Project Selection and

Needs Identification
 Types of Innovation and their Effects in the Market
Effect of Innovation on Consumer Habits and Behaviours

Major Innovations Radical Innovations

Fundamental changes in consumer Disruptive effect on customers &

Markides & Geroski, 2003

Source:
behaviour producers
Major Championed by established competitors Based on different set of scientific
Speed cameras; Online banking principles than prevailing set
Create new markets, demand new
consumer behaviours
Car
Incremental Innovations Strategic Innovations

Extend current proposition facing Small changes but dramatic impact on

consumers competition
Minor Minor changes Requires different business models
Build upon existing competencies & assets
Fog Lights Small cars; small cameras

Enhances Destroys

Effect of Innovation on Established Firms’ Competencies & Complementary Assets

 Types of Innovations and New Markets

Markides & Geroski, 2003

Source:
New Markets Created Through New Markets Created Through
Radical Innovation Strategic Innovation

Television Internet banking

Personal Computers Low cost point –to-point flying
PDAs Private label consumer goods
Cars Screen-based electronic trading
Supercomputers systems
Semiconductors Generic drugs
Mobile Phones On-line distribution of groceries
VCRs Catalogue retailing
Medical Diagnostic Imaging Department stores
Computer Operating Systems Steel minimills
On-line universities
Identifying Design Category
 Creative
 New and innovative design
 Variant
 Variation of existing design
 Improve performance
 Add more features
 Routine
 Well known
 Combine creativity and new technologies
 Complex
Design Type Differences
 Each Design category can fall in one of the following types
 Technical evaluation project
 Use of new technology
 System test
 Ensure meeting all the needs
 Experimental design project
 Find system characteristics
 Analytical projects
 Find failure modes and probability of failures
 Applied research project
 Creation of new technology based on existing ones
 Fundamental Research Project
 Discover new scientific principles
Project Selection Criteria –
Questions to ask!
 What are you trying to do? Articulate your goals
 How is it does today? Limitations?
 What difference does it make? Who cares?
 What are the risks and payoffs?
 How much will it cost?
 How long does it take?
 What are the benchmarks to check for success?
SEVERAL MODELS ARE AVAILABLE : FOR
PROJECT SELECTION
 1. DESIGN THINKING APPROACH: EAST
 E: Empathize ( Customer Journey Map)
 A: Analyze ( Balance)
 S: Solve ( Technical, Commercial Feasibility)
 T: Test ( Market Research/ Customer
Feedback)

