Ideas for Creating Innovative Electronic Goods

Innovation is the primary concern of many electronics designers today.

One of the most difficult aspects of running or starting a business is keeping up with the times. In no realm is this more true than that of electronics. For some people, it's a matter of finding the right type of electronics to sell, but for others, it's about creating innovative, new electronics. An inventor or designer typically goes through a long list of steps to design a new product, but the process itself is a rather simple thing, conceptually.

History

One way to go about innovating a new breed of electronics is actually to look backwards. Look at the history of the type of electronics that you design. Create a timeline with all of the different variations of the type of these products. Look at each one, and let your mind devise what should come next. Sometimes, it's as simple as a small tweak to a behemoth machine, other times, it's a total recreation based around a single idea.

Problems

Another way to go about inventing some new and novel electronic good is to examine problems that exist. Problem examination has been a hallmark of the inventor since invention's inception, so naturally most of the good problems have been solved. Electronics, by their very nature, have the ability to make things more convienent or easier to accomplish. Take this philosophy and go outside the box. Imagine or observe problems in areas not dominated by electricity, and find solutions that innovative electronic equipment could create. Redefining the problem is one such way of thinking. Imagining the absurd and conceptually evolving it into the realistic is another. Use your imagination.

Hybridize

Combining two things that already exist is another common tactic that can be adapted for electronics invention. In school, you learned that a simple machine performs a single process, and a complex machine performs multiple processes. Electronics have the advantage of being able to perform one, two or many different processes on the same platform. You can add electronic features to a non-electronic tool, or add more features to a preexisting system. Many things could become more convenient with an extra feature or two, and the evolution of electronics makes almost any hybrid possible.

What You Know

Many inventors never develop a successful innovative good because of their restrictions. Many times, you must invent what your job calls for, but when you free yourself from the confines of a particular realm or genre, you open new possibilities. Once free from that, focus down again, but not on what you've always worked on. Look outside of work. Combine other passions you have to come up with ideas. Music, art, cooking and sport all have areas that could be improved with the use of novel electronics. Technology is advancing beyond its predefined uses, and eventually somebody will capitalize. It could be you.

References

• 999 Ideas: Ways of Thinking Outside the Box
• 999 Ideas: Creative Imagination