What defines true innovation

Over the course of my career, I have often pondered upon this question as I had been busy with churning out new design ideas for projects. In the haphazard rat race chasing after the dreams of building new products, are we often lost in the trajectory while deviating from the ultimate outcome of true innovation?

Image by vecstock on Freepik

‍

A meaningful solution to a high impact problem or users' innate wants is the source of innovation

it's wasted work if the product does not truly address the users' needs and wants

In view of the digital solutions in today's digital market, it's interesting to discover the correlation between disruptive innovation and adoption over the years.

‍

Questions to truly consider

Why was the UX trend widely adopted in the industry?
Why was this disruptive innovation widely adopted?
What spark the disruptive innovation?
What is the unique value proposition of the top features of each top tech company and why were these developed?

‍

It takes foresight and genuine users' understanding to innovate impactful solutions

Good designers create compelling eye-catching solution while great designers create ground-breaking bar-raiser innovations.

Interesting considerations include Tesla wide adoption of 1st principle thinking
Remove ingrained cognitive bias towards solution don't be satisfied with status quo
Deep dive into the granularity of finite users' interactions with systems
Adopt a system thinking mindset
Always consider the context of use
Keep an eye on latest trend developments and examine the root of development
Consider how we could bridge silo-ed workflow and system gaps

‍

Taking some case studies as a learning example

All credits of the Youtube videos given to the respective companies. This was added as a reference eg for this reflection post.

Samsung S24 Ultra "A literal translation of a picture speaks a 1000 words"

Tapping on users' needs and cumbersome experience of articulating the details required for optimised search.

Apple's dynamic island "Re-inventing a hardware flaw to a creative interaction"

Creating a desirability want for users to maintain a status quo of unique ownership and differentiation from previous iPhone users.

Figma "Innovating a tool that incorporates the unique nature of UX work and collaborations with cross-functional teams"

Before the disruptive entrance of Figma to the design software market, design tools capabilities were silo-ed rather than integrated in a powerful tool. Learning curve was also taken into considerations with introductory adoption video to guide users to onboard the software.

‍

Ideas fly if it's package with a power pack punch storytelling!

Do not merely be a presenter, empower yourself to be a storyteller

Innovation ideas get elevated as designers master the art of storytelling to sell a compelling vision to the audience. To continually inspire change and adoption of new ideas, as UX designers we need to create a narrative driving positive change within our organisation and industry.

Hook the audience with an intriguing problem
Set the context to create understanding
Weave in memorable characters to the storytelling
Include data and evidence to prove the impact of solution
Show rather than tell "Create a visual journey :D"
Recap the main goal and create a strong close-off

These are just some some genesis of ideas, I believe as we grow more in our career there will be more which we could share and contribute back to the UX community.

Adios! Thanks for following through this article I will be brewing more contents for this topic :D

‍