Design-Challenges im virtuellen Raum – Ein Erfahrungsbericht und Handlungsempfehlungen

The rapid emergence and use of novel digital technologies lead to increased pressure to innovate. Organizations need to develop new ideas to adapt their processes, products and business models to changing market conditions. To implement those ideas, knowledge beyond disciplinary and institutional boundaries is necessary. As IT-supported tools open new opportunities to spur such innovation processes, this paper reports on a virtual idea competition (i.e., design challenge) concerned with the ‘future shopping experience in city centers’. Thereby, experiences from preparation and implementation are synthesized. The challenge was organized by a consortium consisting of a university research project, a medium-sized company, a regional digitalization incubator, a major city, and a start-up. Participating teams consisted of university students. Based on the collected experiences and critical reflection on the challenge’s preparation and execution, a set of recommendations for future virtual design challenges are formalized. These are intended to provide orientation for companies and public institutions concerning how to plan, perform, and evaluate such challenges.