Encouraging Innovations of Quality from User Innovators: An Empirical Study of Mobile Data Services

Abstract

Can mobile data service platforms support users to make quality mobile apps? If so, what should the platforms do to encourage quality mobile data services from users? Cognitive evaluation theory is useful in explaining human behaviors based on individuals’ innate psychological needs. In this article, the authors use this theory to explain how platforms can design their features (i.e., software development tools and design rules and regulations) to fulfil user needs for competence and autonomy. As a result, users can make mobile data services of better quality. The authors propose that toolkits can support the need for competence in terms of ease of effort and idea exploration, whereas regulations in design autonomy can support the need for autonomy in terms of decision-making autonomy, scheduling autonomy, and work method autonomy; and they find that indeed toolkits supported idea exploration and ease of effort, decision-making autonomy, and work method autonomy, enhancing the quality of users’ service innovations. The insights for managers are that platforms can mindfully design their regulations and tools to support users to develop quality innovations, and that platform regulations and tools should be developed complementarily rather than separately.