I though I would tantalise you a little by setting you a small logic puzzle in my blog. This puzzle is aimed at all the engineers and scientists out there but I guess anyone who prides themselves on some clear logical thought processes should be in with a shout too. Anyway here goes…

“You have a house with a room illuminated by a single light bulb. The light bulb can be turned on and off at any one of three light switches, independent of the positions of the other two switches. What is the electrical circuit diagram for the switches and light bulb?”

I hope that’s clear enough. It’s pretty simple to work out really, once you key into the right thinking tools. I’ll let this one run for a couple of weeks and see how you get on. If you like it, I’ve got more where this came from. If you don’t like it, we’ll brush it under the carpet and forget it ever happened.

I came across Realsight in an online forum and thought they had a very interesting and potentially powerful new way to identify innovation ideas in the Front End of Innovation.

 

Realsight uses a patent-pending technology system and a process they call quantitative anthropology to generate new ways to grow brands from everyday consumer behavior. They provide consumers cameras to film their own behavior while talking to them through online “blog” diaries about product decisions they have made over 3-4 weeks of “behavioral monitoring.” Then Realsight uses analytical tools to discover common product experiences from the thousands of observations of product usage events they capture. So, not only do they have a more complete consumer view than interview-based approaches (which, while useful in themselves, can miss 90%+ of behavior), they quantify opportunities during the Front End of Innovation. Many of the product experiences they uncover are hidden deep within the everyday routines we all have to manage our lives, ones we can’t recall since we’re usually on “auto-pilot” trying to get through each day. These are the experiences that are difficult to uncover with existing Front End approaches, but valuable for companies as they happen almost every day!

 

Looks to be a good way to help take the “fuzzy” out of the Front End of Innovation.