An Activity-Theoretical Method for Studying User Participation in IS Design

2003 ◽  
Vol 42 (04) ◽  
pp. 398-404 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Lehenkari ◽  
S. Hyysalo
Keyword(s):  
Design Process ◽  
Historical Analysis ◽  
Theoretical Method ◽  
User Participation ◽  
Design Work ◽  
Conceptual Tool ◽  
User Groups ◽  
Near Future ◽  
Is Design

Summary Objectives: This paper aims to present an activity-theoretical method for studying the effects of user participation in IS development. Methods: This method is developed through a case study of the process of designing a diabetes database. Results and Conclusions: The method consists of a historical analysis of the design process, an ethno-graphical study of the use of the database, and researcher-driven interventions into the on-going user-producer interaction. In the historical analysis, we study particularly which user groups of the database have influenced the design work and which perspectives need to be incorporated into the design in the near future. An analytical model consisting of perspectives on local design, particular technology, and societal domain is introduced as a conceptual tool for this analysis. We also introduce the possibility of employing the historical analysis in guiding an ethno-graphical study of the user sites and researcher-driven interventions, which provide the participants with tools for improving their design process.

Time, Attitude, and User Participation

2010 ◽  
pp. 80-98
Keyword(s):  
Process Model ◽  
User Involvement ◽  
Implementation Process ◽  
Model Analysis ◽  
User Participation ◽  
Erp Implementation ◽  
New Techniques ◽  
Erp System ◽  
User Groups

Assimilation of a standard ERP system to an organization is difficult. User involvement seems to be the crux of the matter. However, even the best intentions for user involvement may come to nothing. A case study of a five-year ERP implementation process reveals that a main reason may be that the perception of usefulness of the system in any given phase of the implementation is heavily dependent on preceding events—the process. A process model analysis identifies eight episodes and nine encounters in the case showing that the user’s attitude towards the ERP system changes between acceptance, equivocation, resistance and rejection depending on three things: (1) the dynamic between user and consultants, (2) the dynamic between different user groups, and (3) the understanding of technical, organizational and socio-technical options. When relating the empirical findings to existing theory on user participation, it is argued that the changes could be explained as a slide from influential user participation toward pseudo participation and back to influential participation, and that user participation in the context of ERP implementations raises new issues regarding user participation. Thus further research regarding new approaches and/or new techniques and tools for user participation in the context of ERP implementations is needed.

De-scripting office design: exploring design intentions in use

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Elisabeth Søiland
Keyword(s):  
Design Process ◽  
Single Case ◽  
Organisational Change ◽  
User Participation ◽  
Change Processes ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Office Design ◽  
Public Organisation ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose This paper aims to explore how users respond to office design through their use of space. Intentions for how office spaces should be used can be not only understood as sociomaterial scripts that are inscribed into the architecture by designers but also communicated through organisational change processes. The paper elaborates on how users de-script office spaces, that is, how they respond to these scripts through use. Design/methodology/approach The paper draws on a case study of an office design intervention in a public organisation. Taking a sociomaterial approach, the paper uses the concepts of scripting and de-scripting to analyse the data. Findings The findings show that users subscribe to, repair, resist or re-script design scripts. This suggests that users can enact agency in use through creative acts of appropriation. Further, both materiality and user participation play equivocal roles in user responses. Research limitations/implications The paper is based on a single case study where the design process was studied retrospectively. The case is regarded as typical of contemporary office design processes, but more studies that follow projects from design into use are needed. Practical implications This suggests that design solutions should be better adapted to the work practices instead of applying generic concepts to specific situations and that design and use should be understood as overlapping processes. Originality/value The originality of this study lies in linking aspects of the design process with user responses and in taking a sociomaterial approach to examine design and use.

