This thesis is concerned with a research project conducted with a Swedish company to provide recommendations for developing a prototypical information system for the company. The system’s goal was to consolidate data regarding the company’s supply chain and packaging conditions in order to find improvements in packaging development. The thesis employed the use of Soft Systems Methodology to aid with the system development process. A qualitative explorative study was designed for this purpose. Soft Systems Methodology was used after exploring alternative methodologies. This was chosen as the researchers found it important to engage the case company in the system development process. Four semi-structured interviews and two workshops with the relevant officials were the main methods of collecting data. Models such as a rich picture, CATWOE and PQR formula were utilized during the research to visualize important aspects of the system development process. As a result of the research, the researchers were able to provide the company with recommendations for how to further proceed with the development process. Another result of the study was that Soft Systems Methodology was able to unlock tacit information. The methodology also allowed for a consideration of the implementation of an iterative process to support the development. The results of this research suggest that introducing and making use of Soft Systems Methodology is very stimulating in an environment not already using it. The research provided insights needed for progress towards a successful implementation of a new information system, and contributes a real-world SSM case in a corporate environment. The researchers also suggest future opportunities for research that could further build on the work presented in the thesis.

With the increase in food consumption, new ideas, and technologies began to be developed. Inaddition, the developments generated by Industry 4.0 technologies have started to be applied tothe entire manufacturing sector and the indoor farming industry, which is currently trending.Many studies and articles have been prepared on this subject, and the main goal of each study isto produce quality products and to ensure continuity in production to cover the nonendingincrease in demand. This paper discusses how simulation technology, which is one of the industry 4.0 technologies,can be used in the production system development of the indoor farming industry. According tomany researchers, the biggest obstacle for the vertical farming industry is start-up cost, andsimulation technologies can be the solution for this since it allows future production systems tobe analyzed without any investment. To have a clear vision of how these technologies can beadapted in the indoor farming industry, this paper will find the answers to these questions, RQ1:How can simulation facilitate production system development and Industry 4.0 projects withinthe indoor farming industry? RQ2: What are the benefits and challenges when using simulationas a tool for production system development within the indoor farming industry? To reach thegoal of this paper, the case study method was used, and an indoor farming company was selectedto get more realistic data about the vertical farming system. BlueRedGold AB is a start-upcompany in the indoor farming industry, and it has a huge growth potential since they aim totransform its current production lines to be fully automated. Many articles and studies were usedto approach the solution of the research questions from a more technical and academic point ofview, and the analysis of these articles was carried out with the structured literature review method. After conducting this research, answers have been obtained for the research questions. Theauthors' solution to the layout issue, one of the case company's main challenges as indicated inthis study, was developed after extensive simulation model testing. As highlighted in this paper,it has been stated by many researchers, there are several simulation approaches to follow.However, the authors have developed a simulation modeling approach to be followed in theindoor vertical farming industry to overcome the complexity of these systems as well as thesimulation program complexity. In addition, several challenges and benefits have beenhighlighted in this paper such as the lack of ready models of the equipment used in indoorfarming which requires a knowledge of a programing language to overcome. Finally, despitechallenges, simulation technology can provide an applicable solution for production systemproblems of vertical farming companies/organizations to obtain continuous improvementphilosophy which is the main principle of Lean thinking. The generated simulation model in thisthesis project was successfully implemented, demonstrating how this technology might be aneffective solution for complex production systems as in the indoor farming sector.

