When someone develops a new idea, the first step is research. The data collected is intended to uncover:
- competitive products that may be on the market.
- patents that may relate to the new idea.
Product Research in Action
Oftentimes, product research reveals that a new product idea may be similar to a product that is already on the market. Inventionland designers and builders work together to try to find a way to separate the idea from other products already on store shelves.
In the case of the Surprise Pan, which was designed at Inventionland, other muffin pans were obviously already in the market. But, Inventionland professionals were able to design a new product simply by adding a post in the center of the muffin pan, so that a delicious surprise could be added to an ordinary muffin.