The role of emotion, values, and beliefs in the construction of innovative work realities

Traditional approaches to requirements elicitation stress systematic and rational analysis and representation of organizational context and system requirements. This paper argues that (1) for an organization, a software system implements a shared vision of a future work reality and that (2) understanding the emotions, feelings, values, beliefs, and interests that drive organizational human action is needed in order to invent the requirements of such a software system. This paper debunks some myths about how organizations transform themselves through the adoption of Information and Communication Technology; describes the concepts of emotion, feeling, value, and belief; and presents some constructionist guidelines for the process of eliciting requirements for a software system that helps an organization to fundamentally change its work patterns.(undefined

As tecnologias de informação e a construção de realidades de trabalho inovadoras

As aplicações das Tecnologias de Informação (TI) são normalmente usadas para apoiar aspectos estruturais da organização, tais como missão, estratégia, objectivos, tarefas, processos, responsabilidades, coordenação e controlo das actividades, partilha de recursos, níveis de gestão, tomada de decisão, etc. Acredita-se que estes são aspectos objectivamente identificáveis e, portanto, podem ser analisados e medidos. Por esta razão são objecto de estudo preferencial quando se trata de adoptar ferramentas para resolver problemas organizacionais. No entanto, a complexidade dos processos organizacionais, e a importância da experiência individual e das interacções humanas no condicionamento das percepções tem vindo a realçar a necessidade de considerar uma maior diversidade de aspectos organizacionais bem como estruturar o processo de adopção das aplicações das TI por forma a facilitar a dinâmica própria dos processos de transformação. Na continuação desta tendência, este artigo apresenta e analisa um caso de inovação do ambiente de trabalho suportada pela utilização de uma aplicação das TI. A utilização da aplicação estava a ser efectuada de forma implícita e sem o apoio formal da gestão de topo. O gradual desenvolvimento daquela aplicação era liderado por um agente organizacional com grande influência carismática. A transformação de conceitos e práticas de trabalho era orientada por interesses pessoais e de grupo. O sucesso das transformações pretendidas dependia do sucesso das movimentações políticas levadas a cabo pelo líder no processo. No final, a transformação revelou-se bem sucedida em termos políticos tendo, no entanto, o seu líder optado por introduzir poucas alterações nas práticas de trabalho geralmente consideradas como insatisfatórias. O artigo termina realçando a importância de considerar que as realidades de trabalho têm uma natureza multi-dimensional, pelo que é útil considerar os aspectos estruturais, sociais, políticos e simbólicos quando se pretende fazer a adopção de uma aplicação das TI que introduza alterações relevantes nas práticas e conceitos de trabalho. É ainda realçado que as realidades de trabalho estão constantemente sujeitas à acção combinada de processos sociais de transformação, muitas vezes a decorrer a um nível implícito e sem que os agentes organizacionais que os sustentam tenham plena consciência dos efeitos da sua própria acção. Assim, torna-se cada vez mais importante que as aplicações das TI possuam uma estrutura suficientemente flexível para se poder adaptar a essas transformações

Discovering affect-laden requirements to achieve system acceptance

Novel envisioned systems face the risk of rejection by their target user community and the requirements engineer must be sensitive to the factors that will determine acceptance or rejection. Conventionally, technology acceptance is determined by perceived usefulness and ease-of-use, but in some domains other factors play an important role. In healthcare systems, particularly, ethical and emotional factors can be crucial. In this paper we describe an approach to requirements discovery that we developed for such systems. We describe how we have applied our approach to a novel system to passively monitor users for signs of cognitive decline consistent with the onset of dementia. A key challenge was eliciting users’ reactions to emotionally charged events never before experienced by them at first hand. Our goal was to understand the range of users’ emotional responses and their values and motivations, and from these formulate requirements that would maximise the likelihood of acceptance of the system. The problem was heightened by the fact that the key stakeholders were elderly people who represent a poorly studied user constituency. We discuss the elicitation and analysis methodologies used, and our experience with tool support. We conclude by reflecting on the affect issues for RE and for technology acceptance

The construction of work realities assisted by the adoption of computer-based systems

Computer-based systems (CBS) are usually adopted to support structural aspects of the organization, such as mission, strategy, objectives, tasks, processes, responsibilities, coordination and control of the activities, resources allocation, authority, decision making, etc. These are assumed as objectively identifiable aspects of work and, therefore, they can be analyzed and measured. For this reason, they are object of preferential study when the goal is to adopt tools to solve organizational problems. However, the complexity of the organizational processes, and the importance of individual experiences and human interaction in shaping perceptions has come to enhance the necessity to consider a wider diversity of organizational aspects as well as the process of adoption of a CBS, in order to facilitate the proper dynamics of the organizational transformation processes. In this paper, we present and analyze two cases of work reality transformation. Each transformation process was supported by the adoption of a specific CBS. In one of the cases, this adoption was implemented explicitly and was sanctioned by senior management. In the other, the transformation was implemented without the formal support of senior management. The paper ends by emphasizing the importance of considering the multi-dimensionality of the work realities when defining CBSs to assist work practices. It is also emphasized that work realities are continually being reshaped by the combined action of social processes that lead to transformation. Often these processes occur at an implicit level and without the actors that sustain them having full awareness of the effects of their own action

