©NCC Education Limited V1.0 Information Systems and Organisations Lecture 9: User Acceptance and the Socio-technical Approach

©NCC Education LimitedV1.0

Information Systems and Organisations

Lecture 9:

User Acceptance and the Socio-technical Approach


User Acceptance and the Socio-technical Approach Lecture 9 - 9.2

Scope and Coverage

This topic will cover:

• Factors in user acceptance of technology• Human-computer interaction (HCI)• Socio-technical approach to implementing

technology



Learning Outcomes

By the end of this topic students will be able to:

• Appreciate factors that influence user acceptance of IS

• Understand the contribution of HCI principles to IS• Plan IS introductions with attention to human needs



Contents• User acceptance and the Technology Adoption

Model• HCI principles in the design of IS interactions• Work design with socio-technical principles• User experience and IS design

• Emphasis – People and Technology



Stakeholders• People, groups and organisations with an interest in

an IS• ...who have the power to affect the outcome and

success of the system.• Identify:

- Who they are

- The level of their commitment

- Their power – to help or hinder

- Their interests

- Their requirements





Stakeholder Analysis

Stakeholder Vigorous Opposition

Some Opposition

Indifference Will let it happen

Will help it happen

Will make it happen

Stakeholder 1

X

Stakeholder 2

X

Stakeholder 3

X



Users as Stakeholders• Remember, the future users of an IS are people,

not an organisation (have you ever actually spoken to a ‘University’)

• Only animate beings and pre-programmed machines can do anything in the accepted sense of the word



IS Acceptance• Most IS depend, to a small or a large extent for their

effectiveness, on willing and competent users• User Acceptance of the technology is key• IS effect will therefore depend on how people in an

organisation engage with the technology• TWO main issues

- Technology Acceptance- Human Computer Interaction (HCI)



Technology Acceptance Model(Thinking of IS)

External Variables

PerceivedEase of Use

AttitudeToward Using

PerceivedUsefulness

Actual SystemUse

BehaviouralIntentionto Use

Davies et al, 1989

... can be related to ....



DeLone McLean Model

Net Benefits

System Quality

Information Quality

Intention to Use

User satisfactionService

Quality

Use



Technology Acceptance UTAUT • Model has been extensively developed• Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of

Technology • In the developed model, Behavioural Intention (to use)

is influenced by: - Performance Expectancy- Effort Expectancy- Social Influence

• And Use Behaviour is influenced by:- Facilitation Conditions



UTAUT• Gender, Age, Experience and Voluntariness of use

are other influencing factors• Reference is:

- Venkatesh, V., Morris, M. G., Davis, G. B., and Davis, F. D. (2003) User Acceptance of Information Technology: Toward a Unified View

• It can be found at:- http://top-pdf.com/download/user-acceptance-of-

information-technology-toward-a-unified-view-1.html



Use and HCI principles• When IS are designed, HCI principles can be

employed to ensure ease of use – thus influencing one of the key aspects of user acceptance

• Most famously Nielsen developed a set of heuristic principles to follow when designing an interface to a computer system

• These (and more) are documented at the following URL:

- http://www.useit.com/papers/heuristic/heuristic_list.html



Nielsen Heuristics• Heuristic Principles are, that interface designs should aim for:

- Visibility of system status-The system should always keep users informed about what is going on, through appropriate feedback within reasonable time

- Match between systems and real world-The system should speak the users' language, with words, phrases and concepts familiar to the user, rather than system-oriented terms

- User control and freedom- Users often choose system functions by mistake and will need a clearly marked "emergency exit" to leave the unwanted state without having to go through an extended dialogue. Support undo and redo.

- Consistency and standards- Users should not have to wonder whether different words, situations, or actions mean the same thing

- Error prevention - Even better than good error messages is a careful design which prevents a problem from occurring in the first place.



- Recognition rather than recall - Minimize the user's memory load by making objects, actions, and options visible. The user should not have to remember information from one part of the dialogue to another

- Flexibility and efficient use - Accelerators -- unseen by the novice user -- may often speed up the interaction for the expert user such that the system can cater to both inexperienced and experienced users.

- Aesthetic and minimalist design - Dialogues should not contain information which is irrelevant or rarely needed

- Help users recognise, diagnose and recover from errors - Error messages should be expressed in plain language (no codes), precisely indicate the problem, and constructively suggest a solution.

- Help and documentation - Even though it is better if the system can be used without documentation, it may be necessary to provide help and documentation.



Work and Motivation

Needs Goals

BehaviourPorter-Lawler model of work motivation

create which achieves

that satisfy

Huczynski and Buchanan (2007) in Boddy, Boonstra and Kennedy (2008), page 220.



Motivational Potential(how to motivate?)

• Skill Variety• Task identity• Task significance• Autonomy• Feedback

Hackman and Oldham (1980) in Boddy, Boonstra and Kennedy (2008), page 220 - 221.



Sociotechnical Design of IS• The Socio-technical design movement, started many

years ago, stresses the importance of Human ‘systems’ working in collaboration with Technological systems –both needing to be ‘designed’ to ensure success of the whole

• For IS, this translates most frequently in the importance of actively involving human users in the process of the design of systems

• A useful URL is:- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sociotechnical_systems



Work design and IS designWork Design PrincipleCombine tasks

Form natural work-groups

Establish customer relations

Vertical loading

Open feedback channels

Possible design use with ISUse IS to combine several processes into a single task

Give a team responsibility for a significant part of the task. IS provides information to (whole) team

Use IS to provide the team with better information about their customers

IS takes over routine tasks and team are given more responsibility

Use IS to pass on positive information from customers

Based on, Table 8.1. , Boddy, Boonstra and Kennedy (2008), page 222.



User Experience Design• Situation and Context of use• Environmental factors (noise, light, dirty

environment)• Time factors (how much time, time versus

accuracy)• Can information be retrieved from somewhere else

(e.g. Address finders using post-code/zip code)• Frequency of use (e.g. If infrequent, is it simple – for

example an automated ticketing machine?)



User Experience Design - Example

• Designing the User Experience is concerned with the total context and use of an IS

• The following URL gives a good example related to web marketing:

• http://www.hceye.org/UsabilityInsights/?p=97







References

• Boddy, D., Boonstra ,A., Kennedy, G. (2008) Managing Information Systems : strategy and organisation 3rd ed. FT Pearson. ISBN-13: 978-0273 -71681-5XXX



Lecture 9 – User Acceptance and the Socio-technical Approach

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©NCC Education Limited V1.0 Information Systems and Organisations Lecture 9: User Acceptance and the Socio-technical Approach