Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland
This study investigates the crucial yet underexplored relationship between design innovation and user experience, a key component in today’s “experience economy.” Our research focuses on understanding how design innovation relates to user satisfaction, specifically through the lenses of design newness and design thinking. We analyzed a dataset of 1,222 Amazon products, each linked to its respective design patents through the IPRoduct database, and assessed user experience based on product star ratings. Our results uncover a nuanced U-shaped relationship between design innovation and user experience. In addition, we find that this relationship is moderated by factors such as innovation gestation and design team expertise. In particular, we observed that products with longer gestation periods exhibit a flatter U-shaped curve. At the same time, those developed by teams with greater expertise show a rightward shift in the curve’s turning point. Based on these findings, we outline managerial and policy implications, highlighting the complex dynamics between design innovation and user experience.
