Learning from users for radical innovation

Our study focuses on the question of what kinds of users are able to actively contribute to the development of radical innovations and what firms can learn from them to improve their innovative capability. A multiple case study analysis was conducted in the field of medical technology. The case study analysis reveals that users with a unique set of characteristics can contribute substantially to the development of radical innovations. By interacting with these users, firms learned on the product innovation dimension, process dimension and technology dimension.

Keywords: radical innovation, user-driven innovation, new product development, NPD, medical technology, technology management, product innovation, innovation management