Denna rapport avser att undersöka för- och nackdelar med att utveckla ett för ändamålet specialanpassat system eller utnyttja de standardsystem, som i det aktuella fallet tryckerikoncernen JMS redan äger och använder. Genom en mer noggrann definiering av ickefunktionella krav på bland annat användbarhet har en specialanpassad prototyp framställts. I projektet användes metoder för kravinsamling som ledde till en kravspecifikation och i sin tur slutade med en färdig prototyp. Prototypen jämfördes med två standardsystem genom användartester och intervjuer. Prototypen visade sig leva upp till de krav som upptäcktes. Majoriteten av testpersonerna föredrog ett enklare avskalat system, vilket prototypen upplevdes som, före system med mycket information och funktioner. Med tanke på kostnaden rekommenderas dock JMS att försöka strukturera upp ett av de i företaget befintliga systemen och använda detta istället för att utveckla och implementera ytterligare ett nytt system i företaget. / This report intends to explore the pros and cons of developing a customized system or use the standard system, which in this case printing JMS Group already owns and uses. With a more accurate definition of non-functional requirements such as usability, has a custom-made prototype been built. The project used methods of requirements gathering that led to a specification and ended with a finished prototype. The prototype was compared with two standard systems through user testing and interviews. The prototype proved to live up to the requirements discovered. The majority of test subjects preferred a simpler clean system, which the prototype was, to systems with a lot of information and functions. Given the cost JMS was recommended to structure one of the systems that they already owns and uses instead of developing and implementing a new system further in the company.

<p>Vad kan man idag begära av ett informationssystem?</p><p>Det står klart att informationssystem ska stödja och ersätta arbetsuppgifter inom företag för att öka effektiviteten eller minska kostnaderna. Men vilka arbetsuppgifter ska ett system klara av att göra lika bra som en människa och hur ska det lyckas göra lika bra bedömningar om vad som bör göras när man möter en svår uppgift, där det kanske verkligen behövs ett bra IT-stöd för att enklare ska klara av situationen?</p><p>Bakgrunden till vårt arbete grundades på en tidigare undersökning en av oss gjort på sågverket där man hade problem med lagerstyrningen. Det rekommenderades då att Bodafors skulle implementera truckdatorer och en grafisk truckmodul för effektivare lagerhantering med hjälp av RFID. Det beslutades då att ett första steg skulle genomföras under hösten med truckdatorer i två av truckarna och en utbyggnad av det befintliga systemet för att truckförarna ska få se en aktuell bild över lagret och utlastningarna som ska ske under veckan.</p><p>Vi kom fram till att SYSteams arbetssätt grundade sig på vattenfallsmodellen som kanske är den mest klassiska modellen för systemutveckling, med sina rötter på 60-talet. Vi konstaterade också att man har mycket att lära av modern Knowledge Management-teori som försöker fånga kompetenser och kunskap hos individer i system för att uppmuntra en företagsmiljö där kunskap delas mellan individerna. Vi sammanställde en serie konkreta råd för systemutvecklare för att bli bättre på att fånga kunskap i en systemutvecklingsmodell med en iterativ utvecklingsprocess som vi kallar för kunskapsfrämjande systemutveckling.</p> / <p>What can be expected of an information system today?</p><p>It stands clear that information systems should support and replace tasks within companies to enhance efficiency and/or reduce costs. But which tasks should we rely on that a system could manage as well as a human being can today? Especially in difficult situations where human experience is put to the test and where we really could use the help of an information system to make the right judgements.</p><p>The background of our essay was based on a former investigation one of us made during the spring of 2006 in the company due to logistic problems in the warehouse. It was then recommended that Bodafors should get truck computers and a graphic truck module for more efficient warehousing alongside with RFID. It was decided that a first step was to be taken during the autumn with computers in two of the trucks and the implementation of a system for trucks for an outline of the actual supply in the warehouse and the current orders to be loaded during the week.</p><p>We reached the conclusion that SYSteams development of TruckSaw was founded on the classic waterfall model, with its roots in the 1960’s. We also learned that developers has alot to learn from modern Knowledge Management theory, with its focus on catching key competence and knowledge within an organisation and the creation of an environment encouraging the sharing of competence and knowledge. With a Knowledge Management driven approach we put together a series of advice for developers to become better at catching knowledge by using a different, iterative approach to developing a system, knowledge promoting system development.</p>

