Product Innovation Lab Series
Cross-Disciplinary Innovation Engine
Established a product innovation lab series to enable cross-disciplinary innovation, sourcing and crowdsourcing tools aimed at solving both internal team challenges and customer-related problems.
The Challenge
The product portfolio team lacked a structured approach to innovation, with product ideas emerging sporadically and often failing to gain traction. Collaboration between product, engineering, and design was siloed, and there was no systematic way to capture and evaluate innovative concepts from across the organization.
Approach & Methodology
- Designed and launched monthly innovation lab workshops bringing together product, engineering, design, and business stakeholders
- Implemented design thinking frameworks including empathy mapping, ideation sessions, and rapid prototyping
- Created crowdsourcing tools for employees to submit and vote on product ideas
- Developed prototype testing processes
- Established clear criteria for evaluating and prioritizing innovation initiatives
- Conducted customer interviews to validate product concepts
- Built a repository of innovation tools and templates for team-wide access
Outcomes & Impact
Innovation Culture
Established ongoing cross-functional collaboration framework
Innovative Features Framework
Developed framework for launching innovative features from lab initiatives
Customer Validation
Prototypes tested with customers before development
Team Engagement
Increased participation in product development process
Technologies & Tools
Key Lessons Learned
- Regular, structured innovation sessions are more effective than ad-hoc brainstorming
- Prototyping tools accelerate feedback cycles and reduce development waste
- Involving diverse perspectives early in the process leads to more robust solutions
- Not every idea needs to become a product - having clear evaluation criteria is essential
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