Co-developing products: Involving customers earlier and more deeply

This article addresses the problem of developing a commercially successful product from a revolutionary technology. It identifies that successful new technology products are best developed through early and in-depth involvement of a customer, a process identified as co-development. It also shows that although this principle is accepted by firms in a regional electronics industry, its practical implementation is limited. This in turn highlights the lack of attention given to techniques such as co-development in the new product development literature and supports a call for academic research to provide better understanding of how this integrated thinking can be applied by industry. It also challenges managers and policy makers to encourage a cultural change in industry, removing impediments to co-development in the business community. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.