Innovation Matrix Template

About the Innovation Matrix Template

Are you looking for a way to inspire change in your business? Using the Innovation Matrix Template, you identify the best avenues of growth, allowing you to create a successful and unique innovation strategy.

Let’s take a look at what an innovation matrix is and how you can create one using our Innovation Matrix Template.

What is an innovation matrix?

An innovation matrix is a visualization of how to innovate your business based on your goals.

Whether you’re a startup or a growing enterprise, the matrix allows you to identify new areas of innovation, simplifying innovation management in the process. It’s often used as the starting point for creating an innovation program. It urges companies to use Design Thinking techniques to build their strategy.

The matrix itself is more of a framework than a set template, meaning that it varies in structure. Our Innovation Matrix Template focuses on four key areas: breakthrough innovation, sustaining innovation, basic research, and disruptive innovation. We’ll look at these in more detail later.

Benefits of using an innovation matrix

An innovation matrix allows businesses and entrepreneurs to create their innovation strategy, but it also has additional benefits. Companies that use innovation initiatives can also perform the following:

• Identify areas of improvement in your current business model and processes

• Map out new products

• Improve existing products

• Discover revolutionary breakthroughs in new areas of the business

• Better allocate resources to areas that will foster growth

It also helps teams coordinate their efforts and streamline the innovation process, outlining the key areas of growth and development in one location.

Create an innovation matrix

Miro's visual workspace allows teams to create a shareable innovation matrix easily. Start by using our Innovation Matrix Template and follow these simple steps:

Step 1: Begin with the ideation process, which involves identifying the areas of growth in your business and constructing new ideas within these areas. Think of it as a brainstorm. You lay everything on the table and start your roadmap to innovation.

To get things started, ask yourself, is there a particular area of your business you want to focus on? Use this as the foundation to develop your ideas, and you’ll be on your way to creating a refined and focused matrix.

Step 2: Now that you’ve outlined your main areas of focus, you can start to categorize your ideas within the matrix. Our template has four sections to do this: breakthrough innovation, sustaining innovation, basic research, and disruptive innovation (sometimes known as radical innovation).

Your ideas should be placed in the matrix depending on which category they suit best. For example, if you have a well-thought-through and developed idea that’s unlike anything else happening in your industry, you’d place it in the disruptive innovation section.

Step 3: You can now review the matrix in its entirety to identify the best areas of growth. To do this, figure out which ideas are likely to yield the best results and what resources you’ll need to bring them to reality.

The bottom half of the matrix tends to outline the quick wins, while the rest of the matrix might require more time and resources to bring to life. These are often the ideas that’ll make a big difference and push the boundaries of what your business can do.

Step 4: Use all the information you’ve gathered from the matrix to create an innovation strategy. It should outline the goals and metrics you’ve set, the actions you plan to take, and how this innovation will improve the business.

Example of an effective innovation matrix

For a lot of businesses, one product isn’t enough to remain sustainable. Look at Amazon, for example. In addition to their online retail service, they also offer their online streaming platform, Amazon Prime.

Let’s use a similar example to exemplify an innovation matrix. Here’s an outline of the information you’d see in an effective innovation matrix for product development:

• Breakthrough innovation: Expand the existing product line with new features to meet changing customer needs. This will sit in the top left corner of the matrix.

• Sustaining innovation: Next to the previous section in the top right of the matrix, you’ll see the sustaining innovation category. This will feature a new product that’ll challenge your competitors and fill a gap in the market.

• Basic research: In the bottom left corner of the matrix, you’ll see the basic research section. This includes small and quick improvements to the existing product line to offer more value to customers.

• Disruptive innovation: In the bottom right corner of the matrix, you’ll see a new product that’s never been seen before. This will change the industry and potentially create an entirely new market.

This is a very top-level example of a product development matrix. In your matrix, you can go into more detail about the type of product you should launch, how to launch it, and whether there are any quick wins.