I think that successful large companies should make more use of social media to design products for the home and office. I would be happy to share more ideas about how to make products better if I felt the company was listening.
Some of best ideas come from users because they use products in the real world. Those most important to them become part of their routine. Some may even become a collectors item. Companies need to organise more co-creation groups to work on better products.
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User input is over-rated. Making new products is far more complex than users imagine - they cannot understand issues such as design and manufacturer costs. It far better to use market research and do product development with in-house specialists.
8 comment(s) so far
Aosthinks: Co creation is an excellent, low-cost way for companies to both create products based heavily on user feedback and for customers to provide insights that allow companies to produce products that they want and need. It's the ultimate in product creation, a win/win situation for all.
deiselthinks: It's the best of both worlds. Corporations make the right product for the market and customers get the product that they want in terms of features.
englishdannythinks: I agree. A service provider or product designer gets the best possible idea of how they evolve their "Product" by getting this feedback from actual users. Widespread Internet usage now gives business this this tool and Internet usage is growing rapidly.
jkthinks: Ideas come from inspiration from users and corporations. Corporations can reap rewards and withstand the cost of failures. Few individuals can afford or want to do the same. So, corporations could offer shared reward programmes. The corporate contribution is the investment in the idea life cycle. Each party will protect the intellectual property of other other. Simple contracts will be created to do this. Trust will re-surface; man will walk on the sun ; it will be a holiday everyday; and there will be a cure for the common cold. Perhaps this site sponsor can prove that this is achievable and that sniffly noses are past. But, I will not throw away my handkerchief just yet.... but I would like to...
badmojothinks: There's no doubt that the best ideas generally come from collaboration and what better collaboration that the user and the designer. Designers often see their own perspective and rarely are allowed the opportunity to interact with a product in a way that is different from their own. A variety of user's feedback could be invaluable to the design of new products when design is such a vital art of the user experience.
dingothinks: design must be a very collaborative effort as we move on into using more complex systems and products, it will be vital to have a level of communication between designers and the potential user in order to make these future products highly usable.
simpleenoughthinks: User input is always welcome when creating anything for the market. How else can we know what the user wants? The approach of creating something without listening to the user and hoping that the public with buy into it is doomed to fail.
