Characteristics of innovating users in a consumer goods field: An empirical study of sport-related product consumers

We report on a survey of the innovation activities and characteristics of 153 users of outdoor-related consumer products. We find a high level of innovation by these consumers. Thirty-seven percent report that they have developed ideas for new or improved products, and more than 9% report building product prototypes or even marketable products. We also find that innovating users can be reliably distinguished from non-innovating ones by characteristics such as the benefit they expect from using their innovations and the level of expertise they have in their sport. Taken together, these two findings - frequent innovation by consumers and the possibility to identify efficiently those who innovate - imply that innovation by users can be an important source of new product ideas for consumer goods companies. Effective utilization of this resource will require significant changes in idea generation methodologies for many consumer good firms. --Produktinnovation,Produktentwicklung,Lead User

Democratizing Business Software: Small Business Ecosystems for Open Source Applications

Open source has democratized software innovation to an unprecedented degree, but doubts persist as to whether democratized innovation can extend to business applications, where individual developers are not the end users. We report on a new kind of ecosystem around extensions to open source business applications, and examine the types of contributors and contributions relative to previous open source research. Our results show a surprising presence of small businesses, particularly consultants and freelance developers. These smaller firms bridge an important gap between lead users and producers, contributing disproportionately to new back-end and integration features. This study shows how new networks of commercial and semi-commercial players, particularly small businesses, are combining their efforts to create viable business ecosystems around successful open source business applications

Performance Implications of Stage-Wise Lead User Participation in Software Development Problem Solving

The problem-solving view of new product development sees the innovation process as a series of problem-solving loops broken down into three stages: problem detection, analysis and removal. We link this framework with lead user-driven innovation regarding software and show that effort by lead users (LUs) in each stage of the innovation problem solving process is, in varying degrees, associated with the source code’s quality, the productivity of the development process and the software’s popularity. We also test whether front loading the problem solving process is associated with development performance and we find that front loading is associated with increased code quality but decreased development productivity. Empirical tests are carried out with data from open source software projects. Findings potentially impact the design and management of online communities to help product development

Implementing user innovation: case mobile web server beta

Open innovation is challenging the traditional model of closed innovation in research and product development. The idea is to open the boundaries of a firm and let external influences take part in the development processes. One way of utilizing open innovation is to involve the so-called lead users via user innovation methods. The concept of MWS ”an Internet server in the phone” is an original Nokia Research Center innovation. It is a fully-fledged HTTP server that has been adapted to Nokia's Symbian smartphones. This makes it possible to use the phone features remotely from anywhere over the Internet. For the user of the phone this opens up new possibilities to use the device for example as a remote camera or data storage. If the user chooses it is also possible to open up access to the phone for friends which creates new possibilities for sharing information and communication. The methods of open innovation were utilized in the project in many ways. First of all most of the required technology was based on open source software, such as Apache HTTP Server and Python scripting language. By employing open source software the project was able to concentrate on integration to the smartphone platform. It was also thought that using open source software components it would be easier to motivate new developers to come up with new innovative uses for technology solution. In the MWS beta project the idea was to make the service accessible for a wider base of lead users in the mobile world. It was thought that involving lead users would lead to the discovery of new use cases for the technology. Several methods and tools for user innovation were employed in this phase of the project, such as discussion boards, a blog and direct communication channels. This thesis work documents the phases of the beta project and the results of user innovation. /Kir1

New forms of collaborative innovation and production on the internet

The Internet has enabled new forms of large-scale collaboration. Voluntary contributions by large numbers of users and co-producers lead to new forms of production and innovation, as seen in Wikipedia, open source software development, in social networks or on user-generated content platforms as well as in many firm-driven Web 2.0 services. Large-scale collaboration on the Internet is an intriguing phenomenon for scholarly debate because it challenges well established insights into the governance of economic action, the sources of innovation, the possibilities of collective action and the social, legal and technical preconditions for successful collaboration. Although contributions to the debate from various disciplines and fine-grained empirical studies already exist, there still is a lack of an interdisciplinary approach

Search fields for radical innovations involving market research

Strong market orientation is essential for innovation success! Although both academics and market research practitioners would generally accept this statement, alignment with the needs of the customer often results in conservative innovation strategies. Due to their focus on what is currently on offer in the marketplace, customers primarily demand so-called incremental innovations. Companies however, want to develop entry points for radical innovations. The identification of radical innovations is a difficult task whose implementation is often associated with significant risk. It is questionable if market research can alone allow innovation management to develop attractive search fields for radical innovations and if it can also contribute to the reduction of the risk that such innovations inherently possess. Closer observation shows that the market research methods used today for the discovery of radical innovations in the form of new market/technology combinations possess only limited suitability. Empirical tests verify that success-fully innovative companies often don't use such methods, rather they involve specifically qualified, innovative knowledge carriers early-on in the process such as Lead Users or external experts with relevant knowledge from analogous markets in the search for innovations. When searching for applications for radical innovations, market researchers should initially concentrate on the question of who they address as the information source. How successful the process of involving experts is and how well supported through the methodology it is, depends heavily on the specific factors and conditions related to the pro-ject planning. --Produktentwicklung,Produktinnovation,Marktforschung

