User-Centered Innovation Lab

The Danish Government's 2005 strategy for the next 4 years states that, “strengthening user-driven innovation" is a national priority.  In response, a group of researchers from Copenhagen Business School in Denmark and MIT Sloan School of Management in the US - supported from Danish Ministry of Economic and Business Affairs – now establish the Danish User-Centered Innovation Lab.

Goal of Danish User-Centered Innovation Lab

The goal of the Danish User-Centered Innovation Lab is to help bring Danish firms to the world forefront with respect to the profitable exploitation of leading-edge user-centered methods for product and service development.

Danish Lab Participants and Timetable

Firms initially participating in the Danish User-Centered Innovation Lab are Bang & Olufsen, Coloplast, Danisco, Lego, Novo Nordisk and IO Interactive.  Starting in May, 2006, innovation experts from these firms and Danish and MIT academics will work collaboratively to develop and implement world-class user-centered innovation practices.  Best practices that are developed will then be diffused broadly to any interested Danish firms – ranging from the largest to small and medium-sized enterprises.

The Danish User-Centered Innovation Lab is located at Copenhagen Business School. Lab Director is Lars Bo Jeppesen

The Danish User-Centered Innovation Lab is modeled upon the functioning of the MIT Innovation Lab, which has been directed by Professor Eric von Hippel since 1995.  This very successful collaboration between academics and a small number of innovative companies in the US, such as 3M and Google, has pioneered in the development and diffusion of important new user-centered innovation methods that are now used worldwide. 

Among these are the “lead user method” for generation of breakthrough new products, and “user innovation toolkits” that closely link innovating users to manufacturers’ product development efforts.