<p>Given today’s industry dynamics, new service development is becoming increasingly important to the competitiveness, growth, and survival of organizations. Unfortunately, new service development has proven to be a complex and difficult task. Numerous reasons are stated in the literature such as the difficulty of understanding and anticipating latent customer needs and insufficient market research techniques. To facilitate proactive learning about the customer, recent findings stress customer involvement in the development process and observations of customers in real action.</p><p>The overall objective of the dissertation is to contribute to an increased knowledge of customer involvement, i.e., the role of customers as contributors and co-creators in new service development. The thesis draws on theory from market and learning orientation in conjunction with a service-centered model, and provides an extensive review of literature on customer involvement in innovation. In five separate studies, this doctor’s thesis addresses the customer’s role in innovation activities in various industries (e.g., Staffing Services, Airline Services, and Mobile Telecommunication services).</p><p>In this thesis it is argued that interaction is not only the focal point of services, but also the essence of customer involvement. A special emphasis is put on supporting techniques as these are the means by which customer information and knowledge are created. In addition, results are provided showing that customer involvement in innovation pays off. Companies that engage in collaborative innovation with customers can expect improved customer satisfaction, customer loyalty, and profit margin.</p>

Studiens syfte är att undersöka om användarinvolvering underlättar IT-implementeringar. Teknikens snabba framväxt påverkar organisationer i den grad att de måste implementera IT förr eller senare. Samtidigt finns det stora utmaningar med IT-implementeringar, de uppfyller sällan dess fulla potential eller bidrar med den förväntade nyttan. Ett sätt att underlätta IT-implementeringar är att involvera användare i processen, något som kallas för användarinvolvering. Studien riktar in sig på offentliga och privata organisationer i Sverige som har genomfört en eller flera IT-implementeringar de senaste 2 åren där användarinvolvering använts.  Denna studie är utformad genom en kvalitativ ansats. Empirin till studien har samlats in genom sju semistrukturerade intervjuer med respondenter vars roller i sina respektive organisationer bidrar till ett helhetsperspektiv kring studiens område. Fem organisationer medverkade i studien där två av organisationerna verkar inom offentlig sektor och tre inom privat sektor, varav tre respondenter är från samma företag. Organisationerna är verksamma inom finans, hälsovård, industrivaror &amp; tjänster, försäkringar och transport.  Artikeldatabaser och bibliotekskataloger användes för att gå igenom tidigare forskning som sedan låg till grund för den teoretiska referensramen och analysen. De begrepp och teorier som används i studiens teoriavsnitt är problem och onödiga kostnader med IT-implementeringar, system development life cycle, användarinriktad design och organisationsstorlek &amp; organisationsstruktur.  Studien visar att användarinvolvering har stor betydelse på korta IT-implementeringar som varar i 0–3 år. Vid långa IT-implementeringar som sträcker sig 3 år eller längre har användarinvolvering låg betydelse. Studien visar att användarnas involvering på implementeringar skiljer sig från verksamhet till verksamhet och är beroende av både implementeringen- och organisationens storlek. / The purpose of this study was to investigate if user involvement is a crucial factor for the success of IT implementation. The rapid evolvement of technology affects organizations to the extent that they need to implement Information Technology (IT) sooner or later. At the same time, there are big challenges with IT-implementations, they rarely fulfill their potential or contribute with the expected usage. One way to increase IT-implementation rate of success is to involve the user in the process, this is called user involvement. This study focuses on public and private organizations in Sweden who have implemented one or more IT-implementations in the last 2 years, where user involvement has been used.  This study is designed through a qualitative approach. Empiricism of the study has been gathered through seven semi-structured interviews with respondents whose roles in their respective organizations contribute to a holistic approach to this area of study. Five organizations were involved in this study where two of the organizations work within the public sector and the other three in private sector, whereof three respondents work in the same organization. The organizations in this study are active within the work areas of finance, healthcare, industrial goods &amp; services, insurance and transportation.  Article databases and library catalogs were used to review previous research which then provided the basis for the theoretical reference and analysis. The concepts and theories used in the study’s theory section are problems and unnecessary costs with IT-implementations, system development life cycle, participatory design and organization size &amp; organizational structure.  The study shows that user involvement is a key factor on short IT-implementations that lasts 0-3 years. For long IT-implementations lasting 3 years or more user involvement is of less importance. The study shows that user involvement on implementations differs from business to business and depends on both the size of the organization and implementation.

