LashBack is committed to client-focused innovation, and always strives to find new ways to bring value to our clients through our services. Our Vice President of Product Strategy, Andy McKay, recently participated in the New Product Development and Innovation class at the Wisconsin School of Business. This class was designed with a hands-on, immersive curriculum intended to challenge its participants to bring back meaningful insights to their organization and spur innovation. Andy found the fast-paced course to be of significant value to his role, LashBack’s development team and our organization as a whole.
The class touched on both long-established and relatively new concepts in new product development. “It was interesting and refreshing to work closely with people from a wide range of different industries—from dental insurance to truck bed liners,” Andy said. “I found the strategies for fostering innovation to be particularly interesting, and I have already utilized one of them in a real-world scenario.” One common mistake companies make during the new product development process is starting with an idea, and then trying to convince customers that it solves a problem. This tactic fails to take into account the voice of the customer and user of the new product. Instead, companies should focus on identifying a pain point for customers and then developing a solution. Additionally, innovation does not need to rest within one department or person in an organization. It can be integrated within a company as a whole.
“My biggest takeaway from the course was that innovation can be a repeatable process that involves the entire organization,” Andy added. “You don't have to wait for a random spark in the dark; you can get people thinking and foster creativity.”
We look forward to seeing how Andy and the development team use this new knowledge to expand and improve LashBack’s new product development efforts!
