Journalists as end-users: Quality management principles applied to the design process of news automation

Abstract

ISO 9000 refers to a family of three standards related to quality management. It defines the concept of quality as the features and characteristics of a product, a process, or a service that bears on its ability to satisfy needs explicitly or implicitly expressed. Standards provide guidance and tools to ensure that products or services will meet users’ requirements. It means that quality must be consistently improved and that risks must be evaluated to be anticipated. The seven principles of the ISO 9000 are here examined through the lenses of a case study conducted within a Belgian newsroom, where an automated news system was developed to support the daily routines of financial journalists. As end-users, they have been actively involved within the design process, which can be considered as the first form of use.