A presente pesquisa visa investigar o envolvimento do usuário final no desenvolvimento de um Sistema de Informação (SI) e sua influência na adoção do SI. Para tanto, realizou-se uma revisão sistemática, em que foram analisados 133 artigos e cujo resultado é a proposição de uma modificação do Modelo de Aceitação de Tecnologia (TAM) incluindo variáveis relativas ao envolvimento do usuário: situacional e intrínseco. Em seguida, foi realizado o teste do modelo proposto a partir de uma survey com 114 respondentes, cujos dados foram analisados através de Análise Fatorial Exploratória (EFA), Análise Fatorial Confirmatória (CFA) e Modelagem por Equações Estruturais (SEM). O teste permitiu inferir que as hipóteses suscitadas estavam corretas e que o envolvimento do usuário é significativo dentro do contexto de adoção de um SI. Por fim, realizou-se um projeto de experimentos fatorial (DOE) fracionado para verificar de que forma envolvimento situacional e intrínseco estão relacionados Evidenciou-se que a composição do efeito de fatores principais e de interações duplas das atividades do envolvimento situacional explica até 57% da variação do envolvimento intrínseco. As principais contribuições teóricas da dissertação versam sobre a consistência aportada pelos métodos utilizados. O subsídio teórico aportado pela revisão sistemática permitiu elaborar relações teóricas com segurança. A utilização conjunta de EFA e CFA é indicada para conferir robustez à pesquisa. Da mesma forma, a modelagem por equações estruturais apresentou utilidade no contexto da pesquisa, embora se indique cuidado ao realizar as modificações no modelo para que se adeque aos parâmetros de qualidade da análise. Por fim, a realização de um projeto de experimento fatorial fracionado é algo incomum na literatura de adoção de SI, mas foi útil para verificação da qualidade da interação entre os tipos de envolvimento, bem como a verificação de quais fatores devem ser evitados. / The present research aims to understand the end user involvement in the Information System (IS) development influence in IS adoption by proposing and testing a specific theoretical model. A systematic review was carried out in which 133 articles were analyzed and its result is a Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) modification proposition. This model includes variables related to the user's involvement: situational involvement and intrinsic involvement. Afterwards, the test of the proposed model was carried out from a survey with 114 respondents, whose data were analyzed through Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA), Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). The test allowed inferring that the hypotheses raised were correct and that user involvement is significant within IS adoption context. Finally, a fractional factorial design of experiments (DOE) with seven factors was done to verify how two types of involvement are related. It was evidenced that the composition of the effect of situational involvement major factors and double interactions explains up to 57% of intrinsic involvement variation The main theoretical contributions of the dissertation are about the consistency provided by the methods used. The theoretical subsidy provided by the systematic review allowed development of theoretical relations with safety. The combined EFA and CFA use is strongly indicated to give robustness to the research. Likewise, SEM presented significant utility in research context, although it is indicated caution when making model modifications to fit analysis quality parameters. Finally, fractional factorial DOE with seven factors is uncommon in the literature, but it was extra useful to verify interaction quality between types of involvement.

This study was concerned with exploring the meaning birth relatives gave their experiences of counselling following the removal of their children from their care. An exploratory research question was formulated and addressed using a qualitative approach. The involvement of a service user as expert supervisor added an important element and certain validity to the design, analysis and findings. Interviews took place with five birth mothers who had received counselling from one birth relatives counselling service. Three master themes were constructed from the data: From feeling alone, judged and let down to feeling part of a special relationship; "The healing process"; and "My children are my world".

