PA Buys Innovation Research and Design Firm Essential

Change management advisor PA Consulting has acquired Boston-based innovation research, strategy and product design business Essential Design. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Essential comprises a team of researchers, designers and engineers who are tasked with creating physical products, digital products, and service design solutions through which to improve customer experience. Using trend, user research and other data, the firm creates a range of innovation paths for product offerings, brands and businesses, and uses both creative and analytical methods to illustrate the potential and risks associated with each path. It also uses exploratory techniques such as user research, ethnography and journey mapping to uncover the needs, desires and motivations behind behavior.

PA says the acquisition complements its own capabilities in strategy, innovation, product design and engineering, and manufacturing process improvement. The deal also provides it with a new centre of excellence for innovation and product design in the US, which will work in partnership with its long-established Global Innovation and Technology Centre in Cambridge, UK.

Frazer Bennett (pictured), PA's Chief Innovation Officer, says of the deal: 'The Essential Design team is passionate about understanding and empowering people; creating design-led visions that inspire change. As well as enhancing our US presence, the brilliant Essential team will extend our capabilities at the front-end of design, bringing our clients' customers a world of ingenuous opportunities'.

Web sites: www.paconsulting.com and www.essentialdesign.com .