Developing end-user innovation from circuits of learning

Purpose – This paper aims to raise the question of how end-user product innovation is developed by exploring the underlying learning mechanisms that drive such idea realization in practice. A trialogical learning perspective from educational science is applied as an analytical approach to enlighten the black box of learning dynamics in user innovation (UI). Design/methodology/approach – The field study of organizational ethnography is based on in situ observations of the testing and development phase of an adapted aid, an electro-mechanical device for completely hands-free dressing/undressing for people with no arm function. Findings – The results suggest that UI materializes through what this researcher conceptualized as “circuits of learning” around shared objects that are collaboratively mediated and shaped in interplay between three forces identified as “user requirements”, “interdisciplinary co-creation” and “object transformation”. Research limitations/implications – This in-depth study of UI realization has only started to open the research area of such practices. Further advancement is needed on users as inventors and learners. Cross-fertilization with other fields, such as pedagogy, and particularly branches of theory derived from a socio-material stance, seems fruitful. Practical implications – To cultivate UI through “circuits of learning”, “users as learners” should pay attention to their shifting roles as teachers, co-learners and co-creators in interdisciplinary collaborative practices to enhance efficient work processes. Originality/value – This study shows the relevance of bringing in learning as a crucial underpinning that contributes to enhancing our understanding of how user innovators create new products. The paper contributes to the UI literature by elaborating on the concept of “circuits of learning” as a novel framework of learning mechanisms within UI.