Xerox refocuses on its customers 25 Apr 2007

Business Week has an interesting article on how Xerox is using customer-led innovation to get ahead.

Three years ago, a team of Xerox researchers dreamed up a commercial printer with two engines instead of one. However, instead of building an expensive prototype and then testing it with users (the company's standard development process), they decided to test the idea with users without building a prototype:

"In a video clip of a session in Boston, one of eight Xerox held in the U.S. and Europe, seven men sit around a conference table. They look a bit dazed. Heads rest on hands. Panelists lean far back in their chairs. Until a question comes that snaps them to attention. What would they think, they are asked, of a high-speed machine that wouldn't have to shut down if a problem arose, but could operate at half-speed?

"'This thing would go down, but down means it's still functioning while service is on the way?' asks a young man with unruly hair and a boldly flowered tie. Yes, he is told. 'Sweet!' he sings, rocking back in his chair. As the video fades, another customer's voice explains the group's bullish reaction. 'You're dead if you're down,' he says. 'You're over.' Bingo!

"But back at research headquarters in Webster, N.Y. where 30 Xerox engineers and scientists were watching via live Webcast, there was surprise. While they'd suspected that customers would like the second engine, they had the reasons all wrong. They'd imagined the second engine would be used for fancy inks or special colors. Not to help a broken machine limp along until help arrived."