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1 – 10 of over 131000Sofie Pilemalm, Ida Lindgren and Elina Ramsell
This study aims to explore recent public sector trends, inter-organizational and cross-sector collaborations, and analyzes these in terms of implications for participative…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore recent public sector trends, inter-organizational and cross-sector collaborations, and analyzes these in terms of implications for participative development of information systems (IS). These trends are understood as being part of emerging forms of e-government. Initial suggestions for how to develop IS in the new contexts are provided.
Design/methodology/approach
Three cases involving the trends described above, taking place in the Swedish emergency response system, are studied and used as basis for identified participative IS development challenges and suggested adaptation needs. Data collection involves semi-structured interviews, focus groups and future workshops.
Findings
The identified challenges concern balancing ideological versus practical needs, lack of resources, lack of know-how and design techniques and tool challenges. Some practical implications for participative IS development include more extensive focus on stakeholder and legal analysis, need for interdisciplinary design teams, merging of task and needs analysis for yet-undefined user tasks and using on-line alternatives for interacting with users.
Research implications/limitations
The study is exploratory where the three cases are in different, but at the same time interrelated, collaboration contexts. The identified implications and challenges provide proposals that in future research can be applied, formalized and integrated when developing practically feasible participative IS development approaches.
Originality/value
It is argued that the results point toward a current emerging form of e-government initiatives directed toward certain demarcated groups of citizens actually carrying out certain tasks for their co-citizens and society rather than the broad masses, having far-reaching practical implications and complicating the issue of IS development.
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Abdelkader Daghfous and Norita Ahmad
The purpose of this paper is to elucidate the concept of user development which consists of proactively transferring knowledge to potential users of IT innovations in order to…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to elucidate the concept of user development which consists of proactively transferring knowledge to potential users of IT innovations in order to increase the likelihood of innovation adoption and diffusion.
Design/methodology/approach
An exploratory approach was adopted using three case organizations representing different sectors. These organizations represent the public, the semi-government, and the private sectors.
Findings
The findings show that proactive knowledge transfer builds the requisite absorptive capacity of users to understand, adopt new and complex systems and technologies, and effectively integrate them into their organizations, hence increasing their likelihood of adopting such innovations. The findings also show that effective user development hinges on proper selection of potential users and on goals alignment between the innovating firm and the selected users.
Research limitations/implications
The framework could be further refined through more diverse case studies from a broader range of companies. Survey-based investigations are also needed to operationalize the constructs and explore its effects on the performance of the innovating firm. In practice, innovation managers should be more proactive by recognizing the value of knowledge transfer when it comes to expanding and accelerating the adoption and diffusion of their innovations.
Originality/value
This paper illustrates the importance of proactive knowledge transfer, especially in situation that call for absorptive capacity building. This paper also opens new opportunities for innovation managers to sell their innovations faster and to a wider market, and perhaps even altering the trajectory of particular innovations.
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This paper aims to explore a case of customer and user participation in an agile software development project, which produced a tailor‐made information system for workplace…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore a case of customer and user participation in an agile software development project, which produced a tailor‐made information system for workplace support as a step towards a theory of participatory design in agile software development.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on an integrated framework for user participation derived from the participatory design literature the research was performed as a case study and semi‐structured, open‐ended interviews were conducted with about a third of the development team and with a representative sample of key players and future users in the customer organization. The interview data were supplemented with company and project documents.
Findings
The paper found genuine customer and user participation carried out by onsite customers and by other operational staff in the form of direct and indirect participation and with functional and democratic empowerment. The onsite customers played informative, consultative and participative roles. The analysis revealed that planning games, user stories and story cards, working software and acceptance tests structured the customer and user participation. This form of user participation supported a balance between flexibility and project progress and resulted in a project and a product which were considered a success by the customer and the development organization. The analysis showed that the integrative framework for user participation can also fruitfully be used in a new context to understand what participatory design is and how, when and where it can be performed as an instance of a design process in agile development. As such the paper contributes to an analytical and a design theory of participatory design in agile development. Furthermore the paper explicates why participatory design contributes to the successful completion of the investigated project. By drawing on innovation theory it was found that participatory design in agile development bears the characteristics of a successful organizational innovation. Grounding further explanations in complex adaptive systems theory the paper provides an additional argument why participatory design despite some identified challenges fosters project staff to successfully carry out the agile development project.
