A Template for Ideas — The Innovation Toolkit
A simple, yet powerful model for capturing and sharing business ideas — the ‘Idea form’.
Reflecting on more than two decades of innovation work, the weakest points of innovation programs usually refer to the lack of solid innovation definitions and tools. Innovation is often perceived differently depending on the point of view and the background of the observer. In the typical corporate environment, ideas flow in as lengthy decks or documents with no standard structure and associated processing mechanisms.
Ideators often have a hard time explaining their ideas with clarity — due to lack of time, tools, or due to limited experience and lack of guidance.
The following form — the Business Idea template- empowers innovators to articulate their draft ideas quickly, in a standard format. This consistent, short summarization also simplifies the circulation of ideas within the company — sharing, discovering, and consuming ideas within and between teams. Ideas that come in this form are far easier to attract the attention of the right stakeholders and trigger meaningful business discussions.
The form consists of three major sections:
The Context: the ideator is asked to provide a title for the idea — a short sentence that reflects its essence, for instance, A connected wearable device that can measure and reports the level of noise in the user’s environment. The ‘Situation’ prompts the ideator to describe the context in which the idea provides value — for instance when users are concerned about being frequently exposed to increased noise levels.
The ‘Users’ section prompts the ideator to describe the involved users — the personas impacted by the problem being solved — for instance, field workers. The ‘Logic’ describes how the idea will solve the problem and how the users will benefit from it — e.g. by notifying the user in case of excessive exposure to an increased level of noise. The ‘Form Factors’ refers to the possible shapes the idea would take if implemented — e.g. a mobile app or a website.
The ‘Value’ section captures the ‘benefit for the user’ — it prompts the ideator to describe the value users/customers would get from the implemented idea — e.g. the field workers can better protect themselves by controlling their systematic exposure to loud noise. The ‘Benefit for the company’ asks the ideator to describe the value that the company would get from the implemented idea — e.g. monetizing a mobile app via subscriptions or as part of an ecosystem of services.
The ‘Details’ section enables the ideator to provide all the details on how the idea would work — e.g. the technicalities, the data points, the hardware required, etc.
The ‘Idea form’ is based on the Universal Model for Ideas as presented in the Innovation Mode - it sets the basis for a shared ‘innovation language’ for the company — the means of exchanging ideas in an effective way. Ideas in this format are far easier to get noticed by the right stakeholders and trigger meaningful business discussions.
Additional examples may be found in this article. Get it here: https://www.theinnovationmode.com/innovation-toolkit
