Innovation is lacking from most of today's product designs. With the outsourcing of labor to developing nations over the past few years, much of what was “original” in design has disappeared, replaced by rehashing old ideas or even worse, copying other firm's designs. This is a trend that will undoubtedly continue as there is profit to be made at undercutting a successful product's market. Case and point is Apple's iPod, and the numerous “knock-offs” that have emerged to take a slice of the pie. Obviously, imitation is the best kind of flattery, and it shows that Apple designed a good product.
However synonymous the iPod is with success of mp3 players, it was not the first. Others were available before it, but the original iPod was different in that it was truly innovative in the overall engineering of the product. A successful product must be innovative, not only visually, but functionally as well. This does not necessarily mean that the design has to be completely original, but it has to be set apart from existing designs and products that are out on the market. This is why successful products, those which others try to imitate, need to be innovative on multiple levels besides the simple look and feel. This separates true innovation from a product that simply looks “cool.”
When I speak of innovation I focus, not only on the look or functionality of a product, but also the internal design that is unknown to the user. This includes the electronics, the mechanics, as well as the overall visual appeal of the product. “Form follows function,” initially applied to architecture by Louis Sullivan, the same can be said for product development. The “function” is accomplished by mating the right technology and engineering to the design, or “form” of a product. Being on top of new technologies, emerging technologies, and fostering growth in technological innovation for existing products is key to developing a successful product. The difficulty to a successful design is to get all these components to work together, that is the secret to being truly innovative. In order for everything to work in harmony, there must exist a close interaction between the persons designing the visual appeal of a product and those responsible for the engineering, to work as a team. Once this is achieved, the limits of cutting edge engineering and conceptual product design can be pushed, resulting in true innovation. It is this synergy of design and engineering resources which separates a great product development firm from the rest.