Design and innovation go hand in hand with the financial performance of organizations. Confirmed in the report from the UK’s Design Council that design-oriented firms in all kinds of industries have outperformed their more-traditional peers. A short example of this is presented with Nintendo’s focus on the design and creativity of Wii rather than classical research and development.

According to insider information presented to me, Nintendo was actually in very deep trouble before it developed Wii – game console, which has reaped great success and is admired by all possible generations, from children to the elderly. What did Nintendo do?

Focused on creativity. And not on the technology. He stopped competing with the competition (Microsoft and Sony) in the development of high-performance graphical games that are anyway to interest only to the most enthusiastic players. Nintendo has instead opted for:
+ a low-cost differentiation;
+ focus was placed on occasional players;
+ the business model was also innovative.

“Studies have shown that design oriented firms in all kinds of industries have outperformed their more-traditional peers—that design and innovation go hand-in-hand with financial success.” —Design Council

It was a typical design innovation that is not based on high-technology achievements. What is typical for Design Innovation? That the design in such an organization is at their core (we had such a case within Iskra corporation in Slovenia decades ago), so they are first-to-market and force me-too response by the competition.

Sources:
Nancy Duarte. Slide:ology: The Art and Science of Creating Great Presentations
Robert Safian. The design dividend: Letter from the editor