Setting the stage for developing innovative product concepts: people and climate
H. C. M. Hoonhout · CoDesign · 2007
When developing a successor of an existing product, it is relatively easy to involve consumers at the early stages of the process—one could, for example, observe them using the current products, and discuss with them what could be improved. However, when creating novel products from ‘scratch’, consumers might find it difficult to articulate future needs, to appreciate the potential and limitations of new technologies, or think about possible applications. So, consumer co-creation in the early creative phase does not seem to be feasible. Other approaches to include the consumer perspective need to be considered. Furthermore, product innovation is increasingly about how to create an appealing and alluring experience, bringing further challenges to the innovation process. A promising approach seems to be bringing together domain experts from different backgrounds, creating a setting in which barriers between disciplines can disappear, and adopting a user-centric, rapid iterative investigation, ideation, prototyping and development process.