Purpose -This paper appropriates the value sensitive design (VSD) framework to examine the role of design values in the development of an information system designed to increase transparency and reduce corruption within the context of a large-scale e-governance project in India. Design/methodology/approach -A qualitative case study was conducted and data were collected through interviews with system designers, observations of system design and implementation, and walk-through of designed systems. Data analysis followed an interpretive approach intended to understand informants' meaning-making. Analysis occurred iteratively both during and after the field study.Findings -The study reveals the complexity of the role of values in the design of information technology wherein the designers in their pursuit of transparency and reduced corruption have to continuously balance their idealistic and pragmatic values.Research limitations/implications -This study tests the VSD framework in the context of developing an e-government system thereby highlighting its usefulness but also outlining ways in which the framework can be expanded to make it more relevant to diverse contexts. Practical implications -This study extends the VSD framework, particularly in contexts where designers' values are primary drivers of design decisions. A greater understanding of the role of design values across the design process can prove crucial in inculcating and reinforcing design values that lead to a more contextually relevant product. Social implications -This research provides valuable lessons on how to approach design of systems that can benefit humans with implications for designers and for public policy. Originality/value -This is one of the first studies that utilizes the VSD framework to study information system design in a human development context with novel implications for both research and practice.
This paper examines the role of knowledge management systems (KMS) for disaster planning and response in the context of social work in Malaysia. The research is focused on the client — the Malaysian Association of Social Workers (MASW), where a web-based system to support disaster management was developed and implemented. The research objectives required the researchers' direct involvement with the MASW. Canonical Action Research (CAR) was used as the research methodology. The process and outcomes of this action research initiative is presented based on the five-stage CAR approach, consisting of (i) problem diagnosis, (ii) action planning, (iii) intervention, (iv) evaluation and (v) learning outcomes. The evaluation of the system is supported by quantitative analysis driven by survey instrumentation. Our findings suggests that successful utilisation of the system in the context of MASW's efforts and roles in disaster management in Malaysia, is contingent upon issues such as acceptance of KMS, and availability of resources to maintain the system. Other issues such as clear definition of the role of Information Technology (IT) for disaster management and willingness to share knowledge are also vital in this regard.
Interactive TV is a new, exciting entry into the drawing rooms of Indian families. By examining current and nascent interactive TV services we trace ways in which they are deployed, received and consumed in the Indian home. From ethnographic probes we offer observations from Indian domestic contexts in the threshold of adopting interactivity as part of everyday TV viewing. We foreground India as a new and primary emerging site adopting interactive TV and to expand attention from the predominance of designing for Western cultural contexts. We develop a specific focus on personalizing TV, a dominant media attribute of interactive TV, conflicting with conventional viewing patterns in the Indian home. We note emergent challenges for interactive TV adoption patterns, particularly for personalization, in the Indian home. Here, TV is viewed as a) Comfort media b) Shared media c) Media for family bonding and raise concerns for viewer preferences around personalizing TV
Reflections on the place of qualitative methods in ICTD work.
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