They also have the ability to address their need. Many lead users
have, on their own, developed solutions or prototypes. At GE, for
instance, many of the institutions with which it has inked research
agreements employ scientists that lead the world in the study of
different diseases.
Having identified its lead users, a company needs some way of
tapping into their expertise and insight. Office supplies retailer
Staples, of
Framingham,
Massachusetts, does this by issuing an open
invitation to its Invention Quest contest. Just about any U.S.
resident over age 18 can submit ideas for innovative, useful office
products.
A panel of inventors and product designers, along with members of
the
Staples management team, review the submissions, looking at
their market potential and the originality of the concept, among
other qualities. Winners can earn royalties (as well as prize money
for those in the top 10) if Staples brings their idea to market.
More than 13,000 potential Thomas Edisons, with backgrounds ranging
from singers to homemakers to flight attendants, submitted ideas
for the most recent contest, which ended in May 2005.
Staples' management believes ideas for cool products can be found
anywhere, says Jevin Eagle, senior vice president of Staples Brand
Products. "The ideas are there, and we have to find them."
TINKERERS' CONCEPTS have definitely resonated with
consumers. For example, Staples sold 280,000 WordLock padlocks in
the first three months after the product's introduction. The
WordLock, winner of the 2004 Invention Quest, uses easy-to-remember
letters, rather than numbers, to form combinations.
At St. Paul, Minnesota-based
3M, the process has worked a bit
differently. In 2004, the
aerospace division introduced a testing
device that mechanics can use to check for shorts in aircraft
wiring or other faults.