Not from perspective of design, but from open source software development.<p>1. Positive PR<p>2. External targeted contributions. For example, most people submitting patches to open source software are facing some issue as a user. If they are experiencing the issue others may also be experiencing similar problems. This is a much better way of driving development compared to doing it post expensive market research.<p>3. Marketing<p>4. Recruiting vehicle<p>5. Increasing the size of markets. For example Google is trying to bring more people online with Android to increase the size of search market.<p>6. Commoditizing complements <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.joelonsoftware.com&#x2F;articles&#x2F;StrategyLetterV.html" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.joelonsoftware.com&#x2F;articles&#x2F;StrategyLetterV.html</a><p>7. Reducing the cost of training new employees<p>8. Increasing their influence in which direction to take the industry. For example setting standards for server hardware with Open Compute Project.<p>9. Free testers<p>10. Improving employee morale