Case studies of creativity in innovative product development

Case Studies of creative designers and innovators can reveal much useful understanding and insight into: • the product development process; • the role of creative thinking in product development, where creative design ideas come from and how they are developed into working products; • the problems faced by designers and inventors in getting novel products on to the market as commercial innovations. This paper examines some of these questions through case studies of creative individuals who have invented, designed, developed and introduced innovative products. The individuals and products are: • James Dyson, an inventor, entrepreneur and product designer, and his innovative designs of wheelbarrow and vacuum cleaner; • Mark Sanders, a product designer and design consultant, and his novel design of folding bicycle. In addition brief comparison is made between these cases and similar examples of innovative mechanical products created by other individual inventor/designers