A case study of user participation in the information systems development process

There are many in the information systemsdiscipline who believe that user participation is necessary for successful systems development. However, it has been suggested that this belief is neither grounded in theory nor substantiated by research data. This may indicate that researchers have not addressed fully the underlying complexity of the concept. If so, this is indicative of a deficiency in understanding user participation in information systems development as it occurs in organizations. In order to enhance the extant understanding of participative information systems development, the present study adopts a qualitative, case-based approach to research so as to provide an in-depth description of the complex social nature of the phenomenon as manifested in one organization. The results of the study illustrate that a high degree of direct and indirect user participation did not guarantee the successful implementation and use of information systems in the organization studied. Such pa...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 1997
• Where: ICIS
• Authors: Thomas Butler, Brian Fitzgerald
• Keywords: ICIS 1997, ICIS 2001, Information Systems, Systems Development, User Participation