The Curiosity rover was a ________ program worthy of applause
While many of the technologies existed for decades, Steve Jobs was ________ for making them usable for end-users
I am trying to find the correct adjective here.
"Innovative" programs or products are worthy of applause, but the term seems inaccurate and cliche-d. The other adjectives that came to my mind belittles and are narrow; for example calling Steve Jobs a "tinkerer" fails to describe him.
What word is suitable for these cases?