Apple’s Jonathan Ive changed the world with his designs. The Apple devices are more known because of their design, rather than the logo they carry. Looking at the device that was the first stepping stone in this for Apple, the iPod 1, many people claim their is a great deal of resemblance with Braun’s T3 pocketradio, launched in 1958 (nrc). This radio was designed by Dieter Ram, head of product design from 1955-1998.
Ram applied ten principles to good design. According to Ram good design:
- is innovative
- makes a product useful
- is aesthetic
- makes a product understandable
- is unobtrusive
- is honest
- is long-lasting
- is thorough down to the last detail
- is environmentally friendly
- is as little design as possible
Applying these 10 principles to business model design, the following guidelines are derived:
- is innovative
A good business model is unique, and therefore hard to imitate. - makes a product useful
Using the business model, from the company as well as the customer perspective, is easy. - is aesthetic
A good business model does not cause any irritation or confusion. Only well executed business models can be beautiful. - makes a business model understandable
It makes the business model clearly express its function by making use of the user’s intuition. At best, it is self-explanatory. - is unobtrusive
The business model leaves room for the user’s self-expression. Business models fulfilling a purpose are like tools that add to the quality of life of its users. - is honest
An honest business model does not make a product or service seem more valuable than it really is. Influencing and manipulation of customers and users by the business model is not done. - is long-lasting
A good business model avoids being fashionable and therefore never runs the risk of being outdated. - is thorough down to the last detail
In the design sufficient attention has been paid to the details of the design, creating a true experience for customers and users. In the execution of a good business model these should implemented accurately. - is environmentally friendly
Good business model design is aware of its environmental impact and aims to make an important contribution to the preservation of the environment by conserving resources and minimizing physical and visual pollution. - is as little design as possible
Keeping it pure! Everything that is non-essential to a business model should be kept out of its design.
When designing new business models these 10 principle will help you to focus your effort and flow your creativity accordingly to make beautiful, meaningful new business models.
Business model innovation will be the next big differentiator for companies aspiring innovation leadership. Innovation leaders are breaking away from the pack by allocating increasingly more resources to business model innovation1. And they are right. Research has illustrated that more value is to be expected from business model innovation, than from any other form of innovation. Business model innovation has a higher impact on business results.
Guest post by Freek Duppen
As the knowledge partner of the World Innovation Forum, Capgemini Consulting has recently completed its global innovation survey on the current state of innovation. The study offers a unique perspective by looking at the differences in behavior of innovation leaders vis-à-vis laggards across five key areas (strategy, capabilities, technology, innovation function, and spending) in order to identify what drives the success of companies that view themselves as successful innovators.
The study is based on an online survey, generating responses from 375 executives (representing the full range of industries, regions, functional specialties, and seniority) and 13 follow-up interviews – to get a better understanding of the context of the findings and to add depth to the result interpretation.
In summary, this study reveals that:
- Given the strategic priority companies allocate to innovation and their corresponding spending plans, the maturity of their formal innovation governance structure lags behind considerably. To overcome many of the innovation bottlenecks encountered, it is time to establish an innovation function that is able to deal with this kind of innovation governance and decision-making.
- Furthermore, there is an enormous unlocked potential for innovation in the involvement of external parties in the innovation process. Innovation leaders may have out-paced their peers by simply being better at involving external parties, leveraging a much broader innovation network and increasing innovation potential.
- The study also shows that more value, in terms of impact on business results, is to be expected from business model innovation, than from any other form of innovation. Targeting new business opportunities in emerging markets is much more likely to be successful when approached outside of the traditional competitive landscape.
