The Front End of Innovation (FEI) is the early phase of the Product Development Process, responsible for the concept generation and an important driver of innovation success. The FEI is characterized by roles\' dynamism, ambiguity, and uncertainty. Several authors divide the FEI into other sub-phases in order to organize its activities, roles, and understand the function of each role. Despite the growing research about the FEI in recent years, there is a need for further research on the theme to better understand the dynamics and help to reduce the uncertainty in the critical concept phase. The formal processes designed for the front end are insufficient, the rules and roles are not fully described, and it is necessary to balance the interactions between the activities in the FEI to get a better-structured New Product Development - NPD - later. The main FEI models developed at the literature have discussed some key roles such marketing, engineering, customers, but they do not discussed the role of design, which is critical in creative activities which, in turn, are the nature of the new product development process. The literature also has not discussed the external integration in the FEI, that is, how the Brand Owners integrate the partners, especially the suppliers and design agencies, in this critical and uncertain phase. To tackle this issue, this research aims to examine the FEI in a dynamic industry, examining the integration of roles in an iterative process. The objective of this research is to identify the roles that play in the Front End of Innovation and the mechanisms of integration, whether internal through cross-functional teams; or external through interfirms integration. The main question that guided this research is \"What roles are involved in each FEI activity and what are the mechanism that integrate these roles in the FEI?\". This is qualitative and exploratory research, based on multiple-cases-studies. For this study, the packaging industry was selected because of its value chain in the concept phase, which has a complex set of relationships among its parties, Brand Owner, Design Agencies and Packaging Producers. The consumers buy the product by the performance of the same and also by the packaging. Packaging is considered a second product at the point of sale and a vital buying decision factor. Brand Owners understand that they need to integrate suppliers into the FEI to assist them in identifying opportunities, ideation, and conceptualization. Five brand owners were interviewed, and the FEI has been divided into five activities: Opportunity Identifications and Analysis, Idea Generation, Idea Enrichment, Idea Selection, and Concept Development. / O Front End de Inovação (FEI) é a fase inicial do processo de desenvolvimento de produtos, responsável pela geração de conceitos e um importante motor de sucesso na inovação. O FEI caracteriza-se pelo dinamismo, a ambiguidade e a incerteza dos papéis. Vários autores dividem o FEI em outras subfases, a fim de organizar suas atividades, papéis e compreender a função de cada função. Apesar da crescente pesquisa sobre o FEI nos últimos anos, há necessidade de novas pesquisas sobre o assunto para entender melhor a dinâmica e ajudar a reduzir a incerteza na fase conceitual crítica. Os processos formais projetados para o front-end são insuficientes, os papéis e as regras e não são totalmente descritos e é necessário equilibrar as interações entre as atividades no FEI para obter um melhor estruturado Desenvolvimento de Novos Produtos - NPD - depois. Os principais modelos de FEI desenvolvidos na literatura discutem alguns papéis fundamentais como marketing, engenharia, consumidores, mas não discutem o papel do design, crítico nas atividades criativas, que, por sua vez, são a natureza do processo de desenvolvimento de novos produtos. A literatura também não tem discutido a integração externa no FEI, ou seja, como os clientes integram os parceiros, especialmente os fornecedores e agências de design, nesta fase crítica e incerta. Para abordar esta questão, esta pesquisa visa examinar o FEI em uma indústria dinâmica, examinando a integração de papéis em um processo iterativo. O objetivo desta pesquisa é identificar os papéis que desempenham no Front End de Inovação e os mecanismos de integração, sejam eles internos através de equipes multifuncionais; ou externos através da integração entre firmas. A principal questão que guiou esta pesquisa é \"Quais papéis estão envolvidas em cada atividade do FEI e quais são os mecanismos que integram estes papéis no FEI?\" Trata-se de uma pesquisa qualitativa e exploratória, baseada em estudos de casos múltiplos. Para este estudo, o setor de embalagens foi selecionado por sua cadeia de valor na fase conceitual, que possui um conjunto complexo de relacionamentos entre suas partes, as Indústrias de Bens de Consumo, as Agências de Design e os Produtores de Embalagens. Os consumidores compram o produto pela performance do mesmo e também pela embalagem. A embalagem é considerada um segundo produto no ponto de venda e um fator de decisão de compra vital. As Indústrias de Bens de Consumo entendem que precisam integrar fornecedores no FEI para ajudá-las a identificar oportunidades, ideação e conceituação. Foram entrevistados cinco Indústrias de Bens de Consumo e o FEI foi dividido em cinco atividades: Identificações e Análises de Oportunidades, Geração de Ideias, Enriquecimento de Ideias, Seleção de Ideias e Desenvolvimento de Conceitos.

