Creating new concepts, products and services with user driven innovation

User driven innovation is emerging as one of the successful ways of creating breakthrough innovations for companies and organisations.

In this project called "Create concept innovation with users", a Nordic and Baltic consortium lead by FORA has been able to identify four generic methods of working with user driven innovation:

Even though these methods might vary slightly from one company to the other, they have some basic features which are common. When working with users, companies might choose to include the users either directly or indirectly in the innovation process, depending on what type of knowledge the company wants to obtain from the user. Users’ ability to communicate and express their problems and needs varies greatly and will also influence the user driven innovation method chosen by a company. Sometimes users are fully aware of what problems they face and which needs they experience, while in other cases they will not be able to communicate or articulate what they are experiencing.

Based on this framework, the project members interviewed companies in the Nordic and Baltic countries about how they work with user driven innovation, what innovation outcomes they achieved and how satisfied they were with the processes during the project. Furthermore the project members wanted to get an understanding of whether there were any differences among the Nordic and Baltic countries regarding the methods they used by mapping the user driven innovation activity among companies and organisations.

Background information
This Nordic Innovation Centre (NICe) funded project can be seen as a continuation of the project: User driven innovation in the Nordic Region: Context and cases. The projects aim was to map the user driven innovation and concept innovation activity in the Nordic countries and the Baltic Countries and will therefore function as an umbrella for all the projects in Nordic Innovations Centres call on user driven innovation.

The project goals were to obtain enough information on how companies work with user driven innovation in order to evaluate whether it is possible to systematically work with users to create concepts, and whether there are any methods that are more successful in obtaining the results.

By mapping the results of a survey, it has been possible to gain an overview of which countries and industries are the forerunners when it comes to working with user driven innovation.

Project website: http://innovationwithusers.blogspot.com/

Project duration: May 2009 - January 2010

Contact person:
Tanja Bisbaard, FORA, Denmark