According to recent surveys on the use of systems development methodologies, many organizations claim that they are adapting systems development methodologies (Hardy et al. 1995; Russo et al. 1996; Fitzgerald, 1998). The purpose of this dissertation is to investigate the adaptation of systems development methodologies in South Africa. This problem was investigated by addressing the following research questions: • What are the perceptions of system developers regarding systems development methodologies? • Why do system developers adapt system development methodologies? • How do they adapt the methodologies? • Is there a difference in the quality of the systems which are developed with these adapted systems development methodologies opposed to those systems which are developed according to a specific formalised methodology? In this dissertation, interpretive case studies have been used to add to the researcher's knowledge concerning how and why systems development methodologies in South Africa are adapted. Qualitative interviewing was used as a data collection method. All interviews were recorded and transcribed. The next step was to analyse the transcribed data. In this study, content analysis with cross-case analysis was used. The findings obtained were confirmed by making use of triangulation and member checking. The results indicated that although the use of systems development methodologies is mandatory in organizations, it is not enforced by senior employees. Organizations use multiple systems development methodologies. Systems development methodologies are adapted due to several reasons, i.e. financial gains that is obtained, the lack of knowledge, time limitations, the fact that methodologies are not universally applicable, etc. Systems development methodologies are statically and dynamically adapted by adding and removing steps. The combination of methodologies and switching between methodologies also occur. The results indicate that developers realize that formal systems development methodologies produce systems of a higher quality. However, because it is so time-consuming, they are prepared to accept a lower quality system in order to gain a faster delivery time. / Thesis (M.Sc. (Computer Science))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.

The human central nervous system (CNS) contains a daunting number of cells and tremendous cellular diversity. A fundamental challenge of developmental neurobiology is to address the questions of how so many different types of neurons and glia can be generated at the precise time and place, making precisely the right connections. Resolving this issue involves dissecting the elaborate genetic networks that act within neurons and glia, as well as in the neural progenitor cells that generates them, to specify their identities. My PhD project has involved addressing a number of unresolved issues pertaining to how neural progenitor cells are specified to generate different types of neurons and glial cells in different temporal and spatial domains, and also how these early temporal and spatial cues are integrated to activate late cell fate determinants, which act in post-mitotic neural cells to activate distinct batteries of terminal differentiation genes. Analyzing the development of a specific Drosophila melanogaster (Drosophila) CNS stem cell – the neuroblast 5-6 (NB5-6) – we have identified several novel mechanisms of cell fate specification in the Drosophila CNS. We find that, within this lineage, the differential specification of a group of sequentially generated neurons – the Ap cluster neurons – is critically dependent upon the simultaneous triggering of two opposing feed-forward loops (FFLs) within the neuroblast. The first FFL involves cell fate determinants and progresses within the post-mitotic neurons to establish a highly specific combinatorial code of regulators, which activates a distinct battery of terminal differentiation genes. The second loop, which progresses in the neuroblast, involves temporal and sub-temporal genes that together oppose the progression of the first FFL. This leads to the establishment of an alternative code of regulators in late-born Ap cluster neurons, whereby alternative cell fates are specified. Furthermore, we find that the generation and specification of the Ap cluster neurons is modulated along the neuraxis by two different mechanisms. In abdominal segments, Hox genes of the Bithorax cluster integrates with Pbx/Meis factors to instruct NB5-6 to leave the cell cycle before the Ap cluster neurons are generated. In brain segments, Ap cluster neuron equivalents are generated, but improperly specified due to the absence of the proper Hox and temporal code. Additionally, in thoracic segments we find that the specification of the Ap cluster neurons is critically dependent upon the integration of the Hox, Pbx/Meis, and the temporal genes, in the activation of the critical cell fate determinant FFL. We speculate that the developmental principles of (i) feed-forward combinatorial coding; (ii) simultaneously triggered yet opposing feed-forward loops; and (iii) integration of different Hox, Pbx/Meis, and temporal factors, at different axial levels to control inter-segmental differences in lineage progression and specification; might be used widely throughout the animal kingdom to generate cell type diversity in the CNS.

