An experience report on using the Platform Design Toolkit in the context of the LearningCurve project

Abstract

The process of digital transformation has advanced to a large extent in recent years, directly affecting the business models of organizations. Digital platforms play a central role in this space of transformation, insofar as they are the means by which different actors, such as professionals and companies, carry out or even enable their economic activity. Given the relevance of the topic, tools for designing digital platforms have been proposed in recent years, including the Platform Design Toolkik (PDT). Considering the scarcity of concrete applications of this type of tool, this work presents the application of PDT in the LearningCurve platform design. This platform is intended to allow collaboration on the documentation of software development tools, in addition to making it possible to plan learning paths for students and practitioners. Because of its purpose, LearningCurve involves the interaction between several actors with different and complementary goals. In this way, it was thought out from the perspective of the concept of a digital platform. The PDT made it possible to map the different actors, in addition to their needs, intentions, and possibilities for contributions for the ecosystem. In conclusion, the PDT has shown to be a useful tool for modeling digital platforms. The details of the LearningCurve platform are also presented in this text.