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Where could we look for users? One way is to search for those users who would use it first. Or even better, the users who already have their own solution for what we offer. These users are called lead users. (37)
Eric von Hippel, who developed the lead user concept, defines them as follows:
“Lead users are users whose present strong needs will become general in a marketplace months or years in the future. Since lead users are familiar with conditions which lie in the future for most others, they can serve as a need-forecasting laboratory for marketing research. Moreover, since lead users often attempt to fill the need they experience, they can provide new product concept and design data as well.” (38)
Why do we look at lead users? Because they are the only ones that already exist. Lead users work with solutions or workarounds the commercial market does not have yet, or they exhaust existing solutions (Figure 13). They can give us crucial insights during product development. Maybe our match between technology and solution is what they looked for. Do not mistake them for early adopters or extreme users since these only arise once a standard product is available. (39) We will try to find the lead users for the solutions we envisioned to learn from their experiences.
Figure 13 - How, Wow, Now Matrix own illustration based on (Groupmap, 2022)
Step 1: Imagine how you would solve the same problem your proposed solution will today.
Step 2: Research the solution you came up with. Does it already exist? Who uses it? Try to find a lead user for every solution you choose in Method 4.6 How Wow Now Matrix
Step 3: Take notes of your research. What solution/workaround did lead users create? Why did they make the solution?
Tipp: It can be hard to reach your lead users. Good research opportunities are product ratings of their workarounds or special interest blogs.
During the lead user analysis, I found users through the reviews of a water consumption tracking app for the water bottle. They were beneficial in the search for lead users. The other lead users were found by searching for similar products or DIY solutions and researching them and their users.