Mindsheet

Market Inspired Innovation Event

raglan — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 18:49:54 +0000

Mindsheet is delighted to host this exciting conference at Langstone Technology Park on May the 20th.

Market Inspired Innovation is a structured approach for creating new products and services by putting customer insight into the earliest stages of the innovation process, transforming a hit and miss craft into a systematic process that generates new value.

This conference is organised by SCI and Mindsheet and is aimed at business people looking to exploit the next cycle of growth through innovation.

Click on the video to find out more.

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What's the single greatest advantage you can have over your competitors?

raglan — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 10:01:19 +0000

Here's a question that was often posed by Gary Halbert, the late legendary copywriter, to his students:

"If you and I both owned a hamburger stand and we were in a contest to see who could sell the most hamburgers, what advantages would you most like to have on your side to help you win?"

After hearing all the wonderful ideas back from his students, Gary's response was always the same:

"The only advantage I want …

is…

A Starving Crowd!"

It's a simple message really and one that extends far beyond the direct marketing discipline where Gary made his name. As a product innovator or entrepreneur it's your job to find that hungry market and feed them what they are already hungry for rather than blindly developing solutions for a market with no desire.

It makes absolutely no sense to design a product if you first do not know what your customers want or what their problems are.

Seek out the starving crowd in your chosen market and you'll have the greatest advantage over your competitors.

To get more pearls of wisdom from Gary Halbert visit: http://www.thegaryhalbertletter.com/

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Mindsheet Host Official Mayor Visit

yvette — Sun, 10 May 2009 14:49:54 +0000

: Testudo is taken outside for a bit of a run around

Hot on the heels of winning the Innovation of the Year Award (for our Testudo Surveillance Robot), Mindsheet were pleased to receive a visit from some local dignitaries to come and try out the winning concept for themselves.

On April 21st Mindsheet welcomed the Mayor of Havant Cllr John Smith, the Mayoress of Havant Mrs Hilary Smith, the Chairman of Hampshire County Council Cllr Michael Woodhall and Havant Borough Council’s Business Development Manager Mr Tony Lee to our office at Langstone Technology Park.

Cllr Woodhall was on a tour of local business parks and the Mayor of Havant was keen to draw our business to his attention as winner of Innovation of the Year in the News Business Awards.

Raglan demonstrate the remote control and visual display

Our guests had a tour of our office and Raglan talked them through the story of our winning robot before we headed outside for a hands-on demo of Testudo.

Our guests were so engaged in talking about the robot alongside Mindsheet’s other activities that they overran their meeting by an hour, making them very late for their next appointment!

For more information about Mindsheet’s win at the Innovation Awards, visit here.

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Give Innovation a Chance – Move off the Solution!

yvette — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 13:58:38 +0000

So there's consensus within your organisation that now is the time to innovate. Competitive pressures are mounting up and more than ever you need to develop that unique solution for your customers to ensure your business continues to be a success. But you want to get that innovation to the market fast. There is enormous pressure to start working on a solution, any solution.

You conduct some research, look at current solutions available and before you know it, decisions are made and resources are diverted into product development. But months down the line the "innovation" is launched to the market only to become a commercial flop. Your innovation didn't really solve a problem. There's no demand for your product.

So what went wrong? Well, the organisation was too quick to focus on a solution without properly understanding the customers' outcomes. In my paper "The Innovation Lens", I discussed Anthony Ulwick's Outcome-Driven Innovation Model which focuses on the jobs the customer will do with or without the solutions available.

Customer outcomes should relate to the job the customer is trying to get done; they should not include a solution or features. Don't unnecessarily narrow the scope of innovation to something the customer is currently using rather than what the customer is trying to get done. Current products and services are merely point-in-time solutions that enable customers to execute jobs.

In trying to analyse the customer outcomes, Ulwick believes that most projects fail not because customers don't understand the problem but because the people trying to solve the problem don't ask the right questions. So whilst we need to carefully eliminate assumed solutions from our customers' need statements, we also need to set the research objectives correctly in the first instance.

Take our recent participation in the MOD Grand Challenge as an example. The aim of the Grand Challenge was to:

"Create a system that can detect, identify, locate and report a comprehensive range of military threats in a hostile urban environment, with a high degree of autonomy ".

By specifying the need for autonomy, an element of the solution was outlined within the main objective, thereby seriously restricting the scope for an early innovation. Autonomous general purpose threat detection is a very hard problem that is unlikely to be solved any time soon. And yet, soldiers need a solution to detect threats right now. By saying that the solution must be autonomous closes the door on an "Apple iPod" type innovation that is highly productive and ergonomic.

In setting the outcome criteria for the competition, it would have been better in terms of number of threats identified, minimising false positives and location errors. And to reward the benefits of autonomy, the underlying criteria could have been set as: minimising the number of people to operate the system, the time to perform the task, or to maximise the stand-off range and maybe add the constraint that operators should have their "eyes out" rather than "eyes down" for better safety under gunfire. Expressing the criteria in this way provides scope for other radical ways of solving problems other than through autonomy.

