When the consumer is at the center of design and development, the end result is a better consumer experience and a more successful product or service. ICAAT helps bridge the space between the expertise found among industry professionals and the expertise found in the lived experiences of a consumer community made up of people with hearing loss and Deaf individuals, by creating a place for cooperative engagement.
Benefits of Consumer-Centric, Cooperative Design and Development
- Creates a clear market focus on the consumer
- Facilitates design and development that is consumer-driven and better suited to addressing consumer need
- Forms a partnership that builds trust and strengthens relationships
- Communicates that consumer opinion matters
- Improves the knowledge of industry professionals and creates a better understanding of the end user
- Generates valuable, relevant, and new ideas and competitive insights based on unique, real-world perspectives
These benefits are far greater than the risk of competitors learning something about a company's plans indirectly, which can be reduced through nondisclosure and confidentiality agreements
What ICAAT provides:
- Opportunities for consumers and industry to engage with one another
- Insights for consumers into new and existing technology products and services
- Insights for industry into the unique needs of people with hearing loss and Deaf individuals
- Cost-effective, efficient ways for industry to recruit for and consumers to participate in research and testing activities
- Different levels and types of collaboration at various stages of design and development
- Sustained engagement between consumers and industry
When the designer, and the maker, and the user are all in the same place talking to each other you get designs that work.
Alistair Parvin
Systems Designer
Co-Founder of the U.K.-based Open Systems Lab
