Introducing Olivia, the Innovation Analyst with a superhero alter ego – “Captain Curiosity.” Equipped with a passion for change, a seamlessly endless stream of ideas, and an analytical mindset, she is dedicated to pushing her organization’s competitive advantages to their limits. Working across the organization she is responsible for keeping informed of emerging technologies and leading industry trends, evaluating feasibility assessments, administering prototypes and proof-of-concepts, and analyzing customer insights. Instead of focusing on solutions that fit into existing organizational needs, she is challenged with producing disruptive ideas that confront corporate steadfastness and cultivate transformation.

Sounds like a pretty cool job, right? Unfortunately it doesn’t exist. While aspects of the Innovation Analyst role are already part of the job duties of a Business Analyst, the majority of the time is spent performing day project work that we often overlook visionary responsibilities. In our conversation with Steve Palmer, he shared how he and his company, Ever Evolving Inc., helped formalize some of the International Standards for Innovation Management.

Prototyping & Mockups

It feels like every product owner, stakeholder and senior leader hail from Missouri, the “Show Me” state. Creating prototypes is probably the most familiar responsibility and most likely an activity we perform on a regular basis. However, once a functional prototype is presented with basic functionality, the next question is “when can you release this?”.

Prototyping is an integral part of Design Thinking. The sooner we can go from conversation to a tangible version of our ideas, the quicker we all get on the same page. We begin to see how things are working, together, versus assuming that we are all envisioning the product the same way. Even if your prototype is a piece of paper, there are benefits to translating words into images, regardless of your artistic abilities.

Market and Customer Insights

Most of us will never have the luxury of working for a company where feedback on the product goes viral like those for sugarless gummy bears reviews Amazon. That doesn’t mean that customer feedback isn’t important. Analyzing customer feedback, suggestions and complaints provides fundamental awareness of what customers value. Incorporating that information into the product backlog ensures that your product is evolving and proves to the consumers that you are listening.

Market reviews are worthwhile as well. Just like this guy, who purchases strange products on Wish just to see what he gets and how it functions, we should experience our own products from the consumer angle. Seeing how our products compare with competitors, understanding the landscape in which our products are sold, and assessing our customers’ barriers to entry allow us to maintain a competitive advantage. Knowing where our products and organizations stand in the market, can help us work with product owners to prioritize desired capabilities that our rivals may not offer.

Research and Trend Analysis

While typically research and trend analysis is left up to the Marketing and Data Analytics team, that doesn’t mean BAs can’t get involved. Understanding how industries are shifting, anticipating seasonal trends, knowing product adoption inclinations, and recognizing user demographics can only make product development better.

Innovative analysts who are plugged into their respective industries can help organizations head off investing too heavily in unused portions of their applications. A recent article reports that 38% of software simply goes unused. If you told your leaders that you could save them roughly 40% on their annual software development, you would have to fight the Board of Directors from making you the next CEO!

Perhaps your organization already has dedicated team members for research and trend analysis. That doesn’t mean that you’re off the hook. You could always partner with those individuals and utilize the data they have already collected, which takes us to our next tip.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

To truly be innovative, we need full comprehension of how our products operate. Enter cross-functional collaboration. Cross-functional collaboration means that instead of only working with the operations or development team, we engage with other areas of the business like sales, finance, research & development, and marketing. Closely interacting with these groups provides a varied perspective of collective issues across teams, increases operational understanding as departments are engaged, builds relationships within a product-line or organization, and ensures that any innovative notions would integrate well across the teams.

Methods for Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Create a “Core-Team” of people that represent all areas of the business and ensure that they are involved in all the high-value projects.
• Join the “Core Team” if you can’t create it.
• Shadow or interview team members in other departments to understand their day-to-day activities.

Up, Up and BA…

OK, so maybe you don’t have super-sonic hearing or a desire to wear skin-tight spandex to the office. The good news is that you don’t need to be a super-BA to help your teams and organizations innovate. With a little business-savvy and maintained involvement in various areas that indirectly impact your project, you can ensure the products you help deliver are focused on shifting trends and provide users with honed capabilities you know they will appreciate.

If you have other ways that you help your organization innovate, share them in the comments. We’re always looking for new methods to sharpen our skillsets, inspire change and advance the organizations we work with.

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