Using the Internet as a communication infrastructure for lead user involvement in the new product development process

Companies that operate in extremely dynamic markets, are often confronted with the fact that the `window of opportunity´ for developing and commercialising new products is very small. For these companies it is not only imperative to have a very short time-to-market, but also to have an early insight in new market needs. In order to assure the timely detection of promising new product ideas, it is necessary to constantly probe the market for new customer needs. This paper describes an approach that uses the Internet to create a network of `expert´ users. These users not only serve as a corporate antenna to pick up new trends, but also as a test ground for new prototypes and as an adviser in case of technical problems. The approach is illustrated by a case study describing the implementation of such a `user network´ for multimedia products. The case study demonstrates that for some products the Internet constitutes an immense source of innovative users that are willing to help companies develop new products. The case study supports the notion that the Internet has huge potential as a qualitative as well as a quantitative tool for market research