Trends in Public Design for the Disabled

2011 ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Kin Wai Michael Siu
Keyword(s):  
Design Process ◽  
Equal Opportunity ◽  
User Participation ◽  
Disabled People ◽  
Daily Lives ◽  
Visually Impaired People ◽  
The Disabled ◽  
Important Trend ◽  
Public Design

The goal of an inclusive society with equal opportunity for all is increasingly recognised and promoted worldwide. However, disabled people still face many difficulties in their daily lives, as well as some degree of exclusion from the wider society. Over the past few years, public design has considered ways to benefit disabled people, with an increasing trend to consult with and take advice from disabled people themselves. Taking aircraft lavatories as a case study, this chapter explores ways to help visually impaired people have a better quality of life, with minimal assistance from other people. This chapter discusses how the public design process can use consultative, participatory and inclusive approaches to generate understanding, so that the outcome of applied research fits the needs and preferences of disabled people. This chapter is not just a report on a particular case study. It also hopes to arouse designers’‘ awareness of user-participation as an important trend in public design. Disabled people, users, should be invited to participate actively in the design process in order to bring real benefits to the disabled community, thereby contributing to an inclusive and harmonious society.

Developing design literacy through brand-based artefacts

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Catarina LELIS
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Study ◽  
Focus Groups ◽  
Design Process ◽  
Basic Design ◽  
Willingness To Participate ◽  
Socially Responsible ◽  
Interaction Structure ◽  
Functional Prototype ◽  
High Willingness

The brand is a powerful representational and identification-led asset that can be used to engage staff in creative, sustainable and developmental activities. Being a brand the result of, foremost, a design exercise, it is fair to suppose that it can be a relevant resource for the advancement of design literacy within organisational contexts. The main objective of this paper was to test and validate an interaction structure for an informed co-design process on visual brand artefacts. To carry on the empirical study, a university was chosen as case study as these contexts are generally rich in employee diversity. A non-functional prototype was designed, and walkthroughs were performed in five focus groups held with staff. The latter evidenced a need/wish to engage with basic design principles and high willingness to participate in the creation of brand design artefacts, mostly with the purposeof increasing its consistent use and innovate in its representation possibilities, whilst augmenting the brand’s socially responsible values.

Causing a Stir

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Camilo POTOCNJAK-OXMAN
Keyword(s):  
Design Process ◽  
Collaborative Design ◽  
Entrepreneurial Activity ◽  
Design Team ◽  
Design Processes ◽  
Early Stages

Stir was a crowd-voted grants platform aimed at supporting creative youth in the early stages of an entrepreneurial journey. Developed through an in-depth, collaborative design process, between 2015 and 2018 it received close to two hundred projects and distributed over fifty grants to emerging creatives and became one of the most impactful programs aimed at increasing entrepreneurial activity in Canberra, Australia. The following case study will provide an overview of the methodology and process used by the design team in conceiving and developing this platform, highlighting how the community’s interests and competencies were embedded in the project itself. The case provides insights for people leading collaborative design processes, with specific emphasis on some of the characteristics on programs targeting creative youth

Cyberphysical Design Automation Framework for Knowledge-based Engineering

2013 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 158-178
Author(s):  
Urcun John Tanik
Keyword(s):  
System Design ◽  
Design Process ◽  
Design Automation ◽  
Design Theory ◽  
Knowledge Bases ◽  
Knowledge Based ◽  
Knowledge Based Engineering ◽  
Cyberphysical System ◽  
Automation Framework

Cyberphysical system design automation utilizing knowledge based engineering techniques with globally networked knowledge bases can tremendously improve the design process for emerging systems. Our goal is to develop a comprehensive architectural framework to improve the design process for cyberphysical systems (CPS) and implement a case study with Axiomatic Design Solutions Inc. to develop next generation toolsets utilizing knowledge-based engineering (KBE) systems adapted to multiple domains in the field of CPS design automation. The Cyberphysical System Design Automation Framework (CPSDAF) will be based on advances in CPS design theory based on current research and knowledge collected from global sources automatically via Semantic Web Services. A case study utilizing STEM students is discussed.

