Design Products That Won’t Become Obsolete

Consumers change and grow. Your offerings should, too. by Vijay Govindarajan, Tojin T. Eapen and Daniel J. Finkenstadt

From the Magazine (November–December 2024)

Bryan Nash Gill

Summary.

In 2017 Radio Flyer, the maker of the iconic Little Red Wagon, introduced a remote-controlled, battery-operated car that kids can ride on. It has three modes of operation, each of which is suited to a different growth stage for young children. In stage one the car is controlled remotely by a watchful parent. In stage two the child drives the car, but parents can override any questionable decisions. In stage three all driving decisions, safe or concerning, are made by the child. Radio Flyer gave its new product a simple name, one that made its abilities and selling points perfectly clear: the Grow with Me Racer.

Read more on Design thinking or related topics Product development, Innovation and Consumer behavior

A version of this article appeared in the November–December 2024 issue of Harvard Business Review.

Vijay Govindarajan is the Coxe Distinguished Professor at Dartmouth College’s Tuck School of Business, a Dartmouth-wide chair and the highest distinction awarded to Dartmouth faculty; a Faculty Partner in the Silicon Valley incubator Mach49; and Senior Advisor at the strategy consulting firm Acropolis Advisors. He is a New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling author. His latest book is Fusion Strategy: How Real-Time Data and AI Will Power the Industrial Future. His Harvard Business Review articles “Engineering Reverse Innovations” and “Stop the Innovation Wars” won McKinsey Awards for best article published in HBR. His HBR articles “How GE Is Disrupting Itself” and “The CEO’s Role in Business Model Reinvention” are HBR all-time top-50 bestsellers. Follow him on LinkedIn.

@vgovindarajan

Tojin T. Eapen is the founder of the Center for Creative Foresight, a senior fellow at the Conference Board, and an adviser at StratRocket.

Daniel J. Finkenstadt is a U.S. military officer, an academic researcher, and the principal of Wolf Stake Consulting. He is a coauthor of the books Supply Chain Immunity (2023) and Bioinspired Strategic Design (2024).

Read more on Design thinking or related topics Product development, Innovation and Consumer behavior

Design Products That Won’t Become Obsolete

Summary.

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