ABSTRACT
Creating requirements specifications is one of the most challenging tasks in the systems development. For a complete specification, different kinds of information are gathered. This includes information about the domain and context specific technical issues, and about multifaceted cultural, political, communicational, motivational, and personal issues. As there is no information systems development (ISD) method that would yield such information comprehensively, it could be achieved by user-oriented approaches, for instance by participatory design (PD). Reciprocally, unfortunately those do not provide detailed instructions for the systems development. In this paper, we will present our experiences from two research projects where user participation was emphasised in the ISD process. We argue that a multi-methodological ISD approach that utilises prototyping and a set of different communication means for gathering and elucidating requirements in a workplace would produce better systems from the end-users point of view. Further, these experiences can be used when developing a formalised user-oriented ISD method.
- Avison, D. and Fitzgerald, G. Information Systems Development: Methodologies, Techniques and Tools. Second Edition, McGraw Hill, 2002.]] Google ScholarDigital Library
- Avison, D. and Fitzgerald, G. Where now for development methodologies? Communications of the ACM (46) 1, January 2003.]] Google ScholarDigital Library
- Avison, D. and Wood-Harper, A. T. Multiview: An Exploration in Information Systems Development. McGraw-Hill. 1990.]]Google Scholar
- Bannon, L. Use, Design and Evaluation -- Steps towards an Integration. In D. Shapiro, M. Tauber, and R. Traunmueller (eds.) The Design of Computer-Supported Cooperative Work and Groupware Systems (series 'Human Factors in Information Systems' volume 12) Amsterdam, The Netherlands: North -- Holland, 1994.]]Google Scholar
- Bjerknes, G., and Brattegeig, T. User Participation and Democracy. A Discussion of Scandinavian Research on System Development. Scandinavian Journal of Information Systems, (7) 1, April 1995. pp. 73--98.]] Google ScholarDigital Library
- Budde, R., Kautz, K., Kuhlenkamp, K., and Züllighoven, H. Prototyping -- An Approach to Evolutionary System Development. Berlin: Springer-Verlag, 1992.]] Google ScholarDigital Library
- Cavaye, A. L. M. User Participation in System Development Revisited. Information and Management (28), 1995. pp. 311--323.]] Google ScholarDigital Library
- Checkland P. and Scholes J. Soft systems methodology in action, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, NY, 1990.]] Google ScholarDigital Library
- Cherry, C., and Macredie, R. D. The Importance of Context in Information System Design: An Assessment of Participatory Design. Requirements Engineering (4) 1999. pp. 103--114.]]Google ScholarCross Ref
- Floyd, C., Reisin, F.-M., and Schmidt, G. STEPS to Software development with Users. In: G. Ghezzi and J. A. McDermid (eds.) ESEC'89. Lecture Notes in Computer Science Nr. 387, Springer-Verlag, 1989. pp. 48--64]] Google ScholarDigital Library
- Greenbaum, J., and Kyng, M. (Eds.) (1991). Design at work Cooperative design of computer systems. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.]] Google ScholarDigital Library
- Grønbæk, K. Prototyping and Active User Involvement in System Development: Towards a Cooperative Prototyping Approach. Computer Science Department, Aarhus University, Ph.D. Thesis, September 1991.]]Google Scholar
- Grudin, J. Groupware and Social Dynamics: Eight Challenges for Developers. Communications of ACM, 37(1), 1994. pp. 92--105.]] Google ScholarDigital Library
- Grudin, J. Obstacles to participatory design in large product development organizations. In D. Schuler ja A. Namioka (Eds.) Participatory design: Principles and practices. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum, 1993. pp. 99--119.]]Google Scholar
- Gulliksen J., Lantz, A., and Boivie, I. User Centered Design in Practice -- Problems and Possibilities: A Summary of the 1998 PDC and CSCW workshop, SIGCHI Bulletin 31(2) 1999. pp. 25--35.]] Google ScholarDigital Library
- Herrmann, T., Kunau, G., Loser, K.-U., and Menold, N. Socio-Technical Walkthrough: Designing technology along work processes. In: Proceedings of Participatory Design Conference, 2004, pp. 132--141.]] Google ScholarDigital Library
- Hofmann, H. and Lehner, F. Requirements Engineering as a Success Factor in Software Projects. IEEE Software July/August 2001.]] Google ScholarDigital Library
- Iivari, J. and Hirschheim, R. Analyzing Information Systems Development: A Comparison and Analysis of Eight IS Development Approaches, Information Systems 21(7), 1996. pp. 551--575.]] Google ScholarDigital Library
- Iivari, J., and Iivari, N. Varieties of User-Centredness. Proceedings of Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS-39). 2006, IEEE Computer Society. CD-ROM]] Google ScholarDigital Library
- Iivari, J., R. Hirschheim, and H. K. Klein. A Dynamic Framework for Classifying Information Systems Development Methodologies and Approaches, Journal of Management Information Systems, (17)3, 2001, pp. 179--218.]]Google Scholar
- Irestig, M., Eriksson, H., and Timpka, T. The Impact of Participation in Information Systems Design: A Comparison of Contextual Placements. In: Proceedings of Participatory Design Conference, 2004, pp. 102--111.]] Google ScholarDigital Library
- ISO 13407. Human-centred design processes for interactive systems. 1999.]]Google Scholar
