The Value of User Participation in E-Commerce Systems Development

Abstract

Many researchers and practitioners consider user participation in the development of an information system is essential to the success of the system. System designers have promoted development techniques that demand user participation, such as prototyping, rapid application development and joint application design. Interestingly, the research literature on the topic has not been conclusive about the value of user participation, although the perception of value has still existed. The importance of user participation in information systems could be seen as a myth.The time pressure to develop Web based e-commerce systems and the propagation of the view that e-commerce is different and subject to different rules has led developers to question the value of customer participation in the development process. Indeed, the notion of the "user" has become confused. No longer is a user necessarily found in-house, but may be a geographically remote customer unknown to an organization. This paper proposes and validates a model that examines the role of key users and stakeholders in e-commerce applications development. Despite the business need for remote, untrained users to quickly feel comfortable and satisfied in an e-commerce site encounter, it appears that many organisations are making little effort to engage users in e-commerce site developmental activities.

Involvement in Small Community Based Organisations’ Websites

“…The results also showed almost no use of external 'customers' of the CBOs in any of the stages of website development and use. This is supported by the findings of Terry and Standing (2004), who found that organisations were more likely to involve internal users (from within the organisation) than external customers in the design of electronic commerce systems. Thus, Carroll and Rosson's (2007) notion of having direct participation (that is, user participation) in website design is predominantly limited to those with weak-internal ties, such as members, employees, and volunteers.…”

“…In effect, users become the "heart of the design process" (Makagonov & Reyes Espinosa, 2008). Terry and Standing (2004) examined user participation in electronic commerce systems development in three Australian organisations and suggested that organisations may be more likely to involve internal users (that is, from within the business) than external customers in the design process. Makagonov and Reyes Espinosa (2008) discussed the difficulties involved in designing websites for a specific type of community organisation, a non-profit regional museum.…”

An Empirical Analysis of End‐User Participation in Software Development Projects in a Developing Country Context

“…Traditional and alternative models are reported in (Baroudi et al, 1986). Changed model is presented in (Zmud and Cox, 1979), while Terry and Standing (2004) presented a model for assessing the impact of user participation on system success. Daniel and Dana (1982) developed a normative constructive conflict model for user participation.…”

“…We recognize the possibility of a gap or conflict between the developer's perception (DP) and the end-user's perception (UP) regarding end-user participation in software development. The software developer perceives end-user participation to be influenced by: 1) end-user organization's technical infrastructure and working environment (Terry and Standing, 2004); 2) communication and relationship between the end-user and software developer (Ramanath et al, 2010); 3) professional and technical competency of the software developer and end-users; 4) end-user's IT skills and awareness (Torkzadeh and Lee 2003); 5) expertise in the end-user problem domain (Pfleeger and Atlee, 2010); and 6) contract awarding procedure (Grudin, 1991). Age and gender are moderators to communication and relationship (Thayer and Ray, 2006).…”

“…The direct participation of management and other end-users in SDLC contributes to the acceptability and usability of software systems. It also guides the software developers in the development and implementation of software systems that respond to both functional and non-functional requirements of the users (Majid et al, 2010;Terry and Standing, 2004;Discenza et al, 2008). In view of this, it is imperative to establish a good relationship between the end-users in the client organizations and the software developers.…”