Do end-users fit the informatics requirements?

Do End Users fit the Informatics Requirements? John Trigg phaseFour Informatics Limited www.phasefour-informatics.com www.theintegratedlab.com

Agenda
Success criteria for informatics projects
User involvement
The principles of technology adoption
Defining strategies to drive up user acceptance

What makes a project successful?
Immediate
On time
On budget
Fully functional
Post Implementation
Return on investment
Productivity gain
Longer term
User acceptance
Better science
Improved knowledge management

Success by Project Size – small is beautiful! Standish Group International (1999)

IT Project Cancellation / Abandonment %
Standish 1994 31%
Standish 1996 40%
Standish 1998 28%
Jones 1998 systems 14%
Jones 1998 military 19%
Jones 1998 other >24%
Standish 2000 23%
Standish 2002 15%
Computer Weekly 2003 9%
UJ 2003 22%
Standish 2004 18%
Standish 2006 19%
Standish 2009 24%

Project Success Factors Standish Group International (1999) User Involvement 20% Executive Support 15% Clear Business Objectives 15% Experienced Project Manager 15% Small Milestones 10% Firm Basic Requirements 5% Competent Staff 5% Proper Planning 5% Ownership 5% Other 5%

Ten Ways to Guarantee Project Failure
1. Abbreviate the planning process.
2. Don ’ t ask “ what if? ”
3. Minimize customer involvement.
4. Select team members by the “ hey, you ” method.
5. Work people long and hard.
6. Don ’ t inform management of problems.
7. Allow changes at any point.
8. Discourage questions from team members.
9. Don ’ t give customers progress reports.
10. Don ’ t compare project progress with project estimates.
Naomi Karten, www.StickyMinds.com

User involvement
Preparation
Help to define requirements
Implementation
Need to be kept aware of progress
Need to be involved in testing
Training/support programs
Long term
Take advantage of productivity/process improvements
Do better science
Contribute to and improve the corporate knowledge base

Knowledge Management
KM solutions do not come in a shrink wrap box
You cannot implement KM, it is an outcome
KM is about people and culture; technology can facilitate good KM, but that’s all
It can take years to cultivate a good KM ecosystem, and minutes to destroy

Business Culture Change the process Innovate for value creation Transform the business Continuously improve Maintain stability Consistency and control Improving from experience Challenge and change Inquisitiveness and learning Paradox and uncertainty

You Hate the IT department, and They Hate You Right Back!
The mutual enmity between the average IT department and the average end user is the key feature (..) in the business setting.
The situation now is all but intolerable: No matter who you are, unless you are the CTO, the IT department does not work for you, so your interests and their interests are not aligned.
The IT department is rewarded for their ability to keep bad things from happening, and that means there is a pressure to create and then preserve stability. Meanwhile, you are rewarded for your ability to make good things happen, meaning that a certain amount of risk-taking is a necessary condition of your job.
Risk-taking undermines stability. Stability deflects risk-taking. You think your IT department are jerks for not helping you do what you want to do; they consider you an idiot for installing software without their permission. Also, because of the way your interests are (mis)aligned, you are both right.
Ref : Clay Shirky http://www.openp2p.com/pub/a/p2p/2001/02/14/clay_darkness.html

The Landscape of Management Mathematical Complexity Social Complexity Systems Thinking Un-order Order Rules Heuristics Epistemology Ontology Source : Multi-Ontology Sense Making, David Snowden, Management Today Yearbook 2005 Process Engineering

User Culture Rogers, Everett M. (1962). Diffusion of Innovations . The Free Press. New York Innovators 2 - 3 % Technology Enthusiasts : want to be first to try new technology; want one of everything. Early Adopters 10% Visionaries : able to align technology with strategic opportunities; willing to take risks; horizontally oriented. Early Majority 36% Pragmatists : cautious with risk and money; loyal; vertically oriented. Late Majority 36% Conservatives : opposed to discontinuous innovation; believe in tradition rather than progress. Laggards 15% Sceptics : negative attitude towards technology; identify discrepancies between what’s promised and what’s delivered.

User requirements
Users are notoriously bad at explaining what they need
The issue is confounded by choice and complexity

Implementation
The project team must ensure that all ‘users’ and their interests are represented.
Project leadership is equally important as project management.
Communicate, communicate, communicate
Market’ the project; don’t ‘sell’ it.
IT project or Lab project?
Keep it simple, but be flexible and expect surprises.
Be wary of the risk of guerrilla warfare.

Technology Adoption Life Cycle Ref : ‘Crossing The Chasm’, G.A.Moore, Capstone Publishing Technology Enthusiasts Looking for some neat technology Innovators Early Adopters Early Majority Laggards Late Majority The Chasm Visionaries Looking for a breakthrough Pragmatists Looking for an improvement Conservatives Believe in tradition Sceptics Not looking!

Technology Acceptance Model Davis, F.D. “A Technology Acceptance Model for Empirically Testing New End-User Information Systems: Theory and Results”, in MIT Sloan School of Management . Cambridge, MA; MIT School of Management. 1986. Perceived Usefulness Behavioural Intention External Variables Actual Use Perceived Ease of Use Attitude Toward The degree to which a person believes that using a particular system would enhance his or her job performance. The degree to which a person believes that using a particular system would be free from effort. Individual user’s positive or negative feelings about performing the target behaviour A measure of the strength of one’s intention to perform a specific behaviour.

Technology Adoption S-curve and the Assimilation Gap Time % User Adoption Contact Awareness Understanding Trial Use Adoption Internalisation Institutionalisation Planned Assimilation Gap Robert G. Fichman, Chris F. Kemerer, “The Illusory Diffusion of Innovation : An Examination Of Assimilation Gaps”, Working Paper Series No.746, Katz Graduate School of Business, University of Pittsburgh, November 1995. Deployment

Closing the gap
Adoption process
Contact
Awareness
Understanding
Trial Use
Adoption
Institutionalisation
Internalisation
What can we do to influence attitude in order to drive the ‘right’ behaviours?
‘ Market ’ the project.
Establish and articulate a well-defined purpose and a compelling reason to adopt.
Concentrate on real task activities, ease-of-use and low risk of failure.
Target and involve the pragmatists (Early Majority).
Think about project leadership as well as project management.
Engage a Management champion.
Implement a vertical support structure (local peer support).
People are more likely to comply with a request when:
A reason is provided
There is give and take
They see others complying
The request comes from someone they respect or like
The request comes from a legitimate source of authority
Robert B. Cialdini, “Influence: Science and Practice”, HarperCollins, 1993.

Summary
Short term success is based on financial considerations
Long term success will depend on user acceptance
This means:
Keeping careful control of user requirements
Keeping users involved throughout implementation
Recognizing and supporting the full spectrum of users
Information technology is a big part of the problem and a small part of the solution

Do end-users fit the informatics requirements?

by John Trigg on Nov 05, 2009

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Do end-users fit the informatics requirements? — Presentation Transcript