User participation and its relationship to system success have been discussed in the information systems (IS) literature from many theoretical and practical perspectives. In reality, most of this discussion is grounded in empirical research that has yielded mixed results on the importance of user participation and its relationship to system success. The goal of this dissertation is to extend the line of inquiry into user participation during information system development by providing information systems researchers and IS practitioners with both a valid theoretical and practical investigation of a successful IS solution. This investigation organizes the study within a descriptive model that emerges from the different traditions of prior research and uncovers the approach to user participation in a successful IS solution. This user participation approach (UPA) model becomes the structure for the systematic arrangement of user participation approaches into a four-fold typology according to criteria or extrinsic information attributed to them in the research literature. A case study analysis and social network analysis of a successful IS solution will be used to describe, map and measure the relationships, activities, processes, and flows between participants, thus providing a descriptive and visual analysis of the relational structure that emerges. Indeed, these methodological approaches conceptualize the attributes and the relations of user participation during information system development and give insightful perspectives on how a successful IS solution is developed and implemented. The resulting outcome is a description of a successful approach to user participation and some practical recommendations on how to increase the chance of success in a system solution.

Root system development in the early phases of plant ontogeny Seed germination and subsequential developement of the root system is a critical stage of life of a newly rising plant. The plant must recognise and suitably and quickly find an answer to the environmental conditions in which it finds itself. However, the way in which the root system develops and its final architecture depends not only on the environmental conditions but also on the plant itself. In addition, responses to different conditions may vary among different plant species. This work examines the developement of a root system in the first four weeks of a plant's life. It observes the dependence on the amount of available nutrients in the substrate and on the amount of available nutrients the seed is given by the mother plant. It also briefly touches on the relations between seed germination, seed size and the amount of available nutrients. No differences relating to the amount of available nutrients were found in seed germination. However, differences in germination speeds were found between plant species. Plant biomass increases with the increasing amount of available nutrients in the substrate. This increase is relatively greater for plant species with a small seed size. Plant species with a big seed size invest relatively more...

