A term and method developed by Eric von Hippel in 1986. Lead users are advanced or power users, they often use the product in unusual ways. They typically are early adopters to a product and therefore face needs early that will be experienced in the general marketplace much later. They are also very motivated and can benefit significantly by obtaining a solution to their unique needs. Lead users typically love to innovate, therefore often develop their own solutions (modify existing offering) to their unmet needs. They like to adapt, modify, and/or transform things. The feedback from these lead users can be very important in refining your offering to better meet the needs of the main market. The input from this method is used in Step 1 of our Systematic Innovation Process.
