Informatics and media

The paper presents an approach to the evaluation of information systems based on the concept of information systems actability, which is suggested as an important alternative way to understand the role and pragmatic use of ITsystems within organizations. The results, empirically informed by two case studies, show that the suggested approach can effectively be used to direct evaluators' attention to important aspects of an IT-system related to the social actions performed by its use within a business context.

The issue at stake is how to conceive user interfaces of IT artefacts in an organisational and semiotic perspective. Different communicative functions of user interfaces are investigated and the sequencing of user-system interaction. Two earlier models in the information systems actability approach are investigated and integrated: The Elementary InterAction Loop (EIAL) and the communicative model of user interfaces. Three new EIAL models are created dependent on three interaction modes (reading, formulation and navigation mode). A small example from eldercare is used for illustration. The foundations of the different interaction models in socio-instrumental pragmatism are discussed.

The purpose of this paper is to explore issues pertaining to the development of third-party applications aimed to be hosted at software platforms. While prior research has addressed design challenges in platform design, and suggested a boundary resources model to understand such design, we argue that the application developers' perspective has not yet been scrutinized. Drawing on design experiences from application development for the Facebook platform, we suggest further elaboration of the boundary resources model for software platforms. Our results show that the developers and applications are highly affected by the unpredictability of software platforms. Based on an empirically justified account of experience with boundary resources dependencies, we propose a set of implications for third-party development as well as platform development and maintenance. The study should be helpful in determining the influence of boundary resources on third-party developers and applications whilst planning for application development on such platforms. It should also be useful to platform owners involved in the development and maintenance of boundary resources for third-party development.

Within the IS research field, there are many views on how to understand the use of IT systems. Within the community of organisational semiotics, Stamper's semiotic framework has been used as a tool to understand information systems at different abstraction levels. Another theory related to organisational semiotics, Information Systems Actability Theory (ISAT), argues that social action theories and speech act theory are needed for a thorough understanding of the use of IT systems in organisations. The use of IT systems is considered to be performance of action within a social context. The purpose of this paper is to elaborate on user interfaces of information systems as a means to understand socio-pragmatic and communicative aspects of IS use. The theoretical foundation is based on semiotic and sociopragmatic theories, and findings from a case study are presented and discussed in order to clarify the argumentation.

Over the last few decades, the field of information systems has shown a steadily increasing interest in design-oriented research. This is manifested through the emergence of different ontological and epistemological positions among IS researchers. Some challenges arise from this development, such as (a) a need to understand design-oriented IS research in relation to design-oriented approaches in other disciplines, and (b)

The concept of usability has evolved in different research communities and the focus of research has varied. During the last couple of years, research has been oriented towards acknowledging more appropriately the social context of IT system use. The purpose of this paper is to investigate further the usefulness of a communicative perspective on user interfaces, as a means to

The concept of usability contains different analytic tools, which support developers to focus on important aspects of IT-system design and evaluation. Usability research has focused both cognitive aspects of IT-systems (such as how to design the user interface), as well as an understanding of the work tasks the user performs using the IT-system. This paper presents an analysis of a set of commonly used usability principles. The analysis is based on a conceptualization of the user interface concept, which is based on a socio-instrumental perspective that acknowledges the communicative character of IT-systems. It is shown that contemporary usability principles need to be reinterpreted and complemented with design principles based on social action and human-to-human communication.

Information technology (IT) plays an increasingly important role for individuals, organizations, markets, and society as a whole. IT systems are artefacts (human made objects) designed for various purposes. Given the multiple-purpose characteristics of computers, such artefacts may, for example, support workflows, perform advanced calculations, support human communication and socialization, enable delivery of services and digital products, facilitate learning, or simply entertain. The diverging application areas for IT present a challenge to designers who, as a consequence, have to address increasingly divergent design situations. There have been numerous arguments suggesting that the IT artefact has been 'taken for granted', and needs to be understood and conceptualized better within information systems (IS) research. This thesis is based on the pragmatist notion that one important value of IT resides in its potential to support human collaboration. Such a belief has implications for the development of (1) knowledge aimed for action, change and improvement; (2) knowledge about actions, activities and practices; and (3) knowledge through action, experimentation and exploration. A view of the IT artefact is outlined, showing it as part of a social and technological context. IT artefact design is explained in relation to the induction of social change. The notion of stakeholder-centric design is advocated, along with practical theory to promote a situated understanding of use qualities and design ideals. A set of meta-theoretical implications for design-oriented IS research is proposed. The research process consisted of five inquiries into different IT-reliant social contexts. In the first four inquiries, social and communicative qualities of IT artefacts were assessed, governed primarily by Dewey's notion of inquiry as a theory of knowledge. The fifth inquiry was a largescale action research project, including interventions into the social setting, and the design and implementation of a new IT artefact into that setting.

