Living Labs - the user as co-creator

The integration of users and other stakeholders into development projects has proved to reduce business risks such as the invention and acceptance of products, services and applications (which do not truly provide added value for customers). However the integration of the end-users remains a difficult task. Thus a new methodological appraoach is required to cope with this problem. Here the emerging European Living Labs offer an unique opportunity for the companies to include end-users in the new product development process. The Living Labs concept is a complete innovation approach which includes all stakeholders in the development process of a product, service or application.. It refers to an R&D methodology in which innovations, such as service, product or application enhancements, are created and validated in collaborative, multi-contextual, multi-cultural empirical real-world environments. The individual is in focus in his or her role of a citizen, user, consumer or worker. The main difference between traditional consumer research programs and the Living Labs approach is its involvement of the customer in their every day lives, encompassing all of their societal roles.