User involvement in disruptive innovation – A study on users of a light electric vehicle sharing system

This paper investigates the extent to which user involvement in disruptive innovation influences the users in terms of their experiences when exposed to such innovation for a period of time. The study is conducted in an on-going research project undertaken in collaboration with academia and private stakeholders, which is developing and implementing a product-service system for light electric vehicles. This solution is environmentally driven and new in two ways: it integrates a different type of vehicle and introduces a new service concept i.e. the caretaker concept. The users are studied while they interact with the innovation in their own environments, where emphasis has been placed on the experiences of these users when disruptive innovations as such are introduced into their everyday life. Data from the first seven users (caretakers) were collected through a survey and semi-structured interviews over two periods of time, from which early user characteristics are presented and user experiences when deploying disruptive innovations, as well as enablers and barriers for integrating these into daily life. As disruptive innovations tend to redefine or restructure market trajectories to some extent, understanding these user segments and their experienced enablers and barriers may facilitate the creation of better strategies on how to make these innovations more desirable for society at large. Findings suggest that user involvement positively influences users experiences toward adapting to new ideas with regards to mobility.