A customer-active paradigm for industrial product idea generation

Abstract

New product need assessment and idea generation methodologies, developed and used successfully in the consumer product arena, are seldom used to aid in the design of new industrial products. It is suggested that the ‘fault’ lies in large part with the ‘manufacturer-active’ paradigm underlying these methodologies, which prescribes that the product manufacturer has the role of assessing customer needs and developing a responsive product idea. A new ‘customer-active’ paradigm is proposed in which the customer develops the new product idea and takes the initiative to transfer it to an interested manufacturer. The hypothesis that the customer-active paradigm offers a better fit to industrial product idea generation practice than does the manufacturer-active paradigm is tested against the available empirical data (eight studies are reviewed) and found supported. Speculative reasoning is then offered in support of the notion that the customeractive paradigm provides a good fit to the inherent requirements of industrial product idea generation as well as to current practice. Implications for research and practice are discussed.