<p>Kunskapsöverföring är en nödvändig förutsättning för att säkerställa organisationers existens och framåtskridande. Utgångspunkt för denna uppsats är förstudiens roll i mjukvaruprojekt och dess betydelse för den fortsatta systemutvecklingsprocessen. Fokus liggerpå kunskap som genereras under förstudien, samt hur och i vilken omfattning kunskapen förs vidare till analysfasen i systemutvecklingsprocessen. </p><p>Resultatet visar att förstudien utgör ett viktigt beslutsunderlag och är en nödvändig förutsättning för att gå vidare i systemutvecklingsprocessen. Kunskapsöverföring genom dokumentation och via muntliga föredragningar är otillräcklig, eftersom det finns ett ”filter” som innebär att erfarenhetsbaserad kunskap inte överförs mellan förstudie och analys via dokument eller via muntliga föredragningar. Därför måste personer som deltar i förstudien finnas med senare i utvecklingsprocessen, för att artikulera den ”tysta” erfarenhetsbaserade kunskapen till explicita former. </p><p>Vi drar slutsatserna att kunskapsöverföring via dokument är bra, men räcker inte enligt vår mening. Då det mesta av kunskapen är implicit, det vill säga tyst och/eller ordlös, kommer den inte med i en skriftlig rapport. Kompletteras rapporten med muntliga föredragningar, kommer man ytterligare ett steg närmare en optimal kunskapsöverföring, men det räcker fortfarande inte, då den tysta kunskapen alltjämt utgör ett hinder. Kunskapsöverföring måste ske genom personer, som finns med både i förstudie- och analysfasen, men det måste tillskapas arenor för kunskapsomvandling och kommunikation. Genom en arena för kunskapsomvandling kan den tysta kunskapen göras kommunicerbar. En arena för kommunikation utgör sen den sista byggstenen på väg mot en effektiv kunskapsöverföring. Kunskapsöverföring måste "organiseras". Vi lämnar därför ett förslag till en kunskapsöverföringsmodell. </p> / <p>Knowledge transfer is necessary condition to guarantee the existence and progress of organisations. The starting-point for this paper is the role of the feasibility study in a software project and it’s significance for the subsequent system development process. The focus is on knowledge, which is generated under the feasibility study, and how and in which dimension knowledge is bringing on to the analysis in the system development process. </p><p>The result shows that the feasibility study is an important base of decision and a necessary condition of the future system development process. Knowledge transfer by documentation and by oral presentation of reports is insufficient, because there is a"filter"which means that knowledge of experience not will be transferred between feasibility study and analysis by documentation and by oral presentation. Furthermore must persons who are involved in the feasibility study occur even later in the development process, to articulate the "silence" knowledge of experience into explicit forms. </p><p>We draw the conclusions that knowledge transfer by documents is good, but not enough in our opinion. Because most of the knowledge is implicit, which means silent and/or without words, it will not been in the report. If the report will be completed with oral presentations, you will came further one step near an optimal knowledge transfer, but it’s still not enough, because the silent knowledge still is an obstruction. Knowledge transfer must be done by persons, who’s in both the feasibility study and analysis, but there must be an arena for knowledge transformation and communication. Through an arena for knowledge transformation the silent knowledge can be communicative. An arena for communication is then the last stone of building an effective knowledge transfer. Knowledge transfer must be "organised". We therefore present a proposal to a model of knowledge transfer.</p>

<p>Have you ever been frustrated with that IT system at work that does not behave the way you expect it to? Or had problems with using the features on your new mobile phone? When systems and appliances do not support us in what we are doing, and do not behave the way we expect them to, then usability is neglected. Poor usability may be frustrating and irritating when trying out your mobile phone, but in a critical work situation poor usability may be disastrous.</p><p>In this thesis, user-centred systems design (UCSD) is advocated as an approach for facilitating the development of usable interactive systems. Systems that suit their intended use and users do not just “emerge”. They are the result of a UCSD <i>process</i> and a user-centred <i>attitude</i> during the development. This means in short that the real users and their needs, goals, context of use, abilities and limitations, drive the development – in contrast to technology-driven development. We define UCSD as: a process focusing on usability throughout the entire development process and further throughout the system life cycle. I argue that this definition along with a set of key principles do help organisations and individual projects in the process of developing usable interactive systems. The key principles include the necessity of having an explicit focus on users and making sure that users are actively involved in the process.</p><p>The thesis provides knowledge and insights gained from real-life situations about what UCSD is and how it can be put into practice. The most significant results are: the proposal of a clear definition of UCSD and a set of key principles encompassing UCSD; a process for usability design and the usability designer role. Furthermore, design cases from different domains are provided as examples and illustrations.</p>

Thesis (M.Com. (Computer Science))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.

