Using Open Source for Rapid Prototyping of Proprietary Systems

Having a successful innovation process is crucial for any competitive enterprise. Being able to rapidly prototype and validate new concepts can reduce the time and cost from the specification-phase to a final product. This thesis investigates how open source hardware and software can accelerate the idea validation of proprietary systems. The development of a microcontroller shield and open-source-based software is described and how this artifact can take advantage of the open source community, thus making innovation more flexible and concept validation quicker. This thesis followed a five-stage development process, and is evaluated with two controlled experiments. The resulting artifact was shown through these controlled experiments that it was able to improve the idea validation of proprietary systems. The result of the controlled experiments showed that a new concept could be validated faster