User innovation
Encyclopedia
User innovation refers to innovation
by intermediate users (e.g. user firm
s) or consumer
users (individual end-user
s or user communities), rather than by supplier
s (producers or manufacturers) (von Hippel 1986).
Eric von Hippel
of MIT and others observed that many products and services are actually developed or at least refined, by users, at the site of implementation and use. These ideas are then moved back into the supply network. This is because products are developed to meet the widest possible need; when individual users face problems that the majority of consumers do not, they have no choice but to develop their own modifications to existing products, or entirely new products, to solve their issues. Often, user innovators will share their ideas with manufacturers in hopes of having them produce the product, a process called free revealing.
Based on research on the evolution of Internet technologies and open source software Ilkka Tuomi
further highlighted the point that users are fundamentally social. User innovation, therefore, is also socially and socio-technically distributed innovation. According to Tuomi, key uses are often unintended uses invented by user communities that reinterpret and reinvent the meaning of emerging technological opportunities.
The existence of user innovation, or example, by users of industrial robots, rather than the manufacturers of robots is a core part of the argument against the Linear Innovation Model i.e. innovation comes from research and development, is then marketed and 'diffuses' to end-users. Instead innovation is a non-linear process involving innovations at all stages
In 1986 Eric von Hippel introduced the lead user
method that can be used to systematically learn about user innovation in order to apply it in new product development
.
User innovation has a number of degrees: innovation of use, innovation in services, innovation in configuration of technologies, and finally the innovation of novel technologies themselves. While most user innovation is concentrated in use and configuration of existing products and technologies, and is a normal part of long term innovation, new technologies that are easier for end-users to change and innovate with, and new channels of communication are making it much easier for user innovation to occur and have an impact.
Recent research has focused on Web-based forums that facilitate user (or customer) innovation - referred to as virtual customer environment
, these forums help companies partner with their customers in various phases of product development as well as in other value creation activities. For example, Threadless, a T-shirt manufacturing company, relies on the contribution of online community members in the design process. The community includes a group of volunteer designers who submit designs and vote on the designs of others. In addition to free exposure, designers are provided monetary incentives including a $2,500 base award as well as a percentage of T-shirt sales. These incentives allow Threadless to encourage continual user contribution
Innovation
Innovation is the creation of better or more effective products, processes, technologies, or ideas that are accepted by markets, governments, and society...
by intermediate users (e.g. user firm
Firm
A firm is a business.Firm or The Firm may also refer to:-Organizations:* Hooligan firm, a group of unruly football fans* The Firm, Inc., a talent management company* Fair Immigration Reform Movement...
s) or consumer
Consumer
Consumer is a broad label for any individuals or households that use goods generated within the economy. The concept of a consumer occurs in different contexts, so that the usage and significance of the term may vary.-Economics and marketing:...
users (individual end-user
End-user
Economics and commerce define an end user as the person who uses a product. The end user or consumer may differ from the person who purchases the product...
s or user communities), rather than by supplier
Supplier
Supplier may refer to:*Manufacturer, uses tools and labor to make things for sale*Processor , converts a product from one form to another*Packager , encloses products for distribution, storage, sale, and use...
s (producers or manufacturers) (von Hippel 1986).
Eric von Hippel
Eric von Hippel
Eric von Hippel is an economist and a professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management, specializing in the nature and economics of distributed and open innovation. He is best known for his work developing the concept of user innovation – that end-users, rather than manufacturers, are...
of MIT and others observed that many products and services are actually developed or at least refined, by users, at the site of implementation and use. These ideas are then moved back into the supply network. This is because products are developed to meet the widest possible need; when individual users face problems that the majority of consumers do not, they have no choice but to develop their own modifications to existing products, or entirely new products, to solve their issues. Often, user innovators will share their ideas with manufacturers in hopes of having them produce the product, a process called free revealing.
Based on research on the evolution of Internet technologies and open source software Ilkka Tuomi
Ilkka Tuomi
Ilkka Tuomi , a native of Finland, is noted for writings on the subject of the Internet.-Works:Ilkka Tuomi has written books, including Networks of Innovation: Change and Meaning in the Age of the Internet which develops theory of open innovation based on analysis of Internet-related innovations...
further highlighted the point that users are fundamentally social. User innovation, therefore, is also socially and socio-technically distributed innovation. According to Tuomi, key uses are often unintended uses invented by user communities that reinterpret and reinvent the meaning of emerging technological opportunities.
The existence of user innovation, or example, by users of industrial robots, rather than the manufacturers of robots is a core part of the argument against the Linear Innovation Model i.e. innovation comes from research and development, is then marketed and 'diffuses' to end-users. Instead innovation is a non-linear process involving innovations at all stages
In 1986 Eric von Hippel introduced the lead user
Lead user
Lead user is a term developed by Eric von Hippel in 1986 . His definition for lead user is:# Lead users face needs that will be general in a marketplace – but face them months or years before the bulk of that marketplace encounters them, and...
method that can be used to systematically learn about user innovation in order to apply it in new product development
New product development
In business and engineering, new product development is the term used to describe the complete process of bringing a new product to market. A product is a set of benefits offered for exchange and can be tangible or intangible...
