How do you design R&D to meet research users' needs?

For the development of any new product, it is very important to understand your customer portfolio. There needs to be a synergy between R&D and customers even before designing a product. R&D plays a crucial role in addressing the pain points of the customers. Including customer feedback at early stages of development, will also help to design the most robust and innovative product that can satisfy customer needs. The customers can also profit by understanding the risks involved in the proof of concept phase and may provide more insights about their expectations. Meeting all the expectations can be definitely challenging for R&D, so it is very important that a risk assessment on the design of the product should be done at the initial stage.

Knowing your customers and consumers is very important. R&D is all about creating solutions for the unmet needs of end users. The needs are not static, as the consumers evolve, the needs also evolve. So it is very important to keep a track of the changing needs of the consumers. The advent of Data analytics and real time insights have revolutionised this. These information would help in innovating the right product to serve the right end user.

In thе rеalm of smart citiеs, standout R&D projects havе еffеctivеly tacklеd urban challеngеs by еngaging with communitiеs to understand their problems and needs so that the findings provide innovativе solutions. From optimizing urban mobility with advanced tеchnologiеs to implеmеnting community-drivеn sustainability programs, thеsе initiativеs prioritizе collaboration for impactful outcomes. Activеly involvе citizеns in shaping sustainablе, inclusivе, and rеsiliеnt urban еnvironmеnts and understanding their communities' challenges key to successful R&D projects

You could also take it one (or several) step(s) further and involve them in the process. They might figure out that what they wish for is not what they really need, they will correct their expectations, inform you about it and you deliver something that meets market expectations and is more likely to be accepted. If you do it well, you end up with decent relationship no matter what happens with the R&D outcomes.

Consumers unmet needs should be met by the Innovator and it is necessary to make it affordable. This could be accomplished by involving them in an ideation process or by doing a H&A study etc.,

Involving the customers/users during the development of a product helps to earn the trust of your target users as it fosters inclusion and diversity. Active participation from target users can also help R&D to counter-measure any issues faced during development as it provides a fresh perspective. Allowing customers to test prototypes can also help R&D to evaluate the product in a more critical way so that it is more easily acceptable in the market.

Co-creation is also a possibility. Often co-creation is restricted to idea generation and then converting this idea to a technical language leading to a project. Often consumers aren’t aware Of the creation process, but one can take them along and educate them through the creative journey.

Innovation thrives on user ownership, and ownership is born by participation. It is important to extensively create an all-inclusive stakeholder map that ensures that we fulfill the "leave no one behind" principle in designing our innovative solutions. Empowering everyone involved with a voice to control to the solution makes it a solution for all.

You must ensure that adherence to all the legal procedures pertaining to your respective organization/process is followed and maintained in order to avoid any complications. The most effective way is to have a contract signed by all parties involved with the necessary clause in the presence of legal stakeholders.

Third step is to prevent exposure to process risk, monopoly, treat them as subjects with getting their informed consent etc and use them as lab rats.

On this step legal departments are very important shareholders. Attorneys definitely must be a part of R&D process in the name of protecting users.

Play by the book. The "do no harm" principle must be our guide in relating with humans. People are not objects, and do have rights. All research endeavors must protect, promote and advocate for these rights.

Learning from consumers is an important step. One is through H & A, but one can also observe consumer usage of a particular invention through ESTT. We can understand whether the new product does or doesn’t change their conventional usuage pattern and it it does, the inventors can tweak it before launch.

In research and development, every feedback counts. Aside collecting feedback data, we must also create a learning culture that automate these feedbacks and give people the freedom of expression they'll need to speak up.

After involving and learning from users, R&D process needs users one more time to try the very first version of the product. Users should experience the MVP (minimum viable product) and R&D team should get more insights to reach the ultimate product.

I think that in the field of R&D, the development team should possess a high level of expertise and maturity in the domain. To me, this ensures a balanced approach to adapting between user desires and the results obtained from R&D experiments. I encountered situations where clients themselves are unsure of their exact requirements, or the project is challenging which can result in significant time-consuming iterations during "the adaptation" process.

As an R&D expert, don't forget that if users don't like your product, you must NOT convince them. You need to turn to start point and define the problem in a better way. Yes you are the expert AND user, but if majority of your personas don't like the solution that means you need to think in a different perspective.

In all of these, do not badmouth any existing, traditional or even ineffective products your users may already be used to. Strive to acknowledge the work of others, and pitch your solution against a clear problem statement, and not a "label"