Coloplast set up an online community called Stoma-Innovation.com for ostomy patients to discuss their condition and share product ideas. The site is independently run by community members but funded and observed by Coloplast. Highly active "power users" are invited to a private area to work directly with Coloplast on developing new products. The first commercial product from the community is nearing release. The site illustrates enterprise co-creation by facilitating new experiences and interactions between stakeholders to generate mutual value.

1. Enterprise Co-Creation StoriesThe Story ofColoplast

2. Enterprise Co-Creation Is a Strategy and Methodology for Engaging Stakeholders to Create New Mutual ValueValueFruitExperiencesBranchesValue comes from new experiencesfor stakeholdersNew experiences come from new interactionsInteractionsTrunkEnterprise Co-Creation: The systematic development of networks of individuals, stakeholders, and enterprises to create value together, through engagement platforms designed to enable mutually valuable interactions and experiencesNew interactions require engagement platforms… …which sprout from stakeholder engagementEngagementPlatformsSeedsEngagement platforms assemblenew networks and communitiesNetworksNetworksRoots

3. Coloplast’s Stoma-Innovation.com: An Online Community for Ostomy PatientsColoplast set up Stoma-Innovation.com as an independent online community for ostomy bag wearersColoplast funds the site but does not administer it. Independent ostomites run the community, with Coloplast as an observer, contributor, and advertiserCommunity members appreciate the ability to share experiences and discuss sensitive personal matters with other ostomitesColoplast asks the group questions about ostomy devices and invites power users to a separate website. The power users receive toolkits and experiment with ostomy devices.Coloplast’s Stoma-Innovation.com illustrates all aspects of enterprise co-creation – co-creation of value, new experiences and interactions, engagement platforms, and networks/communities

4. Coloplast, a Danish Medical Products Maker, Set Up an Online Community for Ostomy Patients in 2009A Coloplast-sponsored website that helps people with stomas discuss and upload innovative solutions related to their condition is a big hit with users.Stoma-innovation.com, an independent website sponsored by Coloplast, is proving extremely popular among people with stomas, registering over 700 users, 200 hundred message posts, and receiving nearly 80 innovative ideas in its first week-and-a-half.The site was launched on the 16th February 2009 and connects stoma patients around the world with each other and gives them a forum to suggest innovations in stoma care.Source: Coloplast press release, Feb. 26, 2009

5. Ostomy Care is One of Coloplast’s Major Product AreasUnderstanding ostomy careColoplast research, develop and produce appliances for people with a stoma. A stoma is created by an operation, which brings the end of the intestine to an opening on the abdominal wall. Bodily wastes are then excreted and collected into an ostomy appliance which is attached to the area around the stoma.Through our work with the people who use our products and with healthcare professionals when developing products we have gained experience in all aspects of ostomy care.Source: Coloplast.com

6. Stoma-Innovation.com Was Inspired by Other Co-Creative Websites"It's innovation from the perspective of people with stomas who might stand in front of the mirror and think about what they need to do to improve their life," says Peter Kragh, Director of Innovation, Ostomy Care Marketing at Coloplast and who has been closely involved with the development of the site. The site is run by people with a stoma and Coloplast is providing sponsorship in the form of technical expert knowledge, and awards. "Users can submit their ideas but also discuss ideas with other users. In this way, you can get many different perspectives on a problem, and sometimes two or three different but related problems can come together and find a single solution. Users become co-innovators."Innovation co-developmentKragh sees analogies between stoma-innovation.com and other user-driven innovation websites, such as the do-it-yourself T-shirt maker threadless.com, or open-source computer programming. "It's about the people that use the product being part of its development. They have what I call 'sticky information', that unarticulated experience that can really make a difference to a product and in-turn a user."Stoma-innovation.com has some useful tools to help people express themselves. For example, a series of videos give a fast overview of how to sketch, helping people to draw what they mean if they cannot quite find the right words. In the same vein, users can also upload videos of their idea. Source: Coloplast press release, Feb. 26, 2009

7. Ostomy Patients Share Their Insights on Stoma-Innovation.com As of May 2011: 2,190 members

8. 5,987 forum posts on 732 topicsThe Site Features Idea Challenges for Physical DevicesThe site is currently running a competition whereby the person who submits the best solution as judged by a panel of experts wins €1000. There are also prizes for best solutions as voted for by the site's community.

