Dominant Design

A dominant design is the de facto standard of design that emerges after the fluid phase and before the transitional phase of the Abernathy-Utterback model. The dominant design wins the allegiance of the marketplace, and becomes one that competitors and innovators must adhere to if they hope to command significant market following.

Enforcement of standards-so that production and other complementary economies can be sought and perfected. Effective competition then shifts from innovative approaches to product design and features, to competition based on cost and scale as well as on product performance.

2. Change in the pace and direction of innovation product innovation slows down after the emergence of the dominant design, firms turn their energies to innovations that will lead them to cost and quality advantages (on what has become a fairly standardized product).