Originality/value
The paper presents an exploratory, empirical study of an understudied phenomenon and contributes to theory building.
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Antoinette Kieback, Horst Lichter, Matthias Schneider‐Hufschmidt and Heinz Züllighoven
Presents five case studies of industrial software projectsspecifically involving prototyping. Designates projects ranging from 240person‐years to two person‐years involving large…
Abstract
Presents five case studies of industrial software projects specifically involving prototyping. Designates projects ranging from 240 person‐years to two person‐years involving large industrial corporations to small/medium software manufacturers. Analyses the benefits and limitations of prototyping. Concludes that prototyping is conducive to the quality of the product and the development process, particularly when used in conjunction with an evolutionary development strategy and when all parties are aware of the benefits and limitations.
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Detlef Zuehlke and Nancy Thiels
The development time for user interfaces is drastically reduced by today's shorter product life cycles. Generally, at the end of the development phase, there is not enough time or…
Abstract
Purpose
The development time for user interfaces is drastically reduced by today's shorter product life cycles. Generally, at the end of the development phase, there is not enough time or money left to enhance the usability of software. After the user interface has been developed, the users are left alone to handle any problems with the interface. Systematic development using engineering processes can help to overcome these usability problems. Engineering processes identify and consider clearly defined requirements during the development phase. This results in more usable products and a growing recognition of the importance of engineering processes. This article aims to introduce a structured Useware engineering process that increases the effectiveness and efficiency of user interface development.
Design/methodology/approach
This article introduces a structured Useware engineering process, the application of which enhances user orientation which leads to higher acceptance and more practical user interfaces.
Findings
The article finds that the current process is supported by various expert development tools for the production of user interfaces; these tools ensure a systematic and continuous data transferability from one phase to the next. The process has already provided remarkable results in the area of task orientation and usability within several different industrial sectors, e.g. medicine, manufacturing industry and process engineering. Further possibilities to apply this process are software for online catolog planning or lending and return machines.
Originality/value
This article introduces a structured engineering process that increases the effectiveness and efficiency of user interface development which has the possibility of use in online catolog planning or lending and return machines.
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The purpose of this paper is to describe a case study of the development, features and evaluation of a rich internet application for libraries. It aims to demonstrate best…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to describe a case study of the development, features and evaluation of a rich internet application for libraries. It aims to demonstrate best practice in the use of software standards, development processes and evaluation.
Design/methodology/approach
Web 2.0, open source design methods and usability testing were used within an agile framework.
Findings
The adoption of agile software development methods, coupled with usability testing, would enable the library community to take full advantage of the techniques and principles inherent in Web 2.0 open source software.
Research limitations/implications
A major component of the evaluation of OJAX was a series of usability tests. As is the nature of most usability studies, the results are not generalisable.
Originality/value
Aspects of agile software development methods, such as usability testing and iterative design, are recognised in the literature as contributing to the usability of library software. However, exploration of the use of a full agile framework plus usability testing to facilitate Web 2.0 open source software is rare in library‐related literature.
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Karin Axelsson, Ulf Melin and Ida Lindgren
The purpose of this research is to investigate if, and in that case, how and what the e‐government field can learn from user participation concepts and theories in general…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this research is to investigate if, and in that case, how and what the e‐government field can learn from user participation concepts and theories in general information systems (IS) research. It aims to contribute with further understanding of the importance of citizen participation and involvement within the e‐government research body of knowledge and when developing public e‐services in practice.
Design/methodology/approach
The analysis in the paper is made from a comparative, qualitative case study of two e‐government projects. Three analysis themes are induced from the literature review; practice of participation, incentives for participation, and organization of participation. These themes are guiding the comparative analysis of our data with a concurrent openness to interpretations from the field.
Findings
The main results in this paper are that the e‐government field can get inspiration and learn from methods and approaches in traditional IS projects concerning user participation, but in e‐government, methods are also needed to handle the challenges that arise when designing public e‐services for large, heterogeneous user groups. Citizen engagement cannot be seen as a separate challenge in e‐government, but rather as an integrated part of the process of organizing, managing, and performing e‐government projects. Analysis themes of participation generated from literature; practice, incentives and organization can be used in order to highlight, analyze, and discuss main issues regarding the challenges of citizen participation within e‐government. This is an important implication based on this paper that contributes both to theory on and practice of e‐government.
