- Lego:
LEGO, the world’s largest construction toy manufacturer, has several years of experience with online communities and new product development. LEGO’s successful product Mindstorms was co-developed with an online user community and has become a great success.
LEGO Factory is a platform that enables user to create their own models using a digital toolkit and a limited portfolio of LEGO’s bricks and then upload it to a digital gallery where other users can see it. LEGO is about to re-launch LEGO Factory in Q3 2009 in a re-designed version where the box and instruction manual will also be customisable and very similar to LEGO products sold in retail. - Outcome:
One of the major challenges with LEGO Factory has been high moderation cost. Being a children’s toys manufacturer with a strong brand, it is crucial to review all designs to ensure that nothing offending are uploaded to the gallery
In the new version LEGO has chosen to only make it possible for the customer to share a design after he has purchased the bricks, thus limiting the number of moderations and cutting moderation costs.
The collaboration with its users has allowed LEGO to cut lead-time, cut development cost and involve users in their product portfolio decisions, increasing the success rate of new products. Furthermore LEGO is becoming far more nimble towards new market trends.
