Jimmy Gardner covers the DC Tech Scene like few others. He's a great blogger, the inventor of MyDropBin, and a passionate technologist.

He's also a very smart guy, since he's figured me out!

I was reading his post today about User Innovation when I saw my name mentioned.

He saw right through me in my post on Purell. It's about sourcing ideas from your customers and using those ideas to make something worth discussing.

You see, once upon a time, a bunch of smart marketers would get in a room and dream up a product or service. They'd figure out "differentiation strategies," tag lines, etc.

Listening to customers was difficult, time consuming, and expensive.

Not anymore. Duh!

Since costs have plummeted and the variables are so different, the product development cycle can (and should be) turned on its head. [Note: when I say product, I mean the whole product experience, not just the actual product...oh, and services are included in this, btw.]

Jimmy is right about many things, but this in particular:

The mass of consumers is going to know far more about what the product should do and how it should be discussed than even the smartest of marketers, so I say, why not ask them?

I did, when I first started out about what story I should tell. If I've said it once, I've said, well you know...Perpetual Beta.

Why shouldn't Purell?

Jimmy points out:

What a better way to start the WOM ball rolling on a product than to have the consumer start it for you ? 

I left my desk today and while walking to lunch told my peers about Jeremy’s post and his Purell challenge.  I know it got them thinking about it also and as they ponder, who knows who they may tell.  So with the simple post of a blog and a question to his readers, Jeremy lit the flame of User Innovation and who knows where it may end up.

Well, Jimmy, I don't know where it will end up, but I can tell you where I would like it to end up....I want you and your friends and their friends to keep talking about how to make Purell truly different, more special, and worth more than a generic competitor.

Then, I want to facilitate a conversation (en masse) between you and the brand managers for Purell. And together, I want all of us to come up with an awesome product that meets your needs (on multiple levels) and is profitable for my client and their shareholders.

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