Information systems design was investigated and a model was developed aimed obtaining organisational advantages through quality and participation. This was developed by connecting high quality information assurance in an IS to the needs of the organisation and incorporating the users in the development through participation factors. The model generates a instruction that connects the impact on the individual and organisation when developing an IS to the organisational benefits. Its purpose is to enable the benefits of motivation, awareness and empowerment. We applied the model using the case study approach for connecting the model to a real life situation. The results provided a blueprint to implement the IS design strategy and may be investigated later to verify if the advantages were reached. The work is of great interest to project managers, software developers and programmers / Design av informationssystem var undersökt. En modell togs fram med målet att knyta organisatoriska fördelar från kvalitet och medverkan av organisationen i framtagandet av ett IS. Modellen skapades utifrån två ståndpunkter, hög kvalitet på datasäkerhet och de behov som finns inom organisationen samt en inkorporerad medverkan av användarna i framtagandet av IS. Modellen fungerar som en instruktion med målet att koppla påverkan på organisationen samt individen av att implementera ett IS till de organisatoriska fördelarna genererade av förändringen. Resultatet möjliggör fördelarna av motivation, medvetenhet och empowerment hos organisationen samt individen. Vi applicerade modellen i ett verkligt företag. Resultatet blev en beskrivning för realisering av en IS designstrategi. Denna strategi bör senare bli utvärderad för att säkerställa att det önskade målet har uppnåtts. Detta arbete skulle kunna intressera projektledare, mjukvara utvecklare och programmerare.

<p>The aims of this dissertation are to investigate the use and usefulness of patterns in Information Systems Engineering and to identify future areas of research. In order to do this there is a need to survey different types of patterns and find a common concept of patterns. A pattern is based on experience found in the real world. A text or a model or a combination of the both can describe the pattern. A pattern is typically described in terms of context, forces, problem, and solution. These can be explicitly expressed or implicitly found in the description of the pattern.</p><p>The types of patterns dealt with are: object-oriented patterns; design patterns, analysis patterns; data model patterns; domain patterns; business patterns; workflow patterns and the deontic pattern. The different types of patterns are presented using the authors' own terminology.</p><p>The patterns described in the survey are classified with respect to different aspects. The intention of this analysis is to form a taxonomy for patterns and to bring order into the vast amount of patterns. This is an important step in order to find out how patterns are used and can be used in Information Systems Engineering. The aspects used in the classification are: level of abstraction; text or model emphasis; product or process emphasis; life cycle stage usage and combinations of these aspects.</p><p>Finally an outline for future areas of research is presented. The areas that have been considered of interest are: patterns and Information Systems Engineering methods; patterns and tools (tool support for patterns); patterns as a pedagogical aid; the extraction and documentation of patterns and patterns and novel applications of information technology. Each future area of research is sketched out.</p>

