Informe de confirmaci´ on de entrega

Our dilemma may be resolved by way of analogy with Darwin’s theory of evo-lution: products evolve in response to “environmental pressures” taking the form of market needs and desires. In a process resembling “the survival of the fittest”, products that fail to fulfill these needs and desires disappear while products that satisfy them survive until the next change takes place. Over time, market needs and desires are “mapped” or “encoded” into a product, the con-figuration of which becomes a physical representation of past selection of the market or an “echo” of past customers’ preferences. Moreover, since failure in need and demand satisfaction does not leave any traces, this information rep-resents an effectively selected knowledge base. This mechanism is schemati-cally presented in Figure 1.4. Over the years, due to the Darwinian relations between the market (environment pressure) and the product, the market-based information is captured by the products attributes.

Creativity Templates are, in fact, a well-defined sequence of operators that manipulate this knowledge base. Just as market research attempts to identify trends in the marketplace on which to base a new generation of products, so can market trends be identified by analyzing the product itself in order to predict the basic characteristics of a new product. Because Creativity Templates inherently carry important codes for the evolution of successful new products, they can be exploited to generate a competitive advantage based on minimal market information. They bear basic ideation schemes, and there-fore may be used to help there-foresee new market needs while the relevant product markets are still underdeveloped.

In the following discussion we illustrate how market needs and desires are

“encoded” into two common products: chairs and shoes.

Let us assume that we have just arrived from another world, know nothing about the market, and have never conducted market research about prefer-ences and attitudes of people residing on this planet. However, we have the intelligence and ability to communicate well with human beings. We are sur-prised to discover that humans place their bodies on an object they refer to as

“a chair.” We observe that different chairs have legs of the same length, indicat-ing that the height of the chair is not an arbitrary parameter, and is dependent on humans wishing to be at a certain height in relation to their environment.

We may conclude that the backrest is meant to support the back and that there is a relation between the height of the chair and the height of the table next to it. The armrests of the chair support the arms, the softness of the seat is meant for comfort and is related to the body build and the preferences of the user.

We may make inferences about the needs and wants that a chair fulfills without actually asking the consumers a single question. This can be done due to the long period of evolution of the chair. Many changes and modifications have taken place over time. People have proposed ideas and improvements that the market accepted or rejected. The market itself constructs mechanisms for natural selection (in the evolutionary sense), through which a good idea survives and a poor idea disappears. A good idea is one that responds satisfac-torily to an important need, leaving traces in the characteristics of the prod-ucts. Over time, the product becomes a physical representation of the overarching market needs.

The set of market-based parameters

Improving the product and inducing customer

preferences into the product attributes

The set of product-based parameters

Figure 1.4 Mapping the market-based information into the product.

Table 1.2 describes the characteristics of a chair, as well as the benefits as derived from an analysis of its characteristics.

Thus, the various market needs are engraved in the chair over time. The

“negotiations” between the market and the product are mapped in the chang-ing components of the product as they develop and improve, and reflect changes in market needs. Deciphering this code uncovers information about market needs embedded in the product.

Let us examine another product: shoes. The great variety of types of this product reflects changes that have occurred in the needs and tastes of the market. Table 1.3 shows some characteristics and benefits of shoes.

The characteristics of different shoes reflect the adaptation of the product to changes in the physical and economic environment, as well as to changing trends in the market’s tastes. An examination of modifications in this product and their analysis – even based only on the above example – will provide ample information about the market’s needs and tastes: the market requires shoes that adapt to changes in climate, fit the size of foot, aid posture by means of orthopedic support and will make the wearer taller. We can extract this

Table 1.2 Characteristics and benefits of a chair

Characteristics Benefits

Length of legs Bring body to required height

Backrest Supports the back

Armrests Support the arms

A chair with a central swivel leg Ability to turn the seat sideways

Chair on wheels Ability to move chair around the space

Adjustable backrest Adaptability to back of sitter

Adjustable height of a swivel chair Adaptability to height of person

Table 1.3 Characteristics and benefits of shoes

Characteristics Benefits

Open shoe body Aeration of foot

Heels Increase the height of the wearer

Closed shoes Protection from rain or dampness

Size Adaptation of shoe to foot

Shoelaces Fastening the shoes to the feet

Insulated shoe body Keeping the feet warm

Orthopedic inner soles Correct posture

information merely from a partial and short list of characteristics and bene-fits of the product.