An investigation of the design process for end-user developed systems: an exploratory field study
Abdulridha Alshawaf · Medical Entomology and Zoology · 1993
The purpose of this dissertation was to examine the process by which end users develop computer application systems in order to identify key variables that could predict system success. More specifically, this study addressed the following general research question: Do successful end-user developed systems follow a different development process than the less successful ones? Four basic relationships were examined: (1) The relationship between the use of different system development methods to organize the activities of the end-user development (EUD) process and system success; (2) The relationship between the level of systems development expertise of end-user developers and system success; (3) The relationship between the level of development support provided by the information systems (IS) organization and system success; and (4) The relationship between the level of involvement of other end users in the development process and system success. The target group of end-user developers in the study included End-User Programmers and Functional Support Personnel as defined by the Rockart typology (Rockart and Flannery, 1983), A multi-user application system was the unit of analysis in this study. System success was measured by two surrogate attitudinal constructs: end-users' satisfaction with the developed application system, and end-user developers' satisfaction with its development process. The results of the study indicate that there is a statistically negative significant relationship between the level of development support provided by the formal IS services and system success. The supplemental quantitative analysis undertaken to explore possible explanations for the findings failed to provide a clear answer. Furthermore, no statistically significant relationships were observed between system success and the use of different system development methods to organize the activities of the end-user development process, the level of systems development expertise of end-user developers, and the level of involvement of other end users in the development process. The following three research issues were identified for further investigation: (1) How complex are end-user developed systems in comparison to the traditionally developed systems? (2) How complex is the process of end-user development as practiced? (3) How valuable are end-user developed systems to business organizations? (Abstract shortened by UMI.)