The LAB: Innovating Your Wallet Using S.I.T. (December 2009)

Innovation puts cash in your wallet.  But what about the wallet itself?  For this month’s LAB, we will apply the corporate innovation method, S.I.T., to create new and useful concepts for the wallet.

Wallets are the most personal items we own.  They carry our money, credit cards, identification,  licenses, photographs, and other memorabilia.  Your wallet says a lot about you.  As with food, we try to stuff more inside while staying thin.  Wallets have been around a long time.  Today, the wallet industry is a multi-billion dollar market fueled by new designs and innovation.

Here are six unique wallet concepts invented using the five templates in the S.I.T. method.  They were created by graduate students at the University of Cincinnati as part of their course requirements in “Applied Marketing Innovation.”

2.  ARMOR WALLET:  “The most secure wallet on the planet!  Helps protect and manage your critical information.”  This concept features titanium casing,  fingerprint scanner,  auto-lockdown, missing card alert, and a data manager.  Benefits:  keep your financial instruments secure, get easy access to your important information, and be alerted when something is not right.

3.  TRENDSETTER WALLET:  “Always keeps you high on fashion. The ultimate style statement.”  This concept features color changes according to your mood, attire, and occasion.  It stores and displays pictures on an LCD screen to capture memories, plays the most hip music, gets real time fashion updates, gives you full body views with an advanced zoom in and zoom out mirror.  Benefits:  helps you match your fashion to your state of mind.

4.  SHOPPERS PARADISE WALLET:  “The most convenient shopping companion that always gets you the best deal.”  This concept features:  credit card select (the appropriate credit/debit card pops out while shopping), then alerts you until the credit/debit card is back in the wallet.  It manages your to-do list and shopping lists, and it gets graphical information on your expenditure with tips on money management.  The wallet searches for the best discounts, and it controls cash flow with an online budget tracker.  It has an aisle navigator to help you shop more efficiently.  Benefits:  gives you an enjoyable shopping experience while saving you money.

5.  GLOBETROTTER WALLET:  “The ultimate travel guide that makes you feel right at home anywhere in the world.”  This concept features:  built in GPS, trip management, food/tip management, weather watch, language translator, and current Forex rates.  Benefits:  helps you get the most out of your travel experience by staying informed about what is going on around you.

6.  FITNESS WALLET:  “The perfect personal trainer to suit all your work out needs.”  This concept features:  a heart rate monitor to check workout intensity, digitized locker key, first aid kit, stopwatch, distance and time, calorie watcher, MP3 player, sports updates, and a fitness scheduler. Benefits:  helps you maximize the time spent staying in shape.

Check out this and the other Dream Catalogs at the Innovation Wiki.