Co-creation as a usable product innovation strategy

Co-creation as a usable product innovation strategy

De Vries, J.

Kleinsmann, M.S. (mentor)
Badke Schaub, P.S. (mentor)

Industrial Design Engineering

Product Innovation Management

Master of Science Strategic Product Design

2011-09-02

This thesis investigates how co-creation can be a suitable strategy for product development. It resulted in a product innovation strategy where co-creation is the core strategy and will lead to several tasks and steps needed to take in order to develop new products. The product innovation strategy is designed for the company We Beat The Mountain (WBTM). WBTM is a small idealistic company that develops products from waste. WBTM considers an organizational structure where companies work smart together as a given future. In this way companies can develop and focus themselves on what they do best, while working together, in other words: co-create. Co-creation has gained the interest of more companies in the past few years as an interesting method to do business, though co-creation a is a complex matter in which many variables influence the success of co-creation. To understand the complexity of co-creation and apply this into product innovation the main research question is defined as: How can We Beat The Mountain develop a product innovation strategy, based on co-creation, with other companies while keeping her brand image strong? To be able to answer the main research question the research is split in three parts. The first part focuses on the co-creation theory, the process steps and the necessary needs of the co-creation team. This results into a co-creation model defining the necessary needs that should be developed in a co-creation process to become a success. The process is translated into 7 practical steps. The needs that should be developed are than related to these steps. The second part analysis the company and the third part will describe how co-creation can play a role in product innovation and specifically within the company WBTM.

co-creation
product innovation
strategy
co-operation

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:a007d1db-15c9-4f4e-827a-33e214eb94a0

Campus only

Student theses

master thesis

(c) 2011 De Vries, J.