Lead user

Lead user is a term developed by Eric von Hippel in 1986 (Von Hippel 1986). His definition for lead user is:

In other words, lead users are users of a product or service that currently experience needs still unknown to the public and who also benefit greatly if they obtain a solution to these needs. Because lead users innovate, they are considered to be one example or type of the creative consumer phenomenon, that is, those "customers who adapt, modify, or transform a proprietary offering" (Berthon et al. 2007).

The Lead User Method is a market research tool that may be used by companies and / or individuals seeking to develop breakthrough products. Lead User methodology was originally developed by Dr. Eric von Hippel of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and first described in the July 1986 issue of Management Science. In contrast to the traditional market research techniques that collect information from the users at the center of the target market, the Lead User method takes a different approach, collecting information about both needs and solutions from the leading edges of the target market and from analogue markets, markets facing similar problems in a more extreme form.

The methodology involves four major steps:

The methodology is based upon the idea that breakthrough products may be developed by identifying leading trends in the to-be-developed product’s associated marketplace(s). Once the trend or broader problem to be solved has been identified, the developers seek out “Lead Users”- people or organizations that are attempting to solve a particularly extreme or demanding version of the stated problem.

For example, a company seeking to create a breakthrough in flashlight design may seek out policemen, home inspectors, or others who require bright, efficient lights as part of their day-to-day business. Once these “lead users” have been identified, networking is employed and the lead users are interviewed so as to gain their insight into how they solve the problem for themselves. The lead users are also queried to determine whether they have knowledge of individuals or organizations who are considered to be “outside the market” and have even more extreme portable lighting needs than the policemen or home inspectors; in our example, these users might be photographers, divers, or movie lighting designers. (See the “Examples of Lead User Method” section of this article for more examples of lead user identification.) By learning from both the lead users and the outside-the-market users, companies may identify new methods or approaches towards creating innovative products that are true breakthroughs via ideas that may not have surfaced by simply examining existing users with traditional market research techniques.

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