<![CDATA[Community Service (Pengabdian kepada Masyarakat or PkM) is one of the three core responsibilities (Tridharma) of higher education in Indonesia, alongside education and research. However, many lecturers especially those new to academia face difficulties in identifying suitable community partners. This study addresses that issue through the design of a digital platform called “Abdimas”, intended to function as a marketplace system for matching lecturers with PkM partners. Applying the Design Thinking methodology, focusing on the conceptual and architectural design of the “Abdimas” platform, this study implemented a user-centered design approach. Data from interviews with lecturers, partners, and university administrators were analyzed using thematic analysis to identify core requirements. Based on these findings, the system was designed to support lecturer registration, partner discovery, and need-based matching. Senior lecturers are also supported in exploring new, underserved areas, while partners can publicly express their needs to attract suitable academic collaborators. University administrators can monitor the distribution of PkM activities over time to ensure equity and effectiveness. Unlike existing administrative platforms that often function as one-way reporting tools, the “Abdimas” marketplace introduces a bidirectional matching mechanism that allows partners to actively broadcast their specific community needs, bridging the information gap for lecturers. The system design includes use case diagrams, UI/UX prototypes, an Entity Relationship Diagram (ERD), and blackbox test scenarios to validate functionality. Although still in the design phase (Version 0.0), “Abdimas” has the potential to scale beyond academic users by supporting Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives and facilitating student-level community services. This research contributes a structured and scalable system design to improve collaboration and outreach in community service programs within higher education.]]>
