Lead Users Research Articles

Lead users’ ideas on core features to support physical activity in rheumatoid arthritis: a first step in the development of an internet service using participatory design

BackgroundDespite the growing evidence of the benefits of physical activity (PA) in individuals with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), the majority is not physically active enough. An innovative strategy is to engage lead users in the development of PA interventions provided over the internet. The aim was to explore lead users’ ideas and prioritization of core features in a future internet service targeting adoption and maintenance of healthy PA in people with RA.MethodsSix focus group interviews were performed with a purposively selected sample of 26 individuals with RA. Data were analyzed with qualitative content analysis and quantification of participants’ prioritization of most important content.ResultsSix categories were identified as core features for a future internet service: up-to-date and evidence-based information and instructions, self-regulation tools, social interaction, personalized set-up, attractive design and content, and access to the internet service. The categories represented four themes, or core aspects, important to consider in the design of the future service: (1) content, (2) customized options, (3) user interface and (4) access and implementation.ConclusionsThis is, to the best of our knowledge, the first study involving people with RA in the development of an internet service to support the adoption and maintenance of PA.Participants helped identifying core features and aspects important to consider and further explore during the next phase of development. We hypothesize that involvement of lead users will make transfer from theory to service more adequate and user-friendly and therefore will be an effective mean to facilitate PA behavior change.

Leading Edge Users and Latent Consumer Needs in Electromobility: Findings from a Nethnographic Study of User Innovation in High-Tech Online Communities

Netnography i.e. the systematic observation and analysis of online communities to generate insights for an innovation process, has been established as a method of user innovation in consumer goods industries. In this study we apply this technique for the first time in the context of a complex, business-to-business high-tech industry, namely services and systems for electric vehicles, by analyzing 15 online communities in this domain. We find that Netnography can largely enhance the knowledge stock of a research organization in the area in question, and provides access to key individuals with lead user characteristics. We extensively comment on the process of applying Netnography in such a setting and derive implications for further research and management practice.

An Experimental Investigation of the Effectiveness of Empathic Experience Design for Innovative Concept Generation

An important part of designing successful products is building empathy for the people for whom the product is intended. Despite recent interest in empathic design techniques, they remain confined primarily to customer needs analysis and design problem definition activities, and much of the evidence for their impact on engineering designs is anecdotal. In this paper, empathic design techniques are formally integrated into the conceptual design process, and their effectiveness is investigated with a controlled idea generation experiment. Empathic experience design (EED) is a structured conceptual design method focused on stimulating creative, user-centered concept generation by engaging designers in empathic experiences as part of concept generation. Empathic experiences are demanding product interaction tasks that are intended to help a design engineer empathize with customers who use a product under a variety of sometimes challenging conditions. Empathic experiences can represent either actual disabilities or situational disabilities, which are experienced by lead users who push a product to its extremes and experience needs prior to the general population. In some cases, these empathic experiences amplify the situational disability as a means of highlighting the challenges of interacting with a particular product or system. A representative example is the use of thick gloves to limit a designer's dexterity and thereby highlight the challenges associated with either actual disabilities, such as arthritis, or situational disabilities, such as extreme cold or fatigue that make it difficult to move one's fingers freely. The EED method precedes concept generation activities with a series of these empathic experiences involving a baseline product to be redesigned. Many professional designers incorporate empathy and empathic experiences into their design practices, but evidence of their impact on resulting designs has been largely anecdotal. In this paper, their effectiveness is investigated formally with strategically designed experiments. The research hypothesis is that empathic experiences, when coupled with concept generation activities, lead to designs that are more original, especially with respect to features that enhance product-user interactions. To test this hypothesis, experiments were conducted on two example problems in which participants were asked to develop concepts for a next-generation product. Experimental groups completed a controlled concept generation task after engaging in empathic experiences with a prototype product to be redesigned. Control groups completed an identical concept generation task after interacting with the prototype products freely. Resulting concepts were analyzed for their originality, technical feasibility, and embodiment of a specific set of innovation characteristics. Results indicate that the experimental participants who were exposed to empathic experiences prior to concept generation produced concepts with significantly higher rates of original product-user interaction features without any sacrifice in technical feasibility. The overall originality of the concepts is also higher for redesign problems with an abundance of existing solutions, indicating that the EED method also helps alleviate design fixation.