I takt med att samhället digitaliseras ökar dramatiskt efterfrågan på systemutvecklingsprojekt samtidigt som hanteringen av kundernas krav och behov är mycket utmanande. Tvetydigheter under kravinsamlingsprocessen är ett aktuellt problem som inte sällan bidrar till en lägre framgångsgrad när det gäller systemutvecklingsprojekt. Tvetydigheter innebär att kraven har flera tolkningar och dessa följer med till systemutvecklingsprocessen, vilket medför att tvetydigheterna kan översättas till felaktigheter inom funktioner och användargränssnitt om de inte upptäcks och åtgärdas i ett tidigt skede. Således behöver kraven specificeras med en högre grad av noggrannhet för att undvika alla former av tvetydigheter, vilket medför en högre matchningsgrad mellan behov och slutprodukt, minskad grad av förvirring under systemutvecklingen och en gemensam projektmålsförståelse.   Syftet med denna kandidatuppsatsstudie i informatik är att identifiera, beskriva och förklara de kritiska framgångsfaktorerna, och att designa en processkarta, för att minska graden av tvetydigheter i en mellanprojektsrelation mellan kundens projektgrupp och systemleverantörens projektgrupp under kravinsamlingsprocessen. Under genomförandet av denna studie har en entreprenöriellt inriktad fallstudie tillämpats. SPIN-intervjuer genomfördes med två rollinnehavare i kundens projektgrupp och en rollinnehavare i systemleverantörens projektgrupp som representerar mellanprojektrelationen, vars resultat i sin tur gav fokus för den genomförda litteraturstudien. En litteraturbaserad analysmodell och litteraturbaserade processkartor har designats. Analysmodellen utgjorde grunden för den semistrukturerade intervjuguide som utformades. Semistrukturerade intervjuer har genomförts med tre rollinnehavare i systemleverantörens projektgrupp. Processkartorna har genomgått ”tänka högt-användningstester” med rollinnehavare i både kundens och systemleverantörens projektgrupp och har vidareutvecklats i flera iterationer.  Utifrån studien kan fyra slutsatser dras. Den första slutsatsen är att en av kravinsamlingsprocessens viktigaste framgångsfaktorer är att kommunicera genom visuella artefakter. Att modellera kraven i prototyper främjar en ökad förståelse och motverkar dolda krav.  Den andra slutsatsen är att en viktig framgångsfaktor är att använda enhetliga mallar när kraven ska dokumenteras, vilket bidrar till en ökad grad av kontrollerat naturligt språk, som i sin tur minimerar möjligheterna för olika tolkningar. Detta bidrar till en högre grad av kvalitet hos kraven. Den tredje slutsatsen är att en viktig framgångsfaktor är en tydligare ansvarsfördelning i en mellanprojektrelation under kravinsamlingsprocessen. Det bidrar till en mer ändamålsenlig kravinsamlingsprocessen avseende den ledarroll som styr visionen och systemutvecklingsprojektet i rätt riktning, vilket minskar graden av förvirring under systemutvecklingsprojekt.  Den fjärde slutsatsen är att en viktig framgångsfaktor är att formulera en begreppsmodell i ett tidigt skede under kravinsamlingsprocessen för att erhålla ett gemensamt språkbruk, vilket i sin tur leder till en minskad grad av tvetydigheter.

Prioritering av systemkrav är en viktig fråga vid utnyttjandet av resurserna på systemutvecklingsavdelningar. Problem uppstår när antalet krav som ska prioriteras är fler än de systemutvecklingsresurser som finns tillgängliga. Således måste de systemkrav som företag vill få utfört av sin systemutvecklingsavdelning prioriteras på ett strukturerat sätt. För att göra det strukturerat behövs stöd i form av regelverk, ramverk och metoder för prioriteringsarbetet. Problemet är att det finns inga ramverk som ger detta stöd idag. Examensarbetsrapporten utforskar vilka beståndsdelar ett ramverk ska bestå av för att stödja prioritering av systemkrav. Syftet är att skapa ett ramverk för att införa ett strukturerat beslutsstöd med prioriteringsmetoder. En väl utformad forskningsstrategi tillämpas innehållande tre olika forskningsfaser: utforskande, utformande och utvärderande. Forskningsfaserna vägleder arbetet i rätt riktning och ser till att motverka validitetshot som riskerar uppstå. Forskningsmetoden är av kvalitativ och induktiv karaktär. Fakta inhämtas genom litteraturstudier, intervjuer och förstudie, som analyserades ur vilket en första version av ramverkets beståndsdelar utformas. Utvärderingsintervjuer görs med respondenter som har mångårig erfarenhet av prioritering inom systemutveckling. Intervjuerna visar på att företag, oavsett bransch, har liknande förutsättningar och strukturer för att applicera ramverket. Det framtagna ramverkets första version valideras som relevant, lämpligt samt funktionellt för prioritering av systemkrav med mindre justering. Efter en analys av utvärderingen skapades en slutgiltig version av ramverket för prioritering av krav i systemutvecklingsprojekt benämnt PaKS. Resultatet från utvärderingen visar att PaKS är lämpligt, fullständigt och användbart i sin generella utformning där respondenterna bidragit med förslag för ytterligare utformning. / Prioritizing system requirements is an important issue for utilizing resources in system development departments. Issues arise when the number of requirements to prioritize are more than there are resources available in the system development department. Thus, the system requirements that a company want carried out by the system development department must prioritized in a structured way. To make prioritization structured, support is required in the form of regulations, framework and methods for prioritizations. Today there are no frameworks that provide this support. This study explores which components a framework should consist of to support the prioritization of system requirements. The aim is to create a framework for implementing structured decision support with prioritization methods. A well designed research strategy containing three different research phases is used: exploration, design and evaluation. The research phases guide the work in the right direction and aim to counteract validity threats that may occur. The research method is of a qualitative and inductive nature. Facts are obtained through literature studies, interviews and preliminary studies, which were analyzed from which a first version of the framework's components is designed. Evaluation interviews are conducted with respondents who have many years of experience of prioritization in system development. The evaluation show that companies, regardless of industry, have similar conditions and structures to apply the framework. The first version of the framework is validated as relevant, appropriate and functional for prioritizing system requirements with minor adjustments. Following an analysis of the evaluation, a final version of the framework for prioritization of requirements in system development projects, called PaKS, was created. The outcome of the evaluation shows that PaKS is useful in its overall design, in which respondents contributed proposals for further design.

