| dc.description.abstract | The active involvement of users is considered a best practice in the development of information systems and is a core element in both user-centered and participatory design. Considering the increasing size and complexity of information systems, however, user participation poses challenges that are predominantly associated with the scale of the systems and projects in which they are developed. Despite the recognition, in the human-computer interaction, information systems, and participatory design literature, that scale can represent a challenge in terms of user participation, the understanding of how aspects of scale affect participation and user influence is poorly developed. For participatory design, in particular, the lack of such an understanding is problematic because scale may be considered a threat to its democratic and empowering value basis.
The research described in this thesis was guided by the following research question: “How does scale affect user participation practice in the development of large information systems?” To answer this question, a case study was conducted of a large-scale health IT project, in which more than 400 healthcare workers were involved in the development of the system. The goal of the project is to implement a shared electronic health record system in Central Norway. The case study is complemented by a systematic literature review of the challenges associated with scaling participatory design.
The combined research results suggest that the structural elements or boundary conditions (e.g., project contract, timeline and decision structure, group compositions, participating users and facilitators of participatory project activities) of a large-scale IT project can shape user participation in ways that unintentionally — and sometimes subtly — risk reducing participating users’ influence. What boundary conditions are of relevance in this regard and how they may affect user participation and influence will likely be highly project specific.
In conclusion, the boundary conditions of a large-scale IT project can have a significant effect on user participation and thus risk compromising user influence. While the loss of user influence may reduce usability and user acceptance of the information system being developed, such an issue can be viewed as a threat to the methodological integrity of participatory design in cases in which such a design methodology is applied. Regardless of the design methodology, however, identifying relevant boundary conditions that risk compromising user participation in the development of large-scale information systems can be an important countermeasure to this threat. | en_US |
