Early Adopters like the Innovators have a high degree of social status that allows them to influence others, based on their opinions.
As soon as the first release happens, word spreads to the Early Adopters who represent a much bigger cohort.Įarly Adopters are visionaries and opinion leaders in their space or industry. Innovators also have a high social status and are often considered mavens in their space or industry. Moreover, since Innovators are connected socially, the word begins to spread to other Innovators. Innovators love bleeding edge stuff which is why they are the first ones interested in taking part in acceptance testing or are the first adopters. Soon the prospect of new technology or innovation reaches a few Innovators, who are at the leading edge of the five categories of adopters. Phase 1 of the Gartner Hype Cycle begins as the founder(s) start sharing their business idea during the idea validation stage, while developing a minable viable product, and as they share their business model and economic model with potential early-stage investors and collaborators.Īs early prototypes begin to circulate, visibility of the new technology or innovation starts to reach a wider audience. The maturity lifecycle of new technology or innovation goes through five phases in what is called the Gartner Hype Cycle. Regardless of whether your company is the developer of new technology or innovation, a service provider leveraging consulting services, or just one of the adopters, you must understand the Gartner Hype Cycle so you know what to expect, depending on the position of the technology or innovation in the cycle. The Gartner Hype Cycle helps business owners understand how the market perceives the value of the given technology as it evolves throughout its maturity lifecycle, and is closely linked to the five categories of adopters.
It is associated with the expectations of the market’s perceived value of a technology or innovation over time. The Gartner Hype Cycle is a graphical depiction of a common pattern that accompanies the introduction of new technology or innovation.