<p>Ett problem med elektroniska patientjournalsystem är att arkitekturen för patientjournalerna inte är gemensam vilket försvårar automatiskt utbyte av patientdata. En arkitektur har skapats inom ett projekt som heter openEHR. Förhoppningen är att denna arkitektur ska klara av automatiskt utbyte av patientdata mellan elektroniska patientjournalsystem.</p><p>I openEHRs arkitektur används något som kallas arketyper. Arketyper är återanvändbara modeller för att begränsa, strukturera och förklara vad som lagras i elektroniska patientjournaler som bygger på denna arkitektur. Istället för att områdesspecifik information, som vad ett blodtryck är, skapas i systemet flyttas den och annan liknande kunskap ut från systemarkitekturen och in i arketyperna. Arketyper kan skapas och redan existerande arketyper förändras utan att några ändringar i systemarkitekturen behöver göras.</p><p>Huvudproblemet i examensarbetet har varit att hitta en metod för att generera ett grafiskt gränssnitt utifrån en elektronisk patientjournal som är konstruerad med hjälp av arketyper. För att lösa detta behövdes det först skapas arketyper och ett system för att generera journaler utifrån dessa. Därefter har en webbportal utvecklats där det går att logga in och läsa de skapade patientjournalerna. Metoden för att generera gränssnittet i webbsidorna använder sig av en rekursiv funktion för att samla in information ur patientjournalerna. Funktionen lagrar den insamlade information i en objektstruktur som följer designmönstret Composite. Utifrån denna struktur går det sedan att generera ett grafiskt gränssnitt.</p><p>Webbportalen kan användas för att demonstrera hur ett system kan se ut där både patienter och behörig personal får tillgång till och möjlighet att läsa inlagda journaler som bygger på openEHRs arkitektur.</p> / <p>One problem with electronic health record systems is that the health records are not built on a common architecture. This makes automatic exchange of patient data difficult. openEHR is a project that has developed an architecture that tries to solve this problem.</p><p>The openEHR architecture uses something called archetypes. Archetypes are reusable models that limit, structure and explain what will be stored in the electronic health record that is built on this architecture.</p><p>The main goal of this master thesis has been to find a method to generate a graphical user interface from an electronic health record created using archetypes. To solve this problem first archetypes and a system that generates health records from these had to be created. Then a Web portal has been developed that displays the generated health records.</p><p>The Web portal can be used to demonstrate the graphical user interface of a system where both patients and authorized personnel can read patient records that are bases on the openEHR architecture.</p>

