Colloquia

Summary

Since 2004, Inreda® Diabetic has been based in Goor, the Netherlands. The company has developed a bi-hormonal closed-loop system known as Inreda AP®. The device is intended for people with diabetes who are insulin-dependent and aims at autonomously regulating their glucose levels.

Inreda® Diabetic is committed to continuing to improve its products such as in terms of size, weight, wearing comfort, and ease of use. Their approach is based on the belief that user-centered design is key to addressing the diverse needs of those living with diabetes. Consequently, the company regularly seeks feedback from (potential) users to help guide their design decisions and improve the overall user experience.

As Inreda® Diabetic looks towards the future, they anticipate an expansion in terms of their user base and user types. However, this growth could pose some challenges, necessitating a potential new approach to gathering and incorporating user input. To address this, the goal of this assignment was to explore the concept of a co-creation platform – a digital ecosystem where users can engage with the company to shape the development of current and future products, in a user-centred manner.

A multifaceted approach was adopted to gain a comprehensive understanding of the goals, issues, needs and wishes of various stakeholders.  Among others, a questionnaire was distributed to gather the perspectives of the platform’s potential users. Outlining the user's path of providing feedback made it straightforward to construct a wireframe of the co-creation platform. This led to the building of a clickable demo for the co-creation platform, which was then tested by users to gain a first impression.

This project revealed that within the company and among users, there appears to be a considerable need for sharing feedback and suggestions. An online co-creation platform appears to be a useful tool in bringing various stakeholders closer together. Insights into the next steps have been identified, which include the application of the platform from an employee viewpoint or creating appealing and quick ways to engage with the users.