One of my favorite places to look for innovation opportunities are the "hacker" sites.
No, I don't mean nasty people spreading computer viruses.
I mean people who have found a way to work around a problem. Or customize a thing to their own liking.
Places like Lifehacker are rife with this, but there are many other sites that have similar clever consumers showing you how they do [something] with a gizmo designed for [something else].
Here's a great example from Lifehacker of people using coffee pots to cook light meals.
Surely this is an opportunity for a simple cooking device -- something the size and power draw of a coffee pot, but with a bit more flexibility.
Cooking breakfast with a coffee maker and an iron
Poach chicken in a coffee maker
An entire meal! using a coffee maker and an iron
So ... maybe you aren't in the small appliance business. Nevertheless, looking for hack solutions is a good way to figure out what people need that they don't have.