Statistical approach for describing failures and lifetimes of water mains

1998 ◽  
Vol 38 (6) ◽  
pp. 209-217 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jianhua Lei ◽  
Sveinung Sægrov
Keyword(s):  
Data Base ◽  
Ductile Iron ◽  
Counting Process ◽  
Statistical Approach ◽  
Process Models ◽  
Average Lifetime ◽  
Maintenance Practice ◽  
Water Mains ◽  
Near Future

This paper demonstrates the statistical approach for describing failures and lifetimes of water mains. The statistical approach is based on pipe inventory data and the maintenance data registered in the data base. The approach consists of data pre-processing and statistical analysis. Two classes of statistical models are applied, namely counting process models and lifetime models. With lifetime models, one can estimate the probability which a pipe will fail within a time horizon. With counting process models one can see the deteriorating (or improving) trend in time of a group of “identical” pipes and their rates of occurrence of failure (ROCOF). The case study with the data base from Trondheim municipality (Norway) demonstrates the applicability of the statistical approach and leads to the following results: 1). In the past 20 years, Trondheim municipality has experienced approximately 250 to 300 failures per year. However, the number of failures per year will significantly increase in the near future unless better maintenance practice is implemented now. 2). Unprotected ductile iron pipes have a higher probability of failures than other materials. The average lifetime of unprotected ductile iron pipes is approximately 30 to 40 years shorter than the lifetime of a cast iron pipe. 3). Pipes installed 1963 and 1975 are most likely to fail in the future; 4) The age of a pipe does not play a significant role for the remaining lifetime of the pipe; 5). After 2 to 3 failures, a pipe enters a fast-failure stage (i.e., frequent multiple between failures).

White Writers, Race Matters

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregory S. Jay
Keyword(s):  
Literary History ◽  
Historical Analysis ◽  
Cultural Work ◽  
Cultural Narratives ◽  
Literary Forms ◽  
The Social ◽  
White Writers ◽  
American Literary History ◽  
Taking Action

White liberal race fiction has been an enduringly popular genre in American literary history. It includes widely read and taught works such as Huckleberry Finn and To Kill a Mockingbird along with period bestsellers now sometimes forgotten. Hollywood regularly adapted them into blockbusters, reinforcing their cultural influence. These novels and films protest slavery, confront stereotypes, dramatize social and legal injustices, engage the political controversies of their time, and try to move readers emotionally toward taking action. The literary forms and arguments of these books derive from the cultural work they intend to do in educating the minds and hearts, and propelling the actions, of those who think they are white—indeed, in making the social construction of that whiteness readable and thus more susceptible of reform. The white writers of these fictions struggle with their own place in systems of oppression and privilege while asking their readers to do the same. The predominance of women among this tradition’s authors leads to exploring how their critiques of gender and race norms often reinforced each other. Each chapter provides a case study combining biography, historical analysis, close reading, and literary theory to map the significance of this genre and its ongoing relevance. This tradition remains vital because every generation must relearn the lessons of antiracism and formulate effective cultural narratives for passing on the intellectual and emotional tools useful in fighting injustice.

come_NET

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Konstantin Aal ◽  
Anne Weibert ◽  
Kai Schubert ◽  
Mary-Ann Sprenger ◽  
Thomas Von Rekowski
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Design Process ◽  
Participatory Design ◽  
Controlled Environment ◽  
Design And Implementation ◽  
Neighborhood Contexts ◽  
Study Results ◽  
Computer Club ◽  
Close Cooperation

The case study presented in this chapter discusses the design and implementation of an online platform, “come_NET,” in the context of intercultural computer clubs in Germany. This tool was built in close cooperation with the children and adult computer club participants. It was designed to foster the sharing of ideas and experiences across distances, support collaboration, and make skills and expertise accessible to others in the local neighborhood contexts. In particular, the participatory-design process involving the children in the computer clubs fostered a profound understanding of the platform structure and functionalities. The study results show how younger children in particular were able to benefit, as the closed nature of the platform enabled them to gather experience as users of social media, but in a safe and controlled environment.

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