Innovations for Requirements Analysis, From Stakeholders' Needs to Formal Designs

14th MontereyWorkshop 2007 Monterey, CA, USA, September 10-13, 2007 Revised Selected PapersWe are pleased to present the proceedings of the 14thMontereyWorkshop, which took place September 10–13, 2007 in Monterey, CA, USA. In this preface, we give the reader an overview of what took place at the workshop and introduce the contributions in this Lecture Notes in Computer Science volume. A complete introduction to the theme of the workshop, as well as to the history of the Monterey Workshop series, can be found in Luqi and Kordon’s “Advances in Requirements Engineering: Bridging the Gap between Stakeholders’ Needs and Formal Designs” in this volume. This paper also contains the case study that many participants used as a problem to frame their analyses, and a summary of the workshop’s results

Design matríztico: design de artefatos e ambientes de conversação como parte do design dos domínios do hominizar hospedeiros

Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro Tecnológico. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Engenharia de Produção.O neurobiólogo chileno Humberto Maturana desenvolveu uma teoria do conhecer, a Biologia do Conhecer, fundada na pergunta "como fazemos o que fazemos"? Esta teoria nos dá condições de explicar a efetividade cognitiva do vivo e do humano, ou seja, quais são suas condições de fluição congruente com o meio, enquanto mantém sua autopoiese. São suas condições de sobrevivência. Esta abordagem, ao transformar a questão da produtividade do trabalhador do conhecimento no exame da efetividade cognitiva dos fazeres humanos, cria as condições para a sua solução. A partir do fenômeno de constituição do vivo desenvolvemos uma explicação sobre o surgimento do fenômeno humano. Isso nos permitiu formular uma teoria geral do design, a Biologia do Design, que mostra como se dá a concepção e construção de artefatos e ambientes que promovam a efetividade cognitiva de seus usuários como subproduto do próprio fenômeno do hominizar que os constitui como seres humanos particulares. Neste trabalho, o design é percebido como um fazer complementar ao do engenhariar, e consiste na compreensão dos dramas humanos envolvidos em determinado fazer e na viabilização de soluções cognitivamente efetivas para estes. Esse design se dá através de três dimensões ontológicas: a estética, a ética e a comportamental. Finalmente, essa teoria é aplicada na construção de uma metodologia de design & engenharia de artefatos e ambientes de conversação (artefatos e ambientes informáticos). Essa pesquisa tem os seguintes resultados principais: uma compreensão abrangente da efetividade do fazer humano, uma teoria da percepção, uma teoria do linguajar, uma teoria da cultura, uma teoria do hominizar, uma teoria da conversação, uma teoria geral do design, uma metodologia de design & engenharia de artefatos e ambientes de conversação

Groupware requirements evolution patterns

Requirements evolution is a generally known problem in software development. Requirements are known to change all throughout a system's lifecycle. Nevertheless, requirements evolution is a poorly understood phenomenon. Most studies on requirements evolution focus on changes to written specifications and on software architecture and design. Usually, the focus is when the software is under development. Little is known about how requirements evolve when software is put into use.\ud Groupware is an example of an application domain in which the requirements continue to evolve after the system is deployed to the organization. Groupware is any ICT (software + hardware) application that supports the cooperative processes of individuals working as a group. Increasingly, groupware functionality is becoming more present in today's business applications and large information systems. The cooperative processes supported by a groupware application have no structure. Rather, its structure evolves in a way that cannot be specified in advance and arises spontaneously. Therefore, how a groupware system will be used in its operating enviroment cannot be anticipated in advance. There is also the added complication that groupware requirements are difficult to elicit due to the elusive nature of cooperative work. As software for supporting the cooperative processes of people working together, groupware technology has the potential to bring about profound organizational changes. Various studies of groupware implementation point to emergent organizational properties. The interaction between users and software leads to improvements in performance, new forms of communication, changes to group structure and functioning, all of which indicate that requirements have changed.\ud This study is an empirical investigation of requirements evolution for groupware systems in use by means of case studies. Its goal is to contribute to the development of a theory of requirements evolution. A conceptual framework offering an integrated view of requirements as a collection of domains was developed to guide and structure the investigation. The view takes the broad dimensions of business, software, problems, and solutions as requirements thus giving rise to four domains of requirements: business problem, business solution, software product concept, and software solution specification. Requirements evolution is initially formulated as the change in requirements over the course of time.\ud The application domain of groupware was chosen as the empirical setting in which to observe requirements evolution during system use. Four case studies of groupware implementations were conducted. Two failed implementation and two successful implementations were investigated. The conceptual framework is used to analyze the cases and is updated and improved based on an evaluation of how useful has it been in providing insights about requirements evolution. A final version of the framework is developed and this is used to analyze the last two case studies.\ud The results include the discovery of impact relations: commonly recurring mechanisms by which changed and new requirements lead to other requirements in different areas. Ultimately, requirements evolution is the resolution of a breakdown or an initiative resulting in an impact relation. The most important contribution of this research is a set of requirements evolution patterns: aggregations of impact relation sequences that explain the mechanisms underlying awkwardly familiar patterns of behavior in system implementation