.
User innovation has a number of degrees: innovation of use, innovation in services, innovation in configuration of technologies, and finally the innovation of novel technologies themselves. While most user innovation is concentrated in use and configuration of existing products and technologies, and is a normal part of long term innovation, new technologies that are easier for end-users to change and innovate with, and new channels of communication are making it much easier for user innovation to occur and have an impact.
Recent research has focused on Web-based forums that facilitate user (or customer) innovation - referred to as virtual customer environment
Virtual customer environment
A Virtual Customer Environment is a web-based forum to facilitate customer co-innovation or user innovation.Customers can partner with companies in different phases of product innovation - in product ideation, in product design & development, in product testing, and in product diffusion...
, these forums help companies partner with their customers in various phases of product development as well as in other value creation activities. For example, Threadless, a T-shirt manufacturing company, relies on the contribution of online community members in the design process. The community includes a group of volunteer designers who submit designs and vote on the designs of others. In addition to free exposure, designers are provided monetary incentives including a $2,500 base award as well as a percentage of T-shirt sales. These incentives allow Threadless to encourage continual user contribution
Sources
- Bilgram, V.; Brem, A.; Voigt, K.-I.: User-Centric Innovations in New Product Development; Systematic Identification of Lead User Harnessing Interactive and Collaborative Online-Tools, in: International Journal of Innovation Management, Vol. 12 (2008), No. 3, pp. 419–458.
- Braun, Viktor R.G. (2007): Barriers to user-innovation & the paradigm of licensing to innovate, Doctoral dissertation: Hamburg University of Technology
See also
- Open DesignOpen designOpen design is the development of physical products, machines and systems through use of publicly shared design information. The process is generally facilitated by the Internet and often performed without monetary compensation...
- InnovationInnovationInnovation is the creation of better or more effective products, processes, technologies, or ideas that are accepted by markets, governments, and society...
- Creativity techniquesCreativity techniquesCreativity techniques are methods that encourage creative actions, whether in the arts or sciences. They focus on a variety of aspects of creativity, including techniques for idea generation and divergent thinking, methods of re-framing problems, changes in the affective environment and so on. They...
- CrowdsourcingCrowdsourcingCrowdsourcing is the act of sourcing tasks traditionally performed by specific individuals to a group of people or community through an open call....
- Virtual customer environmentVirtual customer environmentA Virtual Customer Environment is a web-based forum to facilitate customer co-innovation or user innovation.Customers can partner with companies in different phases of product innovation - in product ideation, in product design & development, in product testing, and in product diffusion...
- List of emerging technologies
- Participatory designParticipatory designParticipatory design is an approach to design attempting to actively involve all stakeholders in the design process in order to help ensure the product designed meets their needs and is usable. The term is used in a variety of fields e.g...
- Professional amateursProfessional amateursAmateur professionalism or professional amateurism is a socioeconomic concept that describes a blurring of the distinction between professional and amateur within any endeavour or attainable skill that could be labelled professional, whether it is in the field of writing, computer...
- Toolkits for User InnovationToolkits for User InnovationToolkits for user innovation allow manufacturers to " abandon their attempts to understand user needs in detail in favor of transferring need-related aspects of product and service development to users along with an appropriate toolkit"...
- Domestication theoryDomestication theoryDomestication theory is an approach in science and technology studies and media studies that describes the processes by which innovations, especially new technology is 'tamed' or appropriated by its users. First, technologies are integrated into everyday life and adapted to daily practices....
- Science and technology studiesScience and technology studiesScience, technology and society is the study of how social, political, and cultural values affect scientific research and technological innovation, and how these, in turn, affect society, politics and culture...
- User reengineeringUser reengineeringUser reengineering is the redesign of a product, not for resale, but by a consumer or user. Historically, concept and craft were often more significant components of products as they were intended to last indefinitely...
External links
- New York Times on User Innovation (2007)
- New York Times on User Innovation (2005)
- Eric Von Hippel's books on user innovation, available under the creative commonsCreative CommonsCreative Commons is a non-profit organization headquartered in Mountain View, California, United States devoted to expanding the range of creative works available for others to build upon legally and to share. The organization has released several copyright-licenses known as Creative Commons...
license. - The Contribution Revolution wiki collects information about user contribution systems in the business world. It is based on the *Harvard Business Review article of the same name by Scott Cook
- ThreadlessThreadlessThreadless is an online community of artists and an e-commerce website based in Chicago, Illinois since 2000. Co-founders Jake Nickell and Jacob DeHart started the company with $1,000 in seed money after entering an Internet t-shirt design contest....
, a t-shirt company completely driven by user innovation