‘Representing the User’ in software development—a cultural analysis of usability work in the product development context |
| |
| Affiliation: | 1. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, 107 McLaughlin Hall, Berkeley 94720, USA;2. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, 114 McLaughlin Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA;3. University of California, Santa Cruz, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA;4. NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA;1. Health Sciences School, University of Aveiro, Campus Universitário, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal;2. Institute of Electronics and Telematics Engineering of Aveiro, Campus Universitário, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal;3. Department of Electronics Telecommunications and Informatics, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal;4. Health Sciences Department, University of Aveiro, Campus Universitário, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal;5. Unidade de Investigação e Formação sobre Adultos e Idosos, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal |
| |
| Abstract: | It is widely accepted that users should be involved in the development of interactive systems. However, involving users in interactive systems development is challenging, especially in product development. The organizational culture is a key factor affecting the successes and failures of organizational change and development efforts. This paper shows how user involvement is intertwined with the organizational cultures in a case study of five software development organizations. User involvement is indirect in the case organizations, and labeled as usability work. Using cross case analysis, four ‘cultures of usability work’ are identified. The cultures have distinct cultural characteristics, employ different approaches to usability work, and have different preferences and strategies for the prospective facilitation of usability work. Sensitivity to the cultural context is identified as an important consideration in the facilitation of usability work, and culturally compatible strategies for usability work in different cultural settings are identified. The paper concludes that there might not be one ‘best, universally valid, context free way’ of introducing and carrying out usability work in software product development organizations. |
| |
| Keywords: | |
| 本文献已被 ScienceDirect 等数据库收录！ |
|
