End-user Driven Innovation Examples

A leading healthcare supplier wanted a user interface that would ensure its at-home monitoring system for the elderly was easy to install and use. We created a Voice of the Customer tree and Critical To Quality (CTQ) parameters, and translated them into a number of product concepts. Using consumer insights, we helped the customer generate a final concept and then build and evaluate a prototype using proven usability design rules and high-contrast consumer tests. In final testing, every single elderly patient could successfully install the system.

When a customer in the health and beauty sector was developing a new shaver, they asked us to help create a user-centered design process that would ensure satisfied customers. Over the course of seven months, we analyzed customer feedback on previous models to identify strengths and weaknesses, and used these insights to improve the new products. We then used smart testing methods to improve product robustness, and created a quick start guide to enhance the consumer’s ‘out-of-the-box’ experience. Now on the market, the shaver has a return rate 50% lower than comparable models.

A consumer electronics company was developing an innovative wireless music center. This was a brand new product type that needed a first time right launch. First, we helped define what ‘ease of use’ means in this unexplored area of technology. Next, we identified potential roadblocks and provided solutions, which were then verified through smart consumer tests. At each stage, our smart field-return prediction methods helped the customer make the right design choices to ensure the product was reliable and easy to use. An entirely new product type achieved a low, accurately-predicted initial field return rate.