Passive innovation: the users' path and the role of designers
I have been working in design for several years and the word 'innovation' is commonplace. Without designers, innovation loses its strength, its shape, and its experience.
It is precisely on the concept of experience that I think it is useful to delve deeper. I have spoken with dozens of innovators since I entered this field: designers, companies, engineers. And one factor has always united them: the active search for new solutions capable of interpreting new technologies, materials, social changes and human needs.
However, the more I looked at the active protagonists of innovation, the more I realized that often the novelties are the result of hypotheses and 'prototypes' reconstructed by consumers who, once in contact with the products, interpret them according to their own beliefs, habits, and life circumstances. And this is where the concept of 'passive innovation' emerged, namely the ability of users to direct a technology through the consumption of it.
Passive innovation refers to the practice of creating new products, services, or processes without consciously trying to do so. It involves a more indirect and organic approach to innovation, where new ideas emerge from the natural flow of day-to-day operations and uses rather than from structured brainstorming sessions or research and development initiatives.
“In most people’s vocabularies, design means veneer. It’s interior decorating. It’s the fabric of the curtains of the sofa. But to me, nothing could be further from the meaning of design. Design is the fundamental soul of a human-made creation that ends up expressing itself in successive outer layers of the product or service.” – Steve Jobs, Co-founder of Apple
One of the key benefits of passive innovation is that it is often less costly and time-consuming than other forms of innovation. Since it doesn't require dedicated resources or extensive planning, passive innovation can be implemented quickly and with minimal disruption to existing operations.
Passive innovation can also be more inclusive than traditional forms of innovation. Instead of relying on a small team of experts to develop new ideas, passive innovation encourages employees and users to contribute their insights and observations. By tapping into the collective intelligence of the entire workforce and addressable market, companies can generate a broader range of ideas and perspectives that may lead to more innovative solutions.
Examples of passive innovation can be found in many different industries. In the automotive industry, for example, passive innovation might involve collecting and analyzing data on how drivers use their vehicles to identify areas for improvement. In the healthcare industry, passive innovation could involve monitoring patient outcomes to identify trends and patterns that could lead to better treatment options.
One of the challenges of passive innovation is that it can be difficult to measure its impact. Since it is often less structured than other forms of innovation, it may be harder to track the specific contributions of individuals or to quantify the financial benefits of the new ideas generated. However, companies that embrace passive innovation often report increased employee and clients engagement and satisfaction, which can lead to other benefits such as improved productivity or loyalty.
To encourage passive innovation in your organization, it is essential to create a culture that values curiosity and experimentation, and an open conversation with end users. Leaders should encourage employees to ask questions, challenge assumptions, and propose new ideas. It's also important to provide employees with the tools and resources they need to innovate, such as access to data and analytics, training on new technologies, and opportunities for cross-functional collaboration.
And it is here that I consider the role of designers crucial: their training, both academic and practical, makes them perfect mediators between the company and the final market, having a natural inclination to generate human-centered solutions.
Their listening skills ensure that from the beginning the end user is taken into consideration, understood in the way they adopt new solutions, and observed. They are given the opportunity to interact with prototypes. Last but not least, one of the aspects that most distinguishes designers is their empathy, measured both on an individual and social level. They innovate where they see margins for improvement for the end user, by definition.
Can designers do everything alone?
Of course not, a product is the synthesis of numerous skills, processes, and measures with various resources. However, a company that does not understand the importance of Design is a step behind the others, both in terms of innovation and adaptation to changes, and in terms of evolution, i.e., in understanding the human dynamics that define the success of certain products at the expense of others.
What should a company do to take advantage of passive innovation then?
Just as we talk about the circular economy, the term passive innovation actually refers to the desire to connect all actors in a logic of circular innovation.
It emphasizes the central role that users have in defining a new solution, albeit unconsciously, and the criticality of having designers in the company to better understand such insights so that they are correctly translated into prototypes and therefore products for the market with a high potential for success.