User involvement has, during recent years, become something of a mantra among product development managers. However, the existing literature has not much to say about how the individual user contributes to product innovation and whether her or his contribution is valuable.  The thesis attempts to fill this gap in knowledge by reporting experiments in which ordinary users are asked to suggest new services that their mobile telephones could deliver. The originality, user value, and the feasibility of their suggestions are then compared to the suggestions of professional product designers. On the whole, the users contribute ideas that are more original, and that could result in services of higher user value than the professionals.  Exactly how the users are involved matters for the outcome of their involvement. Two different approaches to involving users are identified, Guided Users and Pioneering Users. The Guided User approach seems to be preferable when stepwise refinement of an existing service is desired.  The Pioneering User approach is better suited to supporting radical innovation. The conclusion is that firms must adapt their processes of developing new products in order to realise the full potential of user involvement. / Diss. (sammanfattning) Stockholm : Handelshögsk., 2003

Given today’s industry dynamics, new service development is becoming increasingly important to the competitiveness, growth, and survival of organizations. Unfortunately, new service development has proven to be a complex and difficult task. Numerous reasons are stated in the literature such as the difficulty of understanding and anticipating latent customer needs and insufficient market research techniques. To facilitate proactive learning about the customer, recent findings stress customer involvement in the development process and observations of customers in real action. The overall objective of the dissertation is to contribute to an increased knowledge of customer involvement, i.e., the role of customers as contributors and co-creators in new service development. The thesis draws on theory from market and learning orientation in conjunction with a service-centered model, and provides an extensive review of literature on customer involvement in innovation. In five separate studies, this doctor’s thesis addresses the customer’s role in innovation activities in various industries (e.g., Staffing Services, Airline Services, and Mobile Telecommunication services). In this thesis it is argued that interaction is not only the focal point of services, but also the essence of customer involvement. A special emphasis is put on supporting techniques as these are the means by which customer information and knowledge are created. In addition, results are provided showing that customer involvement in innovation pays off. Companies that engage in collaborative innovation with customers can expect improved customer satisfaction, customer loyalty, and profit margin.

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. 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 process and a user-centred attitude 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. 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.

Author: Gabriella Agné and Helena Larsson Title: Disability policy program – a case study of a municipals implementation of UNs Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Supervisor: Marianne Westring-Nordh Assessor: Ulf Drugge This study aims to examine how a small municipal in southern Sweden works with the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and examine the assistant officers knowledge about this work and user organizations inclusion and user involvement. The study operates from a qualitative approach based on the results of nine semi-structured interviews with local politicians, assistance officers and representatives from three different user organizations. The results show that the municipal has chosen to work with the implementation of the convention by creating policy programs for their departments through dialogue with user organizations, and by mapping the accessibility to public places. The results also show that the assistant officers have been given no information regarding the convention or the policy programs from their employers and instead operate from national legislations and prepositions. The user organizations feel that they were initially included in the process, but that their impact has later been removed due to structural reorganization.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Stockholm : Handelshögsk., 2003. / Härtill 6 uppsatser.

In a world dominated by digital technologies, user-centered design aims to ensure that the users are catered with solutions that deal with their needs. As agile methods have become a prevalent approach in software development, it is crucial for the two disciplines to work together. However, existing studies have already presented incompatibilities between the methods of the two disciplines. This study intends to investigate the impact that agile principles have on the adoption of user-centered approach on a broader scale through the many parties involved in the process. By conducting interviews with practitioners and interpreting the results through the lens of Engeström’s activity system model, the findings of the study reveal significant influences imposed on the user-centered approach by external and organizational factors that are intensified by the agile principles. Three main areas of concern are identified and accompanied by broad suggestions on how to approach resolving them, focusing on the empowerment of UX designers, accurate deliberation of the intentions and practices of user-centered approach, and close collaboration to raise awareness of the benefits of user-centered approach. Lastly, it is emphasized that the identified areas of concern – primarily the problematic impact from clients and executives – need further extensive research to provide definitive solutions.