From newbies to professionals and vice versa : An exploration of IT enabled relationships

Through this thesis I aim to bring forth how IT (information technology) could be used in different ways to create a better collaboration between students and companies. My intentions are to explore and observe what the demands are from both parties and find out, if it is the lack of an up to date platform that causes discrepancy in establishing relationships. Due to the limited time accorded for this research, I will focus on evaluating the platform, LinkedStudent and elaborate a design suggestion in attempt to enable a better collaboration. The research question is “How would it be possible to create a close relationship in between students and companies with the help of IT?” This paper endeavors to shed light on issues like usability, user experience and web 2.0 both theoretically and empirically. With the amount of knowledge I have gathered during my study years I opt for a deductive approach of the problem, which on the course of the research through induction will be proven. The core assumption being that an innovative and warm environment can be created on a platform by interacting on the Web through organized communities with dynamic capabilities. A platform can be the optimal solution to establish relationships based on common interest.