Innovating Through DESIGN. By: Verganti, Roberto, Harvard Business Review, 00178012, Dec2006, Vol. 84, Issue 12

A group of cutting-edge manufacturers in northern Italy interpret items for the home, like lamps and teakettles, in ways that initially confound consumers and then convert them. The result is high growth rates and long product lives.


Roberto Verganti (roberto.verganti@polimi.it) is a professor of management of innovation at Politecnico di Milano in Italy, where he teaches in the school of management and the school of design. This article is based on research he conducted that won the Compasso d'Oro, Italy's most prestigious design award.