IHA connects with Dan Kraemer, founder and chief design officer of IA Collaborative, a global design and innovation consultancy, to chat about his views on connecting humans with connected products. He will address these complex topics in his presentation at the upcoming 2017 International Home + Housewares Show in the Innovation Theater.

Chicago-based IA Collaborative is an internationally recognized brand, product, interactive and architectural experience consultancy. Dan leads IA Collaborative’s multidisciplinary design team to identify unseen human needs, frame breakthrough opportunities and drive systemic solutions to commercialization. As chief design officer, Dan works with some of the world’s most recognizable household brands – including Samsung, GE, and Nike – on connected home and IOT-related innovations. His work has been recognized with many prestigious design awards and has been featured by Forbes, the BBC, Branding Magazine and Innovation Magazine. He is a frequent lecturer on national and international stages.

Dan, what is the most exciting or rewarding part of your work? What fuels your inspiration?
In addition to the complex challenges of running a global consultancy, the most rewarding part of my work is that every day, I get to come in with one goal: to create something the world never knew it needed, but now can’t live without. Not just incremental improvement or a newer version of the same idea, but what we call the “new new” – an offering that has not existed in any form before.  It’s pretty rewarding to walk into any of our project rooms on a given day and see teams talking about anything from a new hotel guest experience to new way to manage digital safety to a new tool to revolutionize diabetes management. To know you’re really helping to impact the way people will live their lives on a daily basis in the future…to me that is why we do what we do.

In the past few years, what has changed most in your business? How has your company met these challenges in the way that you do your work?
The pace of change and disruption within our client’s industries; the complexity of the issues they are facing – it’s unprecedented.  Larger, established players – oftentimes industry leaders – know how critical innovation is but they are struggling with how to reprogram their cultures and structure their organizations to keep up with competition from nimble technology startups. This has impacted our consulting business in that we spend much more time “teaching our process” and helping our clients operationalize a design innovation mindset than we ever did before. We have an entire offering that is just around organization and culture design. One of our clients has gone from having one or two graphic designers on staff to actually prioritizing design as a strategy for the whole company, and we’re partnering with them closely on that effort. We’ve also really built out our business strategy team, because good ideas and beautiful design aren’t enough: at the end of the day, the offering needs to be financially viable and make (or save!) our clients money.

Mastering Human Connection through Connected Products
Monday, March 20   2:30 –3:30 pm
Innovation Theater, Lakeside Center, room E350

Tell us what you will be speaking about and how this topic is important for Show audiences.
I will be speaking about how to win in tomorrow’s connected home goods marketplace by focusing on the “human connection” part of connected products.  There are endless technology possibilities with smart devices and IOT, but to truly become innovation success stories, products of tomorrow need to address unmet human needs – and be something that people actually use and make a part of their daily life. A lot of things sound good on paper – and even test really well in market research – but after the initial rush and PR blitz, the product slowly fizzles out. I’m going to give some tangible examples of things these companies can do to ensure future innovations are lasting successes.

What are you looking forward to at the Show?
We look forward to the Housewares Show every year. There’s just nothing like it, and it’s a logical connection point for us since we do so much work in the space.  The last time I spoke at the Show it was around the time that we were launching a new baby furniture company, Ooba, which created a new category for parents looking for more contemporary, modern and heirloom-style furniture. I’m also part of the panel of judges that helps curate the Discover Design portion of the Show, and love seeing the wide range of innovative products that are brought to us every year. Being in the innovation business, I can’t help but be a tough critic – but if the strategic rationale behind a product is there, if the user need is obvious and the design is as powerful as it is beautiful, I’m in. Looking forward to visiting this year’s expo.

What do you see as consumers’ biggest concerns regarding housewares products?
The stakes are much higher now, for anyone in this business. The truth is that most people don’t want more “stuff.” (Yes, I’m one of the many Marie Kondo de-cluttering  converts!) People don’t want novelty. They’re more discerning with the dollars they spend. One product has to make a meaningful impact in their daily home life; but it must be intuitive and unobtrusive – not “one more thing” they have to think about in an already complex and overscheduled life. The other concern is the physical size and shape of products – the worry is, “how much space is it going to take up in my house?” Things that easily tuck away or fold down for storage are key. These are all important challenges for designers, but as I’ll share in my talk, immersive research methods – when we actually go into potential users’ homes – can shed light on what people are actually looking for and how a product would fit (or not fit!) in their daily life.

What are some of today’s trends or issues that new product development professionals and/or retailers face in the housewares market?
For retailers, being able to sell the “experience” of a product is key. How can you help a shopper, in simple human terms, understand how this product is going to fit into daily life and make it immeasurably better? Context is really important. Consumers can’t always visualize a product in their home – especially connected products – without the help of a multisensory, designed experience. This is something we explored when we worked with a major home retailer to design a new multichannel customer experience for its smart home department featuring products like Nest. Consumers needed an immersive experience to interact with the platform, really understand it and feel confident that it would integrate into their homes and their lives.

For new product development professionals, I think the main question to ask is, “Just because we can, should we?” Innovation is so much more than technical feasibility and good design. Connecting with human need, filling the void, delivering profound value and unexpected joy – that’s the future of housewares product development

Thank you, Dan, for giving us this intriguing view of how you explain concepts and products for the connected home. We look forward to learning more at your presentation Monday March 20 at 2:30 pm in the Innovation Theater.

Innovation propels the housewares industry. Learn from experts about how to invigorate your new products and services by enhancing your innovation efforts. Critical issues such as global design trends, licensing, the emerging Smart Home category, branding, the needs of distinct consumer age and gender groups, the future of food and parenting – all impact the home goods market. Be sure to attend the free executive-level educational sessions at the Innovation Theater. These programs will give you a fresh perspective as you walk the Show and will inspire, inform and improve your business.

The four days of the 2017 International Home + Housewares Show will be packed with events and education. To help you plan your valuable time at the Show, we introduce you to the speakers and the 21 exciting presentations that will take place in the Innovation Theater in the Lakeside Center. Gain cutting-edge insights that you can apply to your work.  All programs are audio-recorded and will be available at www.housewares.org after the Show.