It’s not that customers don’t know what they want. It’s that they don’t say what they want.
Be prepared for a very American take on the subject of user-based innovation but this video has some top brains saying it just the way we see it.
Some really nice insights all echoing the Von Hippel mantra in his book “Democratizing Innovation”. If you haven’t read it, do get a copy; in an ispired move he has made it available free under a creative commons license.
April 12th, 2007 at 12:27 pm
I read something on another blog, which is interesting in relation to this post, and the last one.
The point was that users help things evolve, but designers truly innovate. Users can see things that add to an existing product and expand it’s features in useful way, but can’t create something entirely new.
April 12th, 2007 at 4:25 pm
The difference between disruptive and incremental innovation perhaps? I would agree but build on your thinking by suggesting that it is the designers ability to identify, interpret and then fulfil unmet needs that is the real added value.