Abstract
Lead users are the most valuable innovation sources in crowdsourcing design; how to identify these users is a research hotspot in the field of design and management. Existing approaches to discover lead users in the context of the online community, such as the manual method and ordering algorithm, have some limitations, for instance, low coverage and accuracy. To address these deficiencies, this article proposes a method that applies text-mining techniques, analysis of user behavior, and contributed content to identify lead users. We suggest a three-step analytical approach: First, a criterion system to evaluate the user’s leading-edge status is constructed. Second, we utilize a fuzzy analytical hierarchy process to assess the weighted value of each indicator and develop the reference sequence of the indicators. Third, grey relational analysis is employed to analyze the correlations between users’ indicators and reference sequences, and lead users are recognized based on each user’s correlation ranking. An empirical analysis is used to examine the effectiveness of the proposed method. The results reveal that the method has good precision and recall rate, can automatically process large-scale data, and has no strict requirements for respondents. Finally, the article discusses the limitations and provides possible directions for future research.
Highlights
In recent years, the flourishing of crowdsourcing triggered a transformation in the field of product development [1]
We demonstrate the efficacy of our proposed methodology utilizing a case study of user behavior data from a well-known crowdsourcing design community (CDC) in China
We developed a criterion system that includes the indicators of user contribution contents and online behavior to measure the leading-edge status of the CDC members
Summary
The flourishing of crowdsourcing triggered a transformation in the field of product development [1]. The advancement of Internet technologies has offered a stable channel for consumers to participate in design activities. Many firms, such as Lego, P&G, Haier, and. Dell, have launched online platforms, i.e., the crowdsourcing design community (CDC). It encourages customers to contribute content (e.g., designs and ideas) via posting topics and messages, which is the main pathway for users to participate in enterprises’ new product development (NPD) projects [3,4]. Dell posts its needs (e.g., bottleneck problems the company encounter during the process of NPD) on Ideastorm and invites users to contribute ideas, designs, experience, and knowledge to solve these issues.
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