The traditional method for innovation is to first find the needs of the users and then return to the company to create innovations within a team of colleagues. But why not involve the users in the innovation process?
However, you cannot ask just any user to be creative. The vast majority of users will only be able to explain where they have problems with your product, what their specific needs are, and what functions they use.
You need to find lead users. Lead users are characterized by creatively using your or competitive products. You might be able to find users who already design their own applications for your device, system, or web page. You might be able to find users who have already found their own workarounds for their needs with your product. You also might be able to find users who write blogs about how you or the competition could improve the products.
The steps for lead user innovation are as follows:
- Find lead users
- Prepare for a lead user workshop
- Run the workshop
- Document your results and process the output
The sections to follow provide tangible approaches to creating successful user experience innovations with your lead users.