From idea to innovation

Software engineering encompasses the interaction of various disciplines that are necessary for the successful delivery of a software product—and is becoming increasingly important as software becomes more complex.

Product idea

It all starts with a product idea to solve a challenge in the world, in a company, or in a person's life. This is exactly where digital innovation comes in: How can real problems be identified and addressed in a way that creates real added value? An idea only becomes an innovation when it has a tangible impact.

More about ideation and innovation

Requirements

However, even an idea with high innovation potential is not enough to start programming right away. It goes through numerous iterations until the idea has matured into a usable blueprint for a product. This refinement process involves breaking down the idea into requirements and documenting them. The process known as requirements engineering is a prerequisite for bringing an innovation to life: only when a team knows exactly how processes work in the product and what functionalities are needed can it develop software in a targeted manner.

More about requirements engineering

User experience

Innovation always happens for people, even when the challenges are in a business context. Whether an innovation catches on really depends on how much stakeholders and target groups are involved and how awesome the user experience is. A positive user experience ensures that a product is used willingly and frequently. This is not only about intuitive interfaces (usability), but also about making it as easy as possible for users to access innovations – from initial contact to purchasing the product to daily use (user journey).

More about User Experience Design

Agile methods are now an integral part of modern development processes. They make it possible to regularly check whether an innovation is actually having the intended effect. By continuously evaluating a product and its associated concepts, adaptations can be made at an early stage – whether by revising the idea, the requirements, or the design.

After all, the world is constantly changing, and with it, the challenges we face. An innovation only remains an innovation if it adapts to these changes.

Whether you come to us with a clearly defined problem or just a vague idea, we support you with a wide range of methods to precisely identify the actual challenge and develop innovative solutions that create real added value. Often, problems that are apparent on the surface, such as overly long processes, duplicate data entry, or dissatisfied users, reveal themselves. However, these symptoms often mask deeper causes, the identification of which provides the key to truly groundbreaking improvements – even new business models or Digital Ecosystems.

Through ideation workshops (VIEW), design sprints, or structured brainstorming, we sharpen the focus on the relevant issues and establish a clear framework. This creates a solid foundation on which all further project phases can build. Together, we examine the feasibility and benefits of the ideas developed to ensure that they are viable in the market and contribute to your company's long-term success.

Innovation management for companies

Being innovative means more than just having good ideas. We show you how innovations succeed and how innovation processes can be established in companies on a long-term basis.

Workshop-Tool: InnoCards

Want results and ideas with added value? Work with us to create a tool tailored to your needs for your own workshops and brainstorming sessions.

Innovation workshop in the creative space

Our “Innovation Space” offers ideal conditions for multidisciplinary teams to develop innovative future scenarios for complex problems.

In highly regulated industries such as medical devices, the collection and documentation of requirements is a prerequisite for approval. But even in all other areas, well-structured requirements ensure project success and successful market positioning. Requirements go beyond the description of functional and non-functional aspects of a system. They begin with the decision as to which stakeholders need to be taken into account and how processes and business models need to be designed. Furthermore, requirements are not collected once and for all, but are subject to constant change, which is why consistency and completeness must be continuously checked in practice. In addition, particularly in agile projects, prioritizing requirements in order to create increments for products and develop release plans is a central task of requirements engineering.

Through ideation workshops (VIEW), design sprints, or structured brainstorming, we sharpen the focus on the relevant issues and establish a clear framework. This creates a solid foundation on which all further project phases can build. Together, we examine the feasibility and benefits of the ideas developed to ensure that they are viable in the market and contribute to your company's long-term success.

Requirements Management

Complex and innovative systems require the management of many stakeholders, interfaces, data, and requirements. We offer suitable methods and tools for efficient Requirements Management in your projects.

TORE

"Task-Oriented Requirements Engineering (TORE)" is Fraunhofer IESE's tried-and-tested framework for gathering and managing all important requirements for a system from the user's perspective and efficiently transferring them to software development.

Virtual Personas

Users and other stakeholders are important sources for system requirements. Virtual AI personas enable you to bring your target groups directly into the project and continuously take their needs into account during development.

Cartooneering

Conveying a vision for a complex system in an understandable way in order to obtain feedback from stakeholders or decision-makers requires the right level of abstraction. With Cartooneering, we have developed a method for communicating product visions.

System modernization

Since it is not always possible to build a new system, system modernization focuses on adapting existing systems to a more modern world—technologically and user-centrically—while taking into account the original requirements.

User-centered design is now a prerequisite for successful digital products and services. It focuses on the needs, expectations, and goals of users. This requires an understanding of both the mental model of user groups and the environment in which they operate (e.g., through on-site studies). The user interface must be designed to suit the situation and also take restrictions into account so that the future application is accessible to as many people as possible at all times (inclusive design) and complies with applicable participation laws (accessibility).

Beyond the actual use, we consider the customer journey in its entirety: from the first perception of the product (“awareness”) to potential departure (“offboarding”). This ensures a consistent, positive user experience. In order to continuously optimize concepts and their concrete design – for example, in the form of a user interface – we use (paper) prototypes, dummies, feedback loops, and workshops. This ensures that products are intuitive to use and achieve a high level of user satisfaction. With our AI-supported Quasar offering, we enable virtual user tests.

QAI4SE

The use of artificial intelligence in software engineering offers almost limitless application possibilities thanks to tailor-made AI systems. Fraunhofer IESE supports you in selecting the right approaches to improve your engineering artifacts.

Quasar

Quasar is a tool that enables continuous, automated measurement of various quality aspects. The Quasar platform offers a range of modules, particularly for evaluating the user experience of your products.

We develop customized solutions, work with state-of-the-art technology, and are independent and neutral.

Benefit from our experience!