End-user driven innovation; Are the final users of a new product or services useful in the innovation process?

One of the main challenges in developing new products and services is end-user involvement. Recent studies advocate for the participation of end-users in the opportunity identification phase, either involving lead users, also called expert users (Von Hippel 1986; Lettl, 2007), or lay users (Lüthje, 2004), non-expert users. In 1986, Dr. Eric von Hippel introduced the Lead-User theory (von Hippel E,. 1986). This theory claims that breakthrough products may be developed by identifying leading trends in the to-be-developed product marketplace. Once the problem to be solved has been identified, practitioners look for “Lead Users”, that is to say, people or organizations that are attempting to solve a specific version of the problem. Lead-users are said to understand needs, propose and conceptualize products and services that are ahead of its time (Bar & Riis, 2000), they are early adopters of new technologies and foresee future trends (Kaulio, 1998). Nevertheless, dealing with lead users also involves risks: service and products could be too sophisticated or only fit a reduced number of users expectations (Bar and Riis, 2000), and leave undiscovered some potential contributions from non-expert users (Magnusson et al. 2003). In an ongoing research at Innova Institute in cooperation with La Salle UserLab, we are exploring innovation methodologies that benefit from the participation of non tech-savvy users in the identification of latent needs in early stages of new products or services development (Miranda, 2009). How is your organization dealing with lead-users? which role do users play in your innovation processes? As always, we welcome your comments and contributions. References

• Bar, F. and Riis, A.M., 2000. Tapping user-driven innovation: A new rationale for universal service. TheInformation Society, Vol. 16. p.99-108.
• Kaulio, M.A., 1998. Customer, consumer and user involvement in product development: A framework anda review of selected methods. Total Quality Management, Vol.9 p.141-149
• Lettl, C., 2007. User involvement competence for radical innovation. Journal of Engineering and Technology Management Volume 24, Issues 1-2, March-June 2007, Pages 53-75
• Lüthje, C., 2004. Characteristics of innovating users in a consumer goods field.An empirical study of sport-related product consumers. Technovation, Vol.24 0.683-695.
• Magnusson, P.R., Matting, J. and Kristensson, P. (2003). Managing user involvement in service innovation.Journal of Service Research, Vol.6 p.111-124
• Miranda, T., 2009. End-user involvement in opportunity detection in new tech-based services development process; approaches from post-modern psychology. Advanced Studies Diploma (DEA), La Salle – Ramon Llull University.
• Von Hippel, E., 1986. “Lead Users: A Source of Novel Product Concepts.” ManagementScience 32, no. 7: 791–805.