Innovative research methods cut prototyping time by 96% while producing more reliable results
Organization: A manufacturer of fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG)

Situation: The new product development group learned that consumer testing of new concepts required a flawless prototype of each new package, but such prototypes took 9 weeks and considerable expense to produce. Even after such effort, cost and delay, consumer behaviour in the market did not match research results during concept testing.

Innovation Skills/Methods Applied:
Customer observation
Rapid, iterative prototyping
Cross-fertilization

Results: Customer observation revealed that the use of flawless prototypes and traditional market research were both based on incorrect assumptions about consumer behaviour. When consumer behaviour was better understood, our consultant introduced an innovation best practice that reduced the prototyping cycle from 9 weeks to 2 days and reflected marketplace conditions more accurately than traditional market research.