[AISWorld] CFP Special Issue on User Participation/Centeredness in New, Challenging IS Contexts

[Netta Iivari]

    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.

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