Design - The term Design in this context is designing the investigation plan and the wrapper, environment or capabilites needed to execute that plan. The intent is to move an idea "Something in Mind" from a vague notion into a clear path of how to prove and validate an idea - or possible uncover its flaws. The Design phase starts with developing a clear definition of the idea, what is known and not known, what gaps exist and What are the start and end points for Design? We start with an idea, the end point is a clear plan to prove or disprove and idea, a plan for the investigation. Clarity of goals, objectives, decision criteria for moving beyond the current effort. Identify what needs to be learned, questions answered, elements proven or disproven.

Pursuing a new idea could have one of several motivations commerical-for-profit, economic benifits direct vs. indirect (i.e. cost savings), personal, serving the common good or contributing to a general knowledge-base. This motivation and the associated objectives can impact how an investigation is undertaken. Our focus is technology R&D, either a single enabling technology or a group of technologies that offer a cumulative benifit, the idea could be the technology itself or what it enables. The starting perspective could be opportunitic or competitive, either having a problem seeking a solution or a solution/capability seeking a new problem.

The first part of design is looking at these elements since it will play into the approach, success criteria and downstream decisions such as further investigations, moving on to product development, futher trails and testing, prioritization within a broader new business development queue. Organizations have limited resources in time and money so selection and prioritization are key. Design is an anylsis and planning activity, the goal is to determine do we take this further and in what way. What are the iterative milestones, what key questions need to be answered, key variables to economics, functionality or performance. All of which play into a decision criteria for the idea. Activities may include:

What are we Designing? The plan, the experiment, the investigative program consisting of multiple iterations. Used here in a generic sense. Designing that which is needed to move an idea forward. Our goal is to validate an idea to win stakeholder and investor buy-in or disprove an idea.