The Front End of Innovation (FEI) is the early phase of the Product Development Process, responsible for the concept generation and an important driver of innovation success. The FEI is characterized by roles\' dynamism, ambiguity, and uncertainty. Several authors divide the FEI into other sub-phases in order to organize its activities, roles, and understand the function of each role. Despite the growing research about the FEI in recent years, there is a need for further research on the theme to better understand the dynamics and help to reduce the uncertainty in the critical concept phase. The formal processes designed for the front end are insufficient, the rules and roles are not fully described, and it is necessary to balance the interactions between the activities in the FEI to get a better-structured New Product Development - NPD - later. The main FEI models developed at the literature have discussed some key roles such marketing, engineering, customers, but they do not discussed the role of design, which is critical in creative activities which, in turn, are the nature of the new product development process. The literature also has not discussed the external integration in the FEI, that is, how the Brand Owners integrate the partners, especially the suppliers and design agencies, in this critical and uncertain phase. To tackle this issue, this research aims to examine the FEI in a dynamic industry, examining the integration of roles in an iterative process. The objective of this research is to identify the roles that play in the Front End of Innovation and the mechanisms of integration, whether internal through cross-functional teams; or external through interfirms integration. The main question that guided this research is \"What roles are involved in each FEI activity and what are the mechanism that integrate these roles in the FEI?\". This is qualitative and exploratory research, based on multiple-cases-studies. For this study, the packaging industry was selected because of its value chain in the concept phase, which has a complex set of relationships among its parties, Brand Owner, Design Agencies and Packaging Producers. The consumers buy the product by the performance of the same and also by the packaging. Packaging is considered a second product at the point of sale and a vital buying decision factor. Brand Owners understand that they need to integrate suppliers into the FEI to assist them in identifying opportunities, ideation, and conceptualization. Five brand owners were interviewed, and the FEI has been divided into five activities: Opportunity Identifications and Analysis, Idea Generation, Idea Enrichment, Idea Selection, and Concept Development. / O Front End de Inovação (FEI) é a fase inicial do processo de desenvolvimento de produtos, responsável pela geração de conceitos e um importante motor de sucesso na inovação. O FEI caracteriza-se pelo dinamismo, a ambiguidade e a incerteza dos papéis. Vários autores dividem o FEI em outras subfases, a fim de organizar suas atividades, papéis e compreender a função de cada função. Apesar da crescente pesquisa sobre o FEI nos últimos anos, há necessidade de novas pesquisas sobre o assunto para entender melhor a dinâmica e ajudar a reduzir a incerteza na fase conceitual crítica. Os processos formais projetados para o front-end são insuficientes, os papéis e as regras e não são totalmente descritos e é necessário equilibrar as interações entre as atividades no FEI para obter um melhor estruturado Desenvolvimento de Novos Produtos - NPD - depois. Os principais modelos de FEI desenvolvidos na literatura discutem alguns papéis fundamentais como marketing, engenharia, consumidores, mas não discutem o papel do design, crítico nas atividades criativas, que, por sua vez, são a natureza do processo de desenvolvimento de novos produtos. A literatura também não tem discutido a integração externa no FEI, ou seja, como os clientes integram os parceiros, especialmente os fornecedores e agências de design, nesta fase crítica e incerta. Para abordar esta questão, esta pesquisa visa examinar o FEI em uma indústria dinâmica, examinando a integração de papéis em um processo iterativo. O objetivo desta pesquisa é identificar os papéis que desempenham no Front End de Inovação e os mecanismos de integração, sejam eles internos através de equipes multifuncionais; ou externos através da integração entre firmas. A principal questão que guiou esta pesquisa é \"Quais papéis estão envolvidas em cada atividade do FEI e quais são os mecanismos que integram estes papéis no FEI?\" Trata-se de uma pesquisa qualitativa e exploratória, baseada em estudos de casos múltiplos. Para este estudo, o setor de embalagens foi selecionado por sua cadeia de valor na fase conceitual, que possui um conjunto complexo de relacionamentos entre suas partes, as Indústrias de Bens de Consumo, as Agências de Design e os Produtores de Embalagens. Os consumidores compram o produto pela performance do mesmo e também pela embalagem. A embalagem é considerada um segundo produto no ponto de venda e um fator de decisão de compra vital. As Indústrias de Bens de Consumo entendem que precisam integrar fornecedores no FEI para ajudá-las a identificar oportunidades, ideação e conceituação. Foram entrevistados cinco Indústrias de Bens de Consumo e o FEI foi dividido em cinco atividades: Identificações e Análises de Oportunidades, Geração de Ideias, Enriquecimento de Ideias, Seleção de Ideias e Desenvolvimento de Conceitos.

