Europ Assistance participates in an experimental project by BVA Doxa and THINGS for the design of new services through data-driven design.
Greenability, Multi-Modality, Micro-Mobility, Sharing…these are just some of the transformative thrusts that are affecting the world of mobility. The evolution of the behavior of those who move on the roads – in the city and outside urban centers – is stimulating new services and business models that are also reflected in the necessary coverage in the event of unforeseen events.
Europ Assistance wanted to take up the challenge of change, experimenting an innovation path based on the Data-Driven Design approach proposed by BVA Doxa, a leading company in the field of research and marketing consultancy, and THINGS, a company at the forefront of the development of new products and services with a focus on IoT solutions for the consumer world.
The model developed by THINGS and BVA Doxa is based on the native integration of Market Research & Product Experience Design techniques, using a hybrid and extensive research methodology that leads to the design and development of the product and service, focusing on needs, people’s expectations and attitudes.
The advantages of this integrated model compared to a traditional approach are that it proposes a preliminary phase to collect information with hybrid techniques between research and data analysis, thus allowing the company to maximize the customization of the output on the real needs of the customer, limiting the entrepreneurial risks in product innovation.
This is how an experimental project in the mobility sector was born, in which the pool of consultants of THINGS and BVA Doxa worked side by side with a selected team of Europ Assistance in the design of a solution that protects the person – and not just the vehicle – in all its movements regardless of the vehicle used, in line with the philosophy adopted by the Company in the latest products launched. From a methodological point of view, the process was divided into 6 phases, making use of generative workshops and an iterative approach that led the extended team though the use of tools for investigation, generation of ideas, user validation and consolidation of new service concepts before their final implementation.
Here are some keystones of the approach:
1. TRUST THE PROCESS
Innovation is above all a process, it is hardly the result of a brilliant intuition: the Data-Driven Design model is based on the rigorous application of methods, techniques and tools that enhance insights from the field and the creativity of individuals with heterogeneous backgrounds, channeling the creation of new ideas into a coded design and development process.
2. THE USER-CENTRIC APPROACH IS INSPIRATIONAL
In the Data-Driven Design process, moments of observation and listening to groups of potential end users are of crucial importance, mixing the typical techniques of market research with those of product design, in order to collect consistent and relevant insights useful for the incremental consolidation of concepts and prototypes of products and services to be developed.
3. “REPETITA IUVANT”
An iterative process guarantees the creation of a product and service that responds to the expectations of end users and the stakeholders responsible for its evolution. The development of a company product/asset will theoretically never end: to pursue its success, it must evolve and expand in an iterative way based on data that are always updated and contextually relevant.
4. PARTICIPATION STIMULATES IDEAS
The active participation of the stakeholders of the company is a key element for the success of innovation projects: beyond the positive effects on onboarding and employee engagement, the interaction between different profiles of competence enriches the exchange and stimulates the creation of distinctive and original ideas. It is no longer conceivable that corporate assets like services offered to customers and stakeholders are conceived according to separate silos logics.
5. LISTENING TO USERS YOU RISK LESS
The human-centric approach involved in design thinking, agile and lean processes anticipates the collection of feedback from potential end users regarding a new product or service, with the clear advantage of developing assets incrementally and making them economically more sustainable, with a consequent reduction of investment risks.
