The Design of Crowd-Funded Products
Name
The design of crowd-funded products.pdf
Size
1.52 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
46f8b0f66451eba96224004976eb73ea
Author(s)
Song, Chaoyang
Luo, Jianxi
Hölttä-Otto, Katja
Otto, Kevin
Seering, Warren Paul
Date Issued
August 2015
Journal
Proceedings of the ASME 2015 International Design Engineering Technical Conferences & Computers and Information in Engineering Conference IDETC/CIE 2015
Publisher
ASME International
Citation
Song, Chaoyang et al. “The Design of Crowd-Funded Products.” ASME, 2015. V007T06A040. © 2015 by ASME
Version
Final published version
Abstract
Crowdfunding is an emerging phenomenon where entrepreneurs publicize their product concepts to raise development funding and collect design feedback directly from potential supporters. Many innovative products have raised a significant amount of crowdfunding. This paper analyzes the crowd-funded products to develop design guidelines for crowdfunding success. A database of 127 samples is collected in two different product categories from two different crowdfunding websites. They are evaluated using a design project assessment scorecard, the Real-Win-Worth framework, which focuses on the state of maturity on various customer, technical and supply chain dimensions. Our analysis identified key RWW factors that characterize successful design for crowd-funded products. For example, success at crowdfunding is attained through clear explanation of how the design operates technically and meets customer needs. Another recommendation is to not emphasize patent protection, for which crowd-funders are less concerned. Also, evidence of a strong startup financial plan is not necessary for crowdfunding success. These key RWW factors provide guidelines for designers and engineers to improve their design and validate their concepts early to improve their chances for success on crowdfunding platforms.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering
Terms of Use
Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use.
Persistent DSpace Link
DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1115/DETC2015-46917