Managing the new product development (NPD) process, especially the first phase, the front end of innovation (FEI), is crucial for companies today in order to develop successful products and reach process and product sustainability. This has proved to be a significant challenge for start-ups since 90 percent of them fail (Krishna et al., 2016). This explorative study investigates how prototyping can be used in FEI, with a focus on Swedish start-up companies. A great deal of research has been published about prototyping in the later stages in the development process, and about FEI in general. Regarding prototyping in FEI, the existing literature is mainly located in the product design area. A substantial research gap has also been identified in a start-up context regarding prototyping in FEI. To fill in this gap, a qualitative approach was used collecting data form three different perspectives; start-up accelerators, start-ups employees and users. To accumulate these three perspectives, two sets of semi-structured interviews and two focus groups were conducted. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the collected data. The empirical findings align with the existing literature in several areas, but also gain new insights, contributing to filling the research gap. To conclude, there are a number of different specific prototyping purposes and methods, as well as crucial recommendations, that start-ups should consider in FEI to succeed. The thesis highlights that start-ups should use simple prototypes early in FEI, iterating the prototyping efforts, and gradually increasing the accuracy of the prototype during the FEI.

The Front End of innovation (FEI) or early innovation presents one of the greatest opportunities for improving an entire innovation process in any firm. The purpose of this thesis is to study how customers can be involved in the early phase of innovation in the IT industry. In this study, we did analyze the customer types, their methods of involvement and key elements within the early innovation process or front end of innovation. In accordance with theoretical concepts, this study shows that all fifteen (15) companies working within the I.T industry in Sweden agreed working with innovation/NPD and, equally involve customers in their front end of innovation (FEI). In the I.T industry, innovation comes mainly from the users (customers) and from within the companies (R&D). To a lesser extend, from technological trends, market and suppliers. Amongst the identified phases (elements) of the front end of innovation, Opportunity Identification was found to be the dominant phase for customer involvement. Normal customers, lead, empathic design customers and virtual customers, proved the most dominant customer types integrated within the front end of innovation in the I.T industry.

Innovation is a key factor for companies in order to survive in the long-term and to stay competitive. However, it can be challenging to know what ideas (or innovations) to pursue. Large incumbent companies can be slow to innovate, but startups on the other hand, are a great source of innovation. However, many startups fail. Starting a new company is risky, but a countervailing force has emerged called Lean Development. There is a strong need for research and studies on the subject of product development in a Lean Development context and the process of Idea Selection has been somewhat ignored in research. Idea Selection is a part of the Front End of Innovation and is often mentioned as an important factor for success in the innovation process. This study was aimed at creating a framework for Idea Selection, building on the intersection between the Front End of Innovation and the New Product and Process Development in a Lean Development context. The findings are based on current theory on Innovation, Idea Selection and Lean Development as well as a case study conducted at a Swedish insurance startup. The main conclusion of this study is a framework containing four themes: Reach, Impact, Confidence and Effort. By using this framework, startups can more easily decide on what ideas to pursue and thereby move quicker and achieve more success in the innovation process. / För ett företag är innovation en nyckelfaktor för långsiktig överlevnad och för att vara konkurrenskraftig. Det kan emellertid vara utmanande att veta vilka idéer (eller innovationer) som bör utforskas vidare och implementeras. Stora etablerade företag kan vara långsamma att innovera, men nystartade företag, startups, kännetecknas å andra sidan ofta av att ha stor innovationsförmåga. Men många startups misslyckas. Att starta ett nytt företag är riskabelt. För att minska den risken har något som kallas Lean Development växt fram. Det finns ett starkt behov av forskning och studier om produktutveckling i Lean Development-sammanhang och processen att välja ut idéer har ignorerats i forskning. Idéval är en del av Front End of Innovation och nämns ofta som en viktig faktor för framgång i innovationsprocessen. Denna studie syftar till att skapa ett ramverk för Idéval, som bygger på skärningspunkten mellan Front End of Innovation och New Product and Process Development ett Lean Development-sammanhang. Resultat är baserade på aktuell teori om Innovation, Idéval och Lean Development samt en fallstudie genomförd vid en svensk startup inom försäkringsbranschen. Den huvudsakliga slutsatsen i denna studie är ett ramverk som innehåller fyra teman: Reach, Impact, Confidence and Effort. Genom att använda detta ramverk kan nystartade företag lättare bestämma vilka idéer de ska gå vidare med och därmed bli mer snabbrörliga och uppnå mer framgång i innovationsprocessen.

