At the 2015 Wearable World Congress, BeyondCurious interviewed companies on the cutting edge of wearables in order to understand how they get user feedback as they develop wearable products. In this video, Monisha Perkash, Founder and CEO of LumoBodyTech, discusses how user feedback has helped them evolve their Lumo Lift product to the sleek and fashionable device it is today. She provides insight on the value of failing early and often.

View our video for more insight from Monisha Perkash.

At the 2015 Wearable World Congress, BeyondCurious interviewed companies on the cutting edge of wearables in order to understand how they get user feedback as they develop wearable products. In this video, Marcus Weller, Founder and CEO of SKULLY shares how user research has shaped how their smart motorcycle helmet feels and performs. He provides valuable insight on solving business problems you are passionate about and the role user research can play.

View our video for more insight from Marcus Weller

Startups don't have a monopoly on innovation. Big companies can innovate, too. Apple has been innovating for years. Virgin continues to reinvent the travel experience. But legacy brands and challengers alike don't innovate by accident. Innovators, whether legacy brands or startups, possess a culture of innovation. You can, too.

How does a business make innovation an everyday occurrence? I recently blogged about the role of a change agent to guide innovation inside an organization. You need a change agent to lead. But you also need a team with the right kind of innovation mindset: individuals who can achieve successful outcomes in the face of uncertainty. The good news is an innovation mindset can be taught. In fact, on May 26, BeyondCurious took a major step in teaching innovation with the launch of BeyondCurious Academy. Through BeyondCurious Academy, we are developing the kind of skills and thinking required to practice innovation, starting with our own team. 

Innovation in a business requires not only a different approach to developing new ideas but also the right kind of leader. In all the work we do as an innovation agency, I have noticed that every breakthrough has something in common: a strong leader on the client team. And I'm not talking about an executive who defines leadership solely by how well a project is managed; I mean a leader who possesses the vision to understand how change can transform an entire company and knows how to inspire others to advocate for change, too. I call this kind of leader a change agent.

Traditional methods for digital product development aren’t designed for rapid innovation and don’t support a “test-and-learn” approach in shaping the product. The traditional approaches are fraught with risk – you may end up with a product that doesn’t serve your market needs. Whether it’s a mobile app or a website, now you can build better products faster with cutting-edge cloud tools. Here are five cloud tools that we use in our work with major brands: