A Theory of Tailorable Technology Design

Tailorable technologies are a class of information systems designed with the intention that users modify and redesign the technology in the context of use. Tailorable technologies support user goals, intentions, metaphor, and use patterns in the selection and integration of technology functions in the creation of new and unique information systems. We propose a theory of tailorable technology design and identify principles necessary for the initial design. Following a Kantian style of inquiry, we identified four definitional characteristics of tailorable technology: a dual design perspective, user engagement, recognizable environments, and component architectures. From these characteristics, we propose nine design principles that will support the phenomenon of tailoring. Through a year-long case study, we refined and evidenced the principles, finding found that designers of tailorable technologies build environments in which users can both interact and engage with the technology, supporting the proposed design principles. The findings highlight a distinction between a reflective environment, where users recognize and imagine uses for the technology, and an active environment in which users tailor the technology in accordance with the imagined uses. This research contributes to the clarification of the role of theory in design science, expands the concept of possibilities for action to IS design, and proposes a design theory of a class of information systems for testing and refinement

Developing living information systems through systems tailorability: Deferred systems design

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.An interpretivist investigation of computer-based business information systems was conducted in two commercial companies and two higher education institutes, by using both quantitative questionnaire survey and qualitative interview research methods. The investigation focused on the social and organisational context of information systems development and usage in these organisations. The utility of structured methodologies is now being questioned by some researchers who are calling for alternative approaches, and this investigation draws on that alternative strand of thinking. The collected data primarily reveals that the development and usage of information systems happens in changing organisations, which suggests that the design and usage of information systems must cater for such a changing or dynamic environment. Therefore the data is interpreted using a philosophical outlook encompassing the notion of "living" information systems and Critical Theory, and this philosophical stance regards information technology as liberating human endeavour in organisations. Five sub-concepts and the concept of deferred system's design are derived from the data, which have been formulated to account and cater for change in information systems environments. The concept of deferred system's design encourages the design of information systems which allow for organisational human behaviour, consisting of organisational change, uncertainty, and learning, to be mediated by information technology. A systems design principle called `deferred system's design decisions' is derived to enable designs of tailorable information systems, which may be regarded as one form of living information systems to facilitate such organisational behaviour. An intersubjective theoretical model called the spiral of change model of tailorable information systems is proposed to explain and understand better the changing organisational environment in which information systems must be developed and in which they must function. To inform practice a computer tool is proposed which enables conceptions of " tailorable information systems that employ the principle of deferred system's design decisions and enables modelling changing or dynamic information systems

Developing Tailorable Information Systems through Deferred System\u27s Design

The development of business information systems for changing social organisations is considered by redefining the ‘engineering problem’ of information systems development as the ‘living problem’. Tailorable information systems are proposed to address the living problem. The concept of deferred system’s design, derived through interpretivism and phenomenology, provides a design philosophy for addressing the living problem

Secondary Design: A Case of Behavioral Design Science Research

As user interactions have become more central to specific classes of information systems, design theorizing must expand to support the processes of interaction and the evolution of information systems. This theorizing goes beyond user-aided, participatory design to consider users as designers in their own right during the ongoing creation and recreation of information systems. Recent theorizing about an emerging class of tailorable systems proposes that such systems undergo an initial, primary design process where features are built in prior to general release. Following implementation, people engage in a secondary design process where functions and content emerge during interaction, modification, and embodiment of the system in use. This case study reveals that people are engaged designers, framed by dualities in behaviors including planned and emergent behaviors, and participatory and reifying behaviors. We contribute to design science research by extending work on tailorable systems, investigating processes of secondary design in a highly interactive system suited to support user engagement. We also contribute more broadly to design science research by explicitly extending behavioral aspects associated with the use of information system artifacts

All-optical photochromic spatial light modulators based on photoinduced electron transfer in rigid matrices

A single material (not a multi-element structure) spatial light modulator may be written to, as well as read out from, using light. The device has tailorable rise and hold times dependent on the composition and concentration of the molecular species used as the active components. The spatial resolution of this device is limited only by light diffraction as in volume holograms. The device may function as a two-dimensional mask (transmission or reflection) or as a three-dimensional volume holographic medium. This device, based on optically-induced electron transfer, is able to perform incoherent to coherent image conversion or wavelength conversion over a wide spectral range (ultraviolet, visible, or near-infrared regions)

The added value of implementing the Planet Game scenario with Collage and Gridcole

This paper discusses the suitability and the added value of Collage and Gridcole when contrasted with other solutions participating in the ICALT 2006 workshop titled “Comparing educational modelling languages on a case study.” In this workshop each proposed solution was challenged to implement a Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning situation (CSCL) posed by the workshop’s organizers. Collage is a pattern-based authoring tool for the creation of CSCL scripts compliant with IMS Learning Design (IMS LD). These IMS LD scripts can be enacted by the Gridcole tailorable CSCL system. The analysis presented in the paper is organized as a case study which considers the data recorded in the workshop discussion as well the information reported in the workshop contributions. The results of this analysis show how Collage and Gridcole succeed in implementing the scenario and also point out some significant advantages in terms of design reusability and generality, user-friendliness, and enactment flexibility

SHOP2: An HTN Planning System

The SHOP2 planning system received one of the awards for distinguished performance in the 2002 International Planning Competition. This paper describes the features of SHOP2 which enabled it to excel in the competition, especially those aspects of SHOP2 that deal with temporal and metric planning domains