<p>Today there exist several systems that lack usability. The reasons are, among others, the pressure to add more features in the system, but also that focus has been earlier on technology and functionality. It becomes more important to think of the user, so that systems can be more usable. By focusing on the user, the user experience can enhance, which results in more satisfied users.</p><p>User involvement in the system development process is one way to learn and receive information about the user. There are several ways of doing that. One way is to create user portraits from existing user models. We have studied different user models and lack a model that includes both tasks and goals; for example one of the existing models focus on user goals and another on relations with the system.</p><p>The purpose with this final thesis is to create a model to describe users as roles providing a more effective and generalized user-centered system development process.</p><p>To create this model, the role profile model, we studied existing theories. By them we were influenced both by good and less good things. The theoretical study resulted in a tentative model that we tested by interview and observe six buyers within the manufacturing industry. This resulted in two role profiles; the strategic buyer and purchase planner. From the result of the interviews and observations, we improved the tentative role profile model to our final model. There were some factors that did not fit in the tentative model and some that we added.</p><p>The role profile model contains three elements; objectives, requirements and context. These elements consist of a number of attributes that are important when surveying a role profile. The uniqueness with the role profile model is the fact that it includes both role specific attributes and attributes that puts the role profile into a context. The model contains for example work process, system requirements, responsibility and authority.</p><p>The role profile is at part of a greater context. There are design philosophies that concern the whole system development process; from survey the user to design and test. Our role profile model only handles the first parts, the user and tasks, due to the time limitations.</p><p>We have created a practical procedure that we recommend to facilitate the usage of the role profile model. The practical procedure is based on our choices of method when testing the tentative role profile model. The central in our practical procedure are interviews and observations. It is important to plan the company visits so that all necessary information is received.</p><p>The usage of the role profile can for example contribute with: knowledge and understanding of the users, structured work procedure, a generally accepted terminology and a user-centered design process.</p><p>This final thesis has been performed on commission of Lawson Software. We had continuously discussions with them about usability and the role profile model. We have studied fields of applications for the role profile model at Lawson. We think they can use the model in the product requirement process, design and evaluation, work with composite applications, user understanding and user priority and introduction of new employees.</p> / <p>Idag finns det ett flertal system som har bristande användar¬vänlighet. Detta beror bland annat på påtryckningar att lägga till fler funktioner i systemen, men också på att det bakåt i tiden har fokuserats på att utveckla system utifrån teknologi och funktionalitet. Det blir allt viktigare att tänka på användaren så att systemen blir mer användarvänliga. Genom att fokusera på användaren kan man öka användarupplevelsen i systemet och det medför att användarna blir nöjdare.</p><p>Att involvera användaren i utvecklingsprocessen är ett sätt att lära känna och få information om användaren. Det finns många sätt att göra det på. Ett sätt är att skapa användarporträtt med hjälp av olika befintliga användarmodeller. Vi har studerat olika användarmodeller och sett att det saknas en användarmodell som inkluderar både fokus på användarens arbetsprocess och dess mål; till exempel en av de existerande modellerna fokuserar på användarens mål och en annan på relationer med system.</p><p>Syftet med detta examensarbete är därför att skapa en modell som beskriver användare som roller, som bidrar till en effektivare och bredare användar¬centrerad systemutvecklingsprocess.</p><p>För att ta fram denna modell, rollprofilsmodellen, studerade vi som sagt existerande teorier. Från dem påverkades vi både av delar som vi tyckte var bra och mindre bra. Vi kom fram till en hypotesmodell som vi testade genom att intervjua och observera sex inköpare på tillverkande företag. Detta resulterade i två rollprofiler; den strategiska inköparen och inköpsplaneraren. Utifrån resultaten av intervjuerna och observationerna förbättrade vi hypotesen till vår slutliga modell. Det fanns vissa faktorer som vi inte tyckte passade in, men även attribut som borde läggas till.</p><p>Rollprofilsmodellen innehåller tre delar; mål, krav och kontext. Dessa delar består av ett antal attribut som är viktiga att undersöka hos den rollprofil som ska skapas. Det som utmärker rollprofilsmodellen är att den inkluderar både roll¬speci¬fika mål och attribut som sätter rollprofilen i en kontext. Modellen innehåller till exempel relationer, krav, ansvar och befogenheter.</p><p>Rollprofilen är en del av en större kontext. Det finns designfilosofier som berör hela systemutvecklingsprocessen; från att kartlägga användaren till att designa och testa. På grund av tidsbegränsningar har vi enbart berört de första av dessa delar; användaren och arbetsuppgifter.</p><p>För att underlätta användandet av rollprofilen har vi skapat ett rekommenderat praktiskt tillvägagångssätt. Detta är baserat på våra egna metodval när vi testade vår hypotesmodell. Det centrala i det praktiska tillvägagångssättet är intervjuer och observa¬tioner. Det är viktigt att planera noggrant så att all nödvändig informa¬tion erhålls.</p><p>Användandet av rollprofilen kan till exempel bidra till: kunskap och förståelse av användaren, ett strukturerat arbetssätt, en allmänt accepterad terminologi samt en användar¬centrerad utvecklingsprocess.</p><p>Detta examensarbete har utförts på uppdrag av Lawson Software, med vilka vi kontinuer¬ligt har fört diskussioner om användbarhet och rollprofilsmodellen med mera. Vi har även utforskat vilka potentiella användningsområden som rollprofilen har på Lawson. Lawson skulle kunna använda modellen i kravhanteringsprocessen, design och utvärdering, arbete med komposita applikationer, användarförståelse och priori¬teringar samt intro¬ducerande av nyanställda.</p>

<p>The introduction of computers in working life has changed the very nature of many jobs and the entire work situation for a great number of people. How has this affected the individual´s health and well being? With the large increase in the use of computers we have witnessed an increase in reports on negative effects on users´health. The puropose of this thesis is to describe a number of studies on health effects of office computerisation conducted over a period of 20 years. The emphasis of the early studies was on psychosocial factors and stress effects while the focus in the more recent studies was to take into account occupational health in software development. The following conclusions have been drawn: We still face severe problems concerning the computer users´health and work environment. Much of the negative health effects are associated with stress. The introduction of new computer systems can result in an increase in various work-related health risks. These risks are related to several interacting factors, with two of the more important factors being work organisation and contents and design ot the computer system. Current methods, models and tools for system development are insufficient to prevent work environment and health problems encountered in administrative case handling work. To counteract these problems more attention needs to be given to social and organisational factors during system development. </p>

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