<p>Användbarhet är en term som används för att bedöma kvaliteten hos ett gränssnitt. God användbarhet är viktig då den ger en ökad produktivitet och andra affärsfördelar i form av färre misstag och bättre kvalitet på slutprodukten. Användbarhet är en viktig designprincip men är en svår egenskap att uppfylla hos applikationer. </p><p>Studien behandlar användbarhet ur olika perspektiv, dels det teoretiska genom litteraturgenomgång, dels det praktiska genom intervjuer och observationer. Syftet var att förklara vad användbarhet är, hur det bedöms och vad man kan göra för att bygga in egenskapen i applikationer man utvecklar. För att exemplifiera och finna verklig förankring har jag valt att observera hur användare interagerar med ett existerande gränssnitt för bibliotek, Horizon. </p><p>Slutsatser kring studien är att Horizon inte används till allt den var tänkt att användas till, vilket i princip är ett dåligt betyg för en applikation. Samtidigt är detta inget större problem då den negativa verkan på verksamheten kan i det här fallet vara en definitionsfråga: är studenternas produktivitet när det gäller att söka och beställa litteratur kritisk? </p><p>När det gäller användbarhet i utvecklingsskedet kan man konstatera att även om intentionerna varit goda så har användbarhetsarbetet kring Horizon inte infriat förväntningarna. Vad som gått fel är varken sensationellt eller ovanligt; det har handlat om avsaknaden av slutanvändarens perspektiv, organisatoriska problem och möjligen också bristande kunskap om användbarhet i en eller annan form. En betydelsefull insikt som inte nämns i litteraturen men som togs upp är att beakta leverantörens marknadsställning när man ska köpa ett system. Trots bristerna, som ofta relaterar till brott mot designkonventioner, upplevs Horizon som ett bra och ändamålsenligt verktyg av sina användare. </p> / <p>Usability denotes the quality of a user interface. Even though usability is an important design principle, efforts to incorporate this quality in applications often fail. In this paper I study usability from a theoretical and a practical perspective. The goal is to explain usability and how to incorporate usability in applications. In order to exemplify, I study usability within the context of the library application Horizon. </p><p>This study shows that Horizon is only partially utilized by its users which in principle is a bad grade for an application. Partial use is however in this case, not a serious problem since the negative effects partial use imply could very well be a matter of definition: is the productivity of students, when it comes to searching and ordering library material, critical for the organization? </p><p>When it comes to usability in the development phases of a project, once again one can conclude that good intentions exist but efforts fail all the same and Horizon is no exception. This time we can attribute failure to the lack of the end users’ perspective, organizational problems and perhaps also unsufficient knowledge of usability in one form or another. An important conclusion, which has not been mentioned in the literature, is the importance of considering the market position of a presumptive vendor when buying a generic system. Despite the flaws (often related to violations of well established design principles) presented in this paper, Horizon is considered a good, effective and efficient application by its users.</p>

<p>Information systems design was investigated and a model was developed aimed obtaining organisational advantages through quality and participation. This was developed by connecting high quality information assurance in an IS to the needs of the organisation and incorporating the users in the development through participation factors.</p><p>The model generates a instruction that connects the impact on the individual and organisation when developing an IS to the organisational benefits. Its purpose is to enable the benefits of motivation, awareness and empowerment.</p><p>We applied the model using the case study approach for connecting the model to a real life situation. The results provided a blueprint to implement the IS design strategy and may be investigated later to verify if the advantages were reached.</p><p>The work is of great interest to project managers, software developers and programmers</p> / <p>Design av informationssystem var undersökt. En modell togs fram med målet att knyta organisatoriska fördelar från kvalitet och medverkan av organisationen i framtagandet av ett IS. Modellen skapades utifrån två ståndpunkter, hög kvalitet på datasäkerhet och de behov som finns inom organisationen samt en inkorporerad medverkan av användarna i framtagandet av IS.</p><p>Modellen fungerar som en instruktion med målet att koppla påverkan på organisationen samt individen av att implementera ett IS till de organisatoriska fördelarna genererade av förändringen. Resultatet möjliggör fördelarna av motivation, medvetenhet och empowerment hos organisationen samt individen.</p><p>Vi applicerade modellen i ett verkligt företag. Resultatet blev en beskrivning för realisering av en IS designstrategi. Denna strategi bör senare bli utvärderad för att säkerställa att det önskade målet har uppnåtts.</p><p>Detta arbete skulle kunna intressera projektledare, mjukvara utvecklare och programmerare.</p>

Train traffic control is a complex task in a dynamic environment. Different actors have to cooperate to meet strong requirements regarding safety, punctuality, capacity utilization, energy consumption, and more. The GMOC model has been developed and utilized in a number of studies in several different areas. This thesis describes GMOC and uses train traffic control as the application area for evaluating its utility. The GMOC model has its origin in control theory and relates to concepts of dynamic decision making. Human operators in complex, dynamic control environments must have clear goals, reflecting states to reach or to keep a system in. Mental models contain the operator’s knowledge about the task, the process, and the control environment. Systems have to provide observability, means for the operator to observe the system’s states and dynamics, and controllability, allowing the operators to influence the system’s states. GMOC allows us to constructively describe complex environments, focusing on all relevant parts. It can be utilized in user-centred system design to analyse existing systems, and design and evaluate future control systems. Our application of GMOC shows that automation providing clear observability and sufficient controllability is seen as transparent and most helpful. GMOC also helps us to argue for visualization that rather displays the whole complexity of a process than tries to hide it. Our studies in train traffic control show that GMOC is useful to analyse complex work situations. We identified the need to introduce a new control strategy improving the traffic plan by supporting planning ahead. Using GMOC, we designed STEG, an interface implementing this strategy. Improvements that have been done to observability helped the operators to develop more adequate mental models, reducing use of cognitive capacity but increasing precision of the operative traffic plans. In order to improve the traffic controllers’ controllability, one needs to introduce and share a real-time traffic plan, and provide the train drivers with up-to-date information on the surrounding traffic. Our studies indicate that driver advisory systems, including such information, reduce the need for traffic re-planning, improve energy consumption, and increase quality and capacity of train traffic. / KAJT / FTTS