The Swedish Fintech company that is subject to this thesis has proposed a process through which all new ideas should go through before entering the development funnel, called the ‘Proof-of-Concept-process’. Today, there exists no material that helps and guides the idea owner through one of the more extensive phases of that process. The purpose of this thesis is to develop a material for this phase. The material is developed through a literature review and qualitative interviews. The topics included in the literature review are: ‘Innovation’, ‘Uncertainty’, ‘Front End of Innovation’ and ‘Business Modelling’. Semi-structured qualitative interviews were performed separately with three out of four members of the top management team. Continuous discussions with the industrial supervisor facilitated the development of the framework. The result consists of two parts, (1) the results from the interviews with the management team which aims to lay the foundation for the requirement specification on which components the framework should contain, and (2) a framework for how business modelling can be done at this phase of the innovation process. The result is a material that uses the graphical branding of the company so that it can be treated as an internal document. An unbranded version of the result is presented in this thesis. The framework is presented together with a deeper analysis of the separate building blocks that form its structure, together with suggestions on techniques that aims to help the user of the material. We argue that the result is a business modelling framework that considers recommendations for how to handle the FEI, and that regards theory on business modelling as well as interviews with managers at the subject company to establish what techniques such a framework should include. Further, the result is based on a wide variety of literature and authors. Concluding, we argue that the result can be considered a bridge between two relatively young research areas ‘Front end of Innovation’ and ‘Business Modelling’ with its primary application at one specific company. / Det svenska Fintech-bolaget som behandlas i denna masteruppsats har föreslagit en process genom vilken alla nya idéer ska gå igenom innan dess genomförbarhet testas i en ’Proof-of-Concept’. Denna process är på företaget kallad ‘Proof-of-Concept-processen’. Idag finns det inget material som hjälper och guidar idéägaren genom en av de mer omfattande faserna av processen. Syftet med denna masteruppsats är att utveckla ett material för denna fas.  Materialet baseras på en litteraturstudie och kvalitativa intervjuer. De ämnen som ingår i litteraturstudien är: ‘Innovation’, ‘Uncertainty’, ‘Front End of Innovation’ och ‘Business Modelling’. Kvalitativa semi-strukturerade intervjuer utfördes separat med tre av ledningens fyra medlemmar. Kontinuerlig diskussion fördes med företagshandledaren för att facilitera ramverkets utveckling. Resultatet består av två delar, (1) resultaten från intervjuerna med ledningsgruppen som syftar till att ligga till grund för kravspecifikationen på vilka komponenter materialet ska innehålla och (2) ett ramverk för hur affärsmodellering kan ske i detta stadie av innovationsprocessen. Resultatet är ett material med företagets grafiska profil för att det ska kunna bli behandlat som ett internt dokument. En version av materialet som inte har företagets grafiska språk presenteras. Ramverket presenteras tillsammans med en djupare analys av de separata byggstenar som tillsammans utgör dess struktur, samt förslag på tekniker som syftar till att hjälpa användaren av materialet att utveckla sin idé inför nästa utvärderingsmöte och möjliggöra en demokratisering av innovationsprocessen. Ramverkets struktur är ett resultat av inspiration från existerande ramverk samt intervjuerna vilket bidrar till dess anpassning till företagets specifika innovationsprocess. Vi anser att resultatet är ett ramverk för affärsmodellering som beskriver rekommendationer för hur man hanterar de tidiga faserna av innovationsprocessen. Ramverket och dess teoretiska bakgrund är baserat på ett brett utbud av litteratur och författare. Avslutningsvis hävdar vi att ramverket kan betraktas som en bro mellan två relativt unga forskningsområden ’Front End of Innovation’ och ’Business Modelling’ med sitt primära tillämpningsområde på det behandlade företaget.

