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CHAPTER 13
socio-organizational issues and stakeholder requirements
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EXERCISE 13.1
A group of universities has decided to
collaborate to produce an information system to help
potential students find appropriate courses. The system
will be distributed free to schools and careers offices
on CD-ROM and will provide information about course
contents and requirements, university and local facilities,
fees and admissions procedures. Identify the main
stakeholders for this system, categorize them and
describe them and their activities, currently and
with regard to the proposed system, using the CUSTOM
framework.
answer
- Primary - potential students, careers
officers
- Secondary - university admissions
staff, schools liaison officers
- Tertiary - students' families, local
businesses, lecturers on specific courses
- Facilitating - CD designers,
university funding authorities
Example description for Careers
Officer: (using CUSTOM, reduced form, p 461 of Human-Computer
Interaction)
Current system
- Stakeholder has to provide information
to potential students on available courses. Success
is measured by student understanding and satisfaction
and by the numbers of students matched to appropriate
courses.
- Stakeholder is satisfied by finding
a suitable course to meet a student's needs and
finds it stressful when information is not available
or accessible to meet this need.
- Stakeholder understands the Universities
and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) system and
knows how to find course details from manuals. Stakeholder
has basic IT skills using a PC.
- Stakeholder enjoys work and feels
valued by the organisation. Stakeholder is comfortable
with technology.
- Stakeholder works alone. The only
workgroups that are relevant are with class teachers
who are consulted intermittently about individual
students.
- Tasks include (1) interviewing students,
(2) researching courses and opportunities, (3) writing
summary information sheets, (4) liaising with universities
and teachers. Some tasks (e.g. 2 & 3) are discretionary
and can be done when the stakeholder has time. Others
are fixed (1) or event driven (4). Some tasks may
be fragmented by interruptions of enquirers 'dropping
in'.
- Stakeholder is bound by confidentiality
of individual student details and considers the
responsibility of advising students on their futures
a significant one.
- Stakeholder is working in a heated
office environment in a school.
Proposed system
- As before. Stakeholder has to provide
information to potential students on available courses
Success is measured by student understanding and
satisfaction and by the numbers of students matched
to appropriate courses.
- Stakeholder is satisfied by finding
a suitable course to meet a student's needs and
multimedia system helps to facilitate this. Stakeholder
must be assured that the information on the system
is accurate and current.
- Stakeholder understands the UCAS system
and knows how to find course details from manuals.
Stakeholder has basic IT skills using a PC. Stakeholder
must understand how to navigate the multimedia system.
- Stakeholder is comfortable with technology.
However stakeholder may feel less valued as multimedia
system allows students to access information directly.
- As before. Stakeholder works alone.
The only workgroups that are relevant are with class
teachers who are consulted intermittently about
individual students.
- Tasks include (1) interviewing students,
(2) researching courses and opportunities, (3) writing
summary information sheets, (4) liaising with universities
and teachers. Some tasks (e.g. 2 & 3) are discretionary
and can be done when the stakeholder has time. Others
are fixed (1) or event driven (4). Some tasks may
be fragmented by interruptions of enquirers "dropping
in". Task 2. is now facilitated by multimedia system.
- As before. Stakeholder is bound by
confidentiality of individual student details and
considers the responsibility of advising students
on their futures a significant one.
- As before. Stakeholder is working
in a heated office environment in a school.
EXERCISE 13.2
For the scenario proposed above:
- Produce a rich picture showing the
problem situation (you can use any format that you
find helpful).
- Produce a root definition, using CATWOE,
of the system from the viewpoint of the university.
- What transformations or activities
are required to make sure that the root definition
is supported?
answer
Rich picture:
Open ended - any notation/drawing is
acceptable. It should include all of the actors identified
in the answer to 13.1, and the relationships between
them, as well as external and internal factors, motivations,
and so on. For example, the university is interested
in attracting students. It has a number of motivations
and issues: raising funds, meeting need for learning
provision, demand for resource provision. Students
are interested in available locations, quality of
learning provision, value for money, closeness to
family, and so on. A rich picture can use any notation
but should represent the entire system spatially.
Root definition/CATWOE:
A system owned by university management,
to be operated by careers staff and students working
in careers offices and schools within the context
of UCAS regulations and competition from other universities,
to sell courses to students, generate income for the
university and meet a need for learning provision.
| C | Student.
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| A | Careers staff/student.
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| T | Student intention to go to university transformed into place offered and income for institution. Need for learning provision transformed into need met.
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| W | Increased student numbers will increase income and effectiveness.
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| O | University management.
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| E | UCAS and university regulations; competitive environment from other institutions. |
Transformations - examples:
- Need for information about courses
-> need for information met
- Need for increased funding -> extra
funding generated
- Need for learning provision -> need
for learning provision met
EXERCISE 13.3
The example in Section 13.3.2 (soft systems
methodology) provides a root definition for an airline
booking system from the perspective of the airline
owner. How would this change if it was presented from
the perspective of the customer?
answer available for tutors only
EXERCISE 13.4
Find case studies of participatory design
in action and use these to provide a critique of the
approach. What are the benefits and weaknesses of
participatory design and how might any weaknesses
be addressed?
answer available for tutors only
EXERCISE 13.5
You are designing a new system to help
people manage their "to do" lists. Use the
contextual inquiry approach to interview a colleague
to see how they make use of such lists. Make sure
you interview them in context - in their study or
workplace for example. Produce sequence, flow, artefact,
cultural and physical models of the activity.
answer available for tutors only
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