User-centered innovation focuses on the overall solution (‘macro level’) as the starting point for participants to make plans for changes. With this ‘helicopter’-view all participants in the solution are within the scope of the methodology.
Six-step thought process in UCI methodology.
A six-step thought process guides the implementation of user-centered innovation:
- Identify participants. All the participants in the solution need to be identified and characterised by describing their purpose in relation to participating in this solution.
- Investigate relationships. All the relationships between participants need to be made explicit and investigated, such that the interactions with delivered and desired added-value become clear.
- Match added-value. Each relationship is scored to the extent that the delivered added-value matches the desired added-value.
- Prioritise focus of improvement. Based on the information from the previous steps, prioritise those relationships that have a mismatch in added-value and at least one involved participant that is willing and able to make changes.
- Make plans. Those participants that agreed to make changes need to make a plan how to effectuate that change.
- Apply changed solution. Plans must lead to actions that lead to changes in the solution.
When the changed solution is applied, participants may have been included or excluded, relationships may change, interactions may change: depending on the changes to the solution, another quick or detailed iteration through the six steps is necessary.