Customer-Centric Open Innovation Guided by Design Strategy

Abstract

Abstract This chapter provides a detailed analysis of outside-in open innovation during new product development. Departing from past internally-focused and siloed innovation practices, Gammasonics, a medical equipment division within Siemens, developed a customer-centric open innovation process guided by design principles. To get to the essence of customer value, the innovation team broadened the definition of “customer” to include every person who interacted with the equipment from the moment it left the loading dock. The pursuit of ambitious stretch goals required the team to center the customer in order to achieve “immersive innovation” based on five dimensions: Engaged Empathy, Vanguard Visioning, Targeted Triage, Democratized Design, and Sustained Superiority. These five dimensions analyzed in this chapter contribute both to theory and practice to improve open innovation outcomes. The team’s new innovation process resulted in a novel platform strategy where one base system served all geographic markets, countering the long-held assumption that each geographic region required its own platform. Within a year, the company had regained market share that had been eroded over the prior decade. Siemens continued to lead the market for over 15 years by implementing continuous improvements to the platform, reflecting the payoff to the innovation team’s commitment to customer-centric open innovation.