John W. Satzinger

Research Report: Modifying Paradigms--Individual Differences, Creativity Techniques, and Exposure to Ideas in Group Idea Generation

In todays networked economy, ideas that challenge existing business models and paradigms are becoming more important. This study investigated how individual differences, groupware-based creativity techniques, and ideas from others influenced the type of ideas that individuals generated. While individual differences were important (in that some individuals were inherently more likely to generate ideas that followed the existing problem paradigm while others were more likely to generate paradigm-modifying ideas that attempted to change the problem paradigm), the exposure to paradigm-modifying ideas from others and the use of intuitive groupware-based creativity techniques rather than analytical groupware-based creativity techniques were found to increase the number of paradigm-modifying ideas produced.

The creative process: the effects of group memory on individual idea generation

To compete in todays rapidly paced business environment, many companies are increasingly relying on their employees to generate creative solutions to business problems. Specifically, through the use of idea-generation techniques, business owners hope to promote creative idea generation by their employees. Several leading corporations (and, concomitantly, researchers) have become interested in the use of group support systems (GSS) to enhance idea generation. A key component of the GSS-based idea-generation process is group memory, a repository of ideas created by users of GSS. Group memory provides stimuli, in the form of ideas, to the individuals using the software. This study seeks to better understand the manner in which the contents of the group memory influence the type of ideas generated by individuals in the group. We report the results of a laboratory experiment that investigated whether the stimuli contained within a GSS group memory (i.e., ideas) systematically influenced the extent of paradigm shift represented in the ideas generated by individuals. A GSS simulator designed for this study was used to allow for the manipulation of the stimuli in the group memory. The results suggest that individuals tend to generate ideas that match the paradigm-relatedness of ideas provided to them as stimulation.

User interface consistency across end-user applications: the effects on mental models

Consistent user interfaces across applications are thought to facilitate transfer of learning because a user can draw on existing knowledge when using a new application. But despite the interface consistency guidelines and standards that are based on transfer of learning assumptions, few studies have investigated the effects of interface consistency, especially when a user interacts with multiple applications. The users knowledge of a computer application is often described as a mental model. This study tested whether the consistency of the user interface across applications affects mental-model development when a user learns and uses multiple applications. One hundred and fourteen participants learned two prototype cooperative work applications in a controlled laboratory setting. Interface consistency across applications was manipulated for two attributes commonly referred to in interface design guidelines: the visual appearance of the display screen and the action language syntax. As hypothesized, inconsistent action language syntax across applications resulted in more user actions to complete tasks. Inconsistent visual appearance, however, resulted in greater accuracy, which was surprising. This study provides support for the consistency guideline for action language syntax, but a distinctive visual appearance rather than a consistent one might help the user form more accurate mental models when initially learning multiple applications. Schema theory is used to explain both the expected and the unexpected results. Implications and promising research directions are proposed.

Teaching Systems Development: A Compelling Case for Integrating the SDLC with the ITSM Lifecycle

This paper raises awareness of industrys move to blend ITSM lifecycle concepts with the systems development lifecycle to foster collaboration between the silos of systems development and IT operations. Academia has an important role in integrating ITSM into traditional systems development coursework. The case of systems development is used to illustrate the types of IT service management concepts and models that can be introduced into current systems development offerings to support the focus on IT services being called for by industry today.

A research program to assess user perceptions of group work support

Computer support for group work is a technological innovation receiving considerable attention from developmental researchers. This paper reports the preliminary results from two surveys which assessed user perceived needs for various types of group work support. The instruments, distributed to managers and professionals in a variety of organizations, described group support scenarios and associated functions/tools and asked for an assessment of their usefulness to one of the respondents organizational work groups. Support for between meetings group work was perceived to be more useful than support for either face to face or electronic meetings. Common single user tools were generally perceived to be more useful than multi-user group tools. Individual differences and implications are addressed.

An investigation of the roles of individual differences and user interface on database usability

This research seeks to understand to what extent leveraging the graphical user interfaces ability to convey spatial information can improve a users ability to write effective database queries. This capability is believed to be especially important when nontechnical individuals, with diverse backgrounds and cognitive abilities, are expected to interact directly with these systems in the query formulation process.This study makes use of recent developments in graphical user interface technology to manipulate the level of spatial visualization support provided by the interface. A laboratory experiment was conducted to explore the influence of interface style and the spatial visualization ability of the user on the performance of the query development process. The application used in the experiment was a visual database query system developed for this study. One hundred sixty-two volunteers participated in the experiment. Spatial visualization ability was assessed using a paper-folding test. The results indicate that both spatial visualization support of the system and spatial visualization ability of the user are important components of database usability.

GUIDELINES FOR DESIGNING EIS INTERFACES Meeting Executives' Information Needs

Abstract For users of an executive information system (EIS), the EIS interface is the system and is crucial to the EISs success. These guidelines for designing EIS interfaces are based on studies of actual EIS interfaces that meet the unique information needs of executives.

Establishing viable programs of research: the executive information system program at the University of Georgia

Programs of research can help develop in-depth knowledge in a field through a series of interrelated studies and have been used successfully by several universities. This article describes one of the MIS research programs: the executive information system (EIS) program of research at the University of Georgia. We discuss its motivation and history, the resources involved, the outputs to date, and the benefits. The general approach used is portable, and we discuss how the approach used by Georgia can be adopted by others.