User-led innovation

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User-led innovation, To what extent can user-led innovation create breakthroughs in an industry? Employing relevant concepts and frameworks from the module examine the role of users in the innovation process and evaluate the contention that “the user is king”. Your argument should be supported by well-chosen and well-researched examples.

User-led innovation is a newly emerging phenomenon which basically relies upon understanding customer needs and then incorporating them in the product design and the services provided by the company which stand unparalleled by its competitors. In technical terms, this term refers to the innovation by the actual users rather than the producers or the suppliers of the product or service.
Considering that the product is essentially designed to meet the maximum possible need of its consumer, it still does not touch the concept of meeting individual needs equally.

Therefore, customers usually modify the purchased product for them to obtain a maximum productive outcome which not only is effective in delivering its purpose but efficient as well. Many will argue that the customer already was the central point of product related decisions made by the company, but the difference that lies here is that this innovation approach establishes a systematic process of identifying and thoroughly studying customer needs which encompasses the social science domain of analytical approaches to understand the customer psyche better.

Hence, the customer is the focal point and the mere strive to fulfill the customer’s needs and requirements in a better way making the company strive for innovation. Companies do have a profit making interest vested in this approach as well, but it is not an immediate gratification, rather it is realized at a later stage.

Assuming that user led innovation will boost user satisfaction and the revenue, leading to an ideal state for business operations. However, User-led innovation it is not always a perfectly attainable state of survival. There may be a notion that customer centric innovation can stand alone to win the company competitive edge, but in reality it goes hand-in-hand with the technology driven approach. It is important to note that technology driven approach is not widely used anymore.

There are different phases of this process which enable and pass on the successful innovation on to next steps in the product design and development. It can take place at any part of the organizational process, User-led innovation be it; business model, logistics or the marketing. However, the innovation processes are often spotted at the production stage where the greater monetary benefit is promised when innovation is introduced in the business model of a company, branding or marketing of the product.

Before the application and the justification of user-led innovation is discussed, let us glance over the benefits of the use of this approach. It helps a company; in maintaining a customer focus approach, User-led innovation deriving innovation from customers as they are the topmost innovation generating resource. The company has to meet the pre-requisite of a strong customer focus otherwise the efforts will be render foundation less.

Therefore, a product or a process centric company will fail if takes up this stance just to jump on the bandwagon. In a survey asked to check what a company places its frequent source of innovation, one of the top two answers were customers. However, the implementation and the use of this source of innovation new ways of production is difficult to implement.

Many universities and consulting companies find it really challenging to implement customers as their source of innovation because it hampers their autonomy on certain aspects of decision making. Lastly, User-led innovation it is important how the company links innovation generating from customers to the competition it faces from other companies and then aligning it with the internal and external resources at hand.

Before studying the success or failure of this approach, this writing will examine different industries briefly so that the expectation setting for products is clear and the nature of application of this approach is explained well. Companies in this industry are fragmented with niche products which are used in hospitals and nursing homes to treat and diagnose patients to relieve them from physical ailments. This industry has many small sized markets created within it which mostly located in areas like Orange County of California, Amsterdam, Sweden and Switzerland.

There are many multi-nationals and comparatively smaller companies operating in this industry such as; Medtronic, Phillips, Johnson and Johnson and Siemens. Companies in the United States have great advancements in incorporating this user-led innovation approach in producing medical equipment, User-led innovation however companies in the UK took a long time to establish this competency.

The electronic industry produces buyer gadgets, IT-equipment, telecom tools and low- and high electronic product innovation. The ever growing electronic industry comprises of four main regions: California, England, Tokyo (Japan) and Europe. Additionally, some emerging organizations producing gadgets in Canada, Korea and Taiwan. Stanford University is declared to be amongst the first few organizations, which adopted systematic mapping of user concerns related to changes in production and gave birth to the ‘wish-granting’ dimension of production.
Considering that two aforementioned industries are present in overlapping regions, and they may have similar strategic approach to business but practicing user led innovation defers for them. In a medical equipment industry, the good are produced to meet their optimum objective. For instance, a surgical scalpel would be adequately sharpened to cut the skin it is supposed to.

This is done to facilitate its use for the doctors and medical staff which purchases it. It can be made better if there is a technology available or the product can be tweaked in this way. However, in the electronic industry user led innovation happens as much as technological innovations.

For instance, if customers were using mobile phones without cameras years ago then their desire to have inbuilt cameras in phones compelled certain companies to craft ways to use technology and meet this demand. The success and attempt to implement ‘user-led innovation’ differs from one industry to another. However, it furthers contrasts between different products as well.

To reveal the extent of this breakthrough further, let us now explore its success or failure in different product examples which belong to different industries.

APPLE:
Apple is one of those companies which portrays, ‘user is king’. This slogan is chanted louder with every passing year and the customers keep succumbing to highly priced products and go on to purchasing the same product line with all its variations, such as iPhone, iPad and an iPod as well. Ever wondered how this company successful makes customers believe that these are must have products and they are meant to be just for them?

