Nokia is in the midst of an exciting new strategy: Getting their customers directly involved in the product development process. In an article published today, it is obvious that Nokia sees the value of customer collaboration in the product development life-cycle. In support of this strategy, Nokia leverages a Beta Labs site which invites users to provide unfiltered and direct feedback to the Research and Development teams inside Nokia.
According to Oliver Thyman, a participant in Nokia’s Idea Generation Workshop and active blogger:
Working with your customer is something where the world is going to. As a company you cannot close yourself off from the world anymore. If you’re locked in your ivory tower and there is discussion about you going on, it makes sense to get out there and take part in that conversation.
Tommi Vilkamo is the host and manager behind Nokia’s Beta Labs and has a wonderfully challenging opportunity in soliciting community feedback, engaging those participants, and keeping the process moving. With 1 Billion Nokia Customers, there is bound to be some interesting dynamics that emerge.
