Knowledgemanagement for innovative design

Abstract

Innovation is mandatory for the survival of industrial companies more than ever subjected to competition. For this reason it is crucial to help the designers to innovate faster and more efficiently than competitors. The aim of our study is to propose an approach for designers to facilitate innovation in innovative design. By analyzing the multi-disciplinary literature, knowledge management (KM) is regarded as a promising approach to support innovative design. The interactions between KM and innovation have been investigated. From a human centered perspective, we model KM for innovation by focusing on the more efficient creation and use of knowledge in design. A hierarchical model is constructed for leveraging KM activities into innovation. Finally, the applicability and usefulness of our approach is demonstrated through a software prototype being tested with an industrial partner. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2011.