4 everyday companies you didn't know co-created products with users!
Product Management, UX, Startups, and more — freshly curated by Zeda.io.
Hello, all you product-loving folks! 🥰
Welcome to this week's edition of Product Café, your weekly cup of coffee for everything product management, startups, and more. ☕
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I was getting some Starbucks the other day and I realised there was a new flavour of iced tea which I hadn’t seen in the past week. If you get Starbucks often, you would’ve noticed that some of their flavours are not consistent and keep changing. It got me thinking, “why do they do that?”. I did some research and realized that Starbucks co-creates their recipes with their customers. It simply means giving your users a seat at the design table and working together to jointly create better ideas, products and services.
Resource: https://chaordix.com/resources/6-customer-centric-brands-who-co-create-with-customers
Here are 4 everyday companies you didn’t know co-created their products with customers:
1. Ikea 🛋️
As a company where users assemble and make the finished product, it’s no surprise that they have invested in co-creation. They have a digital platform called Co-Create IKEA where customers can develop and test new products. It gave a platform to users who have a passion for furniture design and want to turn their everyday frustration into solutions.
Trellis bench SVANÖ is an IKEA product that was co-created with the public. It started out with sketches of what people would want as solutions for their small outdoor spaces. Then a couple of Swedish 17-year-olds tried to use SVANÖ to create a place for relaxation. Then, they turned the prototype of the trellis bench into a green oasis covered with plants. They are the first group to join the co-create workshop at the IKEA Museum in Älmhult. “When we asked them to use it for laundry they started hacking it with different kinds of wires to add more space. But they kept it cosy with cushions”, says Irina Banciu, Co-create Community Coordinator at IKEA of Sweden.
An important advantage of co-creation with customers is the instant feedback you receive. says, Jerry Svensson , a product developer.
2. H&M 👚
As a global clothing brand, it’s important to keep up with the changing fashion trends. Recognizing that social media influences people’s buying decisions, H&M launched a new line called Nyden which will be co-created not by designers but by fashion influencers whose styles and fashion trends users looked up to.
The idea here was that even though such co-creators did not have design experience, their specific taste and aesthetics helped the brand understand the taste of a bigger user segment. For this, H&M sought after influencers who are active and have a good following on social media.
Unfortunately, the store was terminated in 2019.
Resource: https://www.braineet.com/blog/co-creation-examples
3. BMW 🏎️
The luxury car company has a Co-Creation lab where they collaborate with customers for ideas on developing future products. For instance, the company conducted its first-ever open innovation contest called ‘Tomorrow’s Urban Mobility Services’ in 2010.
It brought together 497 creative minds who were not part of the company which resulted in 300 distinct ideas. After being evaluated by 1000 judges around the world, Venugopal Panicker won the contest for his “Pick Me Up Please” concept, a connected mobility system for pedestrians.
Resource: https://www.braineet.com/blog/co-creation-examples
4. Heineken 🍺
“Okay, seriously, why would anyone try to change beer?” That’s what I thought and turns out I was right. It wasn’t the beer that the company wanted to change but the beer experience. They wanted to create the ultimate club experience. In 2012, Heineken invited a group of customer stakeholders to participate in what is called ‘Heineken Open Design Explorations Edition 1: The Club’.
They asked emerging designers from a diverse range of backgrounds to come up with new and innovative club concepts. Nineteen designers used an online creative hub to share ideas with thousands of Heineken fans. That’s how the Heineken Concept Club was born. It was unveiled during Milan Design Week in 2012 with thousands of Design Week attendees visiting the installation to interact with the co-created layout. The event also attracted a lot of industry and media attention.
Good reads for extra credit 📖
1. Three great examples of how co-creation help companies innovate by Johan M Persson, Founder of C’Monde.
2. The ultimate guide to product co-creation by Chaordix.
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