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eLab – Peer production and co-creation.ppt

Peer-production refers to organizing production in a radically decentralized, collaborative, and nonproprietary way, by sharing resources and outputs among widely distributed, loosely connected individuals who cooperate with each other without relying on either market signals or managerial commands. Free software and wikipedia.org are classical examples, but there are many others. For more on peer production, Yochai Benkler's book, "The Wealth of Networks: How Social Production Transforms Markets and Freedom", is a must.

Co-creation refers to an open, ongoing collaboration between employees and customers to define and create products, services, experiences, ideas and information. Probably the best known example is the Lego Factory, where kids design new Lego models and submit them to competitions. These ideas are then used as sources for new Lego products. Discussion, comments and criticism on co-creation here.

TrendWatching.com has an excellent report on what they call Customer-Made, where most of the ideas and examples below come from. Trends to watch in co-creation:

• "Conversations": companies listen (and sometimes answer) to customers; Orange Talking Point, 2TalkAboutHonda, Ikea Positive Fanatics, etc.
• "Create your own ad": videos for L'Oreal, Sony or Toyota on Current.tv, catchwords for MasterCard with Priceless ads, etc.
• "Design your own product": Nokia invited designers for its Concept Lounge; Nespresso had a design contest for leading European design schools; Electrolux Design Lab 2005 received more than 3'000 projects; users can send in their pictures in order to be on the Jones Soda bottles, customize your Converse, etc.
• "Innovation": Connect+Develop where Procter & Gamble is seeking next game-changing products, packaging, technologies, or processes; Leadusers discuss various topics related to Philips new solutions.

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