ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses user integration from different perspectives and attempts to answer the questions if and why user integration in product development processes is useful, and how relevant user integration is in practice. It describes factors that determine the success of user-integration processes and argues that from the vantage point of innovation research and demonstrates that users play a decisive role in the innovation process. The chapter explores the benefits and advantages of user integration and analyzes the influence of user integration on the success of newly developed products and shows results of empirical studies indicating that close relationships with customers have positive effects on product success. It looks at the specific case of sustainable innovations and illustrates how these can be supported by means of user integration. The chapter reviews the practical relevance of user integration in product development processes and market research and summarizes the main findings and shows that user integration needs to be improved.
