Title: Hobbyists as a super group of user-centred innovation - case CreamSound guitar amplifier

Authors: Erno Salmela; Kai Häkkinen; Jarkko Rantala

Addresses: School of Business and Management, Lappeenranta University of Technology, Innovation and Software, P.O. Box 20, Skinnarilankatu 34, 53851 Lappeenranta, Finland ' VTT, Technical Research Centre of Finland, P.O. Box 1000, Vuorimiehentie 3, 02044 Espoo, Finland ' Tampere University of Technology, Information Management and Logistics, P.O. Box 541, 33101 Tampere, Finland

Abstract: The purpose of this research was to recognise the advantages and disadvantages of hobbyist-centred innovation. Another aim was to find out how a hobbyist innovator innovates and create new knowledge. The research was implemented as a qualitative case study of CreamSound guitar amplifier innovation. According to the study, the benefits of hobbyist-centred innovation are passion for the work, placing oneself in the user's role, curiosity, seeing one's own handwork, and simpler decision making. The downsides of hobbyist innovation are resource limitations, difficulty in receiving funding, and the lack of social interaction when working alone. Hobbyist-centred innovation process seems to be very experimental. New knowledge is created by iterative experiments. Novelty of this study is that it provides profound understanding about hobbyist-centred innovation. The practical value consists of recognised means to support hobbyist-centred innovation in the future.

Keywords: user-driven innovation; hobbyist innovators; user understanding; experimental innovation; innovation adoption; user-centred innovation; user data; hobbyists; case study; CreamSound guitar amplifier; hobbyist-centred innovation.

DOI: 10.1504/IJIL.2017.081946

International Journal of Innovation and Learning, 2017 Vol.21 No.2, pp.223 - 245

Received: 18 Mar 2015
Accepted: 22 Apr 2015
Published online: 31 Jan 2017 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article