WINKLE
LEAD USER COMMUNITIES
May 2013
DON’T ASK YOUR FANS FOR HELP
SECRET WEAPON
This article illustrates one
of Winkle’s secret weapons
in conducting international
innovation research: the
Lead User Community.
Lead Users are a very
intuitive, inventive and
collaborative type of
consumers.
The Lead User method is
developed by social
scientist Prof. Eric von
Hippel (1986). It is a
method proven to be highly
successful in the field of
innovation.
Try to picture the following situation: a woman is asking her husband “Honey,
how do I look in this new dress?” What is your guess his answer will be? Now,
translate this situation to your business context… This example illustrates the
main problem when asking your biggest brand fans for feedback. Brand fans
are so fond of ‘their brand’, that their feedback becomes pretty much worthless
for a company that is looking for ways to innovate. Instead, it is more useful to
start looking for Lead Users (see ‘Secret Weapon’ in column).
Lead Users are characterized by two main aspects. First of all, they are ahead
of a trend. Not in the way early adopters are; they are simply the first to buy
your new product. Lead Users are ahead of your company. How?
Because they are lacking something within the current category. Something
others have not yet noticed to be missing. Secondly, they have a high incentive
to find a solution, to ‘fix’ for what they are missing.
For instance, a young woman who is mixing her favorite facial cream with
sunblock because current offerings lack the level of sun protection she needs.
Or, a mum who mixes strawberry jelly with full fat yoghurt for her kids, as she
cannot find a similar product on shelf.
Sure, the examples above are not ‘big ideas’ in itself. Though if accumulated
and put in the right context, they will definitely point you into the right
direction for innovation. In brief, Lead Users are intuitive of what is missing
in your company’s category. They are inventive in finding new solutions and
highly collaborative to help you out.
GO BEYOND A SNAPSHOT…
Winkle invites Lead Users into an online community, a s0 called Lead User
Community (LUC). In this LUC, time is spend on discussing current category
frustrations (i.e. what are unmet needs?) as well as on how to go about solving
these (i.e. shortcuts and fixes). The balance is crucial: Lead Users like to
focus on solutions, though it’s worth the time to really find out what is missing.
How long is long enough? One advantage is that in a LUC you go beyond the
snapshot in time typically occuring in focus groups. Roughly, a period of two
to three weeks will provide enough time to take full advantage of an iterative
approach within the LUC. Meaning that one discussion topic builds on the
previous one. Even a short break can be taken to develop concepts or other
stimuli to be discussed in a second phase with the Lead Users.