Co-creating harmonized living lab for big data driven hybrid personas development: Protocol for co-creating, testing and seeking consensus (Preprint)

BACKGROUND Living labs are user-centred, open innovation ecosystems based on systematic user co-creation approach, integrating research and innovation processes in real life communities and settings. The Horizon 2020 project “Virtual Health and Wellbeing Living Lab Infrastructure” (VITALISE) unites 19 partners across 11 countries. The project aims to harmonize Living Lab procedures and enable effective and convenient transnational and virtual access to key European Health and Wellbeing research infrastructures, governed by Living Labs. The VITALISE consortium will conduct joint research activities (JRAs) in the fields included in the care pathway of patients: rehabilitation, transitional care and everyday living environments for the elderly. This protocol focuses on health and wellbeing research in everyday living environments. OBJECTIVE The main aim is to co-create and test harmonized research protocol for developing big data driven hybrid personas – hypothetical user archetypes created to represent a user community. Secondly, utilization and applicability of innovative technologies is investigated in context of various everyday living and living lab environments. METHODS In phase 1 surveys and structured interviews are utilized to identifying the most suitable living lab methods, tools and instruments for health-related research among VITALISE-project living labs (N=10). A series of online co-creation workshops and iterative co-writing process are applied to define the initial protocols. In phase 2 five small-scale case studies are carried by out to test the co-created research protocols in various real-life everyday living settings and living lab infrastructures. In phase 3 a cross-case analysis grounded on semi-structured interviews is conducted to identify the challenges and benefits of using the proposed research protocols. Furthermore, a series of co-creation workshops and consensus Delphi process is carried out in parallel to co-create and validate the acceptance of the defined harmonized research protocols among wider living lab community. RESULTS As of September 30, 2021, project deliverables “Ethics and safety manual” and “Living lab standard version 1” have been submitted to European Commission review process. The study will be finished by March 2024. CONCLUSIONS The outcome of this research will lead to harmonized procedures and protocols in context of big data driven hybrid personas development among health and wellbeing living labs in Europe and beyond. Harmonized protocols enables living labs to exploit similar research protocols, devices, hardware and software for interventions and complex data collection purposes. Economies of scale and improved use of resources will speed-up and improve the research quality and offer novel possibilities for open data sharing, multidisciplinary research and comparative studies beyond current practices. Case studies provide also novel insights for implementing innovative technologies in context of everyday living living lab research.