A Study of User Participation in Information Systems Development

1994 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-60 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eva Y.W. Wong ◽  
Graham Tate
Keyword(s):  
System Development ◽  
User Involvement ◽  
User Participation ◽  
Successful Implementation ◽  
Implementation Success ◽  
Future Developments ◽  
Computer Based ◽  
Participation Process ◽  
Insight Into

User participation in information system development is considered to be an important factor influencing implementation success or failure. The ETHICS (Effective Technical and Human Implementation of Computer-based Systems) method was developed as a guide to user involvement in system design. A case study of successful implementation which did not use the ETHICS method explicitly is described. The case study and the ETHICS methodology are then compared and contrasted in an attempt to gain greater insight into user participation and to understand why the implementation was successful. Furthermore, techniques of software process modelling are applied to both ETHICS and the case study with the intention of more closely defining the user participation process and potentially also guiding it in future developments. The case study is used as a vehicle both to examine user participation and also to investigate the modelling of user participation.

Hoe gesprekken een participatieproces maken of breken

2019 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine Bleijenberg ◽  
Noëlle Aarts ◽  
Reint Jan Renes
Keyword(s):  
Citizen Participation ◽  
Civil Servants ◽  
Comparative Case Study ◽  
Framing Analysis ◽  
Local Participation ◽  
Participatory Processes ◽  
Participation Process ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Discursive Patterns

A comparative case study into the meaning of conversations between citizens and government on the course and outcome of local participation processes Although the importance of conversations for citizen participation is widely recognized, there is still little insight into the meaning of conversations for participatory processes. This comparative case study provides insight into the discursive patterns that characterize the conversations between citizens, civil servants and other stakeholders in two participatory processes in different municipalities. Our framing-analysis shows how different discursive patterns develop in interaction and how these patterns effect the course and outcome in both participation processes. The results provide insight in how experiences of previous events influence the discursive patterns that participants construct in interaction. It is concluded that in both cases not the nature of the issue, but the way it was discussed and how participants framed this was crucial for the course and outcome of the participation process.

scholarly journals Improving Conditions for Cooperative System Design: shifting from a product to a process focus

1990 ◽  
Vol 19 (331) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kaj Grønbæk ◽  
Jonathan Grudin ◽  
Susanne Bødker ◽  
Liam J. Bannon
Keyword(s):  
System Development ◽  
Systems Design ◽  
User Involvement ◽  
Systems Development ◽  
User Participation ◽  
Computer Applications ◽  
Development Projects ◽  
Whole Process ◽  
The Face ◽  
Tools And Techniques

This paper deals with the conditions for cooperation between users and developers in systems development projects. At first glance, many projects seem to present immense obstacles to user involvement. At the same time, there is a growing recognition of the need for user-developer cooperation, and research projects are providing new tools and techniques that engage users as full participants in system development. Two disparate projects serve as examples to frame a discussion of the realities of user involvement (or lack thereof) in development projects. This allows us to note both the possibilities for, and the obstacles to, user participation. We believe that cooperative systems design is needed to improve the quality of interactive computer applications, and that often it can be brought about even in the face of admitted obstacles. To achieve this, users need to be involved early in the whole process, and contracts governing development may need to be re-thought: inflexibility hinders iterative design, independent of the type of project under consideration. Development contracts should be shaped as process contracts between user and development organizations with scheduled renegotiation points. In general, we believe that the concern for quality products and processes requires that systems development assume more of a process focus than is currently evident.

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.

Evaluating Inter-Organizational Information Systems

2005 ◽  
pp. 266-296
Author(s):  
Jill Drury ◽  
Jean Scholtz
Keyword(s):  
Information Systems ◽  
Sensitive Information ◽  
Advantages And Disadvantages ◽  
Organizational Information ◽  
Computer Based ◽  
Practical Guidance ◽  
Insight Into

This chapter describes different means of evaluating the usability and suitability of computer-based inter-organizational information systems (IOISs). It begins with describing why doing so is important yet difficult, and provides an assessment of the advantages and disadvantages of the major types of evaluation. It continues with a case study focusing on determining whether an application provides the necessary insight into other collaborators’ identities, presence, and activities while keeping sensitive information private from a subset of the collaborators. The goal of this chapter is to provide practical guidance to organizations seeking IOISs to help them choose (or develop) an IOIS that best meets their needs.

scholarly journals Framing and Evaluating the Best Practices of IFC-Based Automated Rule Checking: A Case Study

Buildings ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 456
Author(s):  
Soroush Sobhkhiz ◽  
Yu-Cheng Zhou ◽  
Jia-Rui Lin ◽  
Tamer E. El-Diraby
Keyword(s):  
Best Practices ◽  
System Development ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Successful Implementation ◽  
Iterative Approach ◽  
Future Studies ◽  
Data Standard ◽  
Rule Checking ◽  
Current Systems

This research reviews recent advances in the domain of Automated Rule Checking (ARC) and argues that current systems are predominantly designed to validate models in post-design stages, useful for applications such as e-permitting. However, such a design-check-separated paradigm imposes a burden on designers as they need to iteratively fix the fail-to-pass issues. Accordingly, the study reviews the best-practices of IFC-based ARC systems and proposes a framework for ARC system development, aiming to achieve proactive bottom-up solutions building upon the requirements and resources of end-users. To present and evaluate its capabilities, the framework is implemented in a real-life case study. The case study presents all the necessary steps that should be taken for the development of an ARC solution from rule selection and analysis, to implementation and feedback. It is explained how a rule checking problem can be broken down into separate modules implemented in an iterative approach. Results show that the proposed framework is feasible for successful implementation of ARC systems and highlight that a stable data standard and modeling guideline is needed to achieve proactive ARC solutions. The study also discusses that there are some critical limitations in using IFC which need to be addressed in future studies.

