Lead users are interesting part of the innovation process. And so we're going to look at where lead users fit in the adoption cycle and how they can contribute to an innovation strategy. So, while this significant, lead users actually solve a problem before the innovation cycle really begins. They're problem solvers, they fix things that they need to solve very early in the process. And they can b early adapters of a new product or a new technology that is expected to become widely used later on. But basically, they're early in the process, and what we can see here in this diagram is that lead users live really before the adoption cycle begins, that area over there on the left is where lead users solve problems before anybody else knows how to solve them. They're out there doing things, and creative problem solving solutions, basically to problems that they have to solve in order to get their work done. And the picture on the right is Eric von Hippel who was the originator of the concept. And you can see below his picture, a link to his website and there are a great many resources on that website if you want to explore this notion of lead user concept a little further. And so some examples of lead users are things like NASCAR drivers that introduce the idea of synthetic motor oil. It would last very long for 500 mile races and things like that, where motors would burn out with typical oil. And so they found a way to solve a problem where they protected their engines from very high speeds and very high temperatures. And sales people, who are out there in the customer community, are lead users, and they were lead users by using mobile communications very early in the process, and they would sent their orders in a mobile way. University hospitals are another example of lead users where they do work with and surgery with experimental medical equipment. People who lived in a dessert climates are lead users where they sell situations using solar application way before anybody else was using solar technology. And finally, mountain climbers are examples of lead users where they use insular sporting gear. Thinsulate was one example where people solved the problem by getting very light weight sport gear that worked in mountain climbing and skiing. And so, the lead user research approach is a strategy that is used by a variety of companies, 3M is a company that initiated that. And what you do in the lead user approach is, you form some kind of a cross-disciplinary team of people who have different expertise, different professional expertise in different understanding of market space and customers. And you put them together along with technical people. And you get a diverse expertise and provide some synergy to look for opportunities about where lead users might be. And some immersion approach actually of those teams with different expertise forms a certain amount of synergy, and sustains a certain amount of momentum, in terms of finding the lead users. And then you proceed through four phases. And we're going to look at those four phases now. First of all, you lay the foundation. You identify and pinpoint the markets that you want to explore. And then you determine the type and level of innovations that That are desired by people in the company. So you're looking for late users and you have people in your company. And you're out there looking for who is it that's solving a problem that we're trying to solve too? And so you reconcile a broad market search within the company and you match it with the company’s strategy and mission and so you're not look for lead users that don't have a relevant relationship to the company’s mission. And so in phase 2 you look at the trends. You look at by identifying experts in emerging technologies. And leading edge applications in the area in which you are exploring. If it's in the medical area, you're looking in hospitals. If it's in the automotive area, you're looking in perhaps sport car clubs. You're looking for people who are doing things that are way out ahead, that are solving problems way ahead of what the market needs. And then you find them, you seek their opinions and get their insights on what's changing. What do they see to be the things that are happening way out ahead of what the market's doing? You identify, also, what's out of date. What's behind the market, and what's coming along in the user horizon ahead of the market. In phase 3, you then identify, now that you've got the trends, you identify who the lead users are. Who are those people who are doing these lead user activities. And you do that by a networking process where you identify problem solvers. You find out who it is who are the people who are solving these problems, and who would be potential lead users for a new innovation. And then you gather that information and you develop solutions, you help with those people, you develop solutions that might fit their needs. So in effect you are developing a problem solving team, working with lead users, helping them solve their problems but they're helping you by identifying and scoping the problem that needs to be solved. And so once you get that information, you shape a product concept, you test it with them. And you asses the concepts potential as opposed to your own company's goals and your own company's vision and mission. And then in the fourth phase you develop a prototype. So this is where you actually meet with the lead users and develop a working session where you get lead users and the lead user research team and you develop a prototype and you test it out with what these lead users think. And you clarify and recognize the problem that needs to be solved and you develop some innovative approach to the product that leads to meeting the lead users' needs. And then you determine whether those solutions actually fit those needs. And the lead users will give you feedback on that. And then you evaluate once you've got that information, whether it still fits with the solution for the company's purpose and mission. And then what we're looking here is there's a layout of all four of these steps that play out in the lead user research process. Again, you start with the lead user of idea. Are you identifying needs and trends? And once you've identified those trends, then you find the people who are actually doing the lead user activity. And in on the fourth stage, you're developing an idea and a concept that you're testing out with lead users. And so, the benefits of this kind of strategy, and it's really a strategy, it's the lead user research strategy, you can reveal potentially important technical or market trends as candidates for possible innovations. And you can identify highly experienced participants in those trends who have compelling needs. And once you identify the people who have those compelling needs, you've got indicators of what the market, the future market, the larger market, or the greater adoption market, would likely be finding acceptable. And lead user data can then be projected onto a broader market place of users and once you got that lead user data, you can project how other people in the broader market might be able to use the same idea. And so, the takeaways for lead user research strategies are the lead user research actually formalizes and systematizes the innovation process. Structures, it is not by chance, it's very deliberate. You're going out their and you're finding customers and you're finding people who are actually doing things that need to be innovated. And since lead users actually have developed a prototype solution, very often they do that. This strategy reduces the time it takes to get to a breakthrough, so you can build on what lead users have created in terms of a prototype solution and build on that and make it into a viable innovation. And finally, this strategy actually reduces the need for internal research and development where you don't need to necessarily have all the work done inside of your company, or inside of your business, or inside of your entrepreneurial venture. You go out and you talk to lead users who actually have solutions. And they are in a position to actually lead you into a new innovation
