Innovation is rapidly becoming democratized. Users, aided by improvements in computer and communications technology, increasingly can develop their own new products and services. These innovating users — both individuals and firms — often freely share their innovations with others, creating user-innovation communities and a rich intellectual commons. In Democratizing Innovation, Eric von Hippel looks closely at this emerging system of user-centered innovation. He explains why and when users find it profitable to develop new products and services for themselves, and why it often pays users to reveal their innovations freely for the use of all.
The trend toward democratized innovation can be seen in software and information products — most notably in the free and open-source software movement — but also in physical products. Von Hippel’s many examples of user innovation in action range from surgical equipment to surfboards to software security features. He shows that product and service development is concentrated among “lead users,” who are ahead on marketplace trends and whose innovations are often commercially attractive.
Von Hippel argues that manufacturers should redesign their innovation processes and that they should systematically seek out innovations developed by users. He points to businesses — the custom semiconductor industry is one example — that have learned to assist user-innovators by providing them with toolkits for developing new products. User innovation has a positive impact on social welfare, and von Hippel proposes that government policies, including R&D subsidies and tax credits, should be realigned to eliminate biases against it. The goal of a democratized user-centered innovation system, says von Hippel, is well worth striving for. An electronic version of this book is available under a Creative Commons license.
Customer Reviews
the future of mass collaboration:
A rather academic approach on the subject leave the reading in some sections somehow difficult for those not use to technicalities of the researcher, but a very well written book overall. The book clearly identifies a path on the future trend on mass collaboration and how this will affect us in many ways. How our personal live and businesses will effected by this is already on the making, what we can do is to better understand it. This book does that.
I strongly suggest reading it for those interested in what the future will look like. The book pair off with
Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything
User-innovations: a world without specialization and trade?:
“Democratizing Innovation” means “innovating of oneself”, for doing that one gets exactly what one wants, and not what manufacturers think the “average” user wants. The book claims that a key advantage of “democratizing innovation” is that the user is also the supplier. Uninhibited by legal barriers to entry like patents, user-innovators, unlike seller-innovators, are free to share their innovations with whoever they want.
Chapters 2-9 deal with different attractive aspects of user-innovations such as the fact that the output of innovation activities can be customized, or that user-innovations are cheaper than their seller-innovation counterparts. Revealed usefulness means that user-innovations spread faster than other innovations. They also meet the characteristics of public goods. As an example the book points to “free-open source software”. Hence, the book argues for a public policy that supports user-innovation because it is “democratizing”. Moreover, the increasing quality and quantity of computer software and hardware, and easy access to innovation tools and innovation commons points to future demand for user-innovations, a case made clear by the applications described in the last two chapters.
Given resource scarcity, a world without specialization and trade is hard to imagine,but this is a thought provoking book, nonetheless.
Amavilah, Author
Modeling Determinants of Income in Embedded Economies
ISBN: 1600210465
DemocratizingInnovation:
A creative and provocative approach to business opportunities.
A stimulating quick read provoking unique stimulus to further creativity.You can’t read this work without your own imagination kicking in.A brainstorming supplement.
Great ideas on innovation:
This book is a great read, especially for someone who has not been taught about user innovation and who questions the open source business model. Von Hippel is a pioneer when it comes to user innovation. If you thought that companies come up with winning ideas, or that the only way to make any money on a great idea is to patent it then this book will open your eyes to a much greater world. The concepts of free revealing (vs. IP) and of lead user (vs. manufacturer) innovation are great. It goes deeping into the idea that information is sticky and cannot be communicated from users to engineers very easily, even in consumer focus groups. Also discussed is the opportunity to create a toolkit to allow users to do the development work for you. This book is truly outstanding.
Excellent and thought provoking read:
Von Hippel has done an excellent job with this new work. I downloaded the pdf, read the first chapter and had to buy the book to read the remaining chapters. He has introduced many new subjects into the field of innovation and I’m sure this will be a book I will reference time and again. His writing style also made this an easy and enjoyable book to read at leisure. Well done.
