Category Archives: Customer Research Methods

2015 Top Downloaded Innovation Articles in JPIM

Posted on August 5, 2016 by Gary R Schirr

Gloria Barczak, editor of the leading journal on innovation, JPIM has provided a list of the top downloaded articles from their website. You can download the list as a PDF here: Top 10 2015 JPIM Downloaded Articles (2). These are the … Continue reading →

Posted in Co-creation or User collaboration, Customer Research Methods, Process Innovation, Stage-Gate® | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Should you involve customers? How radical and hedonic are you trying to be?

Posted on June 9, 2016 by Gary R Schirr

When does a firm benefit from customer co-creation? The leading journal of product innovation, JPIM, has a cool YouTube channel to view short summaries of selected articles on innovation. I strongly recommend checking it every couple months for new posted … Continue reading →

Posted in Co-creation or User collaboration, communication, Customer Research Methods, NSD Process | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

The Essence of Service – In a Cartoon

Posted on June 6, 2016 by Gary R Schirr

In the middle of final editing for recently published Service Innovation we decided that we needed an illustration in Chapter 1, for our discussion of what service is. I sent a Facebook message to my talented daughter, Kiki Schirr, and asked her if she could send an illustration within 90 minutes. Continue reading →

Posted in Co-creation or User collaboration, Customer Research Methods | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Ideation is for INDIVIDUALS, not groups!

Posted on March 28, 2016 by Gary R Schirr

Group brainstorming is not a good way to generate innovation ideas. In the Preface to Sprint, Jake Knapp discusses his missteps using group brainstorming at Google.

He notes that the brainstorming sessions were “a lot of fun,” , but… did not generate successful ideas. The best ideas were generated by individuals “sitting at their desks, or waiting at a coffee shop, or taking a shower.”

This matches what I found in a study of 50 years of research on group user research. Continue reading →

Posted in Customer Research Methods, Ideation, NSD Process, Service Design | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Thoughts on a Theory of Innovation

Posted on May 3, 2013 by Gary R Schirr

Over the past 50 years, researchers have learned a lot about innovation. Do you have thoughts about a theory of Innovation? Continue reading →

Posted in Customer Research Methods, effectuation, experiential innovation, Experiment, Innovation education, Process Innovation, Slow Burn Entrepreneurship, Stage-Gate® | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

Group Brainstorming is fun… but kills good ideas!

Posted on June 14, 2011 by Gary R Schirr

Group brainstorming and focus groups are fun and create an illusion of effectiveness among everyone involved in the process. Can an organization interested in innovation channel the enthusiasm but limit the murder of ideas? Continue reading →

Posted in Customer Research Methods | Tagged , , , | 11 Comments

Just Do It!

Posted on May 17, 2011 by Gary R Schirr

Just Do It seems the theme of product development: effectuation, agile development, probe and learn, or organic. Continue reading →

Posted in Co-creation or User collaboration, Customer Research Methods, effectuation, experiential innovation, Experiment, Slow Burn Entrepreneurship | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Is “Lean Startups” a misnomer?

Posted on April 19, 2011 by Gary R Schirr

Lean startups as Probe and Learn entrepreneurship! Continue reading →

Posted in Co-creation or User collaboration, Customer Research Methods, effectuation, entrepreneurship, experiential innovation, Experiment, Slow Burn Entrepreneurship | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Before “Lean Startups” there was “Probe and Learn”

Posted on April 12, 2011 by Gary R Schirr

The innovation process underlying lean startups, as described by Eric Ries, seems eerily similar to the Probe and Learn process described by Gary Lynn and colleagues 15 years ago. Continue reading →

Posted in Co-creation or User collaboration, Customer Research Methods, effectuation, entrepreneurship, experiential innovation, Experiment, Slow Burn Entrepreneurship, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Social Media and User Research Methods

Posted on March 29, 2011 by Gary R Schirr

An engagement/deep knowledge framework to categorize user research methods indicates some likely innovations as social media is employed in innovation. Continue reading →

Posted in Co-creation or User collaboration, Customer Research Methods, experiential innovation, Ideation, Social Media Marketing | 3 Comments