We need to move off the solution when looking for ways to innovate. We need to talk about jobs, outcomes and constraints instead of solutions and give innovation a chance.

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"5 Simple Steps to Conduct Your Own Product Survey" - Get our Report

yvette — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 14:06:35 +0000

The importance of a good product survey cannot be underestimated in the innovation process. You've already developed an understanding of your customer environment and goals (through jobs, outcomes, constraints, issues and existing solutions). You've generated concepts that address the innovation hotspots and through refinement and development you've got a shortlist of product solutions for the market.

You'd be a fool to ignore the customer input at this stage and rely only on intuition or internal feedback to determine what product(s) makes the final cut. Find out what your customers think of your shortlisted products. Don't make the mistake of not carrying out a survey.

The best way to get balanced feedback quickly from your customers is to ask through an online survey. Surveys get to the pulse of your customers by revealing their satisfaction levels and preferences. What quicker way is there to gauge customer needs and respond to their requirements? Whether you are discovering their preferred product, evaluating their desire for particular product attributes or ascertaining their budget, conducting a customer product survey is easier than you think.

We regularly conduct customer surveys at Mindsheet, so we've put together a report, "5 Simple Steps to Conduct Your Own Product Survey" to help you send out your own effective surveys in no time at all. But before I arm you with our invaluable guide, what better way to illustrate how we do it than to get you to complete one of our own surveys online.

I've set up a simple, short (60 second) survey, to find out what products you are looking for and ensure we develop the best solutions for you.

Just click on the link to our survey and on completion you'll receive your copy of "5 Simple Steps to Conduct Your Own Product Survey". Our guide contains hints and tips to get you engaging with your target customers to get the feedback you need. In addition you get a sample survey and we tell you how to do your own — quickly and simply using FREE software!

Click on the link to take part in our survey and receive your free copy of "5 Simple Steps to Conduct Your Own Product Survey".

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=_2fLRE8uTjOnDtZho1R4CqLw_3d_3d

If you have a friend who you think will benefit from our report, please forward this page onto them.

Thanks in advance for sparing a few minutes of your time.

Raglan Tribe

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Mindsheet exhibits at National Science and Engineering Week

yvette — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 11:27:09 +0000

An army of robots went on display today [11 March 2009] to demonstrate the impact of science and technology on military operations.

Unmanned bomb disposal vehicles and spy robots operated using an Xbox games console controller were lined up for inspection at Armoury House in London.

Mindsheet's Testudo robot at Armoury House

The exhibition is part of National Science and Engineering Week (NSEW), an annual series of events celebrating the importance of science, engineering and technology in our lives.

Minister for Defence Equipment and Support Quentin Davies said: 'The Ministry of Defence and the defence industry are working together to exploit new technologies that can help and protect our armed forces".

Mindsheet took along their Testudo reconnaisannce robot to the event organised by the MOD. Testudo was originally conceived for the MOD Grand Challenge in 2008 and we are now under contract with the MOD to make the robot more rugged and user-friendly for battlefield use.

Further coverage of the event:

Mail Online

TMCnet.com

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Mindsheet attends launch of MOD's Defence Technology Plan

yvette — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 10:01:14 +0000

Testudo at DTP launch

GADGETS and gizmos that could equip our troops of the future have helped to launch the MOD's new Defence Technology Plan.

The Defence Technology Plan is the first time the MOD has unveiled its long-term research needs. It underlines the importance of science and technology in providing cutting-edge kit for the battlefield.

Minister for Defence Equipment and Support, Quentin Davies, said:

"Innovation is at the heart of our success on the battlefield and by launching the Defence Technology Plan today, we are looking to embrace and encourage novel, cutting-edge ideas to provide our future forces with the latest technological advances so they can stay one step ahead of the enemy.

"It is more vital than ever that we exploit new and emerging technologies because the threats our troops face are always evolving. To do this, we need to make the best use of the Defence industrial base, as well as the wealth of ability and expertise found among small businesses, talented individuals and academia".

Mindsheet were one of 5 companies granted research contracts by the MOD, to attend the launch event at Whitehall on 26th February along with our reconnaissance robot, Testudo.

Further coverage of the event:

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Mindsheet Wins MOD Contract to Develop a Portable “Battle-Winning” Reconnaissance Robot

yvette — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 09:00:23 +0000

Mindsheet Press Release
25 February 2009

Mindsheet is pleased to announce that we have been awarded an MOD contract by the CDE (Centre for Defence Enterprise) to develop a rugged mini-robot, named Testudo, to act as a reconnaissance scout for troops.