An Experimental Diagnostic Tool (EDT) was developed to increase the efficiency of the diagnostic process of robotic lawn mowers which resulted in a 200% productivity increase when utilizing a proposed formula specifically designed for the diagnostic process of robotic lawn mowers. The tool does not only extract and process data from the robotic lawn mower wirelessly but also highlights potential faults through an intuitive and easy-to-use interface - empowering servicing technicians who perform the diagnostics to perform at a higher level. Further, efficiency is a term widely used in various domains and contexts when measuring the capacity of a process. Proposed general definitions of the term have been given by previous authors and researchers. However, due to a lack of universally set definitions which fit all situations, the term remains ambiguous when improvements to a specific process are needed. The unclear definition is due to the variations within each process affecting the definition of both the term itself, but also similar terms fundamentally connected to it such as productivity, performance, and profitability. The following report contains an investigation of exploratory research where the understanding of efficiency and its related concepts are analyzed within the after-sales diagnostic process of robotic lawn mowers.

Det svenska vårdsystemet står inför en rad utmaningar relaterade till de journalsystem som används idag. Sjukvårdspersonalen upplever svårigheter med systemen vilket påverkar det dagliga arbetet inom vården. Undersökningar visar att personal behöver använda sig av flera olika system för att få en helhetsbild över en patients situation, vilket försvårar en fungerande vårdkedja. Kommunikationen mellan utvecklare och sjukvården är komplex eftersom de inte är insatta i varandras arbetssätt och det saknas även enheter som ansvarar för att föra samman sjukvårdspersonalens behov på ett strukturerat sätt. Denna rapport syftar till att undersöka om och i så fall hur sjukvårdspersonalens behov och upplevelser integreras vid utveckling av journalsystem samt om detta har resulterat i att systemet uppfyller användarnas behov. Fokus för studien har varit på journalsystemet TakeCare vilket är det dominerande journalsystemet inom Region Stockholm. Arbetet som denna rapport består av utgörs delvis av en litteraturstudie för att bygga en teoretisk bakgrund om användarcentrerade produktutvecklingsprocesser, analysmetoder för behovsidentifiering, hur användarinvolvering kan bedrivas och svårigheter som kan finnas. Rapporten utgörs även av en empirisk studie bestående av semistrukturerade intervjuer där totalt sex respondenter har medverkat. Dessa respondenter utgörs av en produktägare för ett utvecklingsteam, en chef på ett förvaltningsföretag, en vårdadministrativ chef på ett akutsjukhus samt sjukvårdspersonal. Vidare så genomfördes en analys, jämförelse och diskussion gällande den information som erhållits från teorin och den empiriska studien. Resultatet av studien visar att det sker användarinvolvering under produktutvecklingen av TakeCare men inte i den omfattning som behövs för att uppfylla användarnas behov. Det framgår att detta inte beror på en ovilja till involvering, utan främst på att det finns en avsaknad av struktur i processen och kommunikation mellan utvecklare och användare. Det behov som återkommande uttrycks av användarna och som inte uppfylls är avsaknaden av tillräcklig kompatibilitet mellan journalsystemet och andra system inom vården. Avsaknad av kompatibilitet gör att användarna måste utföra dubbelt arbete vilket både har en inverkan på patientsäkerheten och tar tid från att vårda patienter. / The swedish healthcare system is facing some challenges related to the electronic medical records that are being used. The healthcare personnel are experiencing some difficulties with the systems, which affects their daily work in a negative aspect. Studies have shown that the personnel actively must use different systems in parallel to get a complete understanding of a patient's status. Furthermore, this makes the care system as a whole more complicated and inadequate.The communication between developers and healthcare can be seen as a complex process since they do not have an complete understanding of each others ways of working. Also, units for bringing together user needs in a structured manner does not exist. This study aims to examine if, and if so, how the needs of healthcare personnel are being involved in the development process of electronic medical records and if this has resulted in a more user adaptive system. The study will focus on the electronic medical record named TakeCare, which is the most used electronic medical record system inside Region Stockholm. This report partly consists of a literature study that aims to establish a theoretical background focusing on user-centered processes of product development, methods for analysing user needs, how user involvement can be conducted and what kind of difficulties that can be identified. The report also consists of an empirical study with focus on semi structured interviews with six different respondents. These respondents are both healthcare personnel, a product owner for a development team, a chief from a company that specializes in managing the electronic medical record TakeCare and a chief specialized in administrative healthcare. Furthermore, an analysis, a comparison and a discussion were followed out concerning the information gained from the theory and empirical study. The results from the study shows that user involvement during the product development process of TakeCare exists, but not to an enough extent that fulfills the user needs. This is not caused by unwillingness to adapt user involvement in the process, but a lack of structure and inadequate communication between developers and users. One particular user need that repeatedly has been expressed by the healthcare personnel, but not been fulfilled, is the lack of software compatibility between the electronic medical record and other electronic systems within the healthcare sector. The lack of software compatibility have resulted in that the users having to perform the same task repetitively, which has an impact on patient safety but also results in reduced time spent on the patients.

