Tian Heong Chan: “Design and (Visual) Optimal Distinctiveness”
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Abstract
How different should a new design be? In his talk, Tian Chan examined how a new design’s similarity with other designs contributes to its market valuation. Using a dataset of US design patents granted from 1977 through 2010 that are grouped into styles, he showed that the market value for a new design decreases with its similarities to contemporary new designs (contemporary differentiation) but increases with its similarities to prior designs (past anchoring). Furthermore, designs so new as to fall into a new style suffer from a further value discount.
About the Speaker
![](https://ceditraa.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/MW_04_Chan_750-150x150.jpg)
Tian Chan is an assistant professor of Information Systems and Operations Management at Emory University’s Goizueta Business School. His research focuses on new product and service design.