scholarly journals Critical Success Factors of System Requirements Definition in IT System Development: An Industrial Case Study

2019 ◽  
pp. 191-206
Author(s):  
Shinobu Komai ◽  
Rizky Prima Sakti ◽  
Hamdani Saidi
Keyword(s):  
Critical Success Factors ◽  
Success Factors ◽  
System Development ◽  
User Involvement ◽  
Agile Method ◽  
Industrial Case Study ◽  
Requirements Definition ◽  
Critical Success ◽  
System Requirements

The success of IT system development is largely dependent on the System Requirements Definition (SRD) phase. Researches on Critical Success Factors (CSFs) in the SRD phase are beneficial to the success of IT system development. However, reports that consider the situation in the system requirements definition phase is lacking and these studies try to develop universal truths for CSFs without lessons learnt from empirical evidence need to be characterized. This study is a step towards bridging this gap in characterized evidence to discover “difficult items” in the SRD phase. Moreover, we conducted a case study to justify the importance of CSFs that could be 1) Customer/User Involvement, 2) Clear project goals, and 3) Technical skills of the project team in the SRD phase. The results of the characterization indicated that those major CSFs are consistent. Another issue can also be mitigated by examining Agile method.

Looking At The User Side Of Software Engineering For Project Success

2021 ◽  
Vol 86 (2) ◽  
pp. 15-31
Author(s):  
Tor Guimaraes ◽  
Ketan Paranjape ◽  
Thomas Timmerman
Keyword(s):  
Software Engineering ◽  
User Satisfaction ◽  
Project Success ◽  
System Development ◽  
User Participation ◽  
General Definition ◽  
Successful Implementation ◽  
Engineering Project ◽  
Related Factors ◽  
User Training

As a general definition, software engineering is “the application of a systematic, disciplined, quantifiable approach to the development, operation, and maintenance of software.” The importance of user-related factors has long been recognized by various researchers as important to the successful implementation of any commercially available system. This study attempts to test the importance of these factors as determinants of software engineering project success as measured by adherence to specified requirements, compliance with initial budget estimations, timeliness of agreed delivery, and overall user satisfaction with the product delivered. It has brought together some user-related variables (degree of user participation, user expertise, user/developer communication, user training, user influence, and user conflict) previously studied separately by different authors into a more cohesive model. Data regarding 178 system development projects using software engineering methodologies has been used to test proposed relationships between the independent variables and project success as defined in this study. The results confirm the importance of user participation, training, expertise, user/developer communication, and lack of user conflict for improving project success.

Tasmanian Police Call Centre Project

2011 ◽  
pp. 259-269
Author(s):  
Leonie Thomas
Keyword(s):  
System Development ◽  
Change Agents ◽  
Call Centre ◽  
Modus Operandi ◽  
Australian State ◽  
Internal Information ◽  
Network Project ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Core Activity

This case study provides some insight into the development of a Call Centre in the Australian State of Tasmania for Tasmania Police. The Call Centre replaced the existing Criminal Offence Modus Operandi paper based system. The project was reliant on two other projects: Radio Network project and Project SAMSON (providing a standard desktop throughout the organisation). The project timeframe from conception to pilot was six months. The project had an operating budget of AUS $166,000. The project was managed by a project team with the development of the system outsourced to external contractors. The management of both the contractors and the internal information technology branch is a significant part of the case study along with system development. The organisation effectively used change management and change agents to help communicate information relating to the projects to the rest of the organisation. The aim of the project was to return as many police as possible back to their core activity, that is, policing.

Design Participation as an Insurance: Risk-management and End-user Participation in the Development of Information Systems in Healthcare Organizations

2002 ◽  
Vol 41 (01) ◽  
pp. 76-80 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Timpka ◽  
V. Vimarlund
Keyword(s):  
Information System ◽  
Information Systems ◽  
System Development ◽  
User Participation ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Care Staff ◽  
End User ◽  
Healthcare Organizations ◽  
Information System Development

Summary Objectives: The aim of this paper is to build a theoretical framework for analysis of when decision-makers should use end-user participation as a form of insurance for unforeseen consequences of implementing information systems in healthcare organizations. Method: Data were collected in a case study of an information system development project in a small clinical setting. During the initial phase, the future end-users of the system were allowed to actively influence the system design and test every new tool that was considered for implementation. Results: The results of the case study suggest that when time and effort are invested in allowing health-care staff to participate in information system development processes, the benefits can well exceed the costs throughout the life cycle of the project. Risk-averse decision-makers fearing negative secondary consequences of a HIS, with regard to clinical work flow, will always adopt measures to prevent future failures, if they can find a possibility of shifting these risks. Therefore, they calculate the present discounted value of the effects accrued over time to the unit and predict the amount of resources they are willing to pay to acquire an insurance (such as design participation) that will protect the organization from future losses. Conclusions: End-user participation in the design process can be the key positive influence on the quality of the service and, thereby, organizational effectiveness. Investments in broad design participation can, consequently, be a productive activity that transforms potential current income into future benefits.

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