This study investigated the use of systems development methodologies in Web-based application development in South Africa. Web-based systems differ from traditional information systems by integrating different media for knowledge representation and utilizing hypertext functionality. By doing this, Web-based systems not only support creation, integration, analysis, and distribution but also storage and transfer of knowledge of business transactions within a structured information system. There are numerous methodologies available to develop Web-based systems. In this study five of these methodologies were discussed. The methodologies include Web IS Development Methodology (WISOM), Internet Commerce Development Methodology (ICOM), Web Engineering, Extreme Programming and the Relationship Management Methodology (RMM). In this study a qualitative research approach was followed. Case studies were done on three different organizations in the South African marketplace. Semi-structured interviews were used for data collection at each organization. The interviews were transcribed, and the data were analysed using content analysis and cross-case analysis. One of the main goals of this research was to determine "how" system development methodologies are used in practice to develop Web-based systems, and to what extent it is used. The research pointed out that those organizations who participated in this study in South Africa mainly use in-house developed methodologies to develop Web-based systems, and that these organizations adhere strictly to their methodology. The main reasons organizations choose to use methodologies are that methodologies aid in the delivery of a better quality Web-based system, and also act as a good project management mechanism within the organization. / Thesis (M.Com. (Computer Science))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007

行動服務分類與系統開發是一個理論上與實務上重要的議題，其中以應用在旅遊業的行動旅遊服務備受關注。本研究試圖提出以多觀點的角度來找出、分類、評估與開發具有價值的行動旅遊服務。也就是說，本研究試圖提出有價值的行動旅遊服務與服務分類，透過多觀點的角度來評估研究所提出的行動旅遊服務與服務分類，並提出系統開發架構與方法，透過雛型系統建置來驗證系統開發方法的可行性與雛型系統的效能。 本研究範圍主要在企業對客戶的行動旅遊服務，主要研究貢獻在於服務分類架構與系統開發架構。本研究試圖透過服務分類架構將企業對客戶的行動旅遊服務彙整出企業對客戶的行動旅遊服務分類，並透過旅客、電信業者與旅遊業等多觀點來評估本研究所提出的企業對客戶的行動旅遊服務與服務分類。本研究並根據系統開發架構來建置與評估企業對客戶的行動旅遊服務的雛型系統，來驗證本研究所提出的行動旅遊服務的可行性。為了驗證本研究所提出的服務分類架構的可應用性，本研究試圖將此服務分類架構延伸應用到企業內部的行動旅遊服務，並透過管理階層與員工雙方的觀點整理出企業內部的行動旅遊服務與服務分類。 本研究的研究方法主要為設計科學。透過文獻探討、半結構化的群組訪談與問卷調查來找出、分類與評估企業對客戶的行動旅遊服務與服務分類。透過物件導向系統發展方法與評估問卷來建置並評估企業對客戶的行動旅遊服務的雛型系統。做為一個延伸研究，企業內部的行動旅遊服務與服務分類所採用的研究方法包括文獻探討、半結構化的焦點團體討論與半結構化的田野訪談。 在企業對客戶的行動旅遊服務分類研究結果發現：(1) 在企業對客戶的行動旅遊服務分類中，行動搜尋與通知服務、行動推薦服務、行動交易與付款服務為三項旅客認為最有用，且電信業與旅遊業都認為最重要、最可行、最符合成本效益的服務；(2) 相較於旅遊業，電信業對於企業對客戶的行動旅遊服務態度上較積極；(3) 旅遊業與電信業者對於所提出的企業對客戶的行動旅遊服務的評估，在評分排序上是相同的。 本研究亦建置行動推薦服務的雛型系統，來說明系統發展架構與設計方法。行動推薦服務會依據旅客現在的位置與時間，以及個人偏好與需求，來進行個人化的地點相關的推薦，包括景點推薦、飯店推薦、餐廳推薦與旅遊行程推薦等。系統滿意度調查顯示該雛型系統具有高度系統滿意度。 就企業內部的行動旅遊服務分類的研究結果顯示，不同管理階層對於企業內部的行動旅遊服務有不同的需求，而不同的企業內部的行動旅遊服務在技術上的難易程度也不同。透過企業內部的行動旅遊服務分類架構，很容易瞭解到該企業內部的行動旅遊服務在技術上的複雜度與管理上的需求程度。這樣的服務分類架構對於規劃與開發企業內部的行動旅遊服務，提供一個參考基準與指引。此外，本研究結果指出，行動旅遊品質控管服務對管理階層來說，是很重要、可行與符合成本效益的服務。而行動銷售支援服務對管理階層來說，是一個可行有效但不是很重要的服務。最後，本研究建議後續研究將本研究所提的服務分類架構與系統開發架構應用到其他的行動服務領域，以驗證本研究所提出的服務分類架構與系統開發架構的可應用性。 / The service classification and system development of mobile services is an important issue both in research and in practice, and research attention is called to the mobile services for the tourism industry. This study tries to identify, classify, evaluate, and develop value-added mobile tourism services with multiple perspectives. That is, user groups with different perspectives are asked to evaluate the proposed value-added mobile tourism services as well as a mobile tourism service classification framework. Moreover, this study also proposes the system development framework and processes, and the prototype system is built and evaluated to validate the feasibility of the proposed system development framework as well as the effectiveness of the prototype system. The research scope