In the last years the Living Labs (LLs) approach is becoming really important to test new products/services in real-life settings. Following the perspective of user-centered innovation emerged by the critical review of the existing international LLs’ methodologies, this paper describes how, in the Living Lab related to KHIRA research project, research activities and innovation are integrated, according to a public-private-person partnership (PPPP), to develop innovation processes, participated and user-centered, in the industrial sector. The LL related to KHIRA research project involves several users categories: industrial partners, universities and research centers, SMEs belonging to Apulian manufacturing industry, public administrations, and other users. A heterogeneous users’ community can produce new ideas of products and services oriented to solve real industrial problems as those related to the product life-cycle management (PLM) in complex manufacturing environments. Purpose of this study is to present a methodology that can be used in the industrial LLs aimed at developing new products/services in complex environments, bridging the existing gap between the LLs’ activities management and those aimed to develop user-centered innovation.
Technological and methodological development, occurred in the last decade, has led the value chain of companies to present themselves in new networked models (value network). It follows that stakeholders have access to new methodological and technological paradigms that allow them to participate in these value networks and trigger the process of cocreation of products and services [ SMEs’ tendency to integrate themselves vertically, in order to share complementary expertise; lack of models and tools to identify and validate business opportunities; low management of intellectual property rights; low level of collaboration among the staffs belongs to different companies (know-how loss); low level of knowledge access; low integration of users in the development process of new products/services.
The possibility to overcome these limits is offered by the Living Labs approach. The LLs operate according to the development model
The European Network of Living Labs (ENoLL) defines them as “open innovation environments, operating in real-life settings, where the active engagement of end-users allows the creation of paths of cocreation of new services, products, and social infrastructures” [
So, the involvement of users/consumers/citizens in the innovation system developed by a LL leads to the development of a great deal of ideas, knowledge, and experiences and greatly increases the capacity of innovation of all parties involved in the LL [
Following the perspective of user-centered innovation described above, a Living Lab was established within the University of Salento related to Research Project called KHIRA (Knowledge based Holistic Integrated Research Approach Living Lab), in order to create a collaborative space for open innovation processes, participated and user-centered, in which research and innovation activities are integrated, according to a public-private-person partnership (PPPP) aiming to develop innovation in the industrial sector. The presence in the LL of several users’ categories allows to see innovation of product/service from different points of view and leads to the creation of a large number of ideas [
The establishment of this LL has seen, during the planning stage, the need to adopt a methodology useful for the holistic management of the activities carried out. The analysis of the literature has seen the presence of several methodologies used in different LLs, but none of them is useful to both LLs’ activities management and those aimed to develop user-centered innovation. Therefore, this work intends to present a methodology that can bridge the gap highlighted, providing a useful tool that can be used in the industrial LL aimed at developing new products/services. Hereafter the Living Lab related to the KHIRA research project will be indicated as KHIRA LL.
This research activity has been conducted within the Collaborative Product Design Management (cPDM) Laboratory of the Centro Cultura Innovativa d’Impresa (University of Salento). The laboratory’s purpose is to support companies operating in the product design and development field, to orient the research activity to new perspectives and scientific findings. In the cPDM Laboratory about 60 researchers are employed; among them there are professors, fellows, senior and young researchers, and Ph.D. students.
The Laboratory focuses its research activities on complex products such as automotive, naval, and aerospace, proposing technological solutions to improve firms’ practices. The groups operating in the laboratory focus on several research fields: simulation methodologies and data management, automation, product life cycle management (PLM), knowledge security, business process management, service engineering, energy and additive manufacturing, social network, and impact analysis. These groups are also involved in several regional, national, and European projects with academic and industrial partners, such as KHIRA Research Project. The main objective of this Research Project is the creation of a technological platform, a methodological framework and expertise related to the product life-cycle, in a space where open, participatory and user-centered innovation processes are developed, integrating research and innovation activities in a public-private logic.
So that, the KHIRA LL was established by the cPDM Laboratory: it is a collaborative space aiming to create user-centered innovation, based on research and innovation activities in the industrial field. The KHIRA LL is composed by users coming from different sectors: industrial partners that collaborate with cPDM Laboratory in several research projects; researchers from universities and research centers, such as: University of Salento, cPDM, and so on; small medium enterprises (SMEs) belonging to the Apulian manufacturing industry; public administrations and other actors that can be, directly or indirectly, interested in the KHIRA LL. In Figure
KHIRA LL user’s categories.
