
failure to align socio-economic attributes with
core consumer benefits

44. Eric’s Law of Innovation #1
If an “innovation” does not solve
a problem, it will create one.
(this is why so many “skunkworks”
fail so miserably)

45. Let’s look at mouthwash...

47. Eric’s Law of Innovation #2
Problems do not exist in isolation.
Solutions often have unintended
consequences.

48. Enfield M1853
• Technological
• Social
• Political

55. Tech Social Political

56. Eric’s Law of Innovation #3
True innovation is impossible
if you haven’t done the research
or do not understand the research.

57. Gus the cat

60. People
Processes
Technologies

61. User Centered Design
Users
Innovate >

62. User Driven Design
Users
Innovate >
Inspiration: Christian Rohrer

63. Eric’s Law of Innovation #4
Invention may be accidental.
Innovation is always planned.

64. Eric’s Law of Innovation #5
Innovators understand the rules.
(this is the difference between
innovation and idiocy)

66. Eric’s Law of Innovation #6
Intuitive solutions do not
need instructions.

71. Intuition Instruction
Website Driving a car
Low High
Barrier to entry

72. Incremental Distruptive
Type of innovation

73. R
“My problem is greater than the
effort needed to learn the system”
OIeturn n nvestment

75. Best practice is not the same as
tradition or habit.

76. Highland Park High School Math Club - 1969

77. Invention
Innovation Lifecycle
Innovation
Best practice
Habit
Innovation
Best practice
Fashion
Old-fashioned
Time
Progress

86. What are the warning signs of
fad and fashion?

87. Watch out if...
Your solution is only being used in your
local market
Your solution is only being used by a single
branch or industry
Your solution looks like something you also
did last week

88. Do we have a digital revolution?
Do we have disruptive innovation?
Do we need to start from scratch?

89. No! We apply old skills in new ways

90. Eric’s Law of Innovation #7
Innovation almost always
represents the combination of
two well-known technologies to
create a new, useful synthesis.

92. Technology Benefit

93. My goal this morning is to give you:
a better, actionable definition of innovation
“Innovation is a planned activity that addresses a latent
or acknowledged problem, often combining two or
more well-established technologies.”
a process that leads to business success
Do your research
Identify real problems
Think about how your solution will affect
technological, social, and political issues
some practical do’s and don’ts
Don’t invent problems
Don’t succumb to designer ego

94. “It’s amazing how much we can
accomplish when you don’t care
who gets the credit.”
Harry S. Truman

95. You can (usually) find Eric at:
The FatDUX Group ApS
Strandøre 15
DK-2100 Copenhagen
Denmark
Office: (+45) 39 29 67 77
Mobil: (+45) 20 12 88 44
Twitter: @elreiss
er@fatdux.com
www.fatdux.com