Information Systems Actability Theory is a theory based on language action theories (e.g. Searle and Habermas) and other social action theories (e.g. Weber and Schutz). In ISAT, different actors' work with (computerised) information systems is considered to be action directed towards humans. Phenomena related to human action and communication between humans are set in focus. This paper proposes a development and clarification of sociopragmatic aspects of ISAT, based on theories of Weber and Grice.

Information technology (IT) allows for large-scale data collection and data analysis, e.g. through logs of user behavior and online surveys. While the issue of structured access to data is extremely important, previous research has not sufficiently emphasized design of data export for research purposes. If researchers are to make their data accessible, they must be empowered to export data in a flexible manner. In this paper, we employ action design research to develop design principles for data export in an e-Health context. Design is informed by a sociomaterial world-view, object-oriented patterns and principles, and usability goals. Through three build-intervene-evaluate cycles in an empirical setting where randomized controlled trials are designed, we propose nine design principles and a conceptual architecture for data export. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

Evaluation is an essential part of design science research-a means to demonstrate qualities of artefacts and knowledge abstractions. The utilityfitness model suggests that evaluation needs to move from 'usefulness' measures to utility functions that incorporate the long-term evolution and survival of an artefact in its design landscape. In this paper, we interpret a process of innovative change taking place within a design system, in order to provide an empirical account of utility-fitness. We propose that the utility-fitness model pays too little explicit attention to technological-ecological fit, accountability, and robustness: Three ideals that were prevalent in the scrutinized empirical setting.

U-CARE is a multidisciplinary eHealth research program that involves the disciplines of caring science, clinical psychology, health economics, information systems, and medical science. It was set up from scratch in a university setting in 2010, funded by a governmental initiative. While establishing the research program, many challenges were faced. Systematic documentation of experiences from establishing new research environments is scarce. The aim of this paper was to describe the challenges of establishing a publicly funded multidisciplinary eHealth research environment. Researchers involved in developing the research program U-CARE identified challenges in the formal documentation and by reflecting on their experience of developing the program. The authors discussed the content and organization of challenges into themes until consensus was reached. The authors identified 15 major challenges, some general to establishing a new research environment and some specific for multidisci...

There exist different types or genres of design science research (DSR) in information systems, like laboratory-oriented and practice-oriented DSR. This paper investigates arguments for a practice-oriented approach to DSR. It uses the research approach of practice research as a starting point to elaborate on a practice-oriented DSR approach we label Practice Design Research (PDR). In doing so, we address two unresolved issues in IS DSR: Theorizing and evaluation. PDR consists of two inter-related sub-activities: theorizing and situational design inquiry. The conduct of situational design inquiry is described as iterative cycles of (1) pre-evaluate, (2) plan & design, (3) test & intervene and (4) post-evaluate. We justify the foundations of these iterative sub-activities/cycles through a theoretically informed argument based on pragmatist philosophy and practice theory.

Most information systems (IS) programs have a strong design component, including aspects of software engineering and organizational development. This work explores how Design Science Research (DSR) ) can be used to drive IS curriculum development. Specifically, we report on the use of DSR to inform the design of a Computer Information Systems curriculum and pay specific attention to five design guidelines that emerged from the work. The study takes its departure in the 2013 merger between Uppsala Universitythe oldest university in the Nordic countries (est. 1477)and Gotland University Collegethe youngest tertiary institution in Sweden (est. 1998), through which the latter became Campus Gotland at Uppsala University. Through the merger, the Software Engineering (SE) department at Gotland was incorporated in the Department of Informatics and Media within the Faculty of Social Sciences at uppsala University and was assigned the task to develop its two-year undergraduate diploma program in SE into a three-year IS bachelor's program.