Mar
19
2009

Use Co-Creation to Create Products Your Customers Will Actually Buy

From Wikipedia:

Co-creation is the practice of product or service development that is collaboratively executed by developers and stakeholders together.

creationleansYour customers know what they want – or at least what they don’t want.  They have a good idea of what works and what doesn’t and what types of features they’d like to see in a particular product.  Usually companies base their product offerings on research conducted on focus groups or small groups of customers.  But the power of the Internet allows companies to communicate with a much larger percentage of their customers (at least for most products).

Co-creation is the process of tapping into the knowledge your customers have to create products they are actually willing to buy.  This process does not necessarily have to be online, although online does provide some great opportunities for 2-way communication.  The important part of co-creation is actually using this feedback to improve and create your products, which may take a few organizational changes.  Companies who successfully implement co-creation practices have internal processes for having 2-way conversations with their customers and using that information to improve their customer experiences. Using co-creation, you can more closely meet your customers’ expectations for your products while improving both ROI and customer satisfaction.

(photo by leans @ Flickr CC)

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  • Joel Stanesa

    Great article Sarah. I’ve been pushing this concept for a short time now with my team leads. It’s not a new concept if you think about the quality movement in the 80s and 90s (QFD, Voice of the customer – are 2 such examples) but it is definitely worth a reminder over and over.

  • Joel Stanesa

    Great article Sarah. I’ve been pushing this concept for a short time now with my team leads. It’s not a new concept if you think about the quality movement in the 80s and 90s (QFD, Voice of the customer – are 2 such examples) but it is definitely worth a reminder over and over.

  • http://sazbean.com sazbean

    Joel, Thanks for reading… and for the comment! Co-Creation certainly isn’t a new concept, but I think that the advent and popularity of social media and networks means that your customers have much more influence over your brand, whether you like it or not. By working with them, you can provide a much better experience and product.

  • http://sazbean.com Sarah Worsham

    Joel, Thanks for reading… and for the comment! Co-Creation certainly isn’t a new concept, but I think that the advent and popularity of social media and networks means that your customers have much more influence over your brand, whether you like it or not. By working with them, you can provide a much better experience and product.

  • Joel Stanesa

    I wouldn’t miss it. I have to give you “props” for the Morning read posts too. I love them! The links are terrific and keep me well informed about stuff going on.

  • Joel Stanesa

    I wouldn’t miss it. I have to give you “props” for the Morning read posts too. I love them! The links are terrific and keep me well informed about stuff going on.

  • http://sazbean.com sazbean

    Thanks! Glad you find them useful. :)

  • http://sazbean.com Sarah Worsham

    Thanks! Glad you find them useful. :)