THE ROLE OF SCENARIOS AND DEMONSTRATORS IN PROMOTING SHARED UNDERSTANDING IN INNOVATION PROJECTS

It can be challenging for people in an innovation project to develop a shared understanding of the project's overall vision and of what they need to do practically—especially if the project is organized as networked innovation and follows a designerly approach. Yet shared understanding is critical for success. Based on an explorative study of one innovation project, in which ICT applications are developed, we discuss the ways in which the development and evaluation of scenarios and demonstrators can help the people involved to develop a shared understanding. Furthermore, we propose several recommendations for managers of innovation projects for effectively organizing the development and evaluation of scenarios and demonstrators.