Product designs which encourage -- or discourage -- related innovation by users: an analysis of innovation in automated clinical chemistry analyzers

In this paper we examine the level of user innovation activity related to different brands of the same type of product automated clinical chemistry analyzers. Strong interbrand differences are found in user involvement in such innovation tasks as the development of new chemical test methods for use on the different analyzers studied. We test the speculation of interviewees that the cause of the differences observed lies in details of the design of the analyzers studied which makes some easier for users to modify than others, and find it supported by our data. As product design is a variable under the control of product manufacturing firms, this finding suggests that manufacturers can, it at least some product categories, influence the level of user innovation related to their products via product designs which encourage or discourage such activity. Related costs and benefits are discussed. 1.0 Introduction Students of the technological innovation process have long sought characteristics of firms, industries, technologies, regulatory environments, etc. which correlate with and might contribute to successful innovative activity. Over the past few years, one of the variables studied to this end has been the role of the user in the industrial product innovation process. 'To date, it has been shown that in some industries, users play a major role in that process actually developing 60-80% of the innovative products sampled(1'2) while in other industries, the user appears to play a minor role, with most products sampled being developed by the product manufacturer.(3 '4) In still other industries, the proportion of product innovations developed by users has been seen to diminish relative to that of product manufacturers with the passage of time.(5) All of the above-cited studies provide data on the innovation role of the user at a fairly high level of aggregation ("industry", (6)technical area"(9)). Logically, therefore, speculation as to the causes of the patterns seen has also tended to revolve around industry-level variables. It is important to keep in mind, however, that variables operating at the level of the individual firm and even the individual product may also have an important impact on the role of users in the innovation process. In this paper, we will test the proposition that the innovation role of the user can be seen to differ significantly between products which are functionally very similar. We will then go on to suggest that a variable operating at the level of the individual product product design may play a role in creating the differences observed. 2.0 Type of Product to be Examined The type of product which we have selected for study is the automated clinical chemistry analyzer. Our decision to explore this product type was not derived from theoretical insight. Rather, two eminently practical considerationsI