Using Knowledge for Restoration

What happens when manufacturers apply their manufacturing and industrial engineering knowledge to the environment? They create a 100-year-old self-sustaining forest in 10 years. Shubhendu Sharma did just that. He applied his industrial engineering skills developed at Toyota to recreate little chunks of forest habitat in just ten years right in our own backyards, workplaces and […]

Read More

GEN Z – The Unfiltered and Uncurated

If sustainability and preservation were born from Generation X, unbridled restoration and uncurated action are the growing rights of passage on Generation Z’s shoulders. They are the generation of authentic and uncurated. They cheered as the REI Co-op turned its back on Black Friday and chose the anti-consumer pathway to overconsumption. Their call is the […]

Read More

Curating your product management process

How do manufacturers keep product management evangelists engaged after product launch?  If we consider Concurrent’s recent survey results, cultivated from over 70 outdoor and specialty companies, the typical product management team size is between 1-5 members and they take 12-24 months to get a new product concept to market. Over 20% reported internal processes as […]

Read More

Consumer segmentation, market research tools, staff engagement, and product line planning

Download your PDF copy of our presentation on consumer segmentation and market research tools, “Outside-In Planning: Tools and Techniques for Strategic Product Line Planning” presentation made by Concurrent Strategies in January. This information was shared at both the Outdoor Industries Association (OIA) Outdoor University, #ORWM15, and SnowSports Industries America (SIA), #SIA15, in January, 2015. In addition […]

Read More

Why you should ask people what they predict rather than what they prefer

Asking respondents to predict the success of an idea or option may provide a more accurate market response than asking them what they prefer. In my experience, incorporating this new question style into your next customer survey can lead to better response differentiation and reduced overstatement. “Purchase intent is notoriously overstated in survey responses, showing […]

Read More

5 ways to get the voice of the customer into your design process, Part 2

In an earlier post, I wrote about the importance of two methods—Web Analytics and Product Views—for tapping the voice of the customer for product design. In this post, I’ll continue down the list with a look at three more ways of building your awareness of customers’ interests and needs. 3. Relationship-Building and Engagement Now that […]

Read More

How strategic planning improves your product development process

Are you new to product-line planning? Or are you an established professional who thinks your organization could be doing a better job of it? Pete Frickland, Principal of Concurrent Product Development, and I do an hour-long presentation titled Outside-In Planning: Tools and Techniques for Strategic Product Line Planning, that can help. It covers the key questions that product-line […]

Read More