A Study of the Practice of User Involvement in the Early Stages of Product Development (RIKON Group)
A Study of the Practice of User Involvement in the Early Stages of Product Development (RIKON Group)
O'Toole, Thomas and Lynch, Patrick (2004) A STUDY OF THE PRACTICE OF USER INVOLVEMENT IN THE EARLY STAGES OF PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT (RIKON Group). In: 11th International Product Development Conference, Dublin, Ireland.
Despite the increasing importance attributed to the involvement of industrial users in the early stages of product development, little is known about the current state of practice. In this paper, the authors empirically assess the extent and intensity of involving users in these stages through the analysis of 572 telephone surveys and 50 postal questionnaires. Results indicate that the practice of involving users in predevelopment activities only occurs to a minimum extent and that intense customer involvement in certain stages has a positive impact on the performance of the process. Implications of these findings for managers are also discussed.