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Subproblem Decomposition: An Exploratory Research Method for Effective Incremental New Product Development
Author(s) -
Ruiz Dirk,
Jain Dipak,
Grayson Kent
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
journal of product innovation management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.646
H-Index - 144
eISSN - 1540-5885
pISSN - 0737-6782
DOI - 10.1111/j.1540-5885.2012.00913.x
Subject(s) - exploratory research , decomposition , product (mathematics) , computer science , perspective (graphical) , complement (music) , new product development , face (sociological concept) , service (business) , marketing , psychology , artificial intelligence , business , mathematics , sociology , ecology , social science , biochemistry , chemistry , geometry , complementation , anthropology , gene , biology , phenotype
Consumers frequently face problems when using a product or service. Successful incremental product development depends on accurately identifying these problems. Exploratory methods that are commonly used to identify such problems tend to present consumers with stimuli (i.e., questions) that prompt a particular kind of psychological processing. Subproblem decomposition, a new exploratory method, uses stimuli that prompt a different kind of psychological processing. Consumers are asked to think out loud while performing product‐related tasks, and their spoken thoughts are used to identify the “subproblems” faced during product use. Subproblem decomposition, therefore, generates different insights, which complement the perspective gained by more conventional exploratory methods.