Crossroad Innovation is a partner in JOIN. The project will develop a new web based innovation platform that integrates users into the innovation process.

JOIN – an acronym for Joint Online Innovation Network – aims to develop an online community innovation platform where companies, user-designers and consumers together can develop products, which better meet the needs of the consumers.

The innovation platform will drive companies revenue and increase their competitiveness by facilitating a business model that makes user driven innovation easier, cheaper, and less risky for companies. Furthermore it will make it easier for designer to become entrepreneurs by empowering them.

The project focuses on products within lifestyle, furniture and apparels and is based on Cuusoo, a Japanese innovation platform where 130.000 users, 6000 designers and 1500 companies during the last 10 years, together have developed new innovative products (www.cusoo.com).

Experiences show that an online community innovation platform has a huge potential to help Danish SMEs integrate the users in their NPD processes. However the innovation platform has to be further developed for a Danish context.

Join integrates a business model, a software platform and a network of users. In order to develop the platform the three user groups – companies, user-designers and consumers – are involved in the process. User driven innovation thus become both the means and the end of JOIN.