Procurer usability requirements: negotiations in contract development

ABSTRACT

This article describes a case study that examined one procurer's reasoning about and work with usability-related issues as well as the contractor's response to those requirements. The aim of this study was to examine the procurer's power to direct the system development process according to user-centred principles and indeed to point out its responsibility to use that power. The study elucidated the procurer's and the contractor's differing views of usability. The results suggest that the project leaders from the two organisations examined in this study had differing views of usability and that both approached usability more from a business perspective than from a user perspective. Furthermore, we found that the procurer valued user-centred activities less for their results than for the opportunity they gave to come in contact with the user's point of view and then to visualize the requirements concretely. We conclude this article with an analysis of some contradictions within and between the two organisations from a socio-cultural point of view. We suggest some mundane but nevertheless important requirements that procurers should think of when contracting consultants.

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INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  H. Information Systems
  H.5 INFORMATION INTERFACES AND PRESENTATION (I.7)
      H.5.3 Group and Organization Interfaces
          Subjects: Organizational design

Additional Classification:
  D. Software
  D.4 OPERATING SYSTEMS
      D.4.7 Organization and Design
          Subjects: Interactive systems

  F. Theory of Computation
  F.1 COMPUTATION BY ABSTRACT DEVICES
      F.1.2 Modes of Computation
          Subjects: Interactive and reactive computation

  H. Information Systems
  H.5 INFORMATION INTERFACES AND PRESENTATION (I.7)
      H.5.3 Group and Organization Interfaces
          Subjects: Computer-supported cooperative work

General Terms:
Design, Economics, Experimentation, Human Factors, Management

Keywords:
contracting, human computer interaction, procurement competence, system development, usability