Vary the attributes

THE PRINCIPLE

Start with the idea or object or service as it is, then vary its attributes to find a better way

If you’d like to come up with a better version of a product or service that already exists, one way is to try varying its attributes. Among the many variations you can try are:

  • Make it larger.
  • Make it smaller.
  • Make it simpler (subtract functions).
  • Make it more complicated (add functions).
  • Make it more frequent or less frequent.
  • Make it more colourful.
  • Make it more appealing to young people/older people.
  • Make it easier to access.
  • Make it more exclusive.

Let’s try a few of these with the example of an alarm clock:

  • You could make it larger so it can easily be seen across the room, and to turn it off the person has to actually get up, so there’s no danger of oversleeping.
  • You could make it smaller so it can be clipped to the pocket of a pair of pyjamas or to a pillow.
  • You could add a tape recorder function on which you record your loved one’s voice saying good morning – nice to take with you when you’re away on business trips.
  • You could make it more appealing to young people by making it in the form of an animal that jumps up and down when it rings.
  • You could make it more appealing to (some) older people by having the alarm function as a voice that gives a different Zen quote every day of the month.
  • You could make it easier to access by allowing it to be controlled by your voice.
  • You could make it more exclusive by creating the clock’s face from limited-edition prints by Salvador Dali or other artists.

When you’ve listed all the possibilities, you might find interesting combinations. For instance, since kids are notoriously hard to wake up, a big clock that you have to cross the room to turn off could also contain a recorder so it plays the message, ‘Get up now! Don’t make me come to your room!’

Staying true to the notion that most new things are just variations on what already exists, this method opens up almost endless possibilities for your creativity.

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