PDMA Connections - April 2024

PDMA’s Inspire Innovation Conference unites product leaders, teams, innovation executives, academics, and solution providers from nearly every industry sector for the “event of the year” for product professionals. Bring your company’s brand to life by engaging with our attendees in person, and maximize brand visibility by sponsoring conference events and materials. Build lifelong brand relationships at PDMA’s Inspire Innovation Conference, and choose one of our high-impact options.

The significantly revised and improved Third Edition of the PDMA Body of Knowledge (BoK) provides a singular reference for everyone involved in product management, development, and innovation—regardless of industry. It is also the guidebook of the knowledge required to pass PDMA’s New Product Development Professional (NPDP) certification exam. The BoK is organized into seven integrated knowledge areas: management, strategy, portfolio, process, design and development, market research, and cultures & teams. New sections address case studies, examples, chapter exercises, and sample NPDP exam questions.

Use code PDMA3 for a 25% discount at wiley.com.

Knowing your customers better than anyone else creates an incredible opportunity for competitive advantage. Voice of the Customer (VOC) has been a best practice front-end of innovation activity for decades, but executing systematic VOC can be time-consuming and labor-intensive.

Applied Marketing Science (AMS), in partnership with Professor Artem Timoshenko from the Kellogg School of Management, is exploring how custom Generative AI can accelerate and enhance VOC insights. The central question: can Gen AI produce detailed and actionable customer needs—the beyond-the-obvious, qualitative insights necessary for front-end innovation?

Join Kristyn Corrigan of AMS to explore how Gen AI is propelling brands’ ability to obtain robust, actionable VOC insights for innovation.

Are you looking to become more involved in PDMA? We’re looking for you! We want to expand kHUB’s network of curators/editorial board. PDMA kHUB is the centralized digital content management and access platform for the extensive PDMA Body of Knowledge. The kHUB editorial board is responsible for content aggregation, curation, and creation for the key areas such as Strategy, Portfolio Management, Product Innovation Process, Product Design & Development Tools, Market Research in Product Innovation, Culture, Teams & Leadership, Product Innovation Management. kHUB offers easy access and brings to life PDMA thought leadership in a way that showcases our unique expertise and enduring impact for product development and innovation management professionals throughout their careers.

Learn more here, fill out this form and/or contact Sue Burek, kHUB administrator (sburek@pdma.org, 585-314-4611)

PDMA’s Global Student Innovation Challenge 2024 submission portal is open and ready to receive your innovation ideas!

The Product Development and Management Association (PDMA) is pleased to offer the 5th annual Global Student Innovation Challenge. This challenge encourages and supports students developing novel, real-world offerings—including products, software, or services. Students currently enrolled at a university academic program, either in an undergraduate or graduate level, are eligible to participate. The top three finalist teams will be invited to present their project as part of the PDMA International Inspire Innovation Conference, September 14–17, 2024 in St. Louis, Missouri USA. You can review the rules and guidelines of the challenge as well as videos of the winning teams from previous years on our website. Please thoroughly review the rubric to ensure you meet all the criteria.

The submission portal is open until June 1, 2024.

New kHUB Content:

In the kHUB Strategy webcast Including Sustainability in Innovation Governance and Portfolio Management, Paul Heller of Sopheon Corporation guides us through various stages and elements of common approaches and frameworks and where and when to apply them for strategic, successful, environmentally sustainable products and business cases. The objective is to Embed Sustainability into Innovation / PD processes.

PDMA’s local chapters continue to hold online events. We post the recordings and presentations from the local events on kHUB’s Local Chapter Content — on Demand for you to access and view at your convenience. Check out these recent presentations:

Carolinas Chapter – March 12, 2024: How to 10x Your Product Management with Generative AI
Minnesota Chapter – March 20, 2024: Paradigm Shift: Dramatic Operational Improvement with a Change in Mindset and February 21, 2024: Faster New Product Learning Cycles
New Zealand Chapter – March 20, 2024: Community-Driven Product Development
St. Louis Chapter – March 5, 2024: Together We Create: The Power of Integrating Customers in Your Product Development

More JPIM Academic articles have been linked on kHUB! Clicking on the link in kHUB’s abstract, overview, and practitioner points allows you to access the the full article in JPIM. We’ve completed posting those from the January 2024 and a special edition issue. Check out several just added to the Culture, Teams & Leadership section of kHUB.

Ideation tools and methods are imperative to product and service design. The tools vary in their focus, specificity, and usability. The article Let’s Flow Ideation: A Compendium of a Design Thinking Logic and Design Tools by kHUB content editor Carlos Rodriguez highlights the purpose, content, and tooling in Let’s Flow from the House of Design Thinking. These tools have proven effective, innovative, and flexible to assist the facilitators in designing and operationalizing workshops, Sprints, and Design Thinking sessions. The richness of Let’s Flow resides in its flexibility and focus. The methodology offers several creative and innovative paths with more than 120 tools. These tools target specific objectives from ideation to prototyping and facilitate the creation of divergent and convergent thinking in design. Learn more about this design tool by reading the full article in the Product Development & Design Tools section of kHUB.

The Human Factors and Ergonomics Society announces their 23rd Annual User-Centered Product Design Award. This prestigious award shines a spotlight on teams who have masterfully integrated user-centered design principles into their product development, ensuring their creations truly resonate with users. Applying is simple:

Nomination Form: Start with a brief form to introduce the nominated product/system.
Submission File: Prepare a detailed document showcasing the design, development, and impact of your product/system. Email this to adam@ucdaward.com by April 30.

Hesitant about your nomination? Chat with Adam! Call 215-701-3134 or email adam@ucdaward.com to discuss your potential nomination.

PDMA is growing! Meet and connect with our new members by signing into the PDMA community on our website.

PDMA welcomed these new members in March 2024. We look forward to working with you!

Individual Members

Thomas Baldwin
Autumn Barbato
Glenn Benner
Ashley Blankette
Yu Chiao
Stacy Culleton
Daniel Daley
Mark Deutsch
Kennen Dietz
Donald Kamer
Melissa Kelly
Tom Knight
Jim Schriver
Yuganti Shirodkar
Mikayla Smith
Craeg Strong
Brian Vargo
Adam Wynne

Academic Members

Yuqin Jiang
Kas Kasravi
Yaoyi Lu
Rui Lu
Shashi Matta
Yifan Wu
Chen Yongxing
Huijun Zhang
Xin Zhang

Student Members
Tyler Ashner
Qing Cheng
Patience Djeuji
Daniel Ekwunife
Wenkai Fan
Zengkai Han
Boyuan Ni
Kiesha Paul
Bingzhong Qin
Yang Shen
Ningjun Shi
Qiaoling Tang
Zihao Xiao
Panpan Yang
Zhenpu Yang
Xiaohui Yu

PDMA Pittsburgh is teaming up with Aurora Innovation on April 24 for a fun company showcase networking event. Attendees will learn how Aurora Innovation’s self-driving technology increases efficiency and mobility, while bringing a reliable driver supply and heightened safety to America’s roads. They will also be able to check out an autonomous minivan, videos, and a semi-truck that will be in the front parking lot.

Attendees will also mix and mingle with like-minded product development professionals while enjoying craft beers and tasty appetizers.

Please contact Andi Durkota at pghpdma@pdma.org for more information.