Research Centre
Energy
Results
Biography
Facilitating the Growth of Prosumer Communities
PhD. Researcher:
Wim Timmerman MSc.
Providing an online app-store to support the decision processes of local energy communities
Currently, Wim is researcher at the Hanze University of Groningen, doing his PhD research at the University of Groningen. He is also teacher at the department Industrial Product Design at the Hanze. Wim holds a MSc degree Computer Science from
Twente University. Previously Wim worked at KPN Research and TNO
Design & implementation
The shopping mall metaphor covers the service concept of providing information, tools and services to prosumer communities that enhance their decision processes along the various phases of their growth path. The shopping mall prototype is implemented as an on-line app store, providing stepwise guidance and recommendations, based on the customer’s profile.
Evaluation
The prosumer community shopping mall prototype was used to evaluate the usefulness and usability of the designed artefact:
3 group evaluation sessions with prosumer communities 8 individual sessions with energy experts.
The evaluation results indicate that the shopping mall is useful and usable for enhancing prosumer communities in making decisions in the various phases of their growth path.
The shopping mall artefact facilitates the growth path of prosumer communities, providing guidance in making decisions, and relieves prosumer communities.
The large collection of services in one place that are continuously updated, and the guidance provided in making decisions, were highly valuated.
The role of the shopping mall facilitator was considered crucial. It should be an independent and trustworthy party.
Theory formulation on decision enhancement and the shopping mall as design artefact were added as scientific contributions to the knowledge base. The practical applicability of the shopping mall provides the societal contribution.
Design Science Research approach
The Design Science Research approach was chosen, because we seek to understand the real-life phenomena of prosumer communities, identify practical problems and related requirements, and design explicitly applicable solutions introducing appropriate artefacts that can serve prosumer communities (Hevner et al., 2010).
Exploratory study
In the exploration phase, case studies of four Dutch prosumer communities were performed, next to group panel sessions with prosumer community participants. Furthermore, 46 stakeholders from the prosumer community value network were interviewed. The analysis of the exploratory study provided a list of requirements for the design phase.
Challenges for prosumer communities
• Ambitious goals: realising local sustainable energy provision
• Working with (mainly) volunteers
• Complexity of the energy sector: legal, financial, technological, organisational
• Lack of information and expertise in own ranks
DESIGN IMPLEMENTATION EVALUATION
PROBLEM STATEMENT LITERATURE EXPLORATION ANALYSIS Observation: Struggle of prosumer communities Research Question: How to facilitate decision enhancement along growth path?
Perspectives: - People - Process - Technology => Generic view Exploratory study: - Case studies - Group sessions - Interviews => Indicative empirical evidence Generic understanding of design problem => Requirements LENS Global issues Descriptive empirical model* Descriptive conceptual model* Prescriptive conceptual model* Prescriptive empirical model*
Case studies Group panel sessions Stakeholder interviews
