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EDIT Program (2005-2014)

EDIT web site

Effects-driven IT development attempts to provide a sustained focus on the effects to be achieved by users through their adoption and use of an IT system.

Simply put, the overall idea is to capture the purpose of a system in terms of effects that are both measurable and meaningful to the customer, and to systematically evaluate whether these effects are attained during real use of the system. A sustained focus on effects accentuates that the functionality of a system is merely a means to an end, but it also entails that effects must not only be specified but also evaluated in the course of the development process. That is, effects-driven IT development blurs the distinction between design and organizational implementation – between design and use. Working systematically with effects involves specification of desired effects and formative evaluation of effects

Since 2005 we have worked with 5 research questions, using action research projects with industrial partners:

  1. How can desired effects be specified and specified effects measured?
  2. How can pilot implementations create the conditions for measuring the effects of using a system?
  3. How can effects that are specific to the users’ work processes be related to overarching strategic and political effects?
  4. How can the partnership that is necessary for effects-driven IT development be established between customer and vendor?
  5. How can an effects-driven approach be incorporated in the contractual regulation of IT projects, and what are the consequences of doing it?