Gro idea development facilitator: Connecting innovation toolkit (Case: Adobe Redbox) to idea management platforms

Abstract

In the context of managing independent innovation initiatives in organizations, two commonly used approaches today are idea management platforms and innovation toolkits. While organizations have implemented standard idea management platforms for their employees, many lack innovation toolkits to guide the development of ideas from within. Some organizations that do have innovation toolkits and idea management platforms use them independently without a connection between them. This thesis aims to find support in this direction.

In the empirical data collected from 8 participants in the form of interviews reflect a need for guidance and support in developing ideas for innovation as well as managing its development. The thesis investigates how to support the idea development through two research questions - How could a combination of idea management platform and innovation toolkits support innovators in developing ideas? And - How the design of a new digital service inspired from Abobe Redbox could support users on the go?

The study follows service design process and user experience design tools to research idea management platforms and innovation toolkits. I develop supporting personas and user journeys from the collected data. Developed personas help in following a user-centric approach during the thesis. A careful study of idea management platforms and innovation toolkits reveals key factors necessary for their combination.

Findings from the literature review and empirical study supported the conceptualization of the service. The service concept is further developed as requirements using the user experience design tools. The requirements of platform interface are tested in the form of paper prototypes with 3 participants.

The thesis presents the findings from the testings and puts forward suggestions for the visual design. In the end, it draws a conclusion to the research questions and describes the possibility of connecting two innovation initiatives in future.