oolkito
itswebsiteThistoolkitletBMW’scustomersdevelopideasshowi
ghowthefirmcouldtakeadva
tageofadva
cesi
telematicsa
di
caro
li
eservicesFromthe1000customerswhousedthetoolkitBMWchose15a
di
vitedthemtomeetitse
gi
eersi
Mu
ichSomeoftheirideaswhichremai
u
derwrapsfor
owhavesi
cereachedtheprototypestagesaysBMW—Theyweresohappytobei
vitedbyusa
dthatourtech
icalexpertswerei
terestedi
theirideas‖saysMrReima
—Theydid
’twa
ta
ymo
ey‖WestwoodStudiosagamedeveloper
owow
edbyEAfirst
oticeditscustomersi
ovati
gitsproductsafterthelau
chofagame“RedAlert”i
1996gamersweremaki
g
ewco
te
tforexisti
ggamesa
dposti
gitfreelyo
fa
websitesWestwoodmadeaco
sciousdecisio
toembracethisphe
ome
o
Soo
itwasshippi
gbasicgamedevelopme
ttoolswithitsgamesa
dby1999hadadedicateddepartme
ttofeeddesig
ersa
dproducersworki
go
ewprojectswithcustomeri
ovatio
sofexisti
go
es—Thefa
commu
ityhashadatreme
dousi
flue
ceo
gamedesig
‖saysMrVerdu—a
dthegamesarebetterasaresult‖Researcherscallsuchcustomers“leadusers”GE’shealthcaredivisio
callsthem“lumi
aries”Theyte
dtobewellpublisheddoctorsa
dresearchscie
tistsfromleadi
gmedicali
stitutio
ssaysGEwhichbri
gsupto25lumi
ariestogetheratregularmedicaladvisoryboardsessio
stodiscusstheevolutio
ofGE’stech
ologyGEthe
sharessomeofitsadva
cedtech
ologywithasubsetoflumi
arieswhoforma
—i
ersa
ctumofgoodfrie
ds‖saysSholomAckelsbergofGEHealthcareGE’sproductsthe
emergefromcollaboratio
withthesegroups21WhydoesBMWpostatoolkito
itswebsiteABecauseitwa
tstoi
terestmorecustomersBBecauseitwa
tstoimprovetheirwebsiteCBecauseitwa
tstheircustomerstogiveadvicesorideaso
theirsproductsDBecauseitwa
tstoseeifthecustomers’ideasmatchtheirprototype22Wemayco
cludefromthetextthatAEAisacomputergameproducerBEAisthelargesthitechcompa
yi
theworldC“RedAlert”madeitsfirstappeara
cebefore1996
fDWestwoodStudiosusedtobeow
edbyEAforma
yyears23Whichofthefollowi
gbehaviordoes
otreflectthatweare
owi
acustomerdrive
marketABMWpostsatoolkittocollectcustomers’ideasBGEbri
gsup25lumi
ariestodiscusstheevolutio
ofGE’stech
ologyCWestwoodestablishesadepartme
ttodealwithcustomers’i
ovatio
sDGE’shealthcaredivisio
callssomeofthewellpublisheddoctorsa
dresearchscie
tists“lumi
aries”24Whichofthefollowi
gca
replacetheword“customerdrive
”Acustomerce
teredBcustomersatisfiedCcustomera
alyzedDcustomerevaluate25Customersi
vitedbyBMWdid
’twa
ta
ymo
eyi
steadtheyjustwa
tAtobei
vitedi
aco
fere
ceBther