Originally unveiled at the MOD Grand Challenge 2008, the robot scout is a platoon level asset that supports hazardous ground manoeuvres such as early warning of threat events, clearance of hazardous ground, compounds and buildings and could even help locate enemy fire. This low cost, man portable device acts as a force multiplier that could ultimately save lives.

The £28k contract, awarded in January 2009, will enable Mindsheet to further develop the robot for field testing in March with a view to realise the production system later in 2009.

Mindsheet has already been awarded Innovation of the Year by The News, Portsmouth, for work on the robot to date.

Raglan Tribe, the Managing Director of Mindsheet, says:

“It’s a great honour to be given the opportunity to support our troops. Hopefully, this programme will allow us to get the technology in a state where it could help save lives. If so, then our job is done”.

END

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Ever wondered what goes on when you are out of the office?

yvette — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 15:23:23 +0000

While the Cat's Away, the Mouse will Play…….

Cat & Mouse

Raglan's deserted the Mindsheet camp for a week for a much overdue break and so it's a case of while the cat's away, the mice will play. Don't get me wrong, we're not all sitting here with our feet up. On the contrary, it's a chance for me, Yvette, to play the creative card and write the latest blog for your enjoyment (I hope).

But a free reign to write what you want can be a kiss of death to all but the most creative. I don't profess to be an innovation expert like Raglan (I'm on steep learning curve having spent many years in financial services marketing), so I've been looking for a bit of inspiration.

Where to start? I did the first thing many of us do, I went on Google. Looked to see what's hot on innovation, searched for ideas. And then it hit me in the face. It was obvious. I'm struggling for ideas so why not put together a little piece on how to be creative in the first place.

I'm sure you already know there is a wealth of information out there on the subject, so I've done some digging in order to compile a short guide to creativity. My intention was to pick the best ideas from a selection of thinkers but I came across one blog called Gaping Void by Hugh Macleod that really inspired me so I make no apologies in quoting directly from it.

Here, in my opinion, are some of the best bits:

Ignore everybody
The more original your idea is, the less good advice other people will be able to give you

The idea doesn't have to be big. It just has to change the world
The two are not the same thing

Put the hours in
Doing anything worthwhile takes forever. 90% of what separates successful people and failed people is time, effort and stamina

If your business plan depends on you suddenly being "discovered" by some big shot, your plan will probably fail
Nobody suddenly discovers anything. Things are made slowly and in pain

Everyone is born creative; everyone is given a box of crayons in kindergarten
As you get older they take the crayons away and replace them with books on algebra etc. Being suddenly hit years later with the creative bug is just a wee voice telling you, "I'd like my crayons back, please."

Companies that squelch creativity can no longer compete with companies that champion creativity
Nor can you bully a subordinate into becoming a genius

Everybody has their own private Mount Everest they were put on this earth to climb
You may never reach the summit; for that you will be forgiven. But if you don't make at least one serious attempt to get above the snow-line, years later you will find yourself lying on your deathbed, and all you will feel is emptiness

The more talented somebody is, the less they need the props
Meeting a person who wrote a masterpiece on the back of a deli menu would not surprise me. Meeting a person who wrote a masterpiece with a silver Cartier fountain pen on an antique writing table in an airy SoHo loft would SERIOUSLY surprise me

Don't worry about finding inspiration. It comes eventually
Inspiration precedes the desire to create, not the other way around

The hardest part of being creative is getting used to it
If you have the creative urge, it isn't going to go away. But sometimes it takes a while before you accept the fact

Well I hope that gave you a little bit of inspiration for the day. Must get back to the mountain of jobs Raglan has given me now……..

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Mindsheet Wins Innovation Of The Year Award

admin — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 20:24:45 +0000

In association with the The News, Mindsheet has won 'Innovation Of The Year Award'. The team were presented with the award at The News Business Excellence Awards ceremony in Portsmouth in January 2009.

The Awards were a chance to honour companies and organisations across the South East Hampshire region. The nine award categories reflected the merits of team work, community involvement, innovation and high achievement. Forty-eight entries made it onto the shortlist across all categories.

Innovation of the Year Tropy

Amid such an amazing range of local business talent at the Gala Awards Dinner, we were happily surprised to win the Innovation of the Year category -

“For individuals or businesses which had shown a proclivity to 'think outside the box', becoming the first in their field to embark on a particular course of action, or having researched and developed a particularly novel and useful system or product”.

for our Testudo robot spy buggy – a remote control reconnaissance device that combat troops can send into enemy territory to scout for hazards.

The robot was developed in response to the 2008 MOD Grand Challenge. It gave us the perfect platform to demonstrate how we work with our customers to gain a deep understanding of their operations and behaviour. We specialise in helping companies develop breakthrough products and services in highly complex environments.

Throughout the exercise we involved soldiers with recent active service experience to guide the development so that it was soldier friendly and relevant. Following our success at the Grand Challenge we are in discussions with the MoD who recently agreed to fund the next stage of development.

Learn more about our exploits in the MOD Grand Challenge.