The Role of Form and Function Novelty in a Product’s Success

Past research on product development processes has mostly focused on individual product characteristics, with novelty — meaning how uncommon a product is compared to preexisting ones — having a prominent role in these endeavors. However, while some have recommended striving for the development of novel products, others have advocated against novelty as it not only creates uncertainty, but also increases search costs for consumers.

In our latest work published in MIS Quarterly , Jeff Nickerson , Ann Majchrzak , and I examined products developed in the largest open innovation community for 3D printing designs to date, Thingiverse by MakerBot . We provide evidence that products that are novel either in terms of their form, or in terms of their function are used more than their counterparts. However, in contrast to past findings and this overall strong preference for novel products, consumption is lower when a product is novel both in terms of its form as well as in terms of its function. In addition, our work demonstrates how the structure of the design landscape — meaning products that preexist — affects the subsequent development of novel designs.

Understanding these relationships can help managers and designers alike to predict which products are more likely to become successful. Our research also highlights the importance of studying design landscapes in general, rather than merely focusing on individual users or product designs, as well as provides practical advice on designing and managing online innovation communities.

This work was just published in MIS Quarterly .  ESSEC Knowledge recently featured this work in its special issue on the future of work and the full paper with additional information can be found here (open access).

Acknowledgments: We are grateful to the senior editor, Brian Butler , the associate editor, Jan Recker , and the three reviewers for their constructive and developmental feedback that helped us improve our work. We thank seminar participants at ESSEC Business School , Alba Graduate Business School , Carnegie Mellon University , Luiss Business School , Stockholm School of Economics , University of Virginia , IE Business School , Tilburg University , UCL School of Management , Fordham University , and IESE Business School for providing feedback on our work. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) Foundation under Grants [1909803], [1717473], [1442840], and [1422066].