Description
When investing in solution and product development, companies can pursue various projects—some involving products with a new blend of capabilities leveraging existing technologies, while others focus on new technologies without significantly altering product features. Some may even merge the two, creating new products with both innovative features and technologies.
The proposed Excel tool is essential for visualizing technology and product innovation paths and supporting team discussions on the best approaches to innovation. It uses two axes to represent the degree of technology and product innovation required to achieve new levels of competitiveness. Products can be displayed on the graph to highlight the level of difficulty resulting from the combination of product and technology innovations. The size of each bubble can represent the relative level of investment.
The table includes a category filter that can be used to explore different paths or alternatives for product development.
This tool can facilitate discussions on investment decisions by helping teams assess risk levels and determine the best approaches to mitigate them within available resources and investment constraints.
Key Features of the Decision Technology vs Product Innovation Tool
- The Technology versus Product prioritization tool is a two-axis graph with bubbles, each representing a project. Many projects may be discussed at once, and using the category as a filter may allow you to display only selected projects.
- The horizontal axis represents the change in product features and capabilities. Opportunities lie in developing a product that is more competitive, probably faster to deliver to the market because technology is mastered, and with a focus and attention to the market and customer, reducing the risks related to introducing a new product.
- The vertical axis represents the change in technology. Assuming an investment focusing on technology, products may at a point in time benefit from this technology, resulting in lower manufacturing costs or better maintenance for the products, or other benefits for the company or the customers.
- Each project can be represented by a position along these two axes. In addition, the project can be represented by a bubble where size is a function of the investment. If investment is not yet determined, a value can be set common to all projects so they all be represented with the same size.
Note: Those two axes need to be determined with definitions understood and agreed by colleagues. The objective is to identify where investment will be better used to address competitiveness. A product feature investment will increase competitiveness by offering a product better positioned against competition possibly with better price positioning and a better mix of product capabilities. A technology investment will, for instance, allow a lower price and increased competitiveness, or will deliver new capabilities that are important again for competitiveness. This is with this mindset that each project must be assessed along those two axes.
Understanding how projects position on the different quadrants of the final graph is important. Possibly a path involving various projects at different points in time will show the possible investment journeys and help teams determine their preferred approach.
How to Use the Tool
The Technology vs Product Innovation Tool is designed to help teams visualize and compare innovation options. Here’s how to use it:
- Define Your Axes: Set the horizontal axis for product innovation and the vertical axis for technology innovation.
- Input Your Projects: Add your projects to the table, assigning each a position based on their level of product and technology innovation.
- Adjust Bubble Sizes: Use bubble sizes to represent the level of investment for each project.
- Filter by Category: Use the category filter to focus on specific projects or innovation paths.
- Analyze and Discuss: Review the graph to identify the best investment paths and discuss strategic priorities with your team.
Advanced Features
Select the green button “Show Toolbar” to display the advanced features on the left in the “toolbar” (click again to hide the toolbar):
Data Selection
- Select the number of lines for the table between 2 and 100.
- Erase all input data: This button erases all data in the table.
- Erase all input data that is not visible: Click this button to erase data from the table that is not visible. This can take a few tens of seconds.
- Names for axes and table legends can be updated.
- Filter the category column to display only selected projects.
Legends Capabilities
- Show Names on the graph bubbles.
- Hide names on the graph.
- Set bubble text size: Click this button once the bubble text size value is updated.
- Set relative bubble size (Excel default = 100%): Click this button once the relative bubble size is updated.
- Show horizontal axis value on the graph bubbles.
- Show vertical axis value on the graph bubbles.
Changing Color Schemes
- Setting color for bubbles as a function of category: For different colors, just modify the color assigned to the category. The value inside the cell represents the color code and is generated automatically. It is here for reference.
- Setting color for each graph bubble: For each graph bubble, a different color can be selected. You can set a color for each line. The value inside the cell represents the color code and is generated automatically. It is here for reference.
- Copying current bubble color code: Use this function if the color was changed directly in the graph. It will save the color in the table below. Use this if you want to keep the colors selected directly on the graph, by copying these colors in the column below “Set unit color for each graph bubble.”
Note: You have full access to the macros of this file, so you can adapt or create new macros. Please share the needs you’d like to see addressed in a future version.
Links and References
This tool builds on the principles described in our Solution Mix chapter, which structures solution attributes, value drivers, and differentiation logic.
Deciding between technology-led or product-led innovation directly shapes solution design and differentiation. For how to handle these decisions, visit our Product vs Technology Innovation Strategy page.
Innovation choices require structured reasoning and shared purpose. See the Decision Mix for strategic guidance.
Usage & Licensing
Please review the Sales Conditions published on this website to fully understand your rights and the restrictions regarding the use of this product. Our products are intended for professional use only and are not designed for consumer purposes.
The products provided under this agreement are exclusively for the individual buyer or members of the same business unit. Sharing, distributing, or making them available to individuals or teams outside the designated user or relevant business unit is strictly prohibited. For software licensing purposes, a business unit is limited to a maximum of 100 employees, including full-time, part-time, and temporary staff. Additional licenses must be purchased in multiples of 100 if this limit is exceeded.
The provided download link is valid for two months and allows up to 10 downloads. Be sure to save a copy before the link expires or the download limit is reached. Users have full access to the application product, including any embedded macros, and may make necessary adjustments to suit their needs. However, all branding, trademarks, and references to marketingdecision.org must remain visible and intact within the application.
Ensure that you have Microsoft Excel and a PC running Windows before purchasing this application. This application uses advanced dynamic range calculations introduced by Microsoft. Please ensure that you are using a compatible version of Excel, such as Microsoft 365, or any version released after Excel 2019 which supports this feature.
We appreciate your feedback on how to improve this application. Feel free to share your suggestions with us at contact@marketingdecision.org
