Michael Osofsky's blog

How Lead User theory began

Now that I've been studying user-centered innovation for some time, I began to wonder where the first insight into this phenomenon came from. So I did some research and found a very detailed intervie...

Commercializing Management Science

Universities around the world make some of their money by commercializing the results of their research. A professor has a scientific breakthrough, a grad student develops a technology based on that ...

Designer genes

In high school I interned at the Lawrence Berkeley National Labs on their Human Genome project. The project, along with others like it, aimed to sequence the human genome. It was estimated to take o...
Categories: NPD - General

Chindogu

My partner Dee recently showed me a book on Chindogu, the Japanese art of ironic invention. They should be considered inventions in that they are solutions to problems. However the problem they solv...
Categories: Creativity

Change Management Problem Introducing User Toolkits for Innovation

von Hippel and Thomke proposed "user toolkits for innovation" to address the age-old problem of communication breakdowns between engineering teams and product users that result in users not getting wh...

Myth of Market Size

One of the most frustrating questions to be asked if you’re an entrepreneur is “what is your market size”? Investors, recruits, and even your friends ask this question when you’re starting a ...
Categories: NPD - General

Met the father of Netnography

Yesterday I had the opportunity to speak to the father of Netnography, Professor Rob Kozinets. If you’re not already familiar with netnography, it’s something to be aware of if you’re a market ...
Categories: NPD - General

Ho Nam on Conviction, Balancing Open Mindedness with Skepticism, and Herding Sheep

Ho Nam wrote a very thoughtful blog entitled Herding Sheep that resonated with me. It reminds me of a quote that I saw on a plaque on my grandfather's office wall when I was a kid. It said: "Prot...
Categories: NPD - General

Creative Idea - Go fish with socks to fold the laundry

This is a helpful game for getting an annoying chore done. My daughter and I came up with it. I had a bunch of socks that needed to be folded, about 12 pair total. Each pair had a slightly different p...
Categories: Creativity, NPD - General

My innovation motto

In thinking back on my experiences innovating, a couple of themes emerge that I've condensed into this motto: When it comes to innovation, dream with your head in the clouds and your feet on the groun...
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