Pulling strings: How users can shape innovation
Yat Ming Ooi · ResearchSpace (University of Auckland) · 2015
Users of products have long been recognised as sources of innovation. Take the 34th America’s Cup, for example, where users (sailors) worked closely with shipbuilders to develop the AC72 wing-sail catamarans needed for the competition. The user-innovation principle provides useful methods for firms to engage, access, and tap user-driven and user-created innovations. New Zealand firms operating in traditional industries, including automotive, food, forestry, fishing, textiles, and construction materials, have long used this principle in their innovation processes. It is now time for these industries to better understand the methods, and practical implications of adopting user-innovation in their innovation processes.