Facilitating interaction in web-based communities: the case of a community for innovation in healthcare

Integrating users on web-based platforms is achieved in many settings such as communities for innovation as well as in different areas like healthcare. In web-based communities, interaction is the basic mechanism from which users as well as organizers derive benefit and, thus, is very important for indicating whether a community is successful or not. Facilitation of users can help to address challenges in establishing and nurturing interaction in web-based communities. The objective of this paper is to explore interactions on web-based communities for innovation and how they could be supported by means of automated or human facilitation. Following an action research approach, we investigate possibilities for interaction along an exploratory interpretive in-depth single case study of a community for innovation that pursues to help patients suffering from a rare disease. Using investigative analysis, we disclose possibilities of interaction and suggest a framework for interaction-based facilitation.