Customers are oblivious to the fact that Apple has a magnificent system of analyzing what a customer loves in their products and then they keep manipulating this demand for every new product they create. They believe that they make exactly what the customer will love. This does not necessarily mean that they are doing this just because of this user led innovation.

There are many other factors which come in to play and ensure the face saving of this approach. Apple has been able to create the image of ‘user-led innovation breakthrough’ primarily because it is a much closed company which does not reveal its inner process and business practices easily. Neither will you find a culture which depicts the image of employees being outspoken about the real motive of these innovations. It cannot be denied that APPLE has managed a breakthrough in the industry and has ensured that all its product ranges are ‘must buys’ for its customers but in all it true glory, user led innovation is not the only or rather the prioritized approach for this company.

IKEA:
Another highly closed brand which will keep its customers stuck in a maze like interior of its shops and compel them to keep buying more products on a single visit. However, IKEA did try centering their innovations and product evolution around the customers but it did not work. The breakthrough failed miserable when the cost of implementation was high and products were not equally popular on all its stores. Therefore, they had to show people the way to buying innovation how they wanted them to. Bringing in the maze like interior concept.

On the contrary, it is important to reflect upon the positive outcome of this approach which remains covert to our eyes. The phenomenon is based on human philosophy and the framework of desire. It should not shock anyone that some of us have above normal route to desiring the use of different product features and services. On the other hand, few individuals foresee beyond what is being supplied in the market, which is much more important, they are really ready to meet their demand by envisioning the company to alter a feature of a product or a service.

When the companies actually implement innovation routes which will ultimately win the heart of these customers, then they stand ahead of their competitors. On top of the competitive edge, the new advancements enhance productions and how the company was doing things previously. The people who manage this innovation change are known as leading customers. As deduced in a study by the MIT educator Eric von Hippel – the client led the advance research – 8% of customers in Britain influenced improvement a paper they were purchasing. It is about five million people in Britain which read that newspaper, therefore the success multiplies. It is debatable as to how the breakthrough will sustain success but then again there have been mountain bikes, skateboards, banking services which have changed lives of billions of people. From enabling enthusiasts to have more recreation to servicing the people in making their money transactions easier, user-led innovation has not only changed the fate of brands rather it has changed the way people live.
The business feasibility of user centric innovation rather than the costs incurred on technological innovation is by all accounts less flawed. Organizations are starting to put resources into instruments and techniques for outfitting demands made by clients for their desired products and their features instead of inhibiting further room for chances in these products. Now it is important to note that is it possible for this to lead to the ultimate breakthrough of innovation and success? Is it viable for companies to actually let the customers lead the profitability indirectly and innovation directly?

People who have the utmost need of something which keep striving to push the company in a direction which gives way to change and innovation which grows. The testing point for these customers comes when they have already gotten what they intended to and they have no concern with further innovation. That is when they stop wanting more innovation momentarily and start getting used to the upgraded product they had their hands on. The breakthrough starts to shake at this point and then it becomes crucial for the company to keep motivating these customers so that they keep giving their input and stay objective to customer surveys or other methods of demand analysis.

