Threadless

In what other industries or areas would Threadless’ community-driven product development model work well? And not so well?

The Threadless model is where people can post their own designs and the community or members will vote on the product before it is produced. This type of model could work well in other industries or other online business like the automotive industry or online art and music sales. For the car industry, I think you could have people submit their own designs online to the manufacturers. Then the manufacturers post the feasible designs online and have the public choose the best designs. I think this could work because it would involve the customers more in the production process, therefore adding value to the end product. The online art and music can work the same way. Artist can post material and have the community pick the ones they like the best for production. The industries where this would not work so well are ones where there is little or no product differentiation, like household goods. Also, industries that require expert knowledge and opinion like pharmaceutical industry. Having general opinions would provided no real benefit and would really waste the time of the companies and employees.