Developing World Users as Lead Users: A Case Study in Engineering Reverse Innovation

Abstract

This paper examines the "reverse innovation" of the leveraged freedom chair (LFC), a high-performance, low-cost, off-road wheelchair originally designed for developing countries. A needs study of 71 developed world wheelchair users was conducted through three different data collection efforts. These data were contrasted with studies of 125 developing world wheelchair users, who were shown to be lead users for their developed world counterparts. The GRIT freedom chair (GFC), the developed world version of the LFC, was designed based on results of the study. By recognizing developing country users as lead users, designers can reveal latent needs and create globally disruptive innovations.

Collective design in 3D printing: A large scale empirical study of designs, designers and evolution

“…Users from developing countries can be also be considered as lead users. Innovation is traditionally linked to economic growth, competitiveness and progress (House, 2011;Judge et al, 2015) and often associated with developed countries. On the other hand, recognizing users from developing countries as lead users can be the key for reverse innovation as designers can understand their latent needs and create globally disruptive innovations by serving these markets (Judge et al, 2015).…”

Reverse Innovation and Reverse Technology Transfer: From Made in China to Discovered in China in the Pharmaceutical Sector

“…Corsi, Di Minin and Piccaluga (2014) explained that reverse innovation could be associated with internal resistance and the risks of cannibalizing its existing products. Judge et al (2015) analyzed how users from developing countries could be lead users in the confection of a wheelchair. Finally, Winter and Govindarajan (2015) highlighted some lessons for multinationals in terms of engineering reverse innovation.…”

Using Do-It-Yourself Practitioners as Lead Users: A Case Study on the Hair Care Industry

“…Hannukainen and H€ oltt€ a-Otto suggested that studying the needs of disabled users leads to the discovery of latent needs of ordinary users [14]. Judge et al proposed investigating users from the developing world to elicit latent needs of developed world users [15]. Srivastava and Shu studied Old Order Mennonites, who practice a low resource lifestyle, to gain inspiration for how to inspire the general population to live a more environmentally conscious lifestyle [16].…”

“…Wolf and McQuitty asserted that the best examples of prosumers are the participants in a DIY movement [9]. While the design community has studied the lead user concept [2,4,[10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17], DIY practitioners have been overlooked, despite the fact that their characteristics closely resemble those of lead users.…”