Increasing Customer Satisfaction – How to Manage Expectations in the Process of Developing Information Systems

Considering success of information system development (ISD) projects a matter of perspective, stakeholder satisfaction is often seen as an important success criterion. When evaluating satisfaction, expectations are essential – in case of ISD projects expectations concerning both process and product. While previous research focuses on the management of expectations concerning the product, lack of research exists concerning the process of ISD projects. To close this gap, we explore the approaches that can be applied to manage expectations and guide customer satisfaction with the process in ISD projects. By means of qualitative expert interviews, we focus on both types of situations – those in which the experts were successful and less successful in managing customer expectations concerning the ISD process. Our results from twelve interviews yield both concrete customer expectations (e.g., being involved by the contractor) and approaches to manage those expectations (e.g., creating transparency). Researchers can use our results to further investigate concrete expectations and expectations management approaches. Practitioners are provided with means to manage customer expectations, thus increasing customer satisfaction and the likelihood of project success

An interpretive study of software risk management perspectives.

Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2002.This dissertation addresses risk management in the software development context. The discussion commences with the risks in software development and the necessity for a software risk management process. The emergent discourse is based on the shortfalls in current risk management practices, elaborated in the software risk management literature. This research proposes a framework for a field investigation of risk management in the context of a particular software development organization. It was experimentally tested within several companies. This framework was designed to provide an understanding of the software development risk phenomena from a project manager's perspective and to understand how this perspective affects their perception. This was done with respect to the consideration of the advantages and disadvantages of software risk management as regards its applicability or inapplicability, respectively. This study can be used as a precursor to improving research into the creation of new software risk management frameworks

Remote synchronous crowd support in challenging sports events

Social support is a most powerful expression of human beings. It can make humans overcome barriers that seem impossible. Research shows that athletes, who are supported through being cheered on during events, perform better. However, up until recently, little could be done to cheer athletes during races unless supporters were physically present at the event. We investigate ways in which remote online spectators can support athletes in real-time. Is the support from remote spectators effective? How can we design systems for real-time support and what factors influence their effectiveness? To research this, we iteratively design online crowd interfaces, mobile applications, and devices that allow athletes to communicate with distributed spectators during sport activities. Athletes are able to broadcast their live performance to spectators through locative and biometric data sharing. Concurrently, remote spectators support the athletes by clicking a cheer button that instantly makes the athletes aware that a crowd is following their performance. We then conduct a series of investigations during multiple sport events, using different support modalities and diverse crowds. Results indicate that remote crowd support does motivate the athletes by making the athletes aware that they are being supported. More interestingly, if we categorise supporters into close relatives, acquaintances and unknown spectators, the most effective support seems to be that of acquaintances. This work also provides design guidelines for researchers and designers of remote crowd support systems