This study has been performed in the conception site of Decathlon Quechua Nature Hiking in France (Haute-Savoie, 74). It proposes the evaluation of two methods for accelerating and increasing user involvement in the product development process without reducing the quality. Co-creation, which consists in ideating products in collaboration with users, is performed in order to accelerate the ideation step. Fast prototyping experiments coupled with efficient feedback collection are proposed in order to make conception choices faster. These two methods are applied to the development of a product named inflatable shelves and evaluated in this context.
A presentation of Decathlon traditional product development with timelines associated with each step is proposed in the beginning of this study. A comparison between the traditional approach and the development of the inflatable shelves gives an idea of the efficiency of the two methods used for accelerating the product development. Quality of the methods used is evaluated according to two definitions. Individual quality of each experiment is assessed by comparing the initial objectives and results obtained. Global quality of the product is determined by the user centeredness of ideation and conception choices. This study shows that co-creation and user involvement increase strongly the coherence of conception choices. User centeredness is at the heart of co-creation. Collaboration with users and potential customers is not the right solution for accelerating the ideation step but makes it more concrete. Fast prototyping experiments coupled with feedback collection from targeted populations have been performed. These experiments were based on continuous improvement of very rough prototypes, for function validations step by step. It reduced the conception time by half. Thanks to fast prototyping, conception step of inflatable shelves took four months instead of height for a traditional development.
A new methodology for accelerating the product development process is proposed as a perspective of this study. It has been elaborated by redefining co-creation and fast prototyping real added values. Co-creation will be used for elaborating a coherent product brief and generate ideas for technical solutions. Fast prototyping experiments will be performed in order to collect feedback from experts and customers and increase the user centeredness of the product development
