Managing Value Co-Creation: An Integrated Design Framework for Service-Centric Product-Service Systems

Since the early 2000s, researchers have been advocating service-centric design, which focuses on customer value co-creation as defined in service-dominant logic. However, extant product-service systems (PSS) design methods are often too narrowly scoped to support value co-creation. One difficult aspect is that customers' needs are always evolving and companies have to continuously adapt its resources and offerings. Moreover, PSS design frameworks that take a broader approach are usually at a business strategy level, leaving out the details of how to operationalize the framework. This research proposes a novel integrated PSS design framework that adopts a lifecycle approach to design — from the gaining of awareness of a need, to soliciting collaboration, co-creating value propositions and generating value-in-use for the actors involved. This framework considers the interactions between actors in the value co-creation process at a strategy level, and is integrated with techniques to execute each stage of the framework. Its pilot application in a healthcare case study is discussed in the paper. This paper contributes to the literature of PSS and design research, and the application of actor network theory in supporting the premises of service-dominant logic. It intends to provide guidelines to managers of new PSS development and lifecycle management.