Using Renewable Energy as an Innovation Source: Case Study of Pörtom Community

The use of renewable energy as an alternative energy source cannot be overlooked at this present time of unstable price of fossil fuels combined with the recent economic crises. Renewable energy sources are available all over the world, but their availability greatly depends on their location. There are several technologies for exploiting renewable energy sources. These range from windmills to gigantic CHP power plants. Many communities are surrounded with renewable energy sources but lack the essential technologies for tapping them, and due to the price of the available ones, they are still avoided by every man. Consequently, the diffusion of renewable technology is exploited at low rate. In this research the use of renewable energy as an innovation source was tackled by looking at the meaning of innovation and how the two issues – renewable energy and innovation – integrate. New knowledge can come in different ways: it could be an improvement on the present technology or a completely novel innovative idea. However, what is new to some people might not be new to others. The use of renewable energy technologies varies and their use depends on the way the lead user uses these technologies. This study discovered how lead users’ experience is used to analyze their energy needs by simulating the available data in proposing the capacity of the CHP power plant and location of the power plant to the lead users.fi=Opinnäytetyö kokotekstinä PDF-muodossa.|en=Thesis fulltext in PDF format.|sv=Lärdomsprov tillgängligt som fulltext i PDF-format

New forms of collaborative innovation and production on the internet - an interdisciplinary perspective

The Internet has enabled new forms of large-scale collaboration. Voluntary contributions by large numbers of users and co-producers lead to new forms of production and innovation, as seen in Wikipedia, open source software development, in social networks or on user-generated content platforms as well as in many firm-driven Web 2.0 services. Large-scale collaboration on the Internet is an intriguing phenomenon for scholarly debate because it challenges well established insights into the governance of economic action, the sources of innovation, the possibilities of collective action and the social, legal and technical preconditions for successful collaboration. Although contributions to the debate from various disciplines and fine-grained empirical studies already exist, there still is a lack of an interdisciplinary approach

New forms of collaborative innovation and production on the internet

The Internet has enabled new forms of large-scale collaboration. Voluntary contributions by large numbers of users and co-producers lead to new forms of production and innovation, as seen in Wikipedia, open source software development, in social networks or on user-generated content platforms as well as in many firm-driven Web 2.0 services. Large-scale collaboration on the Internet is an intriguing phenomenon for scholarly debate because it challenges well established insights into the governance of economic action, the sources of innovation, the possibilities of collective action and the social, legal and technical preconditions for successful collaboration. Although contributions to the debate from various disciplines and fine-grained empirical studies already exist, there still is a lack of an interdisciplinary approach

The Meaning of Lead Users Within the Context of Online Platforms in the Creative Industry

Purpose In today’s dynamic and rapidly evolving technologically advanced world, user innovation and open source sharing are becoming powerful phenomena, which can potentially change existing business models. In this paper we integrate multi-method research, focusing on a particular segment of innovating users defined as “lead users” by von Hippel (1986) to explore their meaning within the context of the previously non-researched creative industry, represented by 3D printing and design in one particular research setting. “Lead Users” are defined by academic research as having high incentives to innovate and being at the leading edge of an important market trend. Therefore, by distinguishing between different categories of lead users in the context of our chosen research setting, we aim to define their meaning in relation to the creative industry. Methods The study selected a particular research setting in order to obtain primary and secondary data. Primary data in the form of ten semi-structured qualitative interviews, based on a case study approach, was used to develop and further our knowledge on the meaning of lead users within the online creative community of Thingiverse; primary data was further obtained via quantitative techniques. Secondary data was obtained through observations from blogs, online documents, and articles from independent resources. Findings We find that they contribute to it by determining a unique model of innovation driven by intrinsic, extrinsic and mixed incentives, which, in turn, contribute to the types of resources the lead users add to the research setting. Analyzing evidence from our research findings, we gain insights, which we believe contribute to and enrich the existing academic literature, specifically in relation to user entrepreneurship and sources of innovation, as well as evidence for the successful coexistence of mixed resources and mixed incentives. We find that the latter is enabled by a certain group of lead users, which have managed to successfully bridge the two polar worlds. Value and Originality To the knowledge of the author existing academic research has not explored the creative industry and its lead users so far, therefore, this paper will add novice aspects through its findings