@article {956, title = {The Impact of Living Lab Methodology on Open Innovation Contributions and Outcomes}, journal = {Technology Innovation Management Review}, volume = {6}, year = {2016}, month = {01/2016}, pages = {7-16}, publisher = {Talent First Network}, address = {Ottawa}, abstract = {Open innovation scholars as well as practitioners are still struggling with the practical implementation of open innovation principles in different contexts. In this article, we explore the value of a living lab approach for open innovation in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Using a case study approach, we compared 27 SME projects conducted by iMinds Living Labs from 2011 to 2015. The results suggest that a real-life intervention and a multi-method approach {\textendash} both of which are methodological characteristics of living lab projects {\textendash} increase the chance of generating actionable user contributions for the innovation under development. Moreover, the results also suggest that a living lab project yields maximal value when evolving from concept towards prototype. Besides these exploratory findings, this article also demonstrates that living lab projects are a perfect "playground" to test and validate assumptions from the open innovation literature.}, keywords = {collaboration, distributed innovation, entrepreneur, Innovation management, living labs, Open innovation, SME, startup, user innovation, user involvement}, issn = {1927-0321}, doi = {http://doi.org/10.22215/timreview/956}, url = {http://timreview.ca/article/956}, author = {Dimitri Schuurman and Lieven De Marez and Pieter Ballon} }