User-drivenness has for a long time been the key word when new or existing products or services are being developed in the private or public sector. It is regrettable how often “the living customer” with his or her hopes and needs only exists in the heads of the developers. At best, user-drivenness is realized when physically bringing the customers into the development process. There, their task is not only to passively produce knowledge for the developers, but also to become active partners in applicable stages of the processes. It is then correct to speak of user-driven development activities.
The subtleties of terms used in literature to emphasize the active role of the customer or user in innovation activities are various. Commonly known are, user-driven innovation (von Hippel 2005), user-involvement (Alam 2002), and co-creation (Prahalad & Ramaswamy 2004). All these recognize the customer as a rational and thinking person with a potential for innovation that, if treated correctly, can prove a valuable resource to the developers of the services and products.
The objective of the research theme is to produce research-based scientific knowledge of user-driven innovation processes in the context of user-driven innovation activities. The research topics are, for example, methods encouraging the customers to take active roles as subjects, as well as issues problematic to both to the developers and the customers. Focus is also placed on factors related to the management and implementation of user-driven innovation processes.
Further information:
Lea Hennala
References:
Alam, Ian (2002) An Exploratory Investigation of User Involvement in New Service Development. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science Vol.30, No3, s.250-261
Prahalad, C.K & Ramaswamy, Venkat (2004) Co-creating unique value with customers, Strategy & Leadership Vol 32 No. 3, s.4-9
Von Hippel, Eric (2005) Democratizing Innovation. The MIT Press. Cambridge (MA).