is focused on the B2C mobile tourism services, and the main contribution of this study is the proposed service classification framework and the system development framework. This study tries to identify and classify B2C mobile tourism services based on the proposed service classification framework and processes. Moreover, tourists, 3G operators and the tourism industry are asked to evaluate the proposed B2C mobile tourism services as well as the service classification. Based on the proposed system development framework and processes, this study also builds and evaluates the prototype system to validate the feasibility of the proposed B2C mobile tourism services. To validate the appliance of our service classification framework, an extension research to the B2E mobile tourism services is also conducted. Management perspectives including managers and employees are taken into accounts to summarize the B2E mobile tourism services and the service classification framework. The research methodology used in this study is the design science research methodology. With literature reviews, semi-structured group interviews, and surveys to identify, classify, and evaluate B2C mobile tourism services as well as the service classification. The prototype system of the B2C mobile tourism services is built through object-oriented system analysis and design, and the survey questionnaire is used for the system evaluation of the prototype system. As an extension study, the B2E mobile tourism service classification research is built with literature reviews, semi-structured focus group discussions and semi-structured field interviews. The B2C mobile tourism service classification research results are as follows. (1) The mobile search & notification services, the mobile recommendation services, and the mobile transaction & payment services are top three useful B2C mobile tourism services valued by tourists, and these three B2C mobile tourism services are top three most important, feasible and cost-benefit effective services from the 3G operators’ and travel agencies’ perspectives. (2) The 3G operators hold more positive attitudes towards the B2C mobile tourism services than the tourism industry does. (3) Tourism industry sets the same priority list toward the proposed B2C mobile tourism services as the 3G operators do. In this study, an application prototype of mobile recommendation services is also implemented to illustrate the development framework and design methods. The mobile recommendation services provide personalized and location-based recommendations regarding sightseeing spots, hotels, restaurants, and packaged tour plans based on tourists’ current location and time, as well as personal preferences and needs. Results from the system evaluation indicate high system satisfaction toward the prototype system. Based on the research results of the B2E mobile tourism service classification, different management levels have different needs for B2E mobile tourism services, and different B2E mobile tourism services have different technology complexities. Through this B2E mobile tourism service classification framework, it is easy to understand the technology complexities of the B2E mobile tourism services and managerial needs for the B2E mobile tourism services. Such service classification framework offers a reference baseline and guidance for planning and system development of B2E mobile tourism services. Moreover, this research results show that from managers’ perspectives, the mobile tour quality control services are important, feasible, and cost-benefit effective while the mobile sales support services are feasible, effective, but not so important services. Finally, future researches are suggested to apply the service classification framework and system development framework to other mobile service domain to validate the appliance of the proposed service classification framework and system development framework.