Glossary

For us, this is the (re)combination of what is already available/known to create new, extended customer benefits.

Example: Digital Farming – the computer- and GPS-supported control of agricultural machinery for optimized fertilization, cultivation and harvesting of fields.

The existing knowledge of farmers + knowledge of IT specialists + knowledge of mechanical engineering experts was combined and resulted in a new product with new, extended benefits -> agricultural optimization + improved protection of the environment.

For us, insight consists of two elements – the result (what is recognized) and the process of recognition (the act of recognition), which are used reciprocally and cascade-like in the mind_IP method.

The process of recognition (the act of recognition) is the establishment (of connections) based on individual knowledge, experience, judgment and evaluation.

The result is the conscious (and sudden) understanding of regularities and interrelations that previously seemed incoherent, i.e. the insight into an issue.

The mind_IP method systematically collects the insights of the domain experts and puts them together to form an overall picture. This overall picture enables new, expanded insights that are used for well-founded decisions.

Another effect is that a complex issue becomes equally recognizable and comprehensible for all participants: There is agreement across all departmental boundaries on how the facts are perceived, how they are classified and what they mean for the company.

Does mind_IP deliver the absolute truth?

Certainly not, but it comes very close. The problem of the “individual opinion” is objectified by the collection of knowledge from the different departments and can be readjusted by the continuous review.

For us, this is a new product that does not recoup its development costs in the first 3 years on the market. Flop = investment > return (∑year 1-3).

In a broader sense, one can also include product developments that have generated their development costs but do not deliver significant returns.

For us, this is the advantage perceived by the customer that leads to a purchase decision. It is one of the central aspects of mind_IP and comes before technology in terms of importance. Why? Make a change of perspective and slip into the role of the customer, e.g. privately, when buying a vacuum cleaner.

You have certain expectations in terms of cleaning performance, noise and handling, but how this is achieved technically doesn’t usually matter to you, does it?

For us, this is a service that provides an advantage to a specific user group, satisfies a need, or solves a problem. This performance can be a physical product or purely immaterial (service, process) or a combination thereof.

We define the product development process in a considerably broader sense. For us, the PDP is part of the entire product life cycle, the creation journey. Figuratively transferred to a human life, the phase between the “first meeting of father and mother” and the time “child leaves the parental home”.

The extension for us is that we take into account the interrelationships with the product portfolio, the Market Journey. To stay in the picture, even when the child has left home, its life usually continues to significantly influence that of the parents.

Why do you build a prototype?

Our insight: Because of the uncertainty.

• In the technical dimension, because at such an early stage you don’t know if it really works the way you thought it would.
• In the market dimension, because you don’t know if this solution meets the customer’s needs.

The essence of this approach: “We have a working solution here – does this solve a problem for you?”

The only thing is that your customers are in the same situation as you are – the possible solutions for digital transformation are not yet available to survey, and your customer doesn’t actually have time either.

I.e. it is foreseeable that customers (think of yourself and your suppliers) will take the standpoint – “You are the specialists, provide me with solutions to problems I never thought of solving”.

mind_IP puts this requirement in a central place. It allows you to identify the customer problems, to recognize and validate their interrelationships. Then, with these market-customer insights, you can go into development in a targeted manner. Because, if it works technically, really only the prototype can show.

For us, this is what ensures the success and continued existence of the company. And that means profitable and future-proof products.

For us, the “right product” is characterized by:

• high customer benefit
• for many customers
• within the target corridor of the company
• a good cost-benefit ratio for the company
• with low risk and
• high unique selling proposition

For us, this is the association of individuals to secure their livelihood.

For this purpose, a complex problem solution – the product – is produced.

The degree of complexity of the product is so high that this can only take place in an interdependent division of labor. I.e. everyone supplies in its position/role the contribution in the total context is necessary, in order to be able to live as an individual from it.

A picture – A company is like a cargo ship. It performs the service of transporting goods from A to B. There is a captain, officers and crew who perform this service collectively in a division of labor and earn their personal living from it.

The captain’s job is to get to the right port in time (due to storm and calm), to have new cargo there already and to prevent damage to the ship and crew.

The crew and their officer, e.g. in the engine room, make their contribution – the engine always runs with the necessary power – below deck, get little of the wind and weather and have to rely on the right port being called at in time, with connecting cargo. Just as the captain must rely on the engine always being ready for action.