Application of the UX-FFE Model for Optimizing the Performance of the Upstream Innovation Process

The ability to successfully conduct radical innovation is mandatory for mature industrial companies that want to remain competitive on the global market. This ability relies on several ingredients, namely: (1) the structuring of the innovation process; (2) managerial principles; (3) methodological tools; (4) the presence of a culture of innovation. This paper reports about the impact of applying the UX-FFE model, which brings together the systemic innovation process with the social, economical and methodological aspects, on the outcomes of the innovation process. Firstly, the findings unveil a different quality of the social context between a group of co-creators addressing an incremental innovation and one-another targeting a radical innovation. Secondly, it appears that the operational performance of the upstream innovation process relies on the quality of the social context, intrinsic to the group of co-creators, corresponding to the reported perceived experience. Thirdly, the UX-FFE model application, as a consequence, allows optimizing the upstream innovation process performance. Indeed, we argue that the evaluation of the co-creators perceived experience brings new opportunities to optimize the operational performance of the upstream innovation process.

[1]  Joakim Wincent,et al.  Beyond Managing Uncertainty: Insights From Studying Equivocality in the Fuzzy Front End of Product and Process Innovation Projects , 2011, IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management.

[2]  S. Markham.  The Impact of Front‐End Innovation Activities on Product Performance , 2013 .

[3]  Mark P. Rice,et al.  Opportunity Recognition and Breakthrough Innovation in Large Established Firms , 2001 .

[4]  Simon Richir,et al.  Une vision multidimensionnelle des typologies d'innovation pour identifier et concevoir une démarche d'innovation , 2016 .

[5]  Jeffrey Davidson,et al.  Providing Clarity and A Common Language to the “Fuzzy Front End” , 2001 .

[6]  J. D. de Winter.  Using the Student ’ s t-test with extremely small sample sizes , 2013 .

[7]  Rosanna Garcia,et al.  A critical look at technological innovation typology and innovativeness terminology: a literature review , 2002 .

[8]  M. Pallot,et al.  A holistic model of user experience for living lab experiential design , 2012, 2012 18th International ICE Conference on Engineering, Technology and Innovation.

[9]  David Wilemon,et al.  Focusing the Fuzzy Front-End in New Product Development , 2002 .

[10]  John Nicholas,et al.  An investigation into the practices and underlying factors during the fuzzy front end of radical innovation , 2014 .

[11]  Jakki J. Mohr,et al.  Radical Product Innovation Capability: Literature Review, Synthesis, and Illustrative Research Propositions , 2014 .

[12]  Ahmet H. Kirca,et al.  Firm Innovativeness and Its Performance Outcomes: A Meta-Analytic Review and Theoretical Integration , 2012 .

[13]  James M. Utterback,et al.  Mastering the Dynamics of Innovation: How Companies Can Seize Opportunities in the Face of Technological Change , 1994 .

[14]  R. P. J. Rajapathirana,et al.  Relationship between innovation capability, innovation type, and firm performance , 2017 .

[15]  Susan E. Reid,et al.  The Fuzzy Front‐End of Discontinuous Innovation: Insights for Research and Management , 2012 .

[16]  P. Ahmed.  Culture and climate for innovation , 1998 .

[17]  Marc Pallot,et al.  Towards a reliable and valid mixed methods instrument in user eXperience studies , 2017, 2017 International Conference on Engineering, Technology and Innovation (ICE/ITMC).

[18]  Robert G. Cooper,et al.  Winning at new products : accelerating the process from idea to launch , 2001 .

[19]  P. Koen,et al.  1 Fuzzy Front End : Effective Methods , Tools , and Techniques , 2002 .

[20]  Birgit Verworn,et al.  The Fuzzy Front End of Japanese New Product Development Projects: Impact on Success and Differences between Incremental and Radical Projects , 2007 .

[21]  Qingyu Zhang,et al.  The fuzzy front end and success of new product development: a causal model , 2001 .

[22]  Susan E. Reid,et al.  The Fuzzy Front End of New Product Development for Discontinuous Innovations: A Theoretical Model , 2004 .

[23]  M. Magnusson,et al.  Where Do Good Innovation Ideas Come From? Exploring the Influence of Network Connectivity on Innovation Idea Quality , 2009 .

[24]  A. Rolstadås,et al.  The Innovation Process , 2012 .

[25]  Denis Cavallucci.  La TRIZ, une théorie de l'invention en support des activités de R et D : outils et mise en œuvre par l'exemple , 2012, Management et ingénierie de l'innovation.

[26]  Clayton M. Christensen.  The Innovator's Dilemma , 1997 .

[27]  Marc Pallot,et al.  UX-FFE model: An experimentation of a new innovation process dedicated to a mature industrial company , 2017, International Conference on Engineering, Technology and Innovation.

[28]  Robert G. Cooper,et al.  Perspective: The Stage‐Gate® Idea‐to‐Launch Process—Update, What's New, and NexGen Systems* , 2008 .

[29]  John Bessant,et al.  Developing an organisation culture to facilitate radical innovation , 2008, Int. J. Technol. Manag..

[30]  S. Sambrook,et al.  Towards a multidisciplinary definition of innovation , 2009 .

[31]  Adrien Lecossier,et al.  Modèle UX-FFE : Expérimentation de la phase de validation d'un nouveau processus d'innovation dédié à une entreprise industrielle mature , 2017 .

[32]  M. Porter.  Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance , 1985 .