Practical implications
Lessons to learn from this paper concern that many e‐government projects have a public e‐service as one outcome and an internal e‐administration system as another outcome. A dominating internal, agency perspective in such projects might imply that citizens as the user group of the e‐service are only seen as passive receivers of the outcome – not as active participants in the development. By applying the analysis themes, proposed in this paper, citizens as active participants can be thoroughly discussed when initiating (or evaluating) an e‐government project.
Originality/value
The paper addresses challenges regarding citizen participation in e‐government development projects. User participation is well researched within the IS discipline, but the e‐government setting implies new challenges that are not explored enough.
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Jakob Trischler, Simon J. Pervan and Donald Robert Scott
Many firms use customer co-creation practices with the aim of benefiting from their customers’ knowledge, skills and resources. This paper aims to explore co-creation processes…
Abstract
Purpose
Many firms use customer co-creation practices with the aim of benefiting from their customers’ knowledge, skills and resources. This paper aims to explore co-creation processes which involve users with different background characteristics and motivational drivers.
Design/methodology/approach
The study builds on an analysis of data from six teams in which users collaborated with in-house professionals for the development of new service concepts. Observations and open-ended questionnaires provided insights into the teams’ development processes. Independent experts rated the generated concepts. The data were analysed using cross-comparison matrices.
Findings
The findings suggest that the co-creation process and outcomes can be influenced by numerous intra-team factors, including relationship and task conflicts, participation style, team bonding, team identity and cohesiveness and intra-team collaboration. Their occurrence and influence seem to be linked with a specific team composition. A conceptual co-creation process model and six propositions are used to describe the complex relationships between team composition, intra-team factors and key innovation outcomes.
Research limitations/implications
Research that investigates user involvement in teams needs to consider the complexity of intra-team factors affecting the development process and outcomes. The findings are limited to a specific setting, design task and user sample. Future research should replicate this study in different sectors.
Practical implications
Key to customer co-creation is the systematic recruitment of users based on their background characteristics and motivational drivers. For instance, the involvement of users with very specific innovation-related benefit expectations can cause conflict, leading to narrowly focused outcomes. This, however, can be mitigated by the form of facilitation and roles adopted by in-house professionals. Understanding intra-team dynamics can allow the firm to assemble and facilitate customer co-creation so that generated outcomes can align with set innovation targets.
Originality/value
This paper provides original insights into the “black box” of the customer co-creation process and the complex relationship between team composition, intra-team factors and key innovation outcomes.
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The purpose of this paper is to report findings from an interpretive case study on user participation in the open source software (OSS) development context.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to report findings from an interpretive case study on user participation in the open source software (OSS) development context.
Design/methodology/approach
Through an empirical, interpretive case study and a literature review utilising the metaphor of text in the analysis, this paper provides a refined conceptualisation of user participation in OSS development.
Findings
The paper reveals that different kinds of meanings have been attached to users and to their participation. User participation is both direct and indirect in the OSS development context. Some user groups actively take part in OSS development, while others are merely represented in it. Different kinds of intermediaries “representing the users” are identified.
Research limitations/implications
The research is based on one case study on a small but active OSS project with an interest in users. Other kinds of OSS projects should be analysed. The analysis was focused on a discussion forum, but users can take part in OSS development by other means as well. Paths for future work should include the gathering of more varied empirical data.
Practical implications
The findings indicate that users can provide feedback to the development through discussion forums in the distributed environment, but there is a need to support the users in doing so and the developers in analysing the data. The importance of different kinds of intermediaries “representing the users” is highlighted.
Originality/value
The paper provides thorough empirical insights and a refined conceptualisation of user participation addressing the currently weakly empirically explored OSS development context.
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Paul Beynon‐Davies, Douglas Tudhope and Hugh Mackay
In this paper we discuss some of the particular features of user involvement in information systems (IS) development projects with reference to the idea of the trajectory of…
Abstract
In this paper we discuss some of the particular features of user involvement in information systems (IS) development projects with reference to the idea of the trajectory of development being a political/cultural process. The main aim is to attempt to supply more depth to an understanding of the pragmatics of user involvement in IS development projects. We illustrate how in one particular project, differences in organisational sub‐cultures, and in particular the way in which the technology was ‘framed’, led to differences in the way in which an information system was conceived. These differences, in turn, contributed to elements of organisational conflict between stakeholder groups over the future trajectory of the IS development. We conclude with a critique of some generally held assumptions concerning user involvement.
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