The effects of end-user involvement in new product development

New product development (NPD) is undoubtedly important to the competitiveness, growth, and survivability of companies. End-user involvement in NPD is seen as a determinant for successful new products, and hence companies are increasingly shifting towards a direction where they co-create products with end-users. However, previous academic studies offer little consensus regarding the contribution of this involvement to new product outcomes. More specifically, little attention has been paid on how this involvement takes place in practice, and what the roles and contributions of end users are for successful new products. Therefore, this study investigates the effects of three different approaches to end-user involvement in NPD (design for end-users, design with end-users, and design by end-users) and explores how end users are involved in and influence the NPD process and the end product. A qualitative research methodology with a multiple case study design was employed on account of the exploratory nature of this study. The NPD processes of six companies were investigated through in-depth semi-structured interviews with top managers and members of the NPD teams. The data were derived and analysed using thematic analysis methodology. The findings demonstrated that the three approaches to end-user involvement entail different benefits and challenges and emphasise different tools and articulation of end user requirements across different NPD phases. Furthermore, the findings revealed that the appropriateness of each approach, as well as the impact it may have on the NPD process and the end product, depends on four situation-specific factors; including the purpose of end-user involvement, company culture and receptiveness to external knowledge, industry regulations and policies, and allocated resources. The findings of this study contributed and extended the growing body of research on end-user involvement in NPD by providing a comprehensive, holistic overview of three different approaches to end-user involvement and by emphasising a set of factors that impact the end-user involvement outcomes. Additionally, the findings provided a direction to managers for making decisions regarding how and when to involve end users for creating more effective and more efficient NPD processes.