A presentation exploring the key challenges organizations face when implementing crowdsourcing platforms that leverage users for product and/or service innovations. Using Dell IdeaStorm, we outline challenges and recommendations to mitigate those challenges. This presentation was given at the below conference: Di Gangi, P. M., Wasko, M., and Hooker, R. E. (2009) “Getting your customers' ideas to work for you: Building user innovation communities for your business,” Presented at the Pre-ICIS SIM Workshop on Enterprise and Industry Application of Web 2.0. Presented by Paul M. Di Gangi

1. Getting your customers’ ideas to work for you: Building user innovation communities Paul M. Di Gangi Molly Wasko Robert Hooker Department of ManagementCollege of BusinessFlorida State University

2. Tale of Two Companies

3. User-generated Content

4. User Innovation Community “Distributed groups of individuals focused on solving a general problem and/or developing a new solution supported by computer-mediated communication.” (Dahlander & Wallin, 2006 p. 1246)

5. Initial Study ANOVA 11 Adopted Ideas 10 Not Adopted, Most Popular Ideas Di Gangi, P. M. and Wasko, M. (2009) “Steal my idea! User innovation community influence on organizational adoption of user innovations: A case study of Dell IdeaStorm,” Decision Support Systems 48 (2009), pp. 303-312.

7. Considering Rejected No Status Update Implementing Size by # Ideas Contributed February 2007 Di Gangi, P. M. and Wasko, M. “Should we follow the leader? Examining lead users in an online user innovation community,” Under Review.

8. Social Processes Adapted from: http://www.flickr.com/photos/intersectionconsulting/3598356119/ Social processes for the effective development of an idea were required to transfer end user ideas into adoptable ideas for Dell. Users within adopted ideas collaborated to resolve differences in opinion, create consensus, and provide additional information to Dell.

9. Strategic Positioning of Corporate Personnel Create A User Toolkit Engage Lead Users Provide Users with the Tools for Self-Governance Respond Quickly & Ask Questions If You Let Them Vote, Make It Count Present Your Progress Clearly and Openly

10. Provide them with a Toolkit Adapted from: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jannem/3312115991 Help users describe the idea in language that is clearly understood and accessible to others. Otherwise, the community spends a great deal of effort cycling comments trying to refine the idea into an adoptable solution.

11. Strategic Positioning Strategically position corporate personnel into the User Innovation Community to ensure end user ideas are reaching the proper internal resources for idea refinement and ultimately adoption. Adapted from: http://www.flickr.com/photos/laprimadonna/3773223498/

12. Engage Lead Users Adapted from: http://www.flickr.com/photos/shrinivasap/2396530698/ Identifying lead users who actively participate across multiple ideas within a category could help when organizations look to innovate in specific markets / areas.

13. Promote Self-governance By incorporating tools that allow the community to form consensus on a user-driven idea, an organization reduces the need to cycle repeatedly through prototypes because the community is able to quickly define and refine the innovation.

14. Respond to your Users Ask Questions and Listen! Responding quickly to the community signals its importance to the organization’s innovation process. Ask questions in order to ensure an end user’s idea is properly understood. It is the ideas that an organization does not clearly understand that potentially hold the greatest promise. Adapted from: http://www.flickr.com/photos/cizake/4164756091/

15. Let their voices be heard! Guaranteeing that users are satisfied with the innovation process requires an organization to consider the popularity of a user-driven idea. Adapted from: http://www.flickr.com/photos/hebe/2512086374/

16. Gamble on Transparency Adapted from: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dicemanic/19743895/ When an organization opens its doors to user-driven innovations, it must also open its doors to the process by which those innovations are examined.

17. Three Days Out 0 Demotions Most Popular Idea: IdeaStorm category Four Days Out 0 Demotions 30th Most Popular Idea on IdeaStorm Two Weeks Out 330 Points 0 Demotions Reviewed by Dell IdeaStorm(less than 2.5% of ideas reviewed by Dell)

18. Thank You for Listening Contact @ pdigangi@gmail.com | Website @ www.paulmdigangi.com Slides will be available @ www.slideshare.com/pmd06c