Improving the Product Development Process : For Better Customer Involvement
Volkova, Asia (2025)
2025
All rights reserved. This publication is copyrighted. You may download, display and print it for Your own personal use. Commercial use is prohibited.
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2025052013804
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2025052013804
Tiivistelmä
The objective of this thesis is to develop a proposal for improvement of customer involvement in the case company’s product development with a goal of enhancing customer experience and achieving alignment between the internal teams.
This thesis utilizes applied action research as its research strategy. Qualitative research methods such as interviews, observations and analysis of internal documentation were used. The data collection primarily focused on gathering insights from the key stakeholders for the current state analysis which revealed the need for improvements due to the level of customer satisfaction and the lack of effective cross-organizational practices.
The results from the current state analysis informed the search for relevant literature. The conceptual framework focused on the topics of customer centricity, cross organizational collaboration development, process improvement and customer involvement in product development. In the proposal building, including customers in beta testing became a central topic based on the suggestions from the stakeholders and best practices findings from the literature.
Based on the insights and data gathered, it was revealed that the existing product development process would require improvements in order to enable customer involvement. The study thus provides a proposal for the case company indicating the improvement areas, followed by the framework for customer involvement as well as considerations for planning its implementation. Together, these elements form the proposal for customer involvement in the product development process via pre release (beta) testing.
The meaning of this thesis for the case company rests in its potential to enhance its customer centricity as well as internal cooperation and thus improve customer loyalty and product satisfaction. The expectations are that such a move would result in better retention level and contribute to the company’s success. While not yet implemented, the proposal supports the decision-making and provides a ready plan when an opportunity to pursue the project implementation comes.
This thesis utilizes applied action research as its research strategy. Qualitative research methods such as interviews, observations and analysis of internal documentation were used. The data collection primarily focused on gathering insights from the key stakeholders for the current state analysis which revealed the need for improvements due to the level of customer satisfaction and the lack of effective cross-organizational practices.
The results from the current state analysis informed the search for relevant literature. The conceptual framework focused on the topics of customer centricity, cross organizational collaboration development, process improvement and customer involvement in product development. In the proposal building, including customers in beta testing became a central topic based on the suggestions from the stakeholders and best practices findings from the literature.
Based on the insights and data gathered, it was revealed that the existing product development process would require improvements in order to enable customer involvement. The study thus provides a proposal for the case company indicating the improvement areas, followed by the framework for customer involvement as well as considerations for planning its implementation. Together, these elements form the proposal for customer involvement in the product development process via pre release (beta) testing.
The meaning of this thesis for the case company rests in its potential to enhance its customer centricity as well as internal cooperation and thus improve customer loyalty and product satisfaction. The expectations are that such a move would result in better retention level and contribute to the company’s success. While not yet implemented, the proposal supports the decision-making and provides a ready plan when an opportunity to pursue the project implementation comes.