In particular, industrial partners are considered the first and potential customers of the product/service developed in the LL’s trial downstream. Their presence in the LL will ensure the development of solutions that solve real industrial problems with particular reference to problems related to the product life cycle management in complex manufacturing environments, according to the logic of holistic engineering. The involvement of the Apulian manufacturing SMEs in the LL will allow to start test processes of the developed innovations in order to improve them. Due to the strong LL’s tendency to develop innovation in the Apulia region, it is believed that the presence of territorial government users can facilitate the promotion of the local activities, also ensuring the support in financial planning. In the category “others,” it was considered to put together which people who do not belong to the previous categories, but that may potentially be interested in the activities carried out under KHIRA LL, such as freelancers, public organizations, and districts.
Currently, KHIRA LL is in the planning stage; it has three industrial partners, two universities, and five users (e.g., districts and industrial organizations) belonging to the category “others.”
In order to create a successful LL and develop a really useful innovation for users community, it is essential to adopt a methodology to manage the LL in all its aspects. The starting community of the Living Lab has defined the KHIRA LL’s mission: “Developing user-centered innovation in the PLM field starting from the ideas and skills coming from several classes of users.”
It follows that the main objective of the KHIRA LL is the development of user-centered innovation, but it is impossible to do so without several activities oriented to the LL management. Several methodologies used for the Living Lab management are available, but there is not a unique method that satisfies all the necessities emerged in the KHIRA LL. From a critical review of the Living Lab’s methodology emerges that some methodologies focused on innovation development not providing any strategy to create and manage a community. On the contrary, other methodologies focused on management aspects not providing any strategy to develop user-centered innovation. To address the research topic, the collaboration among the KHIRA LL’s starting community had a central role to overcome the limits of a single researcher’s work, permitting the analysis of the matter from a different point of view. This also allowed to create a first sense of belonging to the community and achieving results shared among users. The research design is composed by three main phases: starting phase, analysis phase, and elaboration phase, as it is a good practice in cPDM [ the methodology should include a process oriented to the development of user-centered innovation. the methodology should include a process oriented to the LL’s background planning. the methodology should include a process oriented to create the LL’s community. the methodology should include a process oriented to manage the LL’s community. the methodology should include a process oriented to the future commercialization of product/service developed in the LL.
In the starting phase, the tools used are face-to-face meetings, questionnaires, interviews, and blogs. In the analysis phase, the literature about the Living Lab methodology has been examined in order to identify if a particular methodology can satisfy the requirements mentioned above. From this phase, the results of the analysed methodology cover part of them. The tools used in this stage are face-to-face meetings and blogs. In the elaboration phase, the last one, a new methodology has been developed using tools such as blogs, focus groups, and face-to-face meetings.
This section will provide a critical review of the literature relating to the Living Lab methodologies resulted from the analysis phase of the design research, in order to investigate a useful methodology to coordinate the activities carried out in the KHIRA LL.
FormIT methodology was developed by Ståhlbröst and Holst [ concept design cycle; prototype design cycle; innovation design cycle.
Before and after these, there are two additional cycles: planning and commercialization. Each cycle has three stages:
The interaction with users is a prerequisite of the FormIT methodology in every cycle. The basic idea is to increase knowledge through iterative interaction among stages and people with different perspectives (usability, business, and technology). The FormIT methodology can be seen as a spiral in which purpose and design of the product/service evolve over time and become increasingly clear and defined. Also the evaluation of the product/service sees different evolutions moving from one cycle to another, as described below.
The service experience engineering (SEE) methodology introduced in Taiwan Living Lab to improve the process of open innovation is articulated in three main processes.
The Collaboration@Rural (C@R) methodology was created to develop and implement collaborative working environments in rural Living Labs. The C@R methodology is articulated into the stages described below.
The rural inclusion methodology (RIM) involves users in all the stages of the innovation process and is composed the following.
As described previously, the literature review of international Living Lab methodologies has been conducted in order to identify a methodology able to satisfy the requirements proposed by first users in LL’s community. Table
KHIRA LL requirements satisfaction.
