Design to market thinking: exploring the merits of strategic niche management in design thinking

Figures & data

Figure 1. (a) DT’s process for innovations (adapted from: Brown 2008). (b) DT’s criteria for design innovation (adapted from: IDEO 2012). (c) SNM for Sustainable innovation journeys (adapted from: Schot and Geels 2008). The grey circle shows the bottom up implementation process from innovation to market ready design.

Figure 2. SNM and DT points of departure to designing innovations.

Table 1. DT and SNM strengths to Buhl et al.’s challenges for SOI.

Buhl et al.’s (2019) challenges	DT key strengths (Buhl et al. 2019)*	SNM key strengths (as proposed by authors)
Innovation scope	Problem framing	Changeability of market preconditions, e.g. from now into the future.
User needs	User focus	Niche focus
Stakeholder involvement	Diversity	Commercial viability (long term)
Assurance of positive sustainability effects	Experimentation and iteration	Creation of development steps

*A fifth strength is called ‘visualisation’. It is not included in this table because its resolution to the challenges is diffused by Buhl et al. (2019).

Figure 3. Research Design: Workshop for actors to articulate propositions to influence.

Table 2. APs for creating testbed for implementation.

#	Labels for SNM articulation process (AP)	Resulting focal question
1	Cultural and psychological meaning	Which symbolic meaning can be assigned to the sustainable innovation?
2	Government policy	What legal and governmental policy changes would you deem necessary for the market introduction of the sustainable innovation?
3 (A&B)	Infrastructure and maintenance network	Which party/parties should be responsible for the maintenance (A) and recycling/waste management (B) of the sustainable innovation?
4	Technical aspects and design specifications	What technical adjustments to the current design of the sustainable innovation could be suggested?
5 (A&B)	Production network	Which party/parties should produce (A) and market (B) the sustainable innovation?
6	The market	How to market the sustainable innovation in an economically sound manner?
7	Societal and environmental effects	What effect will the new technology have on the environment and society as a whole?

Figure 4. The Suspended Tree.

Figure 5. Card placements by actor network after AP 3A, AP 4 and AP 5A.

Table 3. Propositions for market introduction of the Suspended Tree (ST).

#	Propositions (articulated as expectations to be tested)
1	Monetising the ecosystem services of the ST forms narratives for the ST.
2	Creating custom narratives on sustainability topics for the technology advocates empowers the market introduction of ST.
3	Creating a more environmentally minded government stimulates city greening with the ST.
4	Linking the ecosystem services of the ST to other societal issues and domains better defines the ST's value.
5	More insights on building regulations and other governmental norms prevents legal impediments of the ST's market implementation.
6	Experimenting with different ownership constructs optimises the maintenance and recycling tasks of the ST.
7	Forming a consortium composed out of the tree nursery and engineers finetunes the production processes of the ST.
8	Selecting technology advocates supports the ST's market introduction.
9	Increasing the ST’s experience makes the product more appealing for potential buyers.
10	Alternating the construction of the ST increases the general socio-technical competitiveness of the ST.
11	Adding social workplaces to the consortium delivers more governmental support for the ST's market implementation.
12	Selecting a single marketing company provides outlines of the marketing strategy for the ST.
13	Applying showcases of the ST raises the interest of potential investors.
14	Creating multiple different models of the ST increases the general socio-technical competitiveness of the ST.
15	Utilising sustainability-oriented subsidy schemes increases the general socio-technical competitiveness of the ST.
16	Reforming the current performance criteria levels the playing field for the ST in comparison to ordinary trees.

Figure 6. Design to Market Thinking approach using merits of SNM into DT.

Brown, T. 2008. “Design Thinking.” Harvard Business Review 86 (5): 84–92.

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IDEO. 2012. Design Thinking for Educators’ Toolkit.

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Buhl, A., M. Schmidt-Keilich, V. Muster, S. Blazejewski, U. Schrader, C. Harrach, M. Schäfer, and E. Süßbauer. 2019. “Design Thinking for Sustainability: Why and how Design Thinking Can Foster Sustainability-Oriented Innovation Development.” Journal of Cleaner Production 231: 1248–1257.

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