How to plan and manage a project to co-create value with stakeholders

Purpose – The article explains how innovating with customers and other stakeholders to achieve co-creation of value requires companies to marry their collaborators' interests with corporate knowledge and resources. The process starts with setting objectives and proceeds through four additional steps: selection of arenas, engagement with collaborators, choice of project tools and processes and defining contracts with stakeholders. Design/methodology/approach – The authors describe how leading firms have developed best-practice processes, tools and technologies to better enable and expedite value co-creation. Findings – The article offers managers guidelines for deciding which customers to select for participation in specific co-creation programs. The choices are: Customers who have extraordinary passion for their brands; customers in attractive or untapped market segments; customers that exhibit a high co-creation potential; innovators and early adopters; lead users looking to develop solutions to solve their own needs. Practical implications – Collaborative innovation projects need to define “What's in it for the collaborators?” Customer collaboration rarely operates independent of incentives. Originality/value – The article offers practical guidance for companies that engage in co-creation projects because they want to them to foster the discovery of customer interest and value, which they can turn into innovation and competitive advantage.

Towards Innovation Foresight: Two empirical case studies on future TV experiences for/by users

This paper discusses the need for a shift towards more Foresight-based inclusive innovation processes and introduces the concept of “Innovation Foresight” (IF) in this respect. IF represents an approach for bringing the future into holistic innovation processes, in which users and other stakeholders are systematically involved to detect future opportunities and risks. This could allow for a better integration of inclusive, long-term visions in decision-making and strategic thinking in the context of innovation. To be effective and enable mutual learning, the IF process calls for future-oriented, continuous interaction with current/anticipated users and a better integration of methods and approaches from different fields, including Foresight, user/market research and human-centred product design. This paper discusses two empirical studies that closely involved users in the exploration, imagination and creation of future TV experiences. Study 1 aimed to identify users’ specific (future) needs and possible Lead User ideas concerning digital TV (DTV) in Flanders through an online survey (N=11.802 digital TV users). 13 unique ideas representing important unfulfilled needs were identified and evaluated. Study 2, which focused on ‘Future TV experiences’, consisted of a multi-method research approach in three phases, resulting in six persona profiles, that help to provide an understanding of users’ daily practices and futures aspirations. It is argued that a better introduction of future anticipation in inclusive innovation processes could enhance the input of users in innovation and contribute to the detection of potential user/societal needs and possible unexpected forms of use.

Lead users, suppliers, and experts: the exploration and exploitation trade-off in product development

We develop a theoretical framework that explains how lead users, key suppliers, and product experts play into the exploration and exploitation trade-off, and how their changing roles support the development of their ideas into marketable solutions. We explain that close collaboration with product experts, suppliers and lead users supports exploitation, as it tends to enable the development and improvement of existing products. Irregular or non-systematic collaboration with lead users, on the other hand, supports exploration by providing ideas for entirely new products. Furthermore, our theoretical framework argues that the changing role of the external agents increases their understanding of the products they help to develop, supporting a process of exploration and exploitation. This learning process supports the technical abilities of the lead user group in particular, who can then use their newly acquired knowledge to further modify existing products and introduce new ones to meet their needs. At the same time, this process educates internal staff, suppliers, and product experts about the use of the product, which then enhances their ability to develop new and marketable ideas. Our proposed theoretical model has several implications for lead user theory and for product development managers seeking to enhance the development of new products and solutions, which we discuss at the end of the paper.

