-------- Original Message --------
***Apologies for cross-posting***
*
Call for Papers: Special Issue on *User Participation/Centeredness
in
New, Challenging IS Contexts*
AIS Transactions on Human-Computer Interaction
<http://aisel.aisnet.org/thci>
*
User participation has been a central topic for decades, but it is
about
time to revisit it because the previous findings might not fit the
new
IS contexts we face today (Markus & Mao 2004). Outsourcing or
purchasing
of off-the-shelf software has isolated users from developers.
Problems
are also introduced with web-based and mobile solutions with large
and
geographically scattered user bases. In addition, systems may
nowadays
be designed for consumers, who may use them during domestic life and
leisure activities. Selecting and contacting these users may be
challenging. The user population has also widened to include new
groups
of people with varying ages, education, and interests (e.g.
children,
Druin 2002). Furthermore, new development approaches, such as open
source and end-user software development require reconsidering the
concept of user participation (e.g. Barcellini et al. 2008, Syrjänen
2007). Another recent trend has been to hire or rely on different
kinds
of intermediaries to 'represent the users' in the development
process
(Cooper & Bowers 1995): e.g. usability or
user-centered/interaction/user
experience design specialists, ethnographers or change agents (e.g.
Iivari et al. 2009, Karasti 2001, Markus & Mao 2004).
It has also been acknowledged that there are many controversies and
ambiguities in the literature regarding what is meant by user
participation or user centeredness. Usability engineering,
user-centered
design, interaction design and user experience design are recent
approaches for ensuring user focus. Generally, there is a multitude
of
approaches to rely on, and clear differences related to both the
motives
and the practical means suggested (e.g. Iivari & Iivari, in
press). The
motives may range from achieving workplace democracy to work
intensification and profit maximization (e.g. Asaro 2000, Spinuzzi
2002). The users may be allowed to have decision-making power
regarding
solutions, but they may also be permitted only to provide background
information or feedback to the already-made decisions (e.g.
Damodaran
1996, Iivari 2006, Keinonen 2009).
This special issue aims to attract conceptual, theoretical and
empirical
papers, with a focus on reconceptualizing user
participation/centeredness, on understanding the challenges and
opportunities of these new IS contexts or on ways of enhancing and
fostering user participation/centeredness in these contexts, for
example:
- User-centered design/user participation in
outsourced/offshore/application package based IS development
- IS development for/with groups with special needs (for instance,
children or the elderly)
- IS development for users with disparate skill levels
- Practices and challenges involved with 'representing the users' in
IS
development
- User-centered design/user participation in open source software
development
- User-centered design/user participation and end user development
- The role/importance of intermediaries in user-centered design/user
participation
- User-centered design/user participation in
mobile/web-based/ubiquitous
environments
**Information for Authors **
Please see the THCI website (http://aisel.aisnet.org/thci/)
for more
information. For information about manuscript preparation, see
(http://aisel.aisnet.org/thci/authorinfo.html).
For information about
the review process, see (http://aisel.aisnet.org/thci/policy.html).
All
submissions should be made through the THCI manuscript review system
(http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/thci
<http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/thci%29.>).
*Important
Dates*
- 2010/10/31: Deadline for Submissions
- 2011/01/31: Review Results to Authors
- 2011/04/30: Deadline for Revisions
- 2011/08/31: Final Decisions
- 2012: Publishing the Special Issue
*Co-Editors*
Netta Iivari, Department of Information Processing Science,
University
of Oulu, Oulu, Finland, Email: netta.iivari(at)oulu.fi
/Horst
Treiblmaier/, Department of
Management Information Systems,
Vienna University of Economics and Business, Vienna, Austria, Email:
Horst.Treiblmaier(at)wu.ac.at
/Dennis
Galletta/, University of
Pittsburgh, Katz Graduate School of
Business, Pittsburg, USA, Email: galletta(at)katz.pitt.edu
*References*
Asaro, P. (2000): Transforming Society by Transforming Technology:
the
science and politics of participatory design. Accounting, Management
and
Information Technologies 10(4): 257-290.
Barcellini, F., Detienne, F. & Burkhardt, J. (2008): User and
developer
mediation in an Open Source Software community: Boundary spanning
through cross participation in online discussions. International
Journal
of Human-Computer Studies 66: 558-570.
Cooper, C. & Bowers, J. (1995): Representing the users: Notes on
the
disciplinary rhetoric of human-computer interaction. In P. Thomas
(ed.):
The Social and Interactional Dimensions of Human-Computer
Interfaces.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 48-66.
Damodaran L. (1996): User involvement in the systems design process
-- a
practical guide for users. Behaviour & Information Technology
15(16):
363-377.
Druin, A. (2002): The role of children in the design of new
technology.
Behaviour and Information Technology 21(1): 1 -- 25.
Iivari, J. & Iivari, N. (in press): Varieties of
User-Centeredness: An
Analysis of Four Systems Development Methods. To appear in
Information
Systems Journal.
Iivari, N. (2006): Discourses on 'culture' and 'usability work' in
software product development. Acta Universitatis Ouluensis, Series
A,
Scientiae Rerum Naturalium A 457. Oulu: Oulu University Press.
Iivari, N., Karasti, H., Molin-Juustila, T., Salmela, S., Syrjänen,
A. &
Halkola, E. (2009): Mediation between design and use -- revisiting
five
empirical studies. Human IT -- Journal for Information Technology
Studies as a Human Science 10(2): 81-126.
Karasti, H. (2001): Increasing Sensitivity towards Everyday Work
Practice in System Design. Acta Universitatis Ouluensis, Scientiae
Rerum
Naturalium, A 362. Oulu: Oulu University Press.
Keinonen, T. (2009): Design Contribution Square. Advanced
Engineering
Informatics 23: 142-148.
Markus, M. & Mao, Y. (2004): User Participation in Development
and
Implementation: Updating an Old Tired Concept for Today's IS
Contexts.
Journal of the Association for Information Systems 5(11-12):
514-544.
Spinuzzi, C. (2002): A Scandinavian Challenge, a US Response:
Methodological Assumptions in Scandinavian and US Prototyping
Approaches, In Proc. SIGDOC 2002, 208-215.
Syrjänen, A.-L. (2007): Lay Participatory Design: A Way to Develop
Information Technology and Activity Together. Acta Universitatis
Ouluensis, Scientiae Rerum Naturalium, A 494. Oulu: Oulu University
Ptess.