Toolkits

According to von Hippel and Katz (2002, p. 1) “[t]oolkits for user innovation are an emerging alternative approach in which manufacturers actually abandon the attempt to understand user needs in detail in favor of transferring need-related aspects of product and service development to users.” If it comes to the characterization of a toolkit it is described as software that allows customers to address their own preferences and unsatisfied needs to a new product (Salvador et al., 2009).

Von Hippel and Katz (2002) point out the importance of effective toolkits for user innovation by referring to five main advantages for a company. First, an effective toolkit has the ability to let users go through complete trial-and-error learning cycles. Second, it allows users to create their individual required design by offering a broad “solution space”. Third, they need to be user-friendly so that users do not require much training using the toolkits. Fourth, toolkits offer users to choose pre-defined modules from libraries for their individual design creation so that they only need to focus on the individual design specifics. Finally, effective toolkits for innovation directly enable manufacturers to convert customized products and services into the production language of the company without revision needed.  

Von Hippel (2001) describes that the highest value of toolkits can be achieved by users having sticky need information because it is very difficult for manufacturers to receive those information by their own. Especially in markets with a high rate of change, user needs grow faster than ever before and toolkits can help to overcome the loss of information (von Hippel, 2001). By using an innovation toolkit, customers obtain the freedom to create their favorite design considering all their personal preferences and needs (Salvador et al., 2009).

References:

Salvador, F., De Holan, P. M. and Piller, F. (2009): Cracking the Code of Mass Customization. MIT Sloan Management Review 50(3):71–78.

Von Hippel, Eric (2001): PERSPECTIVE: User toolkits for innovation. The Journal of Product Innovation Management 18(4): 243–257

Von Hippel, E. and Katz, R. (2002): Shifting Innovation to Users via Toolkits. Management Science 48 (7): 821–833.