[ 3] von Hippel, E.
“Lead Users: A
Source of Novel
Product Concepts.”
Management Science
32 (1986): 791–805
[ 4] von Hippel, E. The
Sources of Innovation.
New York: Oxford
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or how they mark standard settings, and prestructure devices
to eliminate complexity.
Those who hack and create
workarounds are people like
you and me when we encounter
a problem: We cobble together
some new device, post notes
and labels, remove confusing
knobs and buttons, point the
cell phone screen at the walls
and doors while we try to find
light switches and keyholes, and
tape over switches and controls
to prevent accidental activation.
Hacks and workarounds are the
soul of innovation. Observing
is easy; recognizing the innovation and then knowing what to
do with the observations are
where the difficulties lie.
ABOUT ThE AUThOr Don Norman
wears many hats, including cofounder
of the Nielsen Norman group, director
of a dual-degree MBA-plus engineering program in design and operations at
Northwestern University, and author—his
latest book is The Design of Future Things.
He lives at www.jnd.org.
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The point is that the observations didn’t just reveal a
need: They revealed a solution.
Someone needed to get to a
light switch or navigate a dark
corridor or read some text in
the dark: Their hack was to use
the lit screen of their cell phone
as a light source. Hacks and
workarounds are truly revealing, both of needs and also of
solutions.
Although the story is
enhanced by the far-off locale
of China, Nokia’s researchers
didn’t really have to travel to
Asia for this observation. They
could have stayed home—or
simply watched me.
How many readers of this column have used the lit screen of
their portable electronic device
as a light? Probably quite a few.
How many of you recognized
this as a potential product?
Probably very few of you, possibly none. Aha! We don’t need
exotic methodologies to discover new product ideas: We
need prepared minds, minds
that make the leap from casual
observation to business insight.
Eric von Hippel of MIT has
long championed a related
approach to product development—“lead user” is a concept
he first introduced in the mid-
1980s [ 3, 4]. None of this average user stuff; instead, look at
experts who push the limits in
novel ways. Von Hippel carefully identifies those who are
lead users and then studies,
observes, questions, and interviews them. But I don’t think
von Hippel’s formal classifications and careful legwork apply
to everyday products used by
everyday people. In fact, I think
his formal processes may blind
him to the real creativity that
comes about from everyday,
unheralded people.
Look to see how everyday
people have modified and
cobbled together some product
with other stuff to try to meet
their needs. Analyze how they
use duct tape, and mashups,
and workarounds. In other
words, you don’t have to invent;
you can copy (and improve)
what your clever, extreme users
have had to do to accomplish
their needs. Some people keep
shampoo bottles or mustard
jars upside down, standing on
their lids, to make it easier to
get the last remnants out of the
bottle. Clever, observant design
teams have seized upon those
observations, and now a variety
of goods are packaged in bottles
that were designed from the
beginning to stand on the cap.
Many ordinary people use the
objects around them in unordinary ways. Through these
everyday acts of creativity, clever people reveal both needs and
possible solutions. They lead to
the innovations that will benefit many. Always look for how
people cover confusing labels,
