Learning from users for radical innovation
Summary. Companies need radical innovations to stay competitive, not just incremental improvements. This study examined five medical technology projects—including robots and navigation systems—to identify which users contribute most effectively to radical innovation development. The researchers found that users with high motivation, openness to new technology, diverse skills, and supportive environments substantially advanced innovation. Manufacturers who adopted these users' ideas and prototypes significantly improved their radical innovation capabilities, suggesting firms should systematically identify and engage such users as a learning mechanism.
Cite this article
Lettl, C., Herstatt, C., & Gemuenden, H. G.. (2004). Learning from users for radical innovation. WU Research. https://doi.org/10.15480/882.73
Lettl, Christopher, et al. “Learning from users for radical innovation.” WU Research, 2004. https://doi.org/10.15480/882.73.
Lettl, Christopher, Cornelius Herstatt, and Hans Georg Gemuenden. 2004. “Learning from users for radical innovation.” WU Research. https://doi.org/10.15480/882.73.
@article{lettl-2004-learning-users-radical-innovation,
title = {Learning from users for radical innovation},
author = {Christopher Lettl and Cornelius Herstatt and Hans Georg Gemuenden},
journal = {WU Research},
year = {2004},
doi = {10.15480/882.73},
url = {https://doi.org/10.15480/882.73}
}
TY - JOUR TI - Learning from users for radical innovation AU - Christopher Lettl AU - Cornelius Herstatt AU - Hans Georg Gemuenden JO - WU Research PY - 2004 DO - 10.15480/882.73 UR - https://doi.org/10.15480/882.73 ER -
Details
- DOI
- 10.15480/882.73
- Countries
- Germany
- Regions
- Europe
- Categories
- innovation-theory, innovation-networks, general-innovation
- Added
- 2026-04-28