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Renee Hopkins Callahan, writing in her IdeaFlow Weblog, recently reported that Eric von Hippel from MIT has published a new book that is available as a free download, via a Creative Commons license. The book, Democratizing Innovation, describes "how the emerging proccess of user-centered, democratized innovation works...[and about] how innovation by users provides a very necessary complement to and feedstock for manufacturer innovation."
In other words, lead user customers (the ones whose motto is "if you're not bleeding, the technology is too mature") can become co-creators of new products and innovations. Eric explains:
"When I say that innovation is being democratized, I mean that users of products and services - both firms and individual consumers -are increasingly able to innovate for themselves. User-centered innovation processes offer great advantages over the manufacturer-centric innovation development systems that have been the mainstay of commerce for hundreds of years. Users that innovate can develop exactly what they want, rather than relying on manufacturers to act as their (often very imperfect) agents. Moreover, individual users do not have to develop everything they need on their own: they can benefit from innovations developed and freely shared by others."
Eric says this trend encompasses not only information products - such as software - but also physical products. He also points out that embracing customer-led innovation can be hard for many organizations, who have treated innovation as a closed activity, done behind the company's walls and closely protected as part of its intellectual property.
Looks like very interesting reading! |
