The role of Design in Product Innovation: Evidence from a Phenomenological Study

Innovation and Creativity issues are at the top of the European agenda and this offers design activity several opportunities to strengthen its role as an engine for innovation processes. But, at the same time, Innovation and Creativity are transversal to numerous other disciplines, from management to social sciences: this poses a serious threat to design since its role in product innovation is not easy to demonstrate. At Politecnico di Milano, from January 2006 until January 2008, was conducted a research project called “New conceptual models and new tools for the design driven innovation in the global economy”: in this project took part the three disciplinary key areas related to the New Product Development process (Marketing, Engineer and Design), represented by Indaco (Industrial Design, Art and COmunication) Department, to which the author belongs, and Mechanical Engineer Department, both of Politecnico di Milano, and the Business School of Bocconi University. The first step of the research project aimed at answering the following question: how is it possible to explain in concrete terms the contribution of design to product innovation? In order to do it, we decided to use a phenomenological approach, meaning to observe product innovation as a phenomenon with the aim of reaching a deeper understanding of it. It has that way emerged that a design-driven innovation process can have three possible levers (form, mode of use and technology) and four possible results (aesthetical, of use, typological and meaning innovation). In this paper, levers and results will be defined in detail, trying to emphasize both the peculiarity of each one and the relationships among them.