Setup of the evolaris Living Lab

With its mobile Living Lab launched in 2008, evolaris is one of four Austrian Living Lab providers and the only one focusing on mobile communication in the EU initiative European Network of Living Labs (ENoLL). Living Labs comprehend geographical regions the size of a city or regions where partners from economy, the public sector, the academic field and end users cooperate. Services and products based on novel mobile information and communication technologies are developed with the end users being involved in the innovation process right from the beginning, acting as co-innovators. The mission is to optimize the product development cycle with user-centred design and by using the creativity of the end users in terms of an "open innovation" paradigm.
By now, the evolaris Mobile Living Lab includes 250 handpicked persons from Styria and Vienna. They accompany the development process in individual studies from the brainstorming and innovation phase to the conception, design and the implementation phase to market launch of a new service or product. The methods used are creative workshops, in-depth interviews, usability benchmarking, and market analyses. So-called "paper prototypes" are tested iteratively in the following phase, where different design variants can be evaluated to find the optimal solution. Expert evaluation, focus groups and mobile methods for data collection complete the portfolio. As soon as first prototypes are available, potential users can test them in user experiences evaluations under surveillance of usability experts so that system designers and developers can use the gathered information in further realisation processes. Eye tracking analyses, special cameras for surveying behaviour and measurement of emotional quality with the help of standardised tests and bio-feedback systems provide further results so that the most user-friendly services can be introduced onto the market.