User involvement throughout the innovation process in high-tech industries

The feedback and input of users have been an important part of product innovation in recent years. User input has been studied from different approaches and is applied through different methods in particular phases of the innovation process. However, these methods are not integrated into the whole innovation process and are used only in particular phases or on an ad hoc basis. New developments in technology, social media, and new ways of working closer with customers have opened up new possibilities for firms to gain user input throughout the whole innovation process. However, the impact that these new developments in technology offer for user input innovation in high-tech firms is unclear. Therefore, we study how high-tech firms collect and apply user feedback throughout the whole innovation process. The paper is based on a comparative case study of eight cases in the high-tech industry, in which qualitative data collection was applied. The key contribution of the paper is a conceptual framework on user data-driven innovation throughout the innovation cycle. This framework gives insight into user involvement types and approaches to collect and apply user feedback throughout the innovation process.

[1]  Karen Locke.  Grounded Theory in Management Research , 2000 .

[2]  Yehuda Baruch,et al.  High technology organization - what it is, what it isn't , 1997 .

[3]  Erik L. Olson,et al.  Implementing the lead user method in a high technology firm: A longitudinal study of intentions versus actions , 2001 .

[4]  Wanda J. Orlikowski,et al.  Knowing in practice: Enacting a collective capability in distributed organizing , 2002, STUDI ORGANIZZATIVI.

[5]  K. Clark,et al.  Integration and Dynamic Capability: Evidence from Product Development in Automobiles and Mainframe Computers , 1994 .

[6]  K. Eisenhardt,et al.  Accelerating Adaptive Processes: Product Innovation in the Global Computer Industry , 1995 .

[7]  Matti A. Kaulio.  Customer, consumer and user involvement in product development: A framework and a review of selected methods , 1998 .

[8]  Mario Schaarschmidt,et al.  Impediments to customer integration into the innovation process: A case study in the telecommunications industry , 2014 .

[9]  Henry Chesbrough,et al.  Open Innovation: The New Imperative for Creating and Profiting from Technology , 2003 .

[10]  Thomas H. Davenport,et al.  How to design smart business experiments , 2009 .

[11]  Barry Boehm,et al.  Balancing Agility and Dis-cipline: A Guide for the Perplexed , 2003 .

[12]  Petra Bosch-Sijtsema,et al.  Introducing agile customer‐centered development in a legacy software product line , 2011, Softw. Pract. Exp..

[13]  Stephen R. Rosenthal,et al.  Ethnographies in the Front End: Designing for Enhanced Customer Experiences* , 2006 .

[14]  J. West,et al.  Challenges of Open Innovation: The Paradox of Firm Investment in Open-Source Software , 2006 .

[15]  D. Wilemon,et al.  Accelerating the Development of Technology-Based New Products , 1990 .

[16]  Stefan H. Thomke,et al.  Experimentation Matters: Unlocking the Potential of New Technologies for Innovation , 2003 .

[17]  S Thomke,et al.  Enlightened experimentation. The new imperative for innovation. , 2001, Harvard business review.

[18]  K. Eisenhardt.  Building theories from case study research , 1989, STUDI ORGANIZZATIVI.

[19]  A. Gustafsson,et al.  Harnessing the Creative Potential among Users , 2004 .

[20]  René Rohrbeck,et al.  Sourcing innovation from your customer: how multinational enterprises use Web platforms for virtual customer integration , 2010, Technol. Anal. Strateg. Manag..

[21]  Stefan H. Thomke,et al.  Modes of experimentation: an innovation process--and competitive--variable , 1998 .

[22]  Allan Afuah,et al.  Users as Innovators: A Review, Critique, and Future Research Directions , 2009 .

[23]  Bryan Eisenberg,et al.  Always Be Testing: The Complete Guide to Google Website Optimizer , 2008 .

[24]  O. Gassmann,et al.  Managing the Risk of Customer Integration , 2005 .

[25]  E. Hippel,et al.  Lead users: a source of novel product concepts , 1986 .

[26]  Stefan H. Thomke,et al.  Managing Experimentation in the Design of New Products , 1998 .

[27]  E. Hippel.  Sticky Information and the Locus of Problem Solving: Implications for Innovation , 1994 .

[28]  Ben Dankbaar,et al.  Proactive Involvement Of Consumers In Innovation: Selecting Appropriate Techniques , 2008 .

[29]  E. Guba,et al.  Naturalistic inquiry: Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications, 1985, 416 pp., $25.00 (Cloth) , 1985 .

[30]  Amy C. Edmondson,et al.  The Mixed Effects of Inconsistency on Experimentation in Organizations , 2004, Organ. Sci..

[31]  Ron Kohavi,et al.  Controlled experiments on the web: survey and practical guide , 2009, Data Mining and Knowledge Discovery.

[32]  Jan Bosch,et al.  Eternal Embedded Software: Towards Innovation Experiment Systems , 2012, ISoLA.

[33]  Peter R. Magnusson,et al.  Exploring the Contributions of Involving Ordinary Users in Ideation of Technology‐Based Services* , 2009 .

[34]  L. Jeppesen.  User Toolkits for Innovation: Consumers Support Each Other , 2005 .

[35]  Seonaidh McDonald,et al.  Studying actions in context: a qualitative shadowing method for organizational research , 2005 .

[36]  Martin Schreier,et al.  The Value of Crowdsourcing: Can Users Really Compete with Professionals in Generating New Product Ideas? , 2009 .

[37]  Jan Bosch,et al.  Building Products as Innovation Experiment Systems , 2012, ICSOB.

[38]  Robert W. Veryzer.  Key factors affecting customer evaluation of discontinuous new products , 1998 .

[39]  Anthony W. Ulwick.  Turn customer input into innovation. , 2002, Harvard business review.

[40]  Christopher A. Voss,et al.  The role of users in the development of applications software , 1985 .

[41]  Deepak Agarwal,et al.  Online Models for Content Optimization , 2008, NIPS.

[42]  Henry Chesbrough,et al.  How open innovation can help you cope in lean times. , 2009 .

[43]  H. V. Trijp,et al.  Consumer research in the early stages of new product development: a critical review of methods and techniques , 2005 .

[44]  Ralph Katz,et al.  Shifting Innovation to Users via Toolkits , 2002, Manag. Sci..

[45]  Cornelius Herstatt,et al.  The Lead User Method: An Outline of Empirical Findings and Issues for Future Research , 2004 .

[46]  Ulrike Schultze,et al.  A Confessional Account of an Ethnography About Knowledge Work , 2000, MIS Q..