Dimensional analysis alone is not a successful innovation strategy to develop marketable products

There are a number of different strategies for developing new products. Dimensional analysis involves studying the attributes of existing products and learning how they can be changed to improve performance. This can be a great strategy that leads to superior and more profitable products. The drawback is that dimensional analysis by itself is not a catalyst for true innovation and is only beneficial if it leads to products that are valuable to customers and subsequently improve the organization’s profitability.

The best strategies for product innovation focus on understanding customer needs and doing everything possible to address them. Existing products are sometimes unable to meet the demands of their users. A common mistake that companies make is that they try to be different while maintaining the status quo. It involves thinking outside the box a bit, but sometimes not enough to better address customer needs. Instead of using the dimensional analysis approach to improve an existing product that may never meet customer demands, companies should consider developing an entirely new product.

Dimensional analysis also focuses on making improvements that may not improve profitability, even if the revised product appears to have practical value to your customers. By not researching customer needs and preferences first, companies may be making incorrect assumptions about what they need to do to develop successful new products. This is a mistake that can be made by both marketing and technical employees.

Dimensional analysis remains a valuable product development strategy. Through a better understanding of how existing products meet customer needs, marketers and engineers can work together to identify features that can be modified to make products more successful. Innovation requires both an understanding of the technology behind the product and the behavior and needs of customers. This is a principle that is sometimes forgotten by smaller companies run by managers with purely technical backgrounds.