The LEGO System Makes Co-Creation Painless for the LEGO Group

Co-creation is using consumers to help innovate with a product. While the methodology of co-creation has been extensively researched, different products’ relative suitability to co-creation is rarely examined. This research examines the LEGO Group’s co-creation efforts including LEGO Ideas, LEGO Factory, LEGO Mindstorms NXT, and LEGO Architecture. These programs’ reliance on LEGO’s versatility, modularity, adult fan community, and fan LEGO building expertise are evaluated and compared to other firm’s co-creation efforts. The adult LEGO community’s custom LEGO creations, including fan-designed and fan-sold sets, commissioned sculptures, and LEGO robotics development all constitute consumer innovation independent of the firm; the LEGO Group may harness these innovations through co-creation. Because LEGO is a system and not a specific product, LEGO innovations can encompass licensing, new robotic components, and architectural scale models. This diversity of potential innovation allows the LEGO Group to take advantage of the diversity of adult LEGO fans’ expertise. LEGO hobbyists develop knowledge of the LEGO system that can make them skilled at LEGO set design, as designing a LEGO creation and designing a LEGO set are similar processes. LEGO is modular, so co-creation can be used both to develop new LEGO elements and to design LEGO sets composed of preexisting elements. LEGO set prototypes can be easily assembled and modified, and parts palette and parts count are easily understood design limitations. It is recommended that firms whose products are versatile, modular, and consumer-innovated pursue co-creation and co-promotion, and cautions firms without such products to adapt their co-creation and co-promotion accordingly.https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/uresposters/1205/thumbnail.jp