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1.2. The Important Role of Users
3 worked so well
for so long?), larger entities, organizations and finally the prospec-
tive end-user do not favor and support radical innovation
initially. Accordingly, innovation
research has focused a lot on on how the process of innovations can be
successfully managed [
Utterback
1996 ] .
Thereby, it was the work of Hippel, in the late
1970s, that first revealed the importance of the role of the user in the industrial
innovation process. As
research in general aims at being the first to invent novel solutions – ubiquitous
and wearable computing in particular develop technology
and concepts users are not yet familiar
with – there are no users to ask about needs, since user are not yet
able to articulate their (future) needs, at least not
initially. Thus, the main question to be
solved in this thesis is how to develop innovative applications in ubiquitous
and wearable computing research that go beyond users’
current needs. Tackling this question could
help to move ubiquitous and wearable computing research forward
in the sense of the meaning of innovation: turning concepts
into widespread use. 1.2
The Important Role of Users Based
upon case studies on innovation in the scientific instruments sector
[ v.
Hip- pel
1976 ] ,
the semi-conductor and electronic assembly process sectors [
v. Hippel
1977
], von Hippel
argues to incorporate ideas of the would-be-customer into the development
process. These ideas are to be screened by the developer for those,
that seem most promising from the developer’s perspective.
For example, a study in the scientific
instruments sector [ v.
Hippel 1976 ]
could show that 80% of the studied
innovations were invented, prototyped and first field-tested by users rather
than the product manufacturers. The role of the developers
in such cases was mostly restricted to
improve prototypes’ reliability, usability and manufacturability, while
leaving its principles of operation intact. Traditionally,
it was the developer’s role to dominate
the determination of of the user’s needs and product characteristics.
More recently however, good design and successful innovation
have been repeatedly shown to be linked
to early and close cooperation between the developer and the user
[ Rothwell et
al. 1974 ] [
v. Hippel
1976 ] [ v.
Hippel 1977 ] [
Peters
and Waterman 1983
]. Furthermore, since new technology di
uses over time, new technology does not impact all members of a system simultaneously
[ Mansfield 1968
] [ Rogers and
Shoemaker 1971
] . Accordingly, for fast-moving fields, such as ubiquitous and wear-
able computing, where the experience of ordinary users is often rendered obsolete
rapidly, it is important to cooperate with innovative users who face needs which
are months, maybe years, ahead. Studies revealed
[ Rothwell and Gardiner 1983
] [
v. Hippel 1986
] , that generating innovative concepts in cooperation with users,
whose insights into new needs and potential solutions are constrained by obsoleted
experience, is rather unlikely. Further, it could be shown
[ Parkinson 1982
] [ Porter
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