- Isomäki, H and Pekkola, S. Nuances of Human-centredness in Information Systems Development. In: Proceedings of Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS-38). 2005, IEEE Computer Society. CD-ROM]] Google ScholarDigital Library
- Isomäki, H. The Prevailing Conceptions of the Human Being in Information Systems Development: Systems Designers' Reflections. University of Tampere, Tampere, Finland. 2002.]]Google Scholar
- Jiang, J., Klein, K. and Means, T. Project Risk Impact on Software Development Team Performance. Project Management Journal 31(4), 2000. pp. 19--26.]]Google Scholar
- Kyng, M. Designing for Cooperation: Cooperating in Design. Communications of the ACM, 34 (12), 1991. pp. 65--73.]] Google ScholarDigital Library
- Kyng, M. Scandinavian Design: Users in Product Development. In: Proceedings of the Conference on Computer-Human Interaction (CHI'94), 1994. ACM Press, 3--9.]] Google ScholarDigital Library
- Lynch, T. and Gregor. S. User Participation in Decision Support Systems Development: Influencing system outcomes. European Journal of Information Systems 13, 2004. 286--301.]] Google ScholarDigital Library
- Markus, M. L. and Mao, J. Participation in Development and Implementation -- Updating an old, tired concept for todays's IS contexts. Journal of the Association for Information Systems, 5 (11-12), 2004. pp. 514--544.]]Google ScholarCross Ref
- McConnell, S. Rapid Development: Taming Wild Software Schedules. Microsoft Press, 1996.]] Google ScholarDigital Library
- Mumford, E. Designing Human Systems: For New Technology. Manchester Business School, 1993.]]Google Scholar
- Nurminen, M. I. and Forsman, U. Reversed Quality Life Cycle Model. In: G. E. Bradley and H. W. Hendrick (Eds.) Human Factors in Organizational Design and Management IV. Amsterdam: Elsevier. Science, 1994. pp.393--398.]]Google Scholar
- Orlikowski, W. J. Learning from Notes: Organizational Issues in Groupware Implementation. In: Proceedings of Computer-supported Cooperative Work (CSCW '92), 1992. ACM Press. pp. 362--369.]] Google ScholarDigital Library
- Pekkola, S., Multiple Media in Group Work: Emphasising Individual Users in Distributed and Real-Time CSCW Systems. University of Jyväskylä, Finland. Jyväskylä Studies in Computing 29. 2003.]]Google Scholar
- Pekkola, S., Robinson, M., Korhonen, J., Hujala, S., & Toivonen, T. Multimedia Application to Support Distance Learning and Other Social Interactions in Real-time. Journal of Network and Computer Applications 23(4). 2000. pp. 381--399.]] Google ScholarDigital Library
- Pipek, V. and Wulf, V. A Groupware's Life. Proceedings of the 6th European Conference on Computer-supported Cooperative Work (ECSCW'99), Copenhagen, September 14--16, 1999, Kluwer Academic Publishers, pp. 199--218.]] Google ScholarDigital Library
- Prinz, W., Mark, G., and Pankoke-Babatz, U. Designing Groupware for Congruency in Use. Proceedings of Computer-supported Cooperative Work (CSCW'98). Seattle, USA, ACM Press. 1998. pp. 373--382.]] Google ScholarDigital Library
- Robinson, M. Design for unanticipated use... In: G. de Michelis, C. Simone, and K. Schmidt (Eds.) Proceedings of the Third European Conference on Computer Supported cooperative Work (ECSCW'93). Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1993. pp. 187--202.]] Google ScholarDigital Library
- Rose, J. Interaction, transformation and information systems development -- an extended application of Soft Systems Methodology. Information Technology and People 15 (3) 2002, pp. 242--268.]]Google ScholarCross Ref
- Schuler, D. and Namioka, A. (Eds.) Participatory design: Principles and practices. Hillsdale, NJ. 1993.]] Google ScholarDigital Library
- Twidale, M. Randall, D., and Bentley, R. Situated Evaluation for Cooperative Systems. Proceedings of CSCW'94: Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work, Chapel Hill, NC, USA. (Eds.) Furuta, and Neuwirth. Communications of the ACM Press, 1994. pp. 441--452.]] Google ScholarDigital Library
- Voß, A., Procter, R., and Williams, R. Innovation in Use: Interleaving day-to-day operation and systems development. Proceedings of the Participatory Design Conference, 2000.]]Google Scholar
- Wood, J. and Silver, D. Joint Application Development. John Wiley and Sons. 1995.]] Google ScholarDigital Library
- Zhang, P., Carey, J., Te'eni, D., and Tremaine, M. Integrating human-computer interaction development into the systems development life cycle: a methodology. Communications of the Association for Information Systems, 15, 2005, pp. 512--543.]]Google ScholarCross Ref
Index Terms
- Towards formalised end-user participation in information systems development process: bridging the gap between participatory design and ISD methodologies
Recommendations
Ethnography and information systems development: Ethnography of, for and within is development
Ethnography is a style of qualitiative research method which has been discussed in a number of ways in association with the development of software systems. In this paper we identify a number of distinct uses to which ethnography and ethnographies have ...
Controlling information systems development: a new typology for an evolving field
This study explores how and why information systems development ISD approaches differ in their tactics to control the behaviour of development teams. Drawing from prior research on organisational control, we conduct qualitative case studies at four ...
Information Systems Development as an Activity
Information systems development (ISD) is analysed in this paper as a systemic work activity, using Activity Analysis and Development (ActAD) as the theoretical framework. ISD is regarded here as the process by which some collective work activity is ...
Comments