Research group for Media, Innovation and Communication Technologies

Planza - Plan a weekend

About

Planza is a young start-up which wants to solve the current frustrations of endless back and forth mailing when organizing a social activity by developing an intelligent, semantic, all-in one online platform. In order to maximize the potential of this innovation and to achieve an optimal compatibility with the needs, wishes, values and habits of the market, Planza started a Living Lab research in collaboration with iMinds-iLab.o, funded by an "KMO dienstenportefeuille” (Agentschap Ondernemen).

Motive

Doodle is a great tool which a lot of people use to pick a date and time for a weekend with friends, a holiday or other event. But how do you go about arranging the practical details of a skiing holiday or a bachelor party with a bunch of people? Today people come together, make to-do lists, get behind their computers, email back and forth, sift through countless websites to find a suitable chalet and still cannot decide on what cottage to book … Inefficient planning causes a lot of stress and represents a huge waste of time.

Innovation goal

This inconvenience it something Planza tries to tackle. Planza is an online plaza where you plan and schedule an entire event from start to finish. You can pick a date online, select a cottage, plan your itinerary and transportation, distribute tasks, upload and share files (e.g. tickets) and book a restaurant - all in one place. No complicated desktop application, but a convenient, user-friendly online plaza where you can meet to plan every detail of your upcoming event.

Methodology

By means of an environmental scan and an intake survey, we take a look at the current market environment and the global opinions of the end users towards this concept. This also allows us to make a segmentation of these end users. The second step is to develop the concept in co-creation with the end users and to test it in a real world environment. That way, we try to identify the needs and opportunities and create a service that came in to existence in close interaction with the context in which it will be used.

In this research, MICT will be facilitating the interaction with the end-user. Using an iterative panel-based Living Lab approach, a segmented panel will contribute to the development of the innovation. All relevant stakeholders will have an equal voice and are challenged to think about the opportunities and challenges of this concept by means of a multi-method approach. This allows us to develop a concept that will match the stakes, values and use-context of every actor within the value network of the innovation.

Duration of the project

The project runs from 01/10/2012 - 30/09/2013.

Staff involved

  • Dimitri Schuurman
  • Bas Baccarne

Clusters

  • ICT & Society

Financed by

  • Other