Innovation battlefield

Hi, I'm Claire, an innovation consultant with Board of Innovation. And today we're going to talk about the Innovation Battlefield. Now, this is a great tool because it actually helps us take a concept that we've really talked about and kind of refined a bit, but then actually make it more tangible. So it helps us understand what are the key features, the core features of, of this, that really make it what it is and that will help us be the bridge to actually testing out what our assumptions are in the next step. So in order to start off this tool, we actually have a brainstorm. So we work with our group and we work individually at first to think about all of the different features that our concept has. So if you have a vision card, it would be a good time to bring that out and actually look at your vision card because oftentimes you'll have already listed some features on there. First, let's lay out what our features are. So we had said we wanted to create this app for millennials that helps them reach their wellness goals while also saving money. So as part of our app, we have the following. We have a monthly limit that actually is on unhealthy purchases. And our app is, of course, it's branded nice and green because it's wellness and it works offline, which is lovely. And we can also challenge our friends to some fitness goals, which is pretty nice because I can always compete with those in my circle. There's also a dashboard showing results and savings for our wellness goals. And of course it's an app, so it's mobile. First, we have another feature of random cash back on wellness purchases, so a bit of gamification there. And we have extra security beyond the normal security to protect your wellness and health data. So it's another gate of security. Now we have all of our lovely features here, but we need to have a bit of a prioritization exercise. And that's where the battlefield comes in. So you'll notice that it's a matrix and on the Y axis you have the pleasure level. So how much pleasure does this feature bring? And of course, for us here, we're doing a health and wellness app. So of course there may be some short term pain, but the end goal is actually this savings and wellness. So we're optimizing for longer term pleasure here on the X axis. Down here we have indispensability. So how much will this feature actually be missed if it's taken away? So if it's going to be extremely missed, we put it over here in expected essentials and if it's not really that missed, we put it in the I don't care at the bottom left. Now, when we're thinking about features and about new innovations, we're really aiming for the top two. So unexpected awesomeness is when people really love it. It brings a lot of joy and delight and it's maybe not something essential, but it's just really, really nice and really delights our user. The harder, better, faster, stronger is really the core feature that both brings a lot of pleasure and you really can't live without it. So that's really a nice quadrant to also land in as well. But we'll have features in all of the quadrants, so it's okay and actually expected that you have features in all four of the quadrants. All right, let's start mapping it out. So to start us off, we're going to. We're looking at things that maybe are not as pleasurable, but also actually, it's okay if it's not there. It's not really part of the core value add. So I would say for us, it would really be, for instance, the wellness branding. The branding is not something that we really care to test and it's not really core to our app. Say we were to brand it in a sleek and trendy way, it could still do all the things that we wanted it to do if it had the rest of the features. So we're not really going to prioritize it. So it goes in the I don't care. Also works offline, I would say goes in the I don't care. Of course, it's a little bit more indispensable, but still not really core to the value proposition. Next, let's look at actually some of the expected essentials. So the fact that it's a mobile first app is really, really expected because today, in today's world, everyone is on mobile. So that one would go there. We would also have perhaps a dashboard is pretty indispensable, showing our results and savings on wellness goals. And I would say this actually creeps up into a bit of the harder, better, faster, stronger category as well. So you'll notice you can cross over into different categories. They don't have to fall neatly into one or another. Let's see, challenge your friends to fitness goals. That's pretty nice. I would say that goes into the pretty indispensable and pleasurable area. It's quite nice because it's actually a way for us to bring in our social element and maybe isn't something that's existed before creating monthly limit on unhealthy purchases like beer and pizza. So it may seem interesting that this goes in the pleasure level, but remember, this is more for the long term. Interesting features of this app that help you get to your goals. So actually this might be something that really falls in between Unexpected Awesomeness and harder, better, faster, stronger. That's quite a nice new feature. We also have in the Unexpected Awesomeness random cash backs on our wellness purchases because it's something that maybe isn't quite expected, but when it happens, it's awesome. It feels like you're winning the lottery. So for us we would put this in this corner up in the top left. Now you'll notice that I haven't plotted this blue post it yet. Can you guess where it goes? So this one extra security to protect wellness and health data. This one actually goes down here and yes, it can go outside the quadrant so it hurts. Take it away. So this actually is something that maybe might be necessary but is really, really frustrating for a user. And we often see that some features end up going through this cycle of starting in unexpected awesomeness, going through harder, better, faster, stronger, going down to expected, then people don't care and then actually it actually is something we don't want at all. So maybe extra security could have been something that maybe years ago people would be interested in, but today maybe people feel a little bit more open sharing it with their social circles, for example. And in fact that might be something that's another gate to that stops them from logging into the app. So we see that certain things may end up in this graveyard down here and we have to innovate to actually move forward and get rid of them. So anyway, at this point you have your entire Innovation Battlefield and you know where to focus on. So as you think about creating your next steps and actually going into testing, look into your unexpected awesomeness and your harder, better, faster, stronger to really understand the core value that your features bring. And that will really help you as you springboard yourself into the execution and creation part of the process. All right, that's the Innovation Battlefield. Enjoy your battles. I'm Claire and thank you for watching boardofinnovation.com Tools is where you can find this battlefield as well as a bunch of other tools that will help you in your innovation process. So check it out.