Open Source Footwear -- bringing customer co-design to a traditional industry

How the EU-funded CEC project wants to foster customer co-design in the footwear industry -- and why star designer John Fluevog is already doing it.

When people talk about open innovation, in most case it is related to high tech or science products as in the case of Innocentive, or software as with open source software. Then you have hip youth products like T-shirts, as in the case of Threadless' user innovation model [Threadless seems to be omni-present in the press and blog world today (I introduced Threadless in in this blog in August 2005; see for some updates on Threadless Business 2.0, Exciting Commerce, Crowdsouring, Innovation Lab DK, and of course at Threadless themselves).

But can the open source / user innovation idea also work with rather conventional products like, say, shoes? No high-tech sports shoes (see here for a recent paper on user innovation at Adidas, working paper version here), but good ol' dress shoes?

This is one of the issues Angelika Bullinger wants to find out as part of the "CEC-made shoes" project, a large integrated project funded by the European Community (PDF with project info) to modernize the European footwear sector. Angelika, who is a colleague at our TUM Research Group on Customer-Driven Value Creation (my permanent academic home besides my present residency at MIT), explores with researchers from Fraunhofer IAO and other institutions how footwear companies can become more competitive by fostering user innovation in this industry.

One way to do so is to install internet platforms (innovation toolkits) where users can evaluate new designs, give feedback or even create totally new designs. Given that shoes are one of the most common products we use, and also a very emotional one, I believe that there is a lot of potential to do so (mass customization, another concept that is also evaluated in the CEC project, is already getting more common in the footwear industry industry).

And some innovative shoe companies are already doing it: William C. Taylor reports in the New York Times today how Canadian shoe designer John Fluevog, one of the stars of his profession (loyal customers call themselves ''Fluevogers"), has been soliciting ideas from its customers -- encouraging brand enthusiasts to submit their own sketches for leather boots, high-heeled dress shoes, even sneakers with flair. He posts the submissions on his company's Web site, invites visitors to vote for their favorites and manufactures and sells the most promising designs.

''Customers want to express themselves, to be involved with the brand,'' Mr. Fluevog is quoted in the article. ''For so long, people would hand me a drawing of their personal design for a shoe or ask if I had considered an idea they liked. This program is a natural outgrowth of that desire for connection.''

As the NYT reports, until today the company has chosen nearly 300 finalists from the flow of sketches into its headquarters -- and introduced ten shoes based on customer designs, including the Urban Angel Traffic, a walking shoe (retail price, $179) designed by a customer in Moscow, and the Fellowship Hi Merrilee, a vintage-style pump ($189) designed by a customer in Provo, Utah.

Introducing customers in footwear design may have its limits: ''Some of the ideas from customers are striking, but impossible to make,'' Mr. Fluevog sayz in the article. What tends to work best, he explained, are intriguing twists on design themes that he and his colleagues are already exploring. ''But even submissions we can't make add to the stimulation,'' he added. ''Our customers get more involved, and we get insights into who they are and what they're doing. It's better for both of us.''

This is exactly where we want to extend the user innovation process with the research we do for the CEC project. Instead of asking consumers for sketches with a very wide solution space, sometimes representing impossible designs, the idea of an internet based toolkit for user innovation is that customers are guided and are designing within the capabilities of a specific company.

Eric von Hippel, head of the innovation and entrepreneurship group at the MIT Sloan School of Management, has described this method for more high tech goods like semiconductors, food flavors, or plastics, before:

"In a time of ever more talented technology enthusiasts, hobbyists and do-it-yourselfers, all connected by Internet-enabled communication," he is quoted in the same NYT article, "the most intensely engaged users of a product often find new ways to enhance it long before its manufacturer does. Thus, companies that aspire to stand out in fast-moving markets would be wise to invite their smartest users into the product design process."

''It's getting cheaper and cheaper for users to innovate on their own,'' Professor von Hippel said. ''This is not traditional market research -- asking customers what they want. This is identifying what your most advanced users are already doing and understanding what their innovations mean for the future of your business.''

The fact that a successful designer like John Fluevog is thinking this way now as well is very promising – as it are often the internal designers or engineers of a manufacturer who oppose the idea that users and customers can be a source for innovation as well.

It will take for the very conservative European footwear industry some more years to think in such a way – judged by my experience from working with this industry (see my earlier comments on the slow adoption of mass customization there). Hopefully their customers, support by some clever Asian manufacturers, have not pushed them out of business until them. But we hope to contribute a bit with the CEC project that this will not happen.

I will keep you posted on the outcomes and progress in this research project. If you are from the footwear industry and want to explore user innovation (or are already doing so), let us know! We are permanently looking for further exploration partners from this industry.

Comments

[Frank Piller]

No, you are right. This is a typical case of an innovation process that is based on asking input from external sources, but then the execution and transfer of the input happens more or less within a traditional innovation/design regime.

But nevertheless, for a famous fashion designer this concept already is a strong change of the current practice.

[Metal Fabrication]

Is this really "open source"? For instance, could I get a copy of the designs that their users have created?

[Cheryl Smith]

Hi, I have a promotional idea that I would like to submit to open source. Can you give me the site of address to submit this idea. Cheryl Smith

[ikechukwu ameachi]

Iam a footwear designer am seeking for job. Pls, give me a help & support. THANKS! pity me.

[Brian Phipps]

Several thoughts come to mind regarding the importance of user innovation in the design of shoes.

1. While the design intent of the shoe is important, equally important is the intent of the human foot that goes into it. Customers can "innovate" a pair of shoes just by taking them to new places (e.g., bowling shoes becoming fashion items.)

2. The best way to invent a new shoe may simply be to invent a new context for shoes. Customers will know what will work, and what won't. (Shoes are worn in the mind as much as they're worn on the feet.)

3. Strategic partnerships between shoe makers and complementary industries may be a way to leverage customer participation, directly and indirectly. The Nike/Apple "iPod shoe" is probably just scratching the surface.

4. Shoe brands will need to play an increased role in customer lives. That means brands have to develop rich programs to create and grow their customers. Just aiming for the sale is too short sighted.

Personally, I think the conditions are ripe for an innovative European shoe maker to become the Swatch of shoes.