The role of user-centric design in global platform economy value creation
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School of Business |
Master's thesis
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Date
2024
Department
Major/Subject
Mcode
Degree programme
Global Management
Language
en
Pages
60+2
Series
Abstract
This research focuses on how digital platforms should be designed and what kind of design aspects must be considered when building and managing a digital platform. Design is an important part of software development due to its ability to affect users’ willingness to pay for their desired service or good online. When designing a global digital platform, designers must consider the whole customer life cycle to create the optimal software solution. The research explores value creation in the digital platform economy, and how the value creation can be achieved by utilizing user-centric design principles. Both user-centric design and value creation are relevant for managing and growing digital platforms internationally. Many of the most significant players in digital platform industry are multinational enterprises, such as Uber, Meta, and DoorDash. Significant digital platforms can be described as global platforms that operate in either social media, transport, or asset-sharing service industries. Since value creation is a crucial part of business, the research focus is on design features and processes that generate value for customers and other stakeholders within the digital platform economy. The research is divided into two parts. The first part introduces the current academic understanding of value creation and user-centric design practices while highlighting the concept of user life cycle management in the literature review. The literature review and existing conceptualizations serve for further development of the conceptual framework of the study. The second part of the research consists of findings from eight one-hour long expert interviews which have been anonymously conducted in a narrative and semi-structured matter. The findings are then analysed together with the academic literature in the discussion part. The research provides a final conceptual framework that can be used to manage user life cycle in digital platform product development.Description
Thesis advisor
Kautto, DariaKeywords
user-centric design, value creation, user life cycle, digital platform, innovation