The research is conducted in the area of Software Engineering, with emphasis on the design phase of the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC). The object-oriented paradigm is the point of departure. The investigation deals with the problem of creating support for the design phase of object-oriented system development. This support must be able to guide the system designer through the design process, according to a sound design method, highlight opportunities for prototyping and point out where to re-iterate a design step, for example. A solution is proposed in the form of a knowledge-based support system. In the prototype this support guides a designer partially through the first step of the System Design task for object-oriented design. The intention is that the knowledge-based system should capture the know-how of an expert system designer and assist an inexperienced system designer to create good designs. / Computing / M. Sc. (Information Systems)

90年代的後期，敏捷式系統發展方法開始被倡導。相對於傳統的系統發展方法，敏捷式系統發展方法著重於回饋機制而非事前的計畫、以人為中心而非以流程為中心。這樣的方法希望能助於提高組織對回應市場、客戶的效率，進而提高效益。目前在商場中使用此方法做為開發工具的企業仍是少數，本研究希望透過探討敏捷式系統發展方法論的使用時機來進行教學，進而得知系統開發人員對於接受敏捷式系統發展方法的關鍵因素，並藉此了解該如何在企業中導入此方法。本研究發現除了使用此方法的能力會影響影響使用意圖之外，在內在因素方面也包含了公司結構與團隊因素，外部因素則包含了顧客與成功案例因素，這些都是接受敏捷式系統發展方法的關鍵因素。本研究希望根據以上的分析結果，提出敏捷式系統發展方法導入之建議，提供組織做為參考用。 / Awareness of agile system development methodologies (SDM) has grown among information systems development community in recent years. Many of their advocates consider the agile and the plan-driven SDMs polar opposites. Indeed there are circumstances where agile SDMs are more suitable than plan-driven SDMs. Yet, there have been few studies on understanding developers’ adoption intention. This paper takes an initial attempt to gauge new generation of software developers’ intention to select agile SDMs. To many of these developers, agile SDMs are relatively new if not unheard of, in order to assess their intention to choose such category of methodologies, this research first introduced the methodologies to a group of 21 IS-major graduate students and discussed how and when to use agile SDMs. Then a survey was conducted, which was comprised of two parts of questions: agile SDM self-efficacy and intention to use. PLS analysis results showed that agile SDM self-efficacy influence the intention to use through performance outcome expectation, personal outcome expectation, and affect. Although the relationship between self-efficacy and anxiety was not confirmed, anxiety does affect intention to use. The fact that direct relationships between all four emotive variables and the intention to use are established implies that in order to encourage the use of agile SDMs, the focus should be emotive variables, and that self efficacy may be just one of various ways to promote the favorable emotional states. In addition, these participates were invited to a three-round Delphi test and analytic hierarchy process to retrieved their concerns about accepting or rejecting agile SDMs. Ten key factors were extracted and categorized. Adding up the pros and cons, team dimension is the most important dimension, which explains individual first concerns about how the collaboration when using agile SDMs. Other than team dimension, customer, corporate structure, project, success cases and methodology dimensions were consistent with the literatures. Thus our study provides a critical understanding of the factors that affect new generation of software developers’ intention to select agile SDM.