Effects of involving Lead Users and Close Customers in enhancing the process of New Service Development: a Study on Banking Sector

The proposed study was investigate the effects of lead users and relational closeness of the customers in the process of NSD and to see if the new service market performance gets affected due to these two variables with a mediating role of four variables i.e. service advantage, service innovativeness, innovation speed and service newness. A total of 200 responses were used for the analysis of the study. Analysis was done using Simple and Multiple Regression and Baron and Kenny tests. Results indicated that Lead userness and relational closeness had a meaningful connection with new service market performance. Also lead userness positively affected the service advantage, service innovativeness and innovation speed. It was also found that lead userness had a negative effect on service newness. Relational closeness had a positive association with service advantage, service innovativeness, and innovation speed and service newness. Service innovativeness and innovation speed were related to new service market performance. It was also found that service advantage and service newness had no association with new service market performance. Service innovativeness and innovation speed mediated the relationship between lead userness and new service market performance. It was also observed that service innovativeness and innovation speed also mediates the relationship of new service market performance and relation closeness.

Do-it-yourselfers as Lead users for Environmentally Conscious Behavior

Much engineering effort has focused on developing more resource-efficient products. However, use behavior is clearly relevant to resource conservation. Wasteful behavior offsets at least part of the anticipated gains in resource efficiency intended by resource-saving modes and technologies. Therefore, in addition to creating more efficient products, designers should also develop products that encourage and enable users to behave in more resource-efficient ways. We identified do-it-yourselfers as lead users to gain insights on product design to support Environmentally Conscious Behavior (ECB). Specifically, we studied do-it-yourselfers who repurpose rather than replace furniture items when their original functions are no longer required.

Mock-up as a Design Tool in Designer-Surgeon Collaboration

Some surgeons are capable of seeing needs earlier than other users in the same domain, and they are also able to provide the solutions. Some earlier research showed this, e.g. surgeons with lead user’s characteristics designed their own tools. However, current workloads and other responsibilities hindered them from expressing their design problems and needs for new surgical tools. In this paper, the author will discuss the use of mock-up kits as a design tool and making as design collaboration essence in two collaboration design projects with colorectal surgeons. This mock-up kit was developed through some other related work containing eclectic everyday material and on hand formable material, e.g. cardboard. Two colorectal surgeons were involved in separate design projects, and each of them has their own needs and purposes. The research aimed to study how mock-ups can be used in such co-design works and how this method can enhance the usability of surgical tools. It has shown that the process of ‘making’ allowed the surgeons to use design strategies. The activities in both collaboration projects indicated that mock-ups are valuable tools to use in such co-design projects because they enable the surgeons to be actively involved in creative activity.

A method for assessing the usability of an on screen display for a brain-computer interface

Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) aim to provide a mechanism by which individuals with severe forms of paralysis can communicate their wishes to others or gain control over devices in their environment. This paper describes the evaluation of an interface designed for use with BCI, which is dedicated to providing a flexible and extensible framework for controlling multiple devices within a domestic environment. A structured format for assessing the usability aspects of this interface is presented. The goal-question-metric (GQM) approach derived from measurement in software engineering was used, providing a mechanism that can be readily adapted to assess other interfaces in assistive technology. The assessment was based on interaction of five participants currently using assistive technology who provided an initial representation of the target user group. Their input, in addition to guidance from a lead user, was used to influence subsequent design choices and directions and highlight the importance of user-centred design within BCI development.

Firms' Partnership with University Researchers as Lead Users

Firms' Partnership with University Researchers as Lead Users

Synergies among Producer Firms, Lead Users, and User Communities: The Case of the LEGO Producer–User Ecosystem

While many firms today proactively involve users in their new product development efforts using a wide variety of methods such as the lead user method, firm‐hosted user communities, or mass customization toolkits, some pioneering firms are experimenting with the creation of sustainable producer–user ecosystems designed for the continuous exploration and exploitation of business opportunities. In this paper, the functioning of such ecosystems is studied with particular emphasis on the synergies they can yield. Based on an explorative and longitudinal multiple case study design, the producer–user ecosystem of the firm LEGO is analyzed, and three main actors in the ecosystem are identified: entrepreneurial lead users who aim to start their own businesses, a vibrant user community, and the LEGO company as the focal producer firm and facilitator for multiple user‐to‐user and user‐to‐producer interactions. Our study reveals three kinds of synergies: (1) reduced risk for entrepreneurial lead users and the focal producer firm, (2) the extension of the design space of the focal producer firm's products, and (3) the creation of buzz within the user community. Finally, the theoretical and managerial implications of our findings for innovation researchers and practitioners are discussed.

