A New Departure in Innovation Design:

Abstract

In this paper, the future direction of innovation and creative thinking are discussed. First, we distinguish “quantitative innovation”, which emphasizes convenience for consumers and efficiency for society, from “qualitative innovation”, which brings about changes in lifestyle and culture. In modern society, it is necessary to shift from quantitative to qualitative innovation. Second, innovation design is defined as the act of bridging science and technology with society through products. This definition suggests the following three possible starting points for design: first, “needs-led” design begins with recognition of societal changes; second, “seeds-led” design begins with discovery or development in science and technology; and third, “product concept-led” design begins with generation of a product idea aimed at bridging needs and seeds. One-hundred cases of postwar Japanese innovations were mapped onto a two-dimensional plane with the type of innovation and starting point of design as the two axes. As a result, many qualitative innovations were classified as “product concept-led” design. We also discuss creative thinking that contributes to qualitative innovation, and we conclude that creative thinking using synthesis, concept blending, a combination of product and situation, and a metaphor based on synthetic, creative thinking is effective for creation of qualitative innovation.

Keywords

• “product concept-led” design
• qualitative innovation
• creative thinking
• synthesis