Social informatics of information value cocreation: A case study of xiaomi's online user community

Abstract

The perennial issue of information value creation needs to be understood in the contemporary era of a more networked user environment enabled by information technology (IT). This mixed‐methods study investigates information value cocreation from the social informatics perspective to surface sociotechnical implications for IT design and use, since cocreation is inherently social and technology‐mediated. Specifically, the cocreation of software as an information‐intensive product is examined. Data on the cocreation of Xiaomi's MIUI firmware were collected from two sources: 49 interviews of staff and user participants and web crawling of the cocreation platform. They were analyzed with interpretive analysis, topic modeling, and social network analysis for triangulation. Findings indicate three sociotechnical information practices co‐constituted by information, IT, people, and their activities. Each practice is instrumental in rapidly and continuously converting external information into cocreated information value. The adsorption information practice attracts new and diverse external information; the absorption practice integrates external and internal information rapidly by involving users; the desorption practice allows rapid adoption of the cocreated product so that information value can be realized and demonstrated for further cocreation. Critically analyzing these practices reveals unanticipated or paradoxical issues affecting the design and use of common cocreation technology such as discussion forums.

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“…Given its complex phenomenon that includes participants from different companies, a single method would not be enough to capture its rich and complex insights (Behrendt et al, 2014). Thus, a mix-method is necessary to yield sophisticated insights and improve the results validity through triangulation from different sources of evidence (Pee et al, 2020). Refer to Figure 1 for the mix method strategy.…”

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“…Such approaches use information characteristics (implicit or explicit), filtering efforts (hand-sorted or aided by technology), information credibility, and authority to reduce the cognitive load in coping with information overload (Greyson, 2018). Information overload depends on individual differences in information processing (Koltay, 2017) and information absorption (Pee et al, 2020). Information absorption refers to the ability to digest external information to generate information products, and such a behavior relies highly on one's difference in filtering and processing information received (Pee et al, 2020).…”

“…Information overload depends on individual differences in information processing (Koltay, 2017) and information absorption (Pee et al, 2020). Information absorption refers to the ability to digest external information to generate information products, and such a behavior relies highly on one's difference in filtering and processing information received (Pee et al, 2020). To alleviate information overload, we introduce the knowledge content framework by Perry-Smith (2014) to explain how individuals are empowered to processing and absorbing useful information from the transfer and constructivist perspectives out of the information absorption angle.…”

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“…It is necessary to consider the users’ perspective and tailor the communication of research outputs in a manner that they will relate—who are they, what are their needs, how can they use the research outputs to improve an aspect of interest? For instance, we have created infographics highlighting actionable strategies for designing professional knowledge work involving robots with artificial intelligence and for managing online co‐creation communities, based on our research findings (Pee, Pan, & Cui, ; Pee, Pan, Li, & Jia, ). They are posted on social media, university websites, and shared with our industry contacts.…”