"What do women want?" may seem like the eternal quandry, but it doesn't have to be -- especially with regard to consumer behavior. Sometimes it is the easiest answer that escapes our over-thinking brains. (Now, as far as what women want in relationships, there are gazillions of books to choose from... .)

So, it was with interest that I read Michael Fitzgerald's article in The New York Times the other day, "How to Improve It? Ask Those Who Use It". In it he writes that an anesthesiologist named Dr. Sims employed "user-driven innovation" to develop and patent all sorts of new products to make both his and the working lives of other doctors a bit easier. "User-driven innovation" is a method that recognized authority on the topic and MIT professor, Eric von Hippel, said "could drive manufacturers out of the design space."

Will the manufacturers miss the time and effort of guessing what design innovations might come next? I doubt it. How much simpler to let the users take the lead!

On that note, brands interested in marketing to women more effectively need to dial in and do the research in order to get a feel for what women want (of course). The easy choice seems to be to hire big-name, big-budget focus group and quantitative researchers for the task. It is, after all, how it has always been done.

Instead, why not let product, service and marketing developments be "user-generated," too? Today there are more ways of taking the pulse of even the smallest market segments -- thanks to technology, in general, and the demand of online-savvy consumers, in particular. A new business that does just that is SheSpeaks, a research firm that focuses on giving women an influential voice over the product and service developments of consumer brands.

Within two days of an initial email blast to 250 friends of the founding SheSpeaks team, there were 1,000 women registered. Hmmm... do women have a previously unaddressed need to tell brands what they think? Anyway - one of the keys to the research firm's successful and continuing connections with the women in their database is that they... wait for it... get back to the participating women about how their input was received/affected change.

That's right: built right into the SheSpeaks program is the fact that women get follow up on how their input may have guided a brand. That's often all the incentive a gal might need to speak up. And, while it is one step that is often missing in more traditional research, it can be hugely transformative in the dedication/interest of the consumers involved.

So, what does all this tell us about how you can improve both the products and services you provide AND your connection with your customers at the same time? Ask those who use it. And, don't forget to tell them how their input helped!