Introduction. This thesis aims to investigate user participation in two selected music websites, The Metal Archives (also known as Metal-Archives or MA) and Discogs, as well as gather knowledge about how their databases and web interfaces are designed. Music genres are often associated with a culture or subculture. We wanted to investigate how the subcultures of metal music fans and record collecting has made an impact in these online archives, since the users who contribute to the archives are the ones who drive the archives forward. Method. To answer our research questions we described the designs of the websites themselves, as well as conducted surveys and one interview. Our survey material comes from user responses to two separate Google Forms surveys. The interview is a qualitative semi-structured interview conducted via e-mail with a policy expert from The Metal Archives. In addition to this, we supplemented it with a summary of an earlier interview with Discogs founder Kevin Lewandowsky. Qualitative method was used for analysis of both surveys and the interviews. Results. Both websites function as participatory archives since the user contributions are voluntary. Many who contribute do so out of a “Love for the culture”. While both user communities share a love for music, Discogs also focuses on its users selling physical records. Respondents from the surveys show an altruistic motivation for participating. To them, sharing contributions with others in the community feels important. Conclusion. Regarding website design, we found that both sites employ point systems as a motivating factor to ensure further user contributions. When it comes to user participation, both sites have active communities and can be seen as examples of crowdfunding. In the case of Metal-Archives the users showed a certain affect, passionately contributing data for its own sake. While both websites function as “Community Archives”, the culture differs. Metal-Archives is more elitist in nature and subcultural while Discogs aims to catalogue music from any genre. Furthermore, the search systems differ in that Metal-Archives is centred around finding bands while Discogs uses complex hyperlinking derived from the culture of vinyl record collecting. The thesis concludes that these two study objects show an example of community and the contributions of passionate fans online, as well as how the amount of information about music can benefit future research in music.  This is a two years master’s thesis in Archival Science.

Förståelsen för användarnas behov är i centrum för att kunna utveckla produkter som är välanpassade för användarna. Skidutrustning är generellt definierad av sina funktioner, användbarhet och sin prestanda och därför är dess utveckling till stor grad styrd av teknik. Hur företag går tillväga för att uppfylla användarnas behov ser olika ut från företag till företag. Forskning kring olika metoder för användarinvolvering görs för att kunna ta fram produkter som på bästa sätt uppfyller användarens behov. Syftet med denna studie är att studera hur användarna involveras i produktutvecklingsprocessen för skidutrustning. Undersöka vilka metoder företagen använder för att involvera användarna och under vilka faser de involveras, samt att erhålla information om hur denna data bearbetas och hur den används i produktutvecklingsprocessen. Studien analyserar hur olika skidföretag i Norden integrerar användarna i sina utvecklingsprocesser och diskuterar sedan dess fördelar, nackdelar och konsekvenser. En litteraturstudie gjordes för att ta fram en teoretisk referensram. Fyra olika skidföretag i Norden som producerar alpinskidor intervjuades utifrån en intervjuguide som tagits fram för att svara på studiens frågeställningar. Därefter transkriberades intervjuerna, nyckelord hittades och sex stycken teman togs fram. Dessa teman är; under vilken fas användaren involveras, fördelar, utmaningar, val av användare, val av metod för användarinvolvering och grad av användarinvolvering. Alla företagens likheter och olikheter analyserades och jämfördes mot varandra och mot litteraturen under dessa sex teman, därefter kunde slutsatser dras under alla dessa teman. Studien kom fram till att prototyptestning är viktig för produktutvecklingen enligt samtliga intervjuade företag. Användarna kan utöver prototyptestning involveras på flera sätt och till högre samt lägre grad, det är också möjligt att användarna inte involveras utöver prototyptestning. Samtliga företag ansåg att de involverar användarna så mycket som de tycker är passande och möjligt för produkten som utvecklas. När företagen jämfördes mot varandra visade det sig att graden och metoden av användarinvolvering varierade mycket. Trots att de delar samma syn gällande att användarinvolvering är gynnsamt för utvecklingen av produkter. Det spekulerades kring paralleller mellan företagens framgång samt grad av användarinvolvering men inga tydliga slutsatser kunde dras. / In today's society, it is inevitable that the need for users' inputs are increasingly utilized by companies. Understanding the users' needs and wishes is at the center of being able to develop products that are well adapted to the users. Research on different methods is available in many different business areas as there are several examples of its profitability. Ski equipment is generally defined by its features, usability, durability and performance, therefore is its development largely governed by technology. The origin and purpose of this study is to investigate how the users are involved in the ski manufacturing business area. This study explores different methods for user involvement and seeks to understand how different degrees of user involvement are used in practice relative to the literature. This study further analyzes how different ski companies in the Nordic countries integrate users into their product development process and investigates its advantages, disadvantages and consequences. A literature study was conducted to develop a theoretical reference framework composed by various theories that had previously been researched. Thereafter, four different ski companies who produce alpine skis in the Nordic countries were interviewed based on an interview guide that had been developed to answer the research questions. Subsequently, the interviews were transcribed, keywords were traced, six themes were developed and studied in more detail. These themes are; the product developments phases, benefits, challenges, choice of user for the development process, choice of method for user involvement and degree of user involvement. All the companies' similarities and differences were analyzed within the six themes and conclusions were drawn under all of the themes. This study displayed that prototype testing is important for the product development process and is used by all interviewed companies. In addition to prototype testing, users could be involved in more ways and to greater extents. The interviewed companies showed similarities when users were involved in prototype testings but in retrospect, differences in choice of methods and degree of user involvement was immensely varied between the companies. All the companies felt that they involved the users as much as they thought fit and was possible for the product to develop. However, when the companies were compared to each other, it turned out that the degree of user involvement varied greatly. Parallels between the companies' success and degree of user involvement are speculated but no clear conclusions could be drawn.