inventioninspired

Inventioninspired is a term used in design and innovation literature to describe a creative approach that foregrounds studying existing inventions to spark new ideas. It encompasses methods for extracting underlying principles from patented devices, historical contraptions, and contemporary gadgets, and reapplying those principles to new contexts without copying specific implementations.

The term has gained traction in design thinking and open-innovation circles as a way to organize cross-domain learning. It emphasizes functional abstraction, principle transfer, and iterative prototyping, rather than mimicry of a particular product.

Typical practice involves four steps: identify a problem and its functional goal; analyze target invention to reveal core mechanism and constraints; derive abstract principles that can apply to the new context; and prototype, test, and refine based on performance and user feedback.

Applications include product development, education, and entrepreneurship. For example, a portable charger might be designed by inspecting the energy storage and gearing principles of a mechanical clock, translating them into a compact, low-energy electronic device with a scalable modular design.

While related to biomimicry and design-for-assembly, inventioninspired focuses on principle-level transfer across domains rather than direct replication. Critics note potential patent and licensing issues, but proponents argue it broadens creative space and fosters cross-pollination of ideas.