9. The Site Includes Software for DrawingSite members are instructed on how to use freeware tools (Paint.net and UnFreez) to create their own freehand drawings for uploading to the site

10. Power Users are Invited to a Private VIP AreaHighly active members of Stoma-Innovation.com are invited to the VIP areaIdentifying these lead users is easy, according to Peter Kragh of ColoplastVIP area members work closely with Coloplast design, production, and marketing teamsColoplast sends VIP area members toolkits of materials to make new productsThe toolkits sometimes include welding tools!In July 2011, Coloplast announced that the first commercial product derived from the community would soon be releasedA new accessory, invented and developed by members from our forum in colaboration with Coloplast is in its final stages of development.This new product will offer a solution for pancaking, protection of your stoma and can be used in combination with a stoma-belt without using the ears on the adhesive or flange.Sources: Private conversation with Peter Kragh; forums

11. Coloplast Sponsors the Community, but the Main Administrators are Not Affiliated with the CompanyHi, I am Bert Steur, co-administrator. I am originally from The Netherlands, but moved recently to Beautiful BC in Canada, to Chilliwack to be precise. I am a public transit scheduling software specialist, currently working for my Dutch employer through an online connection from home in Canada. I was diagnosed with UC (Ulcerative Colitis) in 1997. To learn more about my disease I searched the internet and found a wonderful support site full of information in www.ibdsucks.com. Moreover, I met a wonderful lady on that site from Victoria, BC Canada who was diagnosed with Crohn's disease. I flew out to meet her, we fell in love, I flew back and forth a couple times that year, and in July of 98 I brought her home with me to the Netherlands where we got married and tried to live happily ever after.Unfortunately my disease got out of control and in 1999 I had my first temporary ileostomy while my Jpouch was healing. After 4 years of struggling with the pouch I decided to go back to a permanent ileostomy, and that was the best decision I've made after proposing ;-) I haven't seen a doctor since since then, and we are really living "happily ever after", with fulfilling our dream to move back to BC as the highlight so far.Howdy everyone, my name is Barbara Jean but my close friends call me BJ. I am also co-administrator of this website.I was born and raised in New Port Beach California, but for the last 25 years I have lived in Oregon in a small town called Junction City. I have four children, Violet she is 29 and an asst manager at the Dollar Tree, Jonathon he is 22 and in the Air Force he linguist in Madrid Chinese, Jessie is 19 and she is a cashier at the Dollar Tree, Toni is 18 and on her way to Cal State she is majoring in dance. It's pacific time here where I’m at. I had Ulcerated Colitis and they removed all of my colon and anus, I am very lucky to be alive. I have had two hernias repaired and a full Hysterectomy due to cancer. I have lost 129 pounds in under a year. I had a business called Ostomy Comforts where I created products for ostomies, but being so small I could not keep up with the big companies. I live by the mottos:. "Never say I can't" and "I would never do anything to anyone I would not want done to myself". "If you’re hungry I will feed you, if your cold I will give you my coat, I may not like you but I will always help you and be kind to you.“Source: Stoma-Innovation.com

12. Coloplast Maintains a Light Touch on the SiteHi, I'm Peter Kragh and I am from Coloplast, where I have worked for quite a few years. I am the one who originally got the idea for the community and I am very involved in making it grow, together with the other administrators.My role is to manage the Coloplast accounts, interface between Coloplast- and member-innovators, as well as driving the Coloplast challenges. I do not have a stoma, but I have had close relatives with a stoma and from my normal work in Coloplast as a user innovation expert, I have met with many ostomates. I feel that we have a wonderful and trustworthy setup with the co-administration of Bert, BJ and myself with help from Sandra, where we have the common purpose of helping ostomates towards a better life. I live in the countryside of Denmark, in the neightbourhood of Coloplast together with my wife Anita, and my 2 daughters, Sofie and Caroline. I look forward to see you in the community!Source: Stoma-Innovation.comColoplast advertises its products on the site

13. How Coloplast Illustrates Key Co-Creation ElementsNew Value and ExperienceAccess for Coloplast to a highly involved community of usersThe ability for interested members to become power users and help design productsNew InteractionsColoplast opens up the ideation process through idea challengesColoplast opens up the product design process to power usersEngagement PlatformsStoma-Innovation.com is an engagement platform with two modes: among ostomites, and between ostomites and ColoplastThe VIP area is a second engagement platform between Coloplast and power usersCommunities and NetworksStoma-Innovation.com is a free community in which members share an extraordinary amount of personal informationFor Coloplast, the site serves as a product test-bed

14. Co-Creation Lessons Learned From ColoplastPeople will share deeply personal information with strangers in search of community

15. Sharing experience can not only be empowering, it can also lead to co-creation