Design Roadmapping: A Framework and Case Study on Planning Development of High-Tech Products in Silicon Valley

Abstract

We propose a framework for design roadmapping that parallels existing product roadmapping and technology roadmapping processes. It leverages three needs we have observed in organizations as they use existing roadmapping processes: (1) to focus on development of customer and user experiences (UX), not just on features; (2) to increase engagement of designers early in the planning process; and (3) to provide a means for rapidly responding to changes in the environment. Design roadmapping is an attempt to reconcile differences that arise when customer/user needs are not considered simultaneously with technology choices. The proposed design roadmapping process assists project prioritization and selection. The process aggregates design experience elements along a timeline that associates key user needs with the products, services, and/or systems the organization wishes to deliver. To illustrate the design roadmapping process, we conducted a case study in which we applied the design roadmapping process to projects undertaken by a large corporation's innovation lab located in research centers in San Francisco and Mountain View, CA, in partnership with corporate stakeholders located in Asia. The five-step design roadmapping procedure is provided along with detailed information. The decisions from the design roadmapping process have been incorporated into the company's commercial plans. Key findings in this corporate case study bolster the positive impact of design roadmapping in moving strategic thinking from a technology/ feature-driven process to one that is design/experience-driven. It shows how firms might weigh choices between user needs, design principles, and technological innovation.

Applying Design Roadmapping in New Product Development Education: Insights From Student Design Teams

“…In previous work, Oehlberg et al (2009) found that drawings are helpful in conveying concept ideas within a team, facilitating teamwork and sharing [32]. Our results suggest use of different levels of prototypes representing more or less tangible concepts [30] would be valuable for the different phases of the development process, thus involving design-driven thinking across the near-, mid-, and long-term phases of the product evolution [17,18]. While effective prototyping is valuable and may be a core competence that companies require [33], the prototypes illustrate only part of communicating the potential design experience.…”

“…While interdisciplinary collaboration for innovation is highly encouraged [13], communication among members in a design team, group, or company is often quite fragile [14,15,16]. Kim et al [17,18] identify significant gaps of understanding between parties working on design within an organization in defining shared project goals and directions associated with roadmapping.…”

“…The notion of a "design roadmap" was introduced by Kim et al [9,17] and has since been refined through interactions with design roadmapping workshop participants from industry [18]. The design roadmap is a canvas that facilitates embedding user experience goals into the earliest stages of design and allows teams to envision how concepts can evolve over time to meet changing market conditions.…”

“…Visual aspects of roadmapping are often neglected, yet visualization can make a roadmapping activity more engaging and interactive [5]. We built tangible design roadmapping tools ( Each step of the design roadmapping process [17] was duplicated in the tangible design roadmapping tools. Parallel online design roadmapping tools ( Figure 1: bottom) were also developed to compare participants' learning under different conditions.…”

“…The design roadmap is not a fixed canvas, but is meant to evolve over time [17,18,26]. The results and findings from this research are drawn from deliverables of student teams who built design roadmaps for the first time in their academic curriculum.…”