User Collaboration for Idea Elaboration

Abstract

Web-based innovation platforms (WBIP) are common tools for the integration of customers and other external stakeholders into the product and service innovation processes of companies. WBIP of many large companies are very successful in generating many ideas. This leads to WBIP operators drowning in lots of possibly creative and high potential ideas, which are difficult to screen. Therefore, this paper suggests a collaboration process allowing customers to participate collaboratively in the elaboration of self-selected ideas. The collaboration process was being developed following the collaboration process design approach and was designed to be adaptable into WBIP. The contribution of this paper is a novel approach to collaborative user integration into the idea elaboration process.

Keywords: WBIP, Open Innovation, Collaboration Engineering, CSCW