The user - the great unknown of systems development: reasons, forms, challenges,experiences and intellectual contributions of user involvement

摘要

We are witnessing an interesting era in the history of computing and information technology (IT). Computing, telephone and television on the one hand and data, voice and video on the other hand are converging. Internet, the World Wide Web and mobile computing have made IT truly global. IT has become pervasive - it is increasingly difficult for human beings to live their lives without encountering IT. The applications of IT have expanded from traditional automating (e.g. process control and embedded applications), augmenting (e.g. word processing), informating (information systems proper) and communicating (e.g. email) applications to various accompanying (e.g. computer pets), entertaining (e.g. computer games) and fantasizing applications (e.g. virtual world applications such as Second Life) (livari, 2007).