Institute for Ecological Economy Research GELENA Social Learning and Sustainability 13 th International Greening of Industry Network Conference Cardiff, 2-5 July Consumer-Integration in Sustainable Product Development Esther Hoffmann Institute for Ecological Economy Research (IÖW)

Outline  User Involvement in Product Development  The INNOCOPE method  Experience with INNOCOPE  Learning Results  Conclusions

Relevance of Users in Product Innovations  New Product Success Studies  Customer and market orientation  Customer involvement  Innovation Research  Users are relevant sources for innovation ideas  User feedback and re-invention by users  Sustainability  Changes in production and consumption patterns needed  Shape products according to users’ needs

INNOCOPE  innovating through consumer-integrated product development  Concept of a series of 3 workshops  Consumers and company members  Development and assessment of product ideas and concepts  Small working groups  Creative techniques  Embedded in product development process

Goals of INNOCOPE  Mutual learning  Increased knowledge  Changes in values  Changes in (potential) behaviour  Concerning:  Climate change and climate protection  Product (production and use)  The role of users in product development  Climate-friendly products

Application of INNOCOPE  Product: Pedelecs (pedal electric cycles: bicycles supported by an electric motor)  Goal: new target groups; bicycles for longer distances  Company: Hawk Bikes E+M GmbH, Berlin/Germany  Senior management, product management, design, sales  20 randomly selected consumers  Diversity  socio-demographic factors  bicycle use  environmental attitudes

INNOCOPE Procedure

Workshop 1: Testing of Pedelecs

Workshop 2: Pedelec Concept for Transportation

Workshop 3: Presentation of Prototype

Organisational Learning Results  Increase in Knowledge on  User needs  User preferences of product features  Products‘ contribution to climate change  Changes in Behaviour  New products adopted to user needs  Increase of climate-friendly behaviour

Failures in Organisational Learning  (Almost) no new knowledge on  Climate change and climate protection  How to involve users in product development  No changes in values  Role of users in product development  Responsibility for climate protection (products, production processes)  Awareness of climate change  No changes in behaviour concerning  Methods to analyse user needs

Explanations for Learning Success  Consumers accepted as knowledgeable actors  Experts of every-day life  Knowledge on bicycle usage and user needs  Senior management support  Took the decision to co-operate and decides on follow-up  Participated in 2 workshops  Positive assessment of INNOCOPE  Creative Dialogue  Creative techniques supported idea generation  Interaction on implicit knowledge (drawing, story telling)  Users dared to bring in their ideas

Explanations for Learning Failures  View of Users  Sceptical towards users‘ ability to develop product ideas  Senior manager has the most sceptical view  Filtering mechanisms  Clear ideas on consumer preferences hamper knowledge acquisition (e.g. relevance of design)  Climate change and protection is considered as irrelevant concerning the company‘s products  Incompleteness of learning process  Newly acquired knowledge is neither distributed nor stored in the company

Conclusions: Success Factors for Consumer-integration  Open attitude of the company  Commitment of users  Start discussion from user needs  Discussion in small groups  Creative techniques  Clearly defined tasks  Involvement of relevant company members  Senior management support  Embedded in organisational processes  Repeated interaction

Thank you!  Contact:  Esther Hoffmann Institut für ökologische Wirtschaftsforschung (IÖW) gGmbH Institute for Ecological Economy Research Potsdamer Str Berlin, Germany tel. +49 – 30 – – 22  Sponsored by: