Stefan Cronholm

Adding Theoretical Grounding to Grounded Theory: Toward Multi-Grounded Theory

The purpose of this paper is to challenge some of the cornerstones of the grounded theory approach and propose an extended and alternative approach for data analysis and theory development, which the authors call multi-grounded theory (MGT). A multi-grounded theory is not only empirically grounded; it is also grounded in other ways. Three different grounding processes are acknowledged: theoretical, empirical, and internal grounding. The authors go beyond the pure inductivist approach in GT and add the explicit use of external theories. A working procedure of theory development in MGT is presented, which can be seen as an extension of the grounded theory approach.

Do you need general principles or concrete heuristics?: a model for categorizing usability criteria

This paper analyses the character of usability criteria found in lists, which are used for interface design and evaluation. In order to understand usability criteria and relations between different criteria, a categorization of six usability criteria lists has been performed. The analysis has shown that the formulations of criteria reside on different abstraction levels. The results consist of two knowledge contribution. The first contribution is a hierarchical categorization model. The role of this multilevel abstraction hierarchy is to support practical problem solving processes by enabling and supporting the explicit articulation of criteria for a given context. The second contribution is a categorization of usability criteria. The aim of this categorization is to support the understanding of how different usability criteria relate (e.g. overlap or complement) to each other and highlight possible gaps.

The usability of usability guidelines: a proposal for meta-guidelines

This paper is challenging the usability of traditional usability guidelines. The claim