Purpose - Given the existing obstacles to succeed with the front end of innovation, and the possibility to learn from the operations of hidden champions with their relative high rate of success in the market, this study aims to investigate how Nordic small and medium-sized hidden champions manage their front end of innovation. Method - The study is a multiple case study that uses an exploratory approach. A total of 19 interviews were conducted in two waves and across eleven organizations from the Nordic region. The collected data was analyzed through a thematic analysis. Findings - The thematic analysis resulted in two themes: Innovation Management and Stakeholder Management, that each centralize on different aspects managed. Central to the findings was the involvement of customers and external organizations into the front end of the innovation process. The findings built the foundation to a framework on enabling factors for the front end of innovation and thereby how other organizations should improve their front end of innovation. Moreover, a process framework is also presented which conceptualizes how organizations should operate their front end of innovation efforts. Theoretical contribution - This study adds to the literature by providing insights on how hidden champions manage their front end of innovation, confirming findings from other regions and adding to existing literature on the importance of involving customers in the front end of innovation process. Moreover, the study conceptualizes the factors that enable hidden champions to succeed in their front end of innovation. Managerial contribution - This study provides an overview of how managers can structure their front end of innovation process to increase the chances of successful innovation management. Limitations and future research - This study focuses on small and medium-sized hidden champions, thus the generalizability of this study may not apply to larger organizations. Therefore future research is proposed for large hidden champions to examine if the findings in this study are applicable for them. This study also examines hidden champions in a B2B context, therefore future research should be conducted regarding hidden champions in B2C to examine the applicability of our findings in that field.

Background: It is argued that most of the new product do not fail in the end but it fails in the beginning of the innovation. Managing front end of NPD, is the most important and difficult challenges facing the innovation managers. Effectively promoting front end activities can contribute directly to the success of the new product. So, integrating market-based partners (suppliers and customers) in the front-end phase enhances the quantity and quality of ideas. Problem discussion: Authors have suggested the involvement of market-based partners as early as possible in the NPD process will reduce the fuzziness in front end phase. The collaboration process with market-based partners implies that combining the idiosyncratic resources in unique ways, firms would relish greater innovation success. But this process of integration or collaboration with market-based partners are not that easy as it entails different appropriation and coordination concerns. Majority of the literature is concentrated on integrating market-based partners in the back-end activities of NPD, leaving a bit of void in the front-end phase of NPD. Method: The methodological choice of this thesis follows an exploratory study to seek new insights into an existing subject. The thesis is a following a deductive approach and is qualitative in the research choice. Purpose: To provide insights on integrating market-based partners in the front-end phase of new product development where the information is scattered around. This thesis identifies a structure that facilitates the integration of market-based partners in the fuzzy front end of NPD to mitigate the appropriation concerns and challenges.

O planejamento da inovação antecede o desenvolvimento das tecnologias e dos produtos. O processo de decisão realizado no planejamento da inovação é o responsável por avaliar e selecionar os produtos que serão desenvolvidos. Como esse processo depende das informações das propostas de produto, sua execução é dificultada quando elas referem-se a produtos inovadores. Nesse contexto, este trabalho propõe um método de análise do processo de decisão do planejamento da inovação, que considera o nível de conhecimento das informações das propostas de produtos e a importância dos critérios de decisão. Como parte do projeto de pesquisa, também foi desenvolvido um modelo do planejamento da inovação. Esse descreve o planejamento da inovação como um subprocesso integrador e interrelacionado com os outros subprocessos da inovação e também mostra seus principais elementos constituintes. Na primeira etapa do trabalho foram realizados dois estudos de casos exploratórios com o intuito de complementar o esclarecimento do planejamento da inovação e formatação do modelo. Os resultados foram usados na segunda etapa, na qual o método de análise foi proposto e foram executados mais dois estudos de caso, agora com o objetivo de testar o método. Nesses dois estudos foram analisados os processos de decisão de dois produtos inovadores por meio de uma abordagem retrospectiva. Por fim, o método foi avaliado como capaz para analisar o processo de decisão de produtos inovadores, identificando oportunidades e apoiando a definição de diretrizes para melhorar a tomada de decisão. / The front-end of innovation precedes technology and product development. The decision-making process performed at the front-end is assigned to assess and select products that will be introduced to development. Since this process depends on information of product proposals, its performance is affected when innovative products are involved. Within this context, this study proposes a method to analyse the decision-making process of the front-end of innovation. It addresses the level of information knowledge and the importance of decision criteria as a way to analyse decisions. This study has also developed a model for the front-end of innovation, which describes the front-end integrating and interrelated with the other parts of the innovation process as well as shows its core elements. At the first phase of this study two exploratory case studies were developed aiming to complement the understanding about the front-end and to support the definition of the model. Results of this phase were used at the second phase, in which the method to analyse the decision-making process is proposed and other two case studies are conducted, with the purpose of testing the method. These two studies analysed the decision-making process regarding innovative products through a retrospective approach. Finally, the method was assessed as capable of analysing the decision-making process of innovative products, identifying opportunities and supporting the definition of guidelines to enhance decision making.

