Conference Agenda

Design is considered to be a multidisciplinary field, which utilizes knowledge from psychology, engineering, the arts, and more. Designers often go into the workforce creating, innovating, and problem-solving for companies, spanning across a vast array of disciplines. Individuals with backgrounds in design have similarities and differences from individuals with knowledge in business and entrepreneurship, but there is currently a gap in knowledge regarding designers within entrepreneurial roles. This paper aims to address the need for further empirical research within this area by asking the question: What kind of unique skills do designers possess that have the potential to create a positive impact on a new business or startup?

Delving into the current literature as an initial starting point, this paper brings forward new concepts to the field at the crossroads of design and innovation. It sheds light on the opportunity for further empirical research to develop new knowledge that addresses the research question proposed. Findings have the potential to open new doors and possibilities for designers and entrepreneurs. This could be a key piece in improving success rates with the potential to evolve the operation of new business ventures, providing novel and unique opportunities for those within design and business.

Taiwan is renowned for its bicycle industry cluster. Alongside the exponential growth in demand for the e-bike market, there has been an expansion beyond the conventional bicycle industry chain, comprising brand manufacturers, assembly plants, parts manufacturers, and traders. Manufacturers from the electronics and motorcycle industries have also ventured into e-bike design and development. This study aims investigates how to cultivate a distinctive e-bike design innovation strategy within the established bicycle market. Employing qualitative "multiple case studies," the research conducts in-depth interviews with eight diverse e-bike companies in Taiwan.

The findings reveal that e-bike design developers' market entry strategies can be categorized akin to those proposed by Stern et al. (2018) as "value chain strategy," "intellectual property strategy," "architectural strategy," and "disruption strategy," utilizing the dimensions of "high" and "low" part-sharing elasticity, and focusing on either "physical key component design" or the intangible "experience and service design." These four strategies correspond to "innovation in frame materials and manufacturing processes (e.g., developing professional mountain/downhill and road/gravel e-bikes with mid-drive motor)," "technological innovation in motor and transmission modules (e.g., developing a special e-bike model as a demonstration design for B2B applications)," "innovation in business models (e.g., developing unique and closed systems for e-bike-sharing system/public e-bike scheme)," and "customized innovation (e.g., assembled fat tire e-bikes or handmade e-bikes with wheel hub motor)" respectively. Upon further comparison of the design and development process of the four strategies, it was observed that the "value chain strategy" is the most comprehensive, involving a three-year cycle from planning to mass production, with industrial designers assuming the roles of conceptual design and design engineering throughout the process. The distinctions from other strategies can be discerned by the role of design and the extent of outsourcing in development and manufacturing.

Theoretically, this study is inspired by the fact that the e-bike industry's design development perpetuates the bicycle industry's characteristics of "both competition and cooperation" and "standardization and allowing small quantity and variety of manufacturing," albeit with the integration of critical components with hardware and software. This integration facilitates the formation of a highly diverse market entry strategy. The results of this categorization aid in understanding the design practice considerations under different strategies, thereby enabling further exploration of issues such as the circular design of e-bikes.