User Innovation

User innovation in the music software industry: The case of Sibelius

by Georgina Voss

Book chapter. Forthcoming in 'The Oxford Handbook of the Creative Industries', 2012. Co-authored with Stephen Flowers

Making a face: Graphical illustrations of managerial stances toward customer creativity

by Ian McCarthy

Campbell, C., Berthon, P., Pitt, L., McCarthy, I., & Plangger, K. 2012. Making a Face: Graphical Illustrations of Managerial Stances Toward Customer Creativity, Australasian Marketing Journal, 20, 1, 9-15.

Creative consumers – consumers who adapt, modify or transform a proprietary offering – represent an intriguing paradox... more Creative consumers – consumers who adapt, modify or transform a proprietary offering – represent an intriguing paradox for business. On the one hand they can be a black hole for future revenue, with breach of copyright and intellectual property, while on the other hand they represent a gold mine of ideas and business opportunities. This problem is central to business – business needs to both create and capture value; the problem is that creative consumers demand a shift in the mindsets and business models of how firms both create and capture value. We develop a typology of firms’ stances to creative consumers based upon their attitude and action towards customer innovation. We then consider the implications of the stances model for corporate strategy, and examine a three-step approach to dealing with creative consumers, namely, awareness, analysis and response.

Creative consumers: awareness, attitude and action

by Ian McCarthy

Berthon. P.R., Campbell, C.L., Pitt, L.F., and McCarthy, I. 2011. Creative Consumers: Awareness, Attitude and Action, Journal of Consumer Marketing, 28 (7): 500 – 507

This paper reports on the construction of a scale to measure a firm’s stance towards creative consumers; that is,... more This paper reports on the construction of a scale to measure a firm’s stance towards creative consumers; that is, customers who adapt, modify or transform a proprietary offering.

The New Inventors: How users are changing the rules of innovation

by Georgina Voss

NESTA Policy Report 2008. Co-authored with Stephen Flowers, Andrew Grantham, Juan Mateos-Garcia, Jon Sapsed and Paul Nightingale.

The historical construction of user innovation

by Georgina Voss

Chapter in 'Perspectives on User Innovation' (eds Flowers S and Henwood F). London: Imperial College Press. 2010.

User-led design in the urban/domestic

by Georgina Voss

Journal of Urban Technology, 19:2. 2012
Co-authored with Natasha Carolan

Urban spaces are pervaded by interpretive and reactive technologies which shape and are shaped by its inhabitants,... more Urban spaces are pervaded by interpretive and reactive technologies which shape and are shaped by its inhabitants, with an increasingly active role for citizen technologists. Yet the role of domestic spaces in shaping lived experience within the urban environment, and subsequent technological interventions, is often overlooked. Homes are framed as closed-off environments which isolate their inhabitants from the city, despite being porous spaces which are also filled with ubiquitous computing. In this paper we draw on the participatory design and user innovation literatures to present the methodology for the ‘Homesense’ research project which explored how users design and develop ‘smart’ technologies within their own homes, based on the intersection of their concurrent urban/domestic lived experience. Open hardware toolkits are utilized as cultural probes, and co-located ‘lead users’ provide technical expertise. This methodology demonstrates the importance of physical space and location in user-led domestic activities, and of combinations of technical and ‘lived ‘ expertise in developing these interventions.

Key factors in the invention of marine conservation technology: A case study of TEDs.

by Lekelia "Kiki" Jenkins

see page 105 of Proceedings

To solve problems such as bycatch, policy-makers resort to conservation technologies, such as turtle excluder devices... more To solve problems such as bycatch, policy-makers resort to conservation technologies, such as turtle excluder devices (TEDs). Although substantial funding has been directed toward the invention and diffusion—the spread and adoption of an item by people—(I&D) of conservation technologies, little research has investigated the I&I process itself.  As a case study, I examined the use of TEDs for the U.S. shrimp trawl fisheries.  I identified key features for successful I&D by conducting on-site interviews with people involved in the process including National Marine Fisheries Service gear specialists, Sea Grant agents, and industry representatives. In addition, I analyzed records from management agencies using the grounded-theory approach, a method that allowed me to identify concepts that emerge from the text and to link these concepts to existing theories of invention and diffusion of innovations. The resulting data were used to (1) diagram the relationships among participants in the network and (2) construct a graphical depiction of how technology evolved, including encoded information about the I&D process.  I conclude that: (1) social and political pressures compel speedy action at the determent of adequate goal setting and research planning, (2) people with both mechanical and shrimping expertise have invented the most widely adopted TEDs but directed-recruitment and integration of these individuals into the invention network is poor, and (3) industry-sensitive adoption efforts are the most successful and include the use of videos, translation for non-English speakers, and community-based Sea Grant agents but translation is inadequate and community-based agents are too few.

