This presentation will introduce a simple, easy to apply, visual framework that can be used to study, document and communicate user behaviours and needs. The results can be applied directly to new product innovation and intellectual property strategy. The panel discussion will look at how 360 Activity Mapping has been used in various design-related applications.
Who Should Attend
Product Managers, Product Line Managers, Designers, Market researchers, and anyone directly involved in product innovation and intellectual property strategy.
Takeaways
1. An adaptable methodology for mapping and communicating consumer activities that allows unsolved needs to be easily identified. 2. A general approach to use this information to identify new pockets of intellectual property. 3. Ways of applying this framework to the full lifecycle of a product’s use

Many garment manufacturers and designers depend heavily on visual colour tools: found samples, inspiration books and even Pantone Ink Matching books. The dyers at the other end of this specification process have Spectrophotometers and Colour Matching Software in order to match and communicate colour in specific mathematical terms… Often times there is much confusion trying to get both ends of the process on the same page. We will discuss how to bridge that gap by using tools and language that make colour communication clearer and more definitive.

Come armed to this session with your curiosity about Vancouver's very own Mountain Equipment Co-op and pose your questions to members of the MEC Product Team. Enjoy a fireside chat and Q&A with Wendy Youds and Greg Scott.

Pete will explore the definition of this much used and little understood term and the working organization required to becoming an innovation driven company. He will use a short history of the outdoor industry to put the idea and practice of innovation into context, and with luck spark a fun discussion.

Join the discussion of sustaining out of house success, and how best to leverage it when internal. Looking at contracting from the clients view, from a freelancers, and from a consultancy group. Tools, software, continued areas to draw inspiration for projects. Frameworks to embrace should you be considering going it alone in a chapter ahead, and areas to focus on should you be out-of-house currently. We’ll talk about contractor relevance, acquiring clients, and retaining them. Collaborating with others creatives. And briefly touch on building up a creative team Optimal lifestyle when going out of house.

A chat on the power of prototyping being central to one's design process. Ideas on how to introduce more prototyping into different creative positions. Making the case to teammates (and/or clients) of their value in a vendor-sample-centric landscape. Blueprints for how to bring physical building more into practice with ideas on how to scale up the making side of design. Unpacking the development time savings of prototyping. Pitfalls and drawbacks when prototyping is leveraged inappropriately. How to evaluate time used internally for them, and how to charge as a freelancer for prototype building General approach prototype resources, studio growth, and tool investment over time.

Do you know the difference between Pre-Consumer and Post-Consumer textile waste?
Have you ever thought what happens to fabric scraps, defective rolls, used clothes or worn out socks?
This presentation is to briefly overview the basic terms and processes used in the Textile Waste industry and introduce new innovations and creative solutions to divert textile waste.

This one-hour presentation will compare recent survey findings profiling soft goods and hard goods product management in specialty industries (outdoor, bike, ski, etc.) to traditional tech industry survey results. Along with clarifying roles and responsibilities, the presentation will also identify several key tools to help product managers perform at a higher level.
Who Should Attend
Product Managers, Product Line Managers, and Directors and above of Product, Product Development, Design, Marketing, and Innovation
Takeaways
1. A clear understanding of the unique demands that are the daily life of soft goods and hard goods Product Managers in specialty industries. 2. An understanding of a Product Manager’s primary roles and responsibilities 3. Recommendations for systems, methods, tools, and techniques that are needed to execute a Product Manager’s main responsibilities