Den här kandidatuppsatsen har utförts genom en nulägesanalys på ett IT-inriktat konsultbolag. Studien identifierar det upplevda nuläget inom organisationen för att se om medarbetarnas upplevelser matchar de förhoppningar organisationen har med ett nytt infört värdegrundskoncept. Ett värdegrundskoncept med syfte att identifiera medarbetarnas inre motivation och främja den personliga utvecklingen samt hur det nya värdegrundskonceptet ämnar lösa de problem som finns inom system- och mjukvaruutveckling. Organisationen vill i sin tur att det ska leda till ett internt och externt värdeskapande och engagemang för alla parter, vilket kopplas till samhällsnytta, hållbarhet samt arbetsmiljö.   Studien har genomförts med en induktiv ansats, där den kvalitativa undersökningen har samlat in data utifrån sex intervjuer, för att få en djupare förståelse av medarbetarnas egna tankar och åsikter. Den insamlade empirin har sedan jämförts, analyserat och diskuteras i förhållande till teori och tidigare forskning. Utifrån likheter och skillnader kunde vi sedan dra en slutsats till hur nuläget i organisationen är i förhållande till vad teorin säger.   Resultatet av studien påvisar att respondenterna har en gemensam syn på att organisationen är innovativa och placerar medarbetarna i fokus. Inom organisationen finns det en samhörighet, lyhördhet och delaktighet, vilket skapar engagemang, motivation och personlig utveckling bland medarbetarna. Respondenterna ser det nya värdegrundskonceptet som ett bra komplement den agila metodiken som råder inom organisationen samt ett bra agilt verktyg. Organisationskulturen speglas av bra stämning, fräsch och inbjudande kontorsmiljö samt ärlighet mot kunden. Det framkom även en del meningsskiljaktigheter under undersökningen, exempelvis rörande osäkerhet över hur informationen tillhandahålls och hanteras. / This candidate assignment has been conducted through a zero-position analysis at an IT- based consulting company. The study identifies the current situation within the organization to see if the employees' experiences match the hopes the organization has with a new introduced values concepts. A values concepts aimed at identifying employees' internal motivation and promoting personal development as well as how the new values concepts aims to solve the problems in system and software development. The organization, in turn, wants it to lead to internal and external value creation and commitment for all parties, linked to community benefits, sustainability and work environment.   The study has been conducted with an inductive approach, where the qualitative survey has collected data based on six interviews, to gain a deeper understanding of the employees' own thoughts and opinions. The collected empire has since been compared, analyzed and discussed in relation to theory and previous research. Based on similarities and differences, we could then draw a conclusion about how the present situation in the organization is in relation to what the theory says.   The result of the study shows that respondents have a common view that the organization is innovative and places employees in focus. Within the organization there is a sense of togetherness, responsiveness and participation, which creates commitment, motivation and personal development among the employees. Respondents see the new values concepts as a good complement to the agile methodology within the organization as well as a good agile tool. The organizational culture is reflected by good atmosphere, fresh and inviting office environment and honesty towards the customer. There were also some differences of opinion during the investigation, such as uncertainty about how the information is provided and managed.

The research is conducted in the area of Software Engineering, with emphasis on the design phase of the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC). The object-oriented paradigm is the point of departure. The investigation deals with the problem of creating support for the design phase of object-oriented system development. This support must be able to guide the system designer through the design process, according to a sound design method, highlight opportunities for prototyping and point out where to re-iterate a design step, for example. A solution is proposed in the form of a knowledge-based support system. In the prototype this support guides a designer partially through the first step of the System Design task for object-oriented design. The intention is that the knowledge-based system should capture the know-how of an expert system designer and assist an inexperienced system designer to create good designs. / Computing / M. Sc. (Information Systems)