Abstract
Purpose–The purpose of this paper is to explore the conditions under which a co-design team comprised of in-house professionals and leading-edge service users can generate innovative service design concepts.
Design/methodology/approach–The investigation used a field-experimental design to conduct two studies. Observations and open-ended questionnaires were used to examine cross-comparison matrices with experts rating the generated outcomes and t-tests being used to compare the outcome ratings between teams of different compositions.
Findings–The outcomes produced by a co-design team seem to be linked to the team diversity–process facilitation relationship. Bringing a variety of knowledge and skills into the team can lead to original outcomes, while a high disparity between members’ backgrounds can require extensive efforts to facilitate a collaborative process. Separation between users’ objectives can result in a user-driven process and outcomes that are too specific for the broader marketplace. Co-design teams that characterize minimum separation, maximum variety, and moderate disparity are likely to produce the most promising results.
Research limitations/implications–The research was restricted to a narrowly defined study setting and samples. Future research should replicate the current study in other service contexts using different team compositions.
Practical implications–Co-design requires the careful selection of users based on their background and motivations, as well as the facilitation of a process that enables the team to collaboratively transform relevant knowledge into innovative outcomes.
Originality/value–The research contributes to a better understanding of the team composition–process facilitation relationship affecting innovation outcomes. Doing so provides a more fine-grained picture of the co-design team composition and the facilitation requirements for service design.
Design/methodology/approach–The investigation used a field-experimental design to conduct two studies. Observations and open-ended questionnaires were used to examine cross-comparison matrices with experts rating the generated outcomes and t-tests being used to compare the outcome ratings between teams of different compositions.
Findings–The outcomes produced by a co-design team seem to be linked to the team diversity–process facilitation relationship. Bringing a variety of knowledge and skills into the team can lead to original outcomes, while a high disparity between members’ backgrounds can require extensive efforts to facilitate a collaborative process. Separation between users’ objectives can result in a user-driven process and outcomes that are too specific for the broader marketplace. Co-design teams that characterize minimum separation, maximum variety, and moderate disparity are likely to produce the most promising results.
Research limitations/implications–The research was restricted to a narrowly defined study setting and samples. Future research should replicate the current study in other service contexts using different team compositions.
Practical implications–Co-design requires the careful selection of users based on their background and motivations, as well as the facilitation of a process that enables the team to collaboratively transform relevant knowledge into innovative outcomes.
Originality/value–The research contributes to a better understanding of the team composition–process facilitation relationship affecting innovation outcomes. Doing so provides a more fine-grained picture of the co-design team composition and the facilitation requirements for service design.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Peer-reviewed scientific journal | Journal of Service Management |
| Volume | 29 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| Pages (from-to) | 120-145 |
| ISSN | 1757-5818 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2018 |
| MoE publication type | A1 Journal article - refereed |
Keywords
- 512 Business and Management
- service innovation
- co-design
- customer co-creation
- team research
- service design