PROJECT SELECTION
CRITERIA AHP MODEL
 The multi-criteria programming made through
the use of the analytic hierarchy process is a
technique for decision making in complex
environments in which many variables or
criteria are considered in the prioritization and
selection of alternatives or projects.
Vargas, R. V. (2010). Using the analytic hierarchy process (ahp) to select and prioritize
projects in a portfolio. Paper presented at PMI® Global Congress 2010—North
America, Washington, DC. Newtown Square, PA: Project Management Institute.
Saaty's Scale of Relative
Importance (Saaty, 2005)
Project Selection Criteria –
2.Creating AHP Model
 Determine the selection criteria
 Your interests; technical complexity; creativity;
innovation; marketing potential; etc.
 Determine the weighting for each criteria
 Create the AHP
 Review the scores and adjust as needed!
Project Selection Criteria –
Creating AHP Model
Identify the Needs
 What is the problem? Problem of
 Don’t fall for a wrong problem Eliciting
needs
 Make sure problem and solution
are not given to you! – You have
no design there! Marketing
Spec.
 Understand the problem and
need
 Do you have a design space – Engineering
all possible solutions Spec.
Process to obtain
Voice of the Customer
 Gather raw data from users
 What are the pros and cons of the existing process
 Understand the process and problem
 Interpret the raw data in terms of needs (Need)
 What is the customer requirement (marketing specification)
 Not quantified – they use terms such as: good, easy, user friendly, etc.
 Design an audio device that is portable, easy to use with high quality. (extension)
It should be water resistance, long lasting, small and drop resistance.
 Quantify the needs (Tree)
 Establish an objective tree
 Ranking the relative importance of each specification
 Understand the background and existing solutions (Survey)
 Use all available resources: Internet, Technical, Journals, Government
statistics, etc.
Example of
Objective Tree
 Sources for Survey
 EE Product Center, www.EEProductCenter.com. A website for locating electronic components and their
manufacturers. It provides links to product datasheets and application notes. It has a keyword search engine
and a tree structure search for finding components. For example, you can start with op amps and delve into
subcategories such as precision and high-speed.
 Circuit www.CircuitCellar.com. This companion website for the magazine is a great reference for designers. It
emphasizes embedded systems and electronics projects with many tutorial articles and project ideas.
 Datasheet Catalog, www.DatasheetCatalog.com. A datasheet source for electronic components and
semiconductors.
 Dr. Dobbs, www.ddj.com. The magazine and companion website are a resource for software developers that
includes tips and tutorials.
 EE Times, wLuw.EETimes.com. Industry newspaper for the electrical engineering field with information on
current technology developments.
 Electronic Magazine, wwro.EDNmag.com This is a free magazine for electrical design engineers that provides
information on the latest products. The website has a number of categorized technical resources and a design
ideas section.
 OK Semiconductor, www.OnSemi.com. OK Semiconductor is a supplier of semiconductors for a wide range
of applications, with a particular emphasis on power management. The website has a searchable database of
over 15,000 components, and provides guidelines for component selection based on different applications.
 The Thomas Register, www.ThomasRegister.com. This is a source for finding companies and products in
Korth America. It allows searches for parts and equipment that may be used in a design project. It provides
profiles of companies that meet the search criteria and describes the products they make.
Feasibility Analysis
 Is this project feasible?
 What are the risks?
 Can these risks be overcome?
 Major components:
 Technical feasibility (Can we build it?)
 Economic feasibility (Should we build it?)
 Organizational feasibility (Will they use it?)
Technical Feasibility
 Identify risks in the following areas:
 The functional area: Are analysts familiar
with this portion of the business?
 The technology: Less familiarity generates
more risk
 Project size: Large projects have more risk
 Compatibility: Difficult integration
increases the risk
Economic Feasibility
(Cost-Benefit Analysis)
 Identify the costs and the benefits
 Assign values to the costs and benefits
 Determine the cash flow
 Determine the value using one or more methods:
 Net present value (NPV)
 Return on investment (ROI)
 Break-even point
Exhibit 1 shows the different interpretations for the concepts of cost and benefits
xhibit 1 – Different Perceptions and Synonyms for Defining Low Cost and High Benefit.
Return on Investment (ROI) – It is the percentage of the profit margin of the project. It
allows comparing the financial return of projects with different investments and profits.

Profit (currency) – The value (in currency) of the financial profit gained by the project.
A project may have a smaller ROI but its nominal profit can be bigger.

Net Present Value (NPV) – It is the difference between the project benefits and costs,
taking into consideration that all incomes and expenses are converted to be realized in
the current date. In order to do so, it is necessary to bring all future values to the
current date by using a given interest rate. This allows the assessment and comparison
between projects that have future incomes and expenses from different times.

Payback – It is the number of time in periods necessary to recover all of the original
project investments.

Financial Benefit/Cost Rate – It is the ratio between the present value of the benefits and
the present value of the costs. The higher the ratio, the more viable is the project under
the perspective of benefit/costs.
Formulas for Determining Value
Example Cost-Benefit Analysis
Example Break-Even Point
Organizational Feasibility
 Will the users accept the system?
 Is the project strategically aligned with the

business?
 Conduct a stakeholder analysis
 Project champion(s)
 Organizational management
 System users
 Others
Summary
Design Identify
Catagory The Needs

Project Solution
Type Space

Selection Objective
Criteria Tree

Research
Survey

Needs &
Objectives
Assignment
 Individual: Pick a project topic (anything) – Define
your different criteria in order for this project to be
an interesting project to you (meeting a need, low
cost, innovative, patentable, etc.) Create an objective
tree for the topic. You must present this in class.
 As a team agree on two possible project ideas.
Create an objective tree for each project idea. Try to
agree on which project seems to be more viable.