Interpretative dimension of user‐driven service innovation : Forum Theatre in facilitating renewal in Finnish public health care

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore a possible way for service providers to learn from their customers' experiences and bridge gaps between their and their customers' perspectives. The research question is as follows: how can users' experiences be transformed through research‐based theatre, in particular Forum Theatre, into a utilizable format in the front‐end of interpretative, user‐driven service innovation in public health care organisations? Design/methodology/approach – Research‐based theatre (RBT) is introduced in the study as both an artistic intervention technique – aiming to develop public health care services – and as a qualitative research method for interpretative user‐driven innovation processes. Findings – The study provides a path for the application of Forum Theatre in interpretative user‐driven innovation and highlights the role of “the Joker” as a host of the interpretation. Research limitations/implications – Further studies could be based on international longitudinal participatory research and combine qualitative and quantitative research methods. Practical implications – The study contributes to the discussion on the potential of innovation triggered in practical contexts. The potential itself seems to be relatively widely understood, but practical measures to exploit it still seem to be missing to a great extent. This study provides an example of a Finnish application of RBT as it explores the role of Forum Theatre as a sensemaking process in a fuzzy front‐end of innovation. Originality/value – The study improves the understanding of the implementation of artistic interventions within a user‐driven service innovation in public health care services.