Many companies have been trying to shift their business core from offering products to offer product-service systems (PSS), what requires not only a shift in the business model, but also in the culture and mindset. Using user-centered methods to support the PSS development process is a way to support this shift and to enhance perceived value of PSS offerings. One possible approach to support PSS development on becoming more user-centered is design thinking (DT). It is a user-centric approach used by many leader enterprises to support innovation and described by several methodologies with practical focus. However, it is not clear in literature how to integrate DT and development process models already used by companies, leading to cases where practitioners may replace complete phases, or even the whole development process, by DT. This replacement does not seem appropriate, since DT may lack aspects that are considered by PSS development processes. The main objective of this work is to identify how the DT approach can be applied in PSS development processes. The methodology of this research combines the following methods: case research, corpus linguistics, frame semantics and matrix-based methods. One of the results of this work is the characterization of DT based on the linguistic analysis, which was derived from content extracted from more than 1500 pages of 8 DT methodologies. This analysis resulted in 46 recurrent activities, associated with 458 specific guidelines, and the identification of 182 relevant activities that synthetize the DT methodologies. Those activities were compared to 14 PSS development process models from literature, concluding, among other findings, that DT cannot replace the PSS design process models, and that the compatibility for integration of DT into PSS development process models is greater on the front-end of innovation (FEI). FEI activities from 14 PSS and 7 product development process models were compared with DT recurrent and relevant activities to provide understanding on how DT can be integrated into PSS development process models. Finally, the findings of this last comparison led to the creation of a 4-step method for integrating DT into PSS development process models based on activities similarity. / Diversas empresas têm tentado migrar da oferta de produtos para a oferta de sistemas produto-serviço (PSS), o que requer uma mudança não só do modelo de negócios, como também da cultura e da mentalidade. Utilizar métodos centrados no usuário é uma forma de auxiliar nessa mudança cultural e no aumento de valor percebido do PSS ofertado. Uma abordagem capaz de apoiar o processo de desenvolvimento (PD) de PSS em se tornar mais centrado no usuário é o design thinking (DT). Trata-se de uma abordagem centrada no usuário utilizada por diversas empresas de sucesso para apoiar a inovação e descrita por várias metodologias de foco prático. No entanto, não está claro na literatura como DT pode ser integrado a modelos de PD já utilizados pelas empresas, levando a casos onde fases, ou mesmo todo o PD, são substituídos por completo pelo DT. Essa substituição não parece apropriada, dado que DT pode não conter aspectos considerados pelos PDs de PSS. O principal objetivo deste trabalho é identificar como a abordagem do DT pode ser aplicada nos PDs de PSS. A metodologia desta pesquisa combina os seguintes métodos: estudo de caso, linguística de corpus, semântica de frames, e métodos baseados em matrizes. Um dos resultados deste trabalho é a caracterização do DT baseada em análise linguística, a qual foi derivada do conteúdo de mais de 1500 páginas de 8 metodologias de DT. Essa análise resultou em 46 atividades recorrentes, associadas com 458 diretrizes específicas, e a identificação de 182 atividades relevantes que sintetizam as metodologias de DT. Essas atividades foram comparadas a 14 modelos de PD de PSS da literatura, concluindo, entre outros achados, que o DT não é capaz de substituir o PD de PSS, e que a compatibilidade para integração do DT ao PD de PSS é maior no front-end da inovação (FEI). Atividades do FEI de 14 modelos de PD de PSS e 7 de produto foram comparadas com as atividades relevantes e recorrentes do DT para prover o entendimento em como o DT pode ser integrado aos modelos de PD de PSS. Finalmente, as conclusões dessa última comparação levaram à criação de um método de quatro passos para integração do DT aos modelos de PD de PSS, baseado na similaridade das atividades.