There are different strategies which companies adopt in order to grasp user-led innovation factor in their operations. They can either do this by creating in-house departments, getting external business partners which help them in enabling innovation as former customers and network architects. Intel and Phillips are those companies which relied on creating in- house departments to help them innovate as their customers wanted them to.
Intel was established in 1968 and as of now holds about 85% of the market share in the micro process making industry all over the world. The market share owes its success to the company’s everyday routine which are efficient and customer centric. The cuts on production costs and the exact deliverables as per the customer demand have made the microprocessors popular in the industry’s market. This not only promised Intel the success of retaining its customer pool but it also gave Intel a competitive edge. That is when Intel started to hit two targets with one arrow. Intel’s various developments have sprung success in different products such as microprocessors of laptops and cell phones. However, among all these positive reflections of the brand, the company had to suffer when the technological advancements were not bearing much fruit for the company. That is when the demand and deliverable gap started and the company had to take counter action. Therefore, Intel decided to inject its assets in the user led innovation strategy so that even if the technology fails to be effective, the products are made in such a way that the customers still buy it because they are getting exactly what they wanted in innovation.
Despite the fact that Intel subcontracts the final product for which these processors are used, Intel created two in-house departments to make customers the uncrowned kings. The two in-house departments were; the people and process group and the user centered design group. The first group was responsible for conceptual planning for the operation of Intel for the next five to ten years where the second group thoroughly studied customers demand and they can be incorporated in making these processors even better to save time. These departments have had a meaningful effect on Intel. Recently, Intel increased the number of ethnographic scientists in the team from 10 to 40. Majority of these ethnographic analysts start their vocations in these new additions to the departments and then other divisions of Intel select them such as; Advanced Homes, Consumer Research/Emerging Markets, Digital Health and the Mobility Group.
People and Practices Groups was set up in 1996. This group had sociologists, anthropologists and psychologists to analyze and map out the daily activities of people and how they shape their desire to buy the product of Intel. Then this learning is further applied to evaluate the customer behavior and forecast demand for the next few years. This group comprises of a team of ten employees who are skilled and experienced planners and analysts hailing from this social science background. This group has strong links with various colleges like UC Berkeley, the University of Washington, etc.
Individuals and Practices Lab clients incorporate the different branches of Intel research; Digital Home, Digital Health, Consumer Research with the Mobility Group. The Mobility Group meets expectations solely with ethnographic apparatus, for example, interviews, perceptions, features, photographic investigation and so forth. Because of Intel’s worldwide vicinity, this thorough research is carried out all through the United States, Asia and Europe.
On the other hand, the customer centered design group has a shot-term approach for the analytic planning stretching from one to two whole years to depict customer centric innovation. The Group implements a hefty portion of similar strategies utilized by Practices Group, analyzed earlier in this writing. The Group’s way to deal with ethnographic exploration can be summed up as the process described in the following lines. The beginning stage of the procedure to ensure customer centric innovation is the investigation of chosen clients in a defined situation or in a specific domain. For instance, they are given a product to use with certain limitations or defined boundaries of its use. In the following stride of the procedure client encounters are elaborated and interpreted in a scope of some conceivable arrangements. The group plans to regularly inspect arrangement ideas from ethnographic findings and meetings or through one-on-one and personal meetings. In the final stage of the undertaking, analysts of this group collaborate their findings with the product designers and creator of innovation to make users the ultimate kings. This breakthrough has proven to be successful for Intel.
Coming to the second strategy used to implement this user led innovation approach, the process of hiring external partners will be explained using an example. In this strategic direction, companies partner with consultancy organizations or advisory groups which are competent in giving the analytic input to map out how user demand can be turned into product innovation. Companies choose to take up this strategy when it does not have the funds to carry out the analysis on its own. Health Hero Networks believed in this methodology and partnered with IDEO. Basically, Health Hero Network is based in Mountain View, California, it produces renowned medical equipment. The company has a talented workforce of more than 250 people. Health hero is a committed innovation-driven organization maintaining a concentrated number in the efficient accumulation of customer data as a basic component in the advancement process.
A couple of years ago the organization introduced a product called Health Buddy. Health Buddy was a phone system with a small screen attached to it. This product allowed customers to get in touch with their doctor or medical staff in case of a health emergency or inquiry in times of need. The success of this product and Health Hero Network relies upon the innovative advancement in this domain. Moreover, after Health Buddy renovated assembly idea “advise your doctor”, the organization focused on customer usage needs as the initial stage of advancement and change in product features and design. However, it was not an easy task for this company as it had no major internal strength which would provide needed finances and capital to establish an in house department. Therefore, it chose the cost saving option of partnering with IDEO. By analyzing elderly people living in the natural surroundings of their homes, IDEO construct driving this idea concealed Health Buddy. This joint effort ensured that Health Heroes Network in collaboration with the partner could capitalize on this user driven innovation amongst constraints. Patient observations from IDEO during the design stage were sent to the company’s product manufacturing and design department to incorporate those observations.
To understand the third approach better, a renowned example of Network Architects will be examined to evaluate how the same strategy is applied in the respective industry. The Bio Design Network in the State of California. It basically helps understudies and scientists in promoting their developments and innovation by giving them access to greater exposure. This network has a member base composing of leaders of innovation who technically skilled and knowledgeable to lay emphasis on Stanford innovation in a commercialized approach. This architectural network offers administrative guidance and supervision for specialists and scientist so that they can gain help in going ahead with their innovative ideas. In simple terms, this is an entrepreneurial platform for innovators. From offering mentors and training to the hardworking enthusiasts to landing those jobs or work opportunities from the pool of work options on its portal, this network bridges the gap between talent and opportunity. This is for those individuals who neither have the funds to get their innovation featured and nor do they have a partnering organization available.
The Bio design network has 8 employees in total because this relies on linking people up with each other and that does not need a large workforce. Four of these employees are full time whereas the other four are part time. Various scientists and educators are additionally included in this program. This project is accepted to have given a substantial contribution to the building of an across the board system in the Bay Territory. The system has prompted the start-up of various electronic companies which have broadened the stream of user led innovation in their respective domains.
To conclude the argument with a holistic and a rational approach, it has to be made clear that user led innovation cannot create a wave of breakthrough on its own. It would be ignorant for companies to rely solely on this strategy for innovation because its demands the collaboration of other strategies which have to be addressed. Being highly capital demanding, it would be practical if the company cuts down on costs where needed and inhibits resource wastage in other areas so the assets can be directed to user-generated innovation. Even though this places customers at the heart of product design and change, but it would be impractical to blindly hope that the output would make the customers so satisfied that they find perfect. Therefore, the company must assess many other factors in addition to customer needs. To crest the breakthrough, the company will have to account for the company size, funds at hand, and the mission of the company, product vision, external realities and many other things which will be then balanced out with customer needs and demand just so that the breakthrough created is to the greatest possible extent. Otherwise, the intended breakthrough will lose its track and succumb to failure…