User’s continuity in design continuous innovation

Abstract

The temporal factor is radically modifying the innovation processes of products and services, particularly in the most technologically advanced industries. This study focuses on the Advanced Design approach’s view of the changes affecting what were traditionally the main roles in the design-driven innovation process: designers, commissioning clients and users. It particularly seeks to investigate the role of users and the transformations it has already undergone (as well as potential transformations) in the sphere of innovation, in the progressive transition from intermittent and specific projects with a beginning and an end towards the concept of ‘continuous innovation’. The chapter opens with a diagram charting the changes caused by the new concept of time in innovation processes and then goes on to focus on design cultures and trace the profile of the ‘continuous user’ i.e. the beneficiary of goods or services who intends to participate in the innovation process. The chapter ends with a reference to a modern-day case study where a particular type of Design Centre is being developed to facilitate users’ participation in the continuous innovation process.