To take advantage of a White Space opportunity, several steps should be taken:

Identify White Space

White Space Innovation areas should be defined based on what customers value. These can be needs of existing customers in existing markets that are going unmet, needs in markets where an organization does not currently have customers, or needs that will arise when a not-yet-existing market emerges. An organization might become aware that it is time to endeavor into White Space when they encounter a customer need that requires key resource investment or the creation of a new profit model.

Venture into White Space

Once the need has been identified, organizational stakeholders must brainstorm potential ways to meet customer needs, how the creation of this new product or service adds value to the organization, what resources (e.g., employees, technology etc.) need to be invested, how can they expend resources in a sustainable way and how they can employ rules and norms to connect the new business model to the one currently in place. After brainstorming, it is critical to have a clear plan in place for implementing the innovation, ideally starting with a pilot.

Implement Innovation Plan

Before carrying out the plan, it is advisable to invest resources on a small scale to test hypotheses about different assumptions that are critical to the plan. When a viable test of the prediction has been run and the fundament assumption about the White Space has support, it is more likely that the full plan will be successful. Once the full plan is laid out, determine if the process can be refined and create metrics for tracking success. Determine if there is a way for the new opportunity to be integrated into the current business model or if it must remain a separate entity to ensure its success.

Unlike most traditional White Space Innovation processes, Praxie’s online White Space Innovation tools allow any team or organization to instantly begin working with our web templates and input forms.

White Space Innovation includes the areas in an organization where innovation potential is most prominent based on the articulated values of the company but outside of its current business model. The tools managers can use to guide their employees through the steps for White Space Innovation involve approaches from strategy, design thinking and innovation. 

Get started with our White Space Innovation template. 

How to use it:

1. Describe the White Space opportunity for each criterion. 
2. Use a 1-10 score to determine if the White Space has significant innovation potential.  
3. Evaluate the overall scores.  
4. Create an action plan focused on creating and managing your white space innovation process. 
5. Add to this action plan as you identify white spaces and your approach to developing your strategy and implementation model. 

Our digital platform goes far beyond other software tools by including progress dashboards, data integration from existing documents or other SaaS software, elegant intuitive designs, and full access on any desktop or mobile device.