The Combination Design of Enabling Technologies in Group Learning: New Study Support Service for Visually Impaired University Students

This article aims to show how the process of new service technology-based development improves the current study support service for visually impaired university students. Numerous studies have contributed to improving assisted aid technology such as screen readers, the development and the use of audiobooks, and technology that supports individual learning by the visually impaired. Before conducting research on how the existing technologies could enhance today’s study support service, a lead user was identified from among the visually impaired university students that were involved in the new service development process. Telephone interview analysis was used for primary data collection from 49 sampled students while interviews, discussions, and brain storming were used for the primary data collection in the idea generation process and the new service functionality synthesis between the lead user and researcher. The findings from this study make several contributions to the area of service development using the lead user technique. The lead user provided an idea that is claimed to be a useful service solution. It was demonstrated that a group learning technology-based service can work as a new service for visually impaired university students. The findings are also original in that the new service with the capacity for knowledge access and transfer using telephony technology will be the first new service that shifts their individual learning to a group or community that includes instructor participation.

Factor Retention Decisions in Exploratory Factor Analysis Results: A Study Type of Knowledge Management Process at Malaysian University Libraries

Structural equation modeling (SEM) is a versatile statistical modeling tool which uses in the social sciences research. Recently, in Library and Information Science (LIS) environment, structural equation modeling has gained popularity across many disciplines, due to its generality and flexibility. Its estimation techniques, modeling capabilities and breadth of application are expanding rapidly. This paper reported a structural equation modeling through an Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) result, which involves 300 lead users at six selected Malaysian university libraries through survey. The decision of how many factors to retain is a critical component of exploratory factor analysis. Evidence is presented that parallel analysis is one of the most accurate factor retention methods. SPSS 20 was utilized to analyze the factor analysis data. In this regards, the results of EFA could provide empirical evidence of each hypotheses construct. It is hoped that the EFA results could be used to level Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) to perform full Structural Equation Modeling.

The Value of Customer Cocreated Knowledge during the Innovation Process

Customer cocreation during the innovation process has recently been suggested to be a major source for firms' competitive advantage. Hereby, customers actively engage in a firm's innovation process and take over innovation activities traditionally performed by a firm's employees. Despite its suggested importance, previous research has revealed contradictory findings regarding its impact, the nature of involved customers, and the channels of communication that enable cocreation. To provide a more fine‐grained picture, customer cocreated knowledge is first delineated into its key value dimensions of relevance, novelty, and costs, and then their impact on various innovation outcomes is investigated. Next, the study examines the antecedent role of customer determinants; that is, lead user characteristics and customer–firm closeness, on these knowledge value dimensions. Finally, we explore how these effects are moderated by the type of communication channel used. An empirical validation of the conceptual model is performed by means of survey data from 126 customer cocreation projects. The data analysis indicates that customer cocreation is most successful for the creation of highly relevant but moderately novel knowledge. Cocreation with customers who are closely related to the innovating firm results in more highly relevant knowledge at a low cost. Yet, cocreation with lead users produces novel and relevant knowledge. These effects are contingent on the richness and reach of the communication channels enabling cocreation. Overall, the findings shed light on opportunities and limitations of customer cocreation for innovation and reconcile determinants originating in relationship marketing and innovation management. At the same time, managers obtain recommendations for selecting customers and communication channels to enhance the success of their customer cocreation initiatives.

