innovation-management

name	innovation-management
description	Innovation process, idea management, R&D, prototyping
version	2.0.0
tags	["rd","innovation","ideas","prototyping"]
agents	["universal"]

Innovation Management Skill

Comprehensive innovation management including idea management, R&D processes, and prototyping.

When to Use This Skill

USE THIS SKILL when:

• Managing innovation pipeline
• Processing new ideas
• R&D project management
• Prototyping new solutions
• Building innovation culture
• "We need new ideas"
• Innovation portfolio management

DO NOT USE for:

• Product development (use product-suite)
• Business research (use business-researcher)

Innovation Pipeline

Pipeline Stages

IDEA → SCREEN → RESEARCH → PROTOTYPE → VALIDATE → BUILD → SCALE
        ↓         ↓          ↓          ↓         ↓        ↓
      Reject   Low fit    Prototype   Not viable
                                   → MVP     → Launch

Idea Submission Template

## Innovation Idea: [Title]

### Submitter
- Name: [Name]
- Team: [Team]
- Date: [Date]

### The Problem
- **Current State**: [What exists]
- **Pain Point**: [The friction]
- **Impact**: [Who does this affect]

### Proposed Solution
- **Concept**: [High-level idea]
- **Approach**: [How it would work]

### Value Proposition
- **Customer Value**: [Why customers care]
- **Business Value**: [Why it matters]
- **Size of Opportunity**: [estimate]

### Requirements
- **Resources**: [What's needed]
- **Time to Prototype**: [Estimate]
- **Risks**: [Known risks]

Idea Screening Matrix

Criteria	Weight	Score (1-5)	Weighted
Strategic Fit	20%	[X]	[X]
Customer Value	25%	[X]	[X]
Feasibility	20%	[X]	[X]
Business Impact	20%	[X]	[X]
Differentiation	15%	[X]	[X]
Total	100%		[X/X]

Score Interpretation:

• 4.0-5.0: Proceed to research
• 2.5-3.9: Conditional proceed
• <2.5: Reject or revisit

R&D Project Management

Project Types

Type	Purpose	Timeline	Investment
Exploratory	Learn/validate	2-4 weeks	Low
Experimental	Prove concept	1-3 months	Medium
Developmental	Build MVP	3-6 months	High
Enhanced	Improve current	Ongoing	Variable

R&D Project Template

## R&D Project: [Name]

### Overview
| Field | Value |
|-------|-------|
| Type | [Exploratory/Experimental] |
| Lead | [Name] |
| Budget | $[X] |
| Start | [Date] |
| Target | [Date] |

### Hypothesis
[What we're testing]

### Success Criteria
| Criteria | Target | Current |
|----------|--------|---------|
| [Metric 1] | [Target] | [Current] |
| [Metric 2] | [Target] | [Current] |

### Approach
1. [Phase 1]: [Description]
2. [Phase 2]: [Description]
3. [Phase 3]: [Description]

### Learnings Log
| Date | Learning | Implications |
|------|----------|---------------|
| [Date] | [What we learned] | [What it means] |

### Decision Point
- [ ] Continue to next phase
- [ ] Pivot approach
- [ ] Stop

Prototyping

Prototype Types

Type	Purpose	Fidelity	Time
Paper	Concept validation	Low	1-2 days
Clickable	Flow validation	Medium	1-2 weeks
Code	Technical validation	High	2-4 weeks
Production	Full features	Full	Ongoing

Prototype Planning

## Prototype Plan: [Name]

### Objectives
- [ ] Validate [assumption 1]
- [ ] Validate [assumption 2]

### Scope
| In Scope | Out of Scope |
|----------|--------------|
| [Feature] | [Feature] |

### Success Metrics
| Metric | Target | Measurement |
|--------|---------|--------------|
| [Metric 1] | [Target] | [How measured] |

### Test Plan
| Scenario | Participants | Method |
|----------|--------------|--------|
| [Test 1] | [X] users | [Method] |
| [Test 2] | [X] users | [Method] |

### Timeline
| Phase | Duration | Deliverable |
|-------|----------|--------------|
| Design | [X] days | Designs |
| Build | [X] days | Prototype |
| Test | [X] days | Results |

Build vs Buy Decision

## Build vs Buy Analysis

### Option A: Build
| Factor | Assessment |
|--------|------------|
| Effort | [X] engineer-months |
| Time | [X] weeks |
| Cost | $[X] |
| Control | [High/Medium/Low] |
| IP Value | [High/Medium/Low] |

### Option B: Buy
| Factor | Assessment |
|--------|------------|
| Cost | $[X]/year |
| Integration | [Effort needed] |
| Control | [High/Medium/Low] |
| Vendor Risk | [High/Medium/Low] |

### Decision: [Build/Buy]
- **Rationale**: [Why]

Innovation Culture

Innovation Metrics

Metric	Definition	Target
Ideas Submitted	# ideas/month	Growing
Ideas Implemented	% implemented	>20%
Time to Prototype	Days from idea to prototype	<30 days
Innovation Revenue	Revenue from new products	Growing

Innovation retrospectives

## Innovation Retro - [Date]

### What's Working
- [What improved]

### What Could Improve
- [Area for improvement]

### Action Items
- [ ] [Action]
- [ ] [Action]

Quality Checklist

• Idea submission process defined
• Screening criteria established
• R&D project template exists
• Prototype process defined
• Build vs buy framework exists
• Innovation metrics tracked

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Compatible Agents

All SKILL.md agents ✅

See Also

• research-methodology
• prototyping
• technology-scouting