The Evolution of a Trading Zone: A Case Study of the Turtle Excluder Device

by Lekelia "Kiki" Jenkins

published in 'Studies in the History and Philosophy of Science', 2010

This paper explores the evolution of a trading zone by organizing the case study of turtle excluder devices within the... more This paper explores the evolution of a trading zone by organizing the case study of turtle excluder devices within the model proposed by Collins et al. (2007). The case study offers evidence that trading zones do evolve and that the concepts of enforced and fractionated trading zones hold practical utility for describing and defining the complexities of actual exchanges. In this case a trading zone evolved from enforced to fractionated and ultimately diverged into two trading zones. For each step of the evolution I describe the forces that drove these transitions. Finally, I present an adapted trading zone model that is conceptually a better fit for the turtle excluder device case study.

Profile and Influence of the Successful Fisher-Inventor of Marine Conservation Technology

by Lekelia "Kiki" Jenkins

published in 'Conservation & Society', 2010

Anecdotally it is often said that fishers are the best inventors of marine conservation technologies. In this paper I... more Anecdotally it is often said that fishers are the best inventors of marine conservation technologies. In this paper I describe case studies of Turtle Excluder Devices  (TEDs) and dolphin conservation technology, offering empirical evidence that fishers are successful inventors of marine conservation technology. I describe the Local Inventor Effect, in which adoption of a technology is disproportionately high in the geographic area near the inventor’s home. In one case, the adoption of a local invention was 600% higher than that of the next most popular device. Further, I present the Successful Inventor Profile for inventors of marine conservation technologies. This profile consists of three characteristics (1) a successful conservation technology inventor will have extensive experience relevant to the problem and potential solutions, (2) he or she will have extensive experience in fabrication, and (3) he or she will have the ability and tendency to employ mental and/or physical models, to assemble and refine inventions.

When Customers Get Clever: Managerial Approaches to Dealing with Creative Consumers

by Ian McCarthy

Berthon, P.R., Pitt, L.F., McCarthy, I.P., and Kates, S.M. 2007. When Customers Get Clever: Managerial Approaches to Dealing with Creative Consumers. Business Horizons, 50(1): 39-47.

Creative consumers (defined as customers who adapt, modify, or transform a proprietary offering) represent an... more Creative consumers (defined as customers who adapt, modify, or transform a proprietary offering) represent an intriguing paradox for business. On one hand, they can signify a black hole for future revenue, with breach of copyright and intellectual property. On the other hand, they represent a gold mine of ideas and business opportunities. Central to business is the need to create and capture value, and creative consumers demand a shift in the mindsets and business models of how firms accomplish both. Based upon their attitude and action toward customer innovation, we develop a typology of firms’ stances toward creative consumers. We then consider the implications of the stances model for corporate strategy and examine a three-step approach to dealing with creative consumers: awareness, analysis, and response.

Understanding Design Interventions in Democratic Innovation: a Toolkit Approach

by Natasha Carolan

Understanding Design Interventions in Democratic Innovation: a Toolkit Approach, Natasha Carolan and Dr. Leon Cruickshank , Design Research Journal 2: 10 pp33-38

The relationship between society and design is in a period of transition. We are observing a move from the ‘object’ to... more The relationship between society and design is in a period of transition. We are observing a move from the ‘object’ to ‘service’, and from problem solving, to problem finding, to design strategy. In this paper we explore how a ‘toolkit approach’ allows us to both contribute to democratic innovation activity but also build a deeper understanding of the potential contribution design can have in this emerging area.
This work was conducted in the prototyping stages of the Homesense initiative, a project run by Tinker London and Électricité de France. Homesense aims to facilitate user led innovation in smart home development through provision of toolkits and expert support. Through engagement with the
Homesense project we identify areas and mechanisms for intervention in Democratic Innovation (DI) and discuss methodologies for future potential for a wider professional design engagement in DI

Digital archives, cultural heritage (and YOUsers...)

by Pierluigi Feliciati