Requirement | Methodology | |||
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FormIT | SEE | C@R | RIM | |
R1: the methodology should include a process oriented to the development of user-centered innovation | X | X | X | |
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R2: the methodology should include a process oriented to the LL’s background planning | X | X | X | |
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R3: the methodology should include a process oriented to create the LL’s community | X | X | ||
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R4: the methodology should include a process oriented to manage the LL’s community | X | |||
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R5: the methodology should include a process oriented to future commercialization of product/service developed in LL | X |
FormIT methodology satisfies three requirements: (1) it includes a set of processes oriented to the developed user-centered innovation composed of concept design, prototype design, and innovation design that in a cyclical manner transform an idea of innovation in an innovative product/service, (2) it includes a process oriented to the LL’s background planning, and (3) it includes a process oriented to commercialization of product/service developed.
SEE methodology satisfies two requirements: (1) it includes a process of
C@R methodology satisfies three requirements: (1) it includes the
RIM methodology satisfies two requirements: (1) it includes
As underlined in the review, the analysis of international Living Labs methodologies represents a guide for the definition of methodology to orchestrate the KHIRA LL in all its activities, able to drive both the LL management perspective and the user-centered innovation process. The KHIRA LL methodology is illustrated in Figure
KHIRA LL methodology proposal.
The methodology considers three stages: planning, operational, and commercialization stages. At every stage it is possible to find management process (in green color) and innovation development process (in blue color).
The planning stage consists of a single process called LL planning. The aim of this process is the description of the Living Lab context, through the definition of industries which generate innovation; product/service class which generates innovation; LL’s mission; strategic partners to be involved in the LL; types of users and their skills; how to join the LL; plan of activities.
The planning stage is the first phase in the LL implementation. Generally, this phase ends with a promotional event.
The operational stage consists of four management processes and two innovation development processes.
concept definition; prototype definition; product/service definition.
According to FormIT methodology, each subprocess is composed of three activities: (1) users’ needs analysis that aims to investigate users’ needs, at different levels, in several subprocesses; (2) concept design: prototype and product/service; (3) evaluation activity that aims to identify if the design corresponds to users’ needs. These activities are carried out taking into account three different aspects: usability, business, and technological aspects of the innovation developed.
participation in national and international events, workshops and conferences, open days, and trade shows; publication in journals; events organization; enrollment in the main social networks (LinkedIn, YouTube, and Facebook) and publication of interesting contents into a web platform dedicated to LL.
All of these tools will serve as a mean for the public, as it is the mission of the LL.
The aim of this stage is the commercialization of product/service developed in the KHIRA LL. This stage will occur only if there are the right conditions for the commercialization of a new product/service, such as good business models, financial conditions or the creation of new startup that can allow the entry of a new product/service to market.
The KHIRA LL is a collaborative environment developed within the Collaborative Product Design Management (cPDM) Laboratory of the Centro Cultura Innovativa d’Impresa (University of Salento) operating according to the Living Labs approach that puts users in the middle of the innovation process, in order to develop new products/services in complex manufacturing environments.
The ability to innovate is one of the key objectives that the LL intends to pursue. According to Eriksson, Niitamo, and Kulkki’s theory [
Due to this approach an environment was created which enables the collaboration among different users categories: industrial partners, universities, research centers, manufacturing SMEs, public administrations, and others.
Currently, the KHIRA LL is in the planning phase in order to organize the operational context, both from the methodological and infrastructural points of view. In this regard, the research group involved has attempted to identify a suitable methodology to manage all the KHIRA LL activities able to meet a series of requirements.
This study has analysed the following methodologies: FormIT, SEE, C@R, and RIM highlighting two main trends: the methodological tendency to manage the innovation development process and the tendency to manage the organizational activities. In order to identify a methodology able to orchestrate an industrial LL in all its aspects, the KHIRA LL methodology has been proposed, bridging the existing gap between the LLs’ activities management and those aimed to develop user-centered innovation. It is desirable, in the future, to apply the proposed methodology to the operational phase of the KHIRA LL, in order to identify potential problems and areas of improvement.
The authors declare that there is no conflict of interests regarding the publication of this paper.