Deep realities: the fit of usability in business

ABSTRACT

This commentary provides insight into the case study presented by Mirel by analyzing the social/organizational themes of (a) text book process versus deep reality, (b) group dynamics, (c) leadership, and (d) the role of values. It concludes that social information processing can provide explanatory power for both this case study and for other professional settings. It also notes the importance of ongoing and early educationof software industry professionals in the importance of usability.

REFERENCES

• 1: Anderson, R. J. (1994). Representations and requirements: The value of ethnography in system design. Human-Computer Interaction, 9, 151-182.
• 2: Brown, J. S., and Gray, E. S. (1995). The people are the company. Fast Company. {online} URL: http: //www. fastcompany. com/online/ 01/people. html
• 3: Campion, M. A., Medsker, G. J., and Higgs, A. C. (1993). Relations between work group characteristics and effectiveness: Implications for designing effective work groups. Personnel Psychology, 46, 823-850.
• 4: Patricia Carlson, Information technology and organizational change, Proceedings of the 17th annual international conference on Computer documentation, p.26-35, September 12-14, 1999, New Orleans, Louisiana, United States [doi>10.1145/318372.318389]
• 5: R L Daft , R H Lengel, Organizational information requirements, media richness and structural design, Management Science, v.32 n.5, p.554-571, May 1986 [doi>10.1287/mnsc.32.5.554]
• 6: Erik Frøkjær , Morten Hertzum , Kasper Hornbæk, Measuring usability: are effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction really correlated?, Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on Human factors in computing systems, p.345-352, April 01-06, 2000, The Hague, The Netherlands [doi>10.1145/332040.332455]
• 7: Fulk, J., and Boyd, B. (1991). Emerging theories of communication in organizations. Journal of Management, 17, 407-446.
• 8: Grudin, J. (1993). Obstacles to participatory design in large product development organizations. In D. Schuler and A. Namioka (Eds. ), Participatory design: Principles and practices, (pp. 99-119). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
• 9: Barbara Mirel, Complex queries in information visualizations: distributing instruction across documentation and interfaces, Proceedings of the 17th annual international conference on Computer documentation, p.1-8, September 12-14, 1999, New Orleans, Louisiana, United States [doi>10.1145/318372.318378]
• 10: Star, S. L. (1995). The politics of formal representations: Wizards, gurus, and organizational compl exity. In S. L. Star (Ed.), Ecol ogi es of knowledge : Work and politics in science and technology, (pp. 88-118). Albany: State University of New York Press.
• 11: Wiebe, D. (2000). Private communication: Discussion on the role of usability in other software start-ups.
• 12: Wiebe, E. N. (1997). Adding agility to CAD: Integrating product data management tools into an organization. International Journal of Human Factors in Manufacturing, 7, 21-35.
• 13: Wiebe, E. N., Howe, J. E., Summey, J., and Norton, J. J. (1997). Computing and organizational assessment in the furniture industry. In G. Salvendy, M. Smith, J., and R. J. Koubek (Eds.), Design of computing systems: Organizational considerations, (Vol. 21B). Amsterdam: Elsevier.
• 14: Winfield, I. (1991). Organisations and information technology: Systems, power and job design. Oxford, UK: Blackwell Scientific Publications.

INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  K. Computing Milieux
  K.4 COMPUTERS AND SOCIETY

Additional Classification:
  H. Information Systems
  H.1 MODELS AND PRINCIPLES

  K. Computing Milieux
  K.6 MANAGEMENT OF COMPUTING AND INFORMATION SYSTEMS

General Terms:
Design, Human Factors, Management

Keywords:
social information processing, social psychology, usability