When Modularity Meets Mind: Product Innovation through a Behavioral Lens

Abstract

Modular Product Design (MPD) is a promising strategy for managing complexity in product development. However, researchers disagree on the MPD’s impact on product innovation. Some researchers argue that MPD facilitates innovation, while others contend that it hinders it. This conceptual paper develops a framework that aims to reconcile these contradictory findings from the literature. Thus, we build on the current understanding in the field of MPD, identifying two literature streams that have different views on the impact of MPD on product innovation. To reconcile these views, we adopt an interdisciplinary approach that integrates bodies of research on MPD and innovation with insights from behavioral science. Finally, after analyzing the relevant literature on MPD and behavioral science, we conceptualize a framework that proposes that designers’ cognitive behavior moderates MPD’s impact on product innovation, explaining this long-standing debate in the field. In this way, the proposed conceptual framework reconciles the conflicting arguments on MPD’s impact on product innovations and potentially opens a new field of study, shedding light on this behavioral blind spot of existing research.

Article history: Received (September 30, 2025); Revised (March 9, 2026); Accepted (March 29, 2026); Published online (May 9, 2026)