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  A good business model avoids being fashionable and therefore never runs the risk of being outdated.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.

Many people are interested in how a new Value Proposition is created. Of course, understanding this process and being able to execute it, provides a basis for continuously staying ahead of competitors; it would be the Holy Grail of business. In workshops I have used various methods such as Blue Ocean and TRIZ. These methods help to frame thoughts and give directions. What they do not do is provide you with a new Value Proposition gift wrapped.

Creating a new Value Proposition can be done in several ways, each of which differently partitioned into stages. Here is an example of how the creation process is broken down, brought in a very creative way; in an animated Chinese painting style. The movie clip is by Ada Kwok and is presently really popular on youtube. Clicking tot Ada’s website it is clear that the company does graphic business design. Ada has used succesfully as a mechanism to draw traffic to her site. This is yet an other example of how youtube can significantly boost the number of potential customers.
I really like how each of the creation phases is broken down and expresses in the video:

• Imagination
• Visualization
• Formation
• Transformation
• Bring to life

[pro-player]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ce9f0JP6eks&feature=fvst[/pro-player]

Many of the people following the Business Innovation topic online already know TED. TED (Technology, Entertainment, and Design) is an online platform which is used to spread ideas. Basically talks, such as presentations are made available to the public, for free. The main goals is to inspire others to start thinking differently, as Apple will probably put it.

February 27th in Aspen the 2008 TED Conference was held. Here 21 year old Ben Kaufman was present. Ben is the initiator of kluster, which is an online collaboration and decision making platform. Kluster aims at being a new social network which generaetes new ideas, products, and designs (source: Businessweek). Kaufman heavily relies on what trendwatcher call tapping into the global brain, getting labor for free!

In the past he has already been succesful with the concept. In merely 72 hours he and his team have created the Bevy, of which 40,000 items were sold in 28 countries (again Businessweek). During the process 30,000 people voted for the Bevy, so Kaufman knew demand was there. At the TED Conference he hoped with the help of people like Al Gore, Sir Bob Geldof, to create a new big product, hopefully aimed at solving a large problem such as fighting disease, global warming or poverty and hunger. However the result was “Over There.” A game which aims increasing cultural awareness.

Googling the internet “Blue Ocean” was already quite popular (12,900,000 hits). “Business Model Innovation” is a risen star here (6,800,000 hits). Combining the two only generates 75,400 hits. A bit strange… Not only do the two serve the same purpose, deliver growth and innovation to a company. The first can serve as a means of achieving the second.

Nowadays it is not just about mastering one approach; it is about mastering the ability to combine multiple and deliver growth. Perhaps a bit late, but why not… 2008 will bring more mixed models. Let me be the first to kick it off with a combination of the Blue Ocean Strategy as a methodology to come to Business Model Innovation.

The Sky Commuter, built by Flight Innovations Inc., which never left the prototype stage is now for sale on eBay. The fantastic machine, built in 1990, was intended to replace traditional car traffic. It is said that one of the engineers is now offering it at eBay. Current selling price around 50,000 dollars, which is nothing compared to the 6 million that was put into it. The machine offered is said to be one of originally three. The sad story behind the Sky Commuter is that for some reason the production plant was closed down before it ever went into production and present in the hangar then was either taken or destroyed. Due the the fact that this machine was at a different location this beautiful dream is still around to inspire. (source:

For the snowboarder or skier who is seeking the cookie cutter winter wonderland megaresorts there is a alternative: Echo Mountain, Colorado. When caught in a bruising sustaining battle that gives clear advantage to powerful incumbents, other players looked for new business models that might enable them to beat the market in new ways – by satisfying underappreciated dimensions of performance. In the world of winter sports, smaller resorts do well to consider the disruptive new business model developed by Echo Mountain Park in Colorado.

The lift tickets at Echo are priced for teenagers on a lawn-mowing budget, and the cuisine is spartan even by cafeteria standards: energy bars and nuke-able burritos from vending machines (source: NY Times). The concept of Echo was not aimed at competing with the large resorts operated by companies as Intrawest and Vail. It focusses on delivering a great experience by offering excellent snow park facilities without having to pay for many thing the visitor does not use, all within driving range of a metropolitan area. It is all about the basics: newest, closest, cheapest.

From the 3rd till the 14th of December the United Nations Climat Change Conference was held in Bali. Again loads of attention were given to the subjects of sustainability. Nowadays the topic has really found grounds in society; it is even fashionable to concentrate on environmentally friendly goods and services.

In this light there is a new way of designing goods, called cradle-to-cradle. The concept is launched by Wiliam McDonough & Michael Braungart in their book Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things. They advocate in favour of uncycling, not recycling. Why settle for the least harmful alternative when we could have something that is better–say, edible grocery bags! They offer several compelling examples of corporations that are not just doing less harm–they’re actually doing some good for the environment and their neighborhoods, and making more money in the process.
The basic idea behind the book is that we should eliminate our environmental footprint as much as possible. The book itself is a great example of the concept. It is designed in a different way than we are used to. It is printed on material which can be fully uncycled; the pages can be cleaned so that the ink can be re-used, the pages itself can be re-printed and fully re-used. In essence it is all about design.

Cradle to cradle requires re-thinking each part of the design, and the design as a whole. Using it as the new standard for design will lead to a necessity for innovating our business models as well. Firms core capabilities need to change, possibly also the partner network, leading to a re-newed value configuration. Companies applying the cradle-to-cradle philosophy will be able to create different, more intense, relations with their customers. Applying cradle-to cradle brings maximum benefits combining it with a new business model.

[pro-player]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IoRjz8iTVoo[/pro-player]