Breakthrough products and service lead user studies
Doom
The bowl
Lead user research providers companies with a systematic process for developing
Breakthrough new products and service
The co author is a busy exciting new tool
are Eric von Hipple the MIT Sloan School of Management
Mary sonic division scientist at 3m
And Joan Churchill an organizational psychologist
In this introductory video you’ll learn what
Unique Features of Lead User Methods
Lead user methods can do for your organizational you’ll hear how 3m
3M Innovation Via Lead User Studies
Lead user methods can do for your organizational you’ll hear how 3m
divisions have benefited from lead user studies
and see an example oven actually do users study
carried out at 3am time
Unique Features of Lead User Methods
carried out at 3am time
lead user methodology evolved from Eric one hit ball path-breaking research
into the sources and innovation his research showed that a select group a
lead users have been the actual inventors
a many of the most successful products and service for consumers and industry
Eric von Hipple MIT Sloan School of Management
Parlayed users read user’s have two characteristics first they have a high incentive to solve a problem and so they may innovate after all you know necessity is the mother invention
Second they are ahead of they ahead of the target market
In an important dimension so that what they want
In the present is what the market as a whole
Will want in the future let me give you an example of one or two
Lead user innovations take Tim burners-lee
Tim Berners –Lee Massachusetts Institute of Technology the inventor of the World Wide Web Tam
Needed hypertext and computers for his own work that’s why he developed it
It was a lead user innovation because the market as a whole as you all know then followed
And became a major cultural phenomenon during the course of a study
Team seek out lead users both within the target markets and lead users in analogous field and other industries as well innovation in automotive braking systems
Illustrates the value of looking for lead users outside as well as within your targeted markets
Many the safety features that we taking in into ordinary count nowadays in automobiles where actually developed in aerospace
First for example the braking systems were developed their because the aircraft people cared a lot more about shopping in aircraft who was before the into the runway. So you cloud see that the incentive to do the same stopping problem was there an aie space as well but in an exaggerated form and you can bring to into the auto field from this advance analog market
The team locates lead users using a telephone networking process it work a lot like tracking down a hot new story .
Team members typically start out the search by getting allister expert names through such mean as electronic searches scanning current trade journal or contracting their industry friends for some expert named then they simply begin calling people on the list in asking a question such as
Who do you know that is doing leading edge work on the subjective X I’m lead user studies enable 3M divisions to identity leading-edge market opportunities that were not apparent with tradition methods such as focus group and large custumer survey studies have resulted in major
New product approaches for a number of 3M divisions for example in one study just completed the result was a whole family of concepts for radically new product that will be brought to market soon I not order recent ones the goal was opportunities identification in both these cases the team uncovered promising entry markets and applications for a very important new 3M technologies.
Lead user studies have also been used to identify long-range growth strategies in fact that was one outcome on the medical products steady you learn about shortly
Now let’s take a look at a lead user study carried out by three m’s medical surgical division this division process surgical drapes and other related a sepsis control product for the surgical setting our business unit in the medical surgical division
For the surgical setting our business unit the medical surgical division lunch to lead user study to identify new approaches for preventing patient infection the decline in effectiveness have many antibiotics today maker this a very important problem in medicine for study a cross-functional team was assembled a top-notch people from product development John Pournoor Polymer Chemist marketing and manufacturing all team members had previously made major I for medical-surgical business unit in phase 1 management and the research team do the homework to begin the lead the general types of products and markets have interest and the level of innovation that was desired key customers these activities give us an overall sense if trends and market issues in phase2 the lead users study is launched with an in-depth exploration have need related trends the present strong new product or service opportunities during a trend investigation we cast our net broadly for expert and varied fields who could point us to cutting-edge market opportunities for example we interviewed a leading international expert on the dangers have antibiotic overuse we also consulted with the renowned expert in sources as another very informative interview was it a prominent US Army Surgeon he was pioneering and non-invasive technique for actually after about six weeks have been interviewing in reading teams go through %uh be evaluating and selecting the needs that wills be the focus of concept generation in phase 3 the focus on the lead user study ships to acquiring new product and service ideas during this phase teams typically visit the sites have select lead users to observe first-hand their needs an innovative solution ideas at this point in our study our team realized that developing countries could and we had a lot more to learn about the health care needs in these regions sewing pairs team members fanned out to a number of different countries in Asia we devoted a month to visiting hospitals and observing surgery he also interviewed experts in microbiology and infectious diseases in Malaysia for example we learned from lead user practitioners how with limited resources they achieved a very cost –effective an efficient infection prevention at the conclusion a phase 3 these concepts are further developed in the fourth and final phase of the study a lead user workshop is the central activity a phase 4 for the workshop a small group a lead users and top experts join the team to do intensive design work and problem-solving over a two to three-day we brought in a group in a group B eleven lead users and leading experts from diverse this is the overall task we gave the attendees at the workshop for feel we’ve done that come out of here concepts about what product concepts that dramatically improved microbial control in the surgical settings up today and possibly tomorrow with significantly improved cost during the workshop small groups were formed to then every two to three hours the whole group convened to refinance evaluate the solution ideas that had been generated expertise in different aspects other workshop task a very dear the HD rio gets the better go get it every know but I he didn’t do anything because I love mostly with navigation and 10 they say he’s done discovered a groundout and wanted to make a nice officials and sector benchmark up was the developer have artificial skin and chemicals that we sell third 38,000 especially with this is the third largest hospital in the US Postal my patients till Bay yeah yeah I ideal situation where there this here cause a lot of hugo’s grapes doctor robert reich the leading veterinary surgeon he has achieved low infection rates and a very demanding conditions to the group isn’t do so silicone engineers and other materials in to cast fine archer they’re here to this kid work with the skin the term casting her impassioned we wanted his expertise in adhering materials to irregular skin surfaces and make their recommendations to management as a result of the lead users study and management developed a much better long-range business strategy in addition the study produced concepts for five different families have and three these have to prototype testing with customers as you have seen the lead user research process requires hard work and a very but when the goal is breakthrough lead user methods will put your firm on the fast track to exciting new products and services the time.