A rapid design-led approach to innovation readiness: Advantages and challenges

The purpose of this paper is to report on an ongoing suite of research that
aims to develop a design-led approach to help small and medium sized
enterprises (SMEs) understand their innovation readiness. At present, a
number of tools are available to organisations when carrying out an audit to
determine their innovation readiness, however none of these methodologies
have been connected to the practice of design-led innovation. This paper
begins to address this gap by presenting a review of a twelve-hour
intervention carried out in collaboration with a fund management
organisation located in the North East of England as part of an EU funded
research and innovation programme, Creative Fuse.
The paper utilises a qualitative approach guided by case study principles,
semi-structured interviews and action research to reflect on the proposed
design-led approach to assessing innovation readiness. Advantages and
challenges to the approach are considered with the intention of developing a
practical approach to assessing innovation readiness within SMEs, which
builds on design principles in order to rapidly outline the opportunities and
potential barriers facing organisations when it comes to identifying areas for
future innovation.