Co-Creation with Production Externalities

Co-creation, the participation of customers in the design and production of goods and services, has been gaining popularity in recent years. In this research we incorporate firm pricing into the joint production process allowing us to study (1) production externalities between firm and customers, (2) production externalities among customers, and (3) optimal pricing by firms. We show that given a choice, a monopoly firm will opt for co-creation with customers rather than deal with passive price-taking consumers. Furthermore, the firm will increase the effort it devotes to co-creation as the number of potential co-creating customers increases. We show that the profit of a firm facing a centralized pattern of externalities among customers (with an expert, or lead user, in the center) can be higher than its profit when facing a decentralized pattern of externalities among customers and clearly dominates its profit when customers do not have any cross externalities. Thus, we provide a different justification for the use of lead users, one that depends on their network centrality and not on having lower cost, more information, or greater ability than the firm. Because the decentralized pattern has more links than the centralized pattern, our results demonstrate the importance of the pattern of links between customers, and not just their number, in determining the profitability of co-creation. Furthermore, we find that the lead user's externality spillover to other connected users, her neighbors, acts as a force multiplier on the efforts exerted by all participants in equilibrium. Specifically, a higher spillover from the lead user increases the efforts of the firm, the neighbors, and the lead user herself, and this may lead to beneficial outcomes for all. Finally, we show that in co-creation environments, a monopolist firm may benefit by committing to a single price rather than exercising price discrimination. This is because the pricing structure affects customers' incentive to invest effort in the innovation-production stage.

Policy options to support the adoption of electric vehicles in the urban environment

In this paper we discuss the effectiveness, efficiency and feasibility of policy measures that cities may adopt to stimulate the uptake and use of electric vehicles. Our analysis is based on an expert workshop in which municipal policy-makers used a group decision room system to exchange their experiences with electric vehicle related policies. We distinguish six categories of measures: supporting citizens and businesses, supporting charging-infrastructure build up, regulatory measures, raising awareness, government as lead user, and governing the transition with other levels of government. We find two feasible policy mixes of effective and efficient measures, one for cities that strive to be among the global frontrunners and one of no-regret policies that any city should adopt, if it wants to stimulate electric mobility.

Lead Users and Non-Lead Users: Do Their Preferences Really Differ in Product Design?

Nowadays, the lead user method (von Hippel, 1986; Luthje et al., 2005) and conjoint analysis (Green and Srinivasan, 1990) are widely used methods for new product development. Both methods collect and analyze customers' preferences and use them for (optimal) product design. However, whereas the lead user method primarily is intended to create breakthrough innovations (see von Hippel et al., 2001), conjoint analysis is more capable for incremental innovations (Baier and Brusch, 2009). The main objective of this paper is to measure if lead user preferences differ to non-lead user preferences by extending traditional conjoint analysis with a lead user identification technique and whether this fact can be used in (new) product design for generating breakthrough innovations. This combined procedure is compared to traditional conjoint analysis. The well-known field of mountain biking is used as the empirical setting. The study showed thirty new improvements and led indeed to different preferred attribute-levels.

A process reference model for managing living labs for ICT innovation: A proposal based on ISO/IEC 15504

Living Labs are innovation infrastructures where software companies and research organizations collaborate with lead users to design and develop new products and services. There is not any reference model related to the processes or practices to manage a living lab. This article presents a reference model to manage effectively the synergies of software companies with the other stakeholders participating in a living lab.The article describes the approach used to create the reference model through the analysis of a multiple case study considering six living labs and discusses the lessons learned during the creation of the process reference model.

Co-creation with Consumers: Who has the Competence and Wants to Cooperate?

Lead users and emergent nature consumers are two highly attractive targets for marketing co-creation. Based on a representative sample of the French population (n = 995), we show that the competence and engagement in co-creation of these two target groups are significantly greater than for other consumers. This result is encouraging for market research companies that face a growing reluctance of customer participation in marketing studies. In addition, we have normed the distribution of lead user and emergent nature consumer scores among the population. This results in specific reference points for naming customer data while at the same time making it easier to filter respondents for future co-creation initiatives.