• breakthrough innovation
• case study
• complexity
• innovation of meaning
• longevity
• product life cycle
• radical innovation
• simplicity

This research study originated from an exhibition of 43 simple objects, called the Hidden Heroes, that took place in London and in other European museums between 2010 and 2012. The aim is to explore the relationship between technological simplicity, at the background and foreground level, and the product life cycle in order to understand if simplifying may be the winning strategy to create ever-lasting products. However, simplifying does not mean creating second class products and customers should not perceive the lack of higher performance; products should instead be enriched by emotional and cognitive qualities that make customers fall in love and be loyal through time.
Our guide question is: why do technologically simple products tend to last longer than their complex counterparts?
In order to shed new light on this under-researched (or taken for granted) phenomenon, we identified 14 technological simplicity characterising dimensions that we tested through multiple case studies. In particular, we selected and interviewed 8 French design companies (operating in both B2B and B2C) that helped us evaluate the accuracy of the starting dimensions and discover new important insights. Thanks to the responding firms, new 6 dimensions have enriched the starting portfolio and interesting simplicity paradoxes came to light.