Listen to your technology users – they've led to the most disruptive innovations in history

In 1971, the Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET), the forerunner of the modern Internet, had about 1,000 users. The @ sign it was a vague symbol. Then, an engineer Ray Tomlinson we changed everything by creating a system for sending messages to other computers on the ARPANET network, using the @ sign to indicate who each message was for. Email was born.

One of the greatest inventions of the digital age was not created by a company looking for a product to sell. It was cooked by a user with a problem to solve. Tomlinson said he didn't even realize the enormity of his invention until nearly 25 years later, in 1993.

Consumers were also behind the invention washing machine (a socialist who wants to make dinner party cleanup easier), the telephone (an engineer who wanted to talk to his wife upstairs from his laboratory), the plastic contact lens (optometrist tired of wearing heavy thick glasses) and even today's tech companies like Airbnb (the founders rented an air mattress in their living room to help make rent on their San Francisco apartment).

Consumers are a key source of disruptive innovation, but they are often overlooked. We recently published an analysis of 60 cases of disruptive innovation in the Journal of Product Innovation Managementfrom LASIK surgery to electrical power tools. Our goal was to understand the origins of disruptive innovation. We were surprised to find that almost half of the innovations we identified came from users, rather than producers.

Combining 'need knowledge' and 'solution knowledge'

Consumers have a unique, intimate view of a problem—and know where current solutions fall short. Technical experts and existing representatives have a clearer sense of what solutions might look like, but they are not as close to the need. By combining customer “need knowledge” with their own “solution knowledge”, companies can unlock a wealth of opportunities for growth and competitive advantage.

Inspirational thoughts for B2C products and services often arise from individual consumers who want to meet their own needs. Disruptive innovation in the B2B space can come from professionals looking for new tools or systems to make their jobs more efficient. For example, physician John H. Gibbon and his wife Mary developed the heart-lung machine and used it to perform one of the first successful open-heart surgeries.

Our study found that products that offer highly innovative capabilities are more likely to be developed by users and often arise at times when customer needs are changing rapidly. On the other hand, inventions with technological innovation are more likely to be generated by producers, who have the necessary technical knowledge. These tend to come from periods of rapid technological change.

Our research raises questions about existing ideas disruptive innovation. The statement that goes back to businessman Clayton Christensen is that disruption comes from startups and other new players in a market, while large incumbents are usually left behind. Consumers are seen as part of the problem. When your customers keep asking for the same thing over and over again, there is little room for innovation.

But our research shows that there is not just one template for disruptive innovation, and consumers can be a source of innovative ideas rather than a barrier. While companies often look to customers for ideas on how to transform existing projects and innovate around the edge, we've found that they can also create disruptive innovation. generate a game changer.

Tips to support disruptive innovation

So, how can your company get truly disruptive innovation from consumers? First, create a culture of open innovation that values ​​perspectives from outside the organization. Although the technical experts in your R&D department know how to build something new, they are not the only authorities on what you should build. Our research shows that it is particularly important to look for customer disruption at times when customer needs are changing rapidly.

Talk to your customers and create channels for communication and engagement. Most companies conduct regular customer surveys and focus groups. But to identify truly disruptive ideas, you need to go beyond reactions to existing products and plumb unfulfilled needs and pain points. User complaints also give us insight into how existing solutions are lacking. AI tools making it easier to monitor online user communities and analyze user feedback, reviews and complaints.

Keep your pulse on social media and online user communities where people share innovative ways to transform existing products and wish lists for new activities. Users also collect offline. At sporting events you may find athletes making custom solutions to unmet needs. Mountain bikes were invented in the 1970s by riders who assembled custom bikes, known as clunkers, to explore the beautiful off-road landscapes of California.

Focus on key users who are ahead of the trends. Key users are often the first to see emerging user needs that will dominate in the future, and will benefit from new solutions. Research shows that top consumer opinions are much more commercially valuable than the opinions of the average customer. However, take the input with a grain of salt, as lead users sometimes value specific capabilities that mainstream customers may not care about. You can also look for core users embedded in your organization – for example, employees who work for a car company because they love cars.

Finally, explore co-creation initiatives that encourage direct collaboration with consumer innovators. For example, run a competition where customers submit ideas for new products or features, some of which may be very disruptive. Or sponsor hackathons that bring together users with needs and technical experts to design solutions.

Companies are always looking for the edge of innovation, but they often miss one of the most powerful sources of innovative ideas – their own users. By leveraging the large pool of existing users and customers, you can use their creativity and knowledge to fuel truly disruptive innovation.

Christina Raasch is Professor of Digital Economy at When LUniversity of ogistics in Germany. Tim Schweisfurth is Professor of organizational design and collaboration engineering at Hamburg University of Technology in Germany.