Innovate UK KTN<\/a> exists to connect innovators with new partners and new opportunities beyond their existing thinking \u2013 accelerating ambitious ideas into real-world solutions.<\/p>\n The Design Innovation Network<\/a> aims to improve that process by making sure projects incorporate good design principles earlier than they might naturally think to do. By coaching innovators across all sectors and technology areas<\/a> to ask the right questions early in their projects, the network hopes to see more of the projects it is involved in successfully raising funding to get on the road to effective commercialisation.<\/p>\n What does this really mean? Well, innovation is risky and not every project will succeed, but many fail unnecessarily because they\u2019ve overlooked some important insights early on in development processes. The Design Innovation Network aims to change this by coaching innovators to think like a designer. Designers know form and function are not binary opposites, they have the finished product or service in mind right at the conceptualisation stages.<\/p>\n But when we talk about design concepts, we don\u2019t just mean the aesthetic of a product. Good design incorporates entire systems, it\u2019s aware of how different cogs in the process are connected and impact one another.<\/p>\n Good design is responsible and can create powerful positive impacts for the economy, society and the wider world.<\/p>\n