Design Roadmapping

Timing is of strategic importance in catching opportunities and leveraging technological interventions. Timing is also crucial when new products are ready to launch. Being among the first can make a large difference in sales and market share. In between the initiation and the launch, different ‘roads’ lead to the creation of different products and services.

The pacing and synchronizing of “technology forecast”, “market encounter” and “product evolution” plans are major challenges. A roadmap structures and supports these cross-communication dialogues. The key insights for innovation managers in industrial firms are that, in striving for competitive timing or industry synergy, roadmapping provides a means to achieve these objectives and, in applying roadmapping in the organization, dialogue and pacing are critically important. The design roadmap is defined as a canvas that reflects expected core design elements to be acquired throughout various types of design activities.

This book offers insights and guidelines on design roadmapping approaches from a future studies and design research perspective. It outlines the origins, background and latest research results are shared. In addition to the theoretical concepts, examples of roadmapping will be presented from the experience of strategic designers and innovation managers, including venture CEOs, CPOs, Heads of Design, product managers and technology and program managers of companies such as Samsung, Starbucks, Peerby, Ikea, Booking.com and many more.

About the Author

Dr Lianne W.L. Simonse (1968) is assistant professor front end innovation at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands. At the faculty of Industrial Design she has initiated the research programs on 1. Design roadmapping and 2. Business models for home healthcare with the purpose to contribute to the collective learning and body of knowledge of both scholars and practitioners. Over a period of 20 years she has combined an academic and consultant positions, herself.

She has a PhD in Innovation management followed by assistant professor positions. Lianne has hold positions of project - and program manager @ various divisions and business units of Philips, Oce, Ericsson and multiparty innovation programs including non-profit organisations and institutes. Over the years she has built an expert position in roadmapping and new business development. She is an invited speaker on the subject of roadmapping. Her publications can be found in both scientific and practitioners journals and books.