Design Principles for Engagement Platforms – Design Knowledge on Fostering Value Co-Creation

Abstract

As the importance of services increases, so does the need for suitable information technology (IT) to support the exchange of resources in interactive value creation processes (co-creation). Engagement platforms (EPs) have been identified as a suitable IT solution, as they enable and foster value co-creation of heterogeneous actors. However, few guidelines exist on how to design for value co-creation on EPs. To address this problem, we employed the Design Science Research approach. We first conducted a literature review and then interviewed 24 experts from successful EP companies. As a result, we derived four design principles and evaluated them for further iterations. This study elaborates our findings and implications for practitioners and scholars seeking knowledge on how to design EPs resulting from three completed design cycles.