The potential of workshops versus blogs for user involvement in service innovation

This article discusses different ways in which users may be involved in the ideation phase of service innovation and the results and limitations of such involvement. The study compares the use of a blog and two differently setup future workshops (one with users only and the other with a mix of users and employees) in a library. The authors' study shows that the blog is efficient in giving the users voice whereas the mixed workshop method (involving users and employees) is particularly efficient at qualifying and further developing ideas. The findings suggest that methods for involving users in ideation should be carefully selected and combined to achieve optimum benefits and avoid potential disadvantages.