Continuous vs discontinuous innovation

When introducing a new product / service into the marketplace one aspect of its design that will affect adoption is the ease with which the user can integrate it into their current systems.

Continuous innovation

Gradual incremental improvements of existing products services or processes. The end user does not need to change the way they work to get value from the innovation.

Examples include smartphones - each year they get faster, have better cameras etc. The user can simply switch out their current device and get the benefits of the new one.

Discontinuous innovation

A radical change that causes users to behave in a new way, they need to change their processes to adopt this type of innovation. This can also create new markets due to its different approach.

Examples here include 3D printing - this enabled new ways to produce manufactured objects in a variety of materials. They were cheap enough to create a new market in home use.