Participating as a partner in this research will require an investment of employee time and effort. This cooperation and trust is highly valued and we will strive to return value to partner organizations. Of course, all of the discoveries that we uncover from our studies will be provided back to their respective organizations for internal use. While sensitive IP should not be discussed in interviews, you will always be protected by strong NDA and review processes. Research participation provides several other “soft benefits” as well.
Interview participation
- Participants gain insight into their own thinking from explicit discussion about otherwise implicit processes
- New patterns and the informal processes that lead to success can be identified and shared across the organization
- Management gains insight into their own cycles of adoption, change management, and the catalysts and barriers to bringing new processes into their organizations
- Organizations can compare best practices and benchmarks among non-competing industrial R&D organizations.
- Interviews will inform the research agenda of design tool and method developers
Workshop and Project participation
- A half-day design methods workshop or custom Biologically Inspired Design project will be tailored to the needs of select partner organization
- Prof. Julie Linsey will share cutting edge, pragmatic design methods and tools that participants can use on day 1 to stretch their thinking
- Dr. Helms will provide tools and techniques for using Biologically Inspired Design in industrial settings, including best practices on how, when and why to use the method, as well as the skills and team needed for success
- Pre- and post- analysis of the use of workshop methods will provide insight into adoption barriers and catalysts within and across organizations
Survey participation
- Short surveys will probe interview findings with greater breadth across organizations to better understand the generalizability of findings
- Partner organizations with sufficient participation will be provided reports characterizing their organization relative to the general findings
- Confirmation of catalysts and barriers to adoption within an organizations’ unique culture, will aid in future change management and process adoption efforts
- Confirmation of the needs of R&D organizations will direct future tool and method development
