Users' involvement in digital health collaborative projects

Purpose: This research analyzes the roles of users in innovative digital health collaborative projects from the perspective of the user by considering three dimensions: their motivation, project activities and the support of the partnership for their effective involvement.

Design/methodology/approach: The authors unraveled profiles of users by using a Q-methodological analysis of 24 statements and 44 service users. The statements for the three dimensions were designed according to previous models of stakeholder identification and customer participation in new product management.

Findings: The authors obtained two profiles that advocate active participation of users, though with a different degree of involvement. One of them supports the role of users as "advisors" of users' preferences and needs, and the other indicates a higher involvement of users as "cocreators" of the innovation, with the same contribution and responsibility as the other partners.

Originality/value: Previous research has analyzed user involvement in digital health, as part of wider research on factors leading to the success and adoption of innovations. Moreover, previous research has analyzed user involvement in innovation projects, but without differentiating between projects carried out by an individual organization and those conducted by a partnership. This research contributes to filling this gap by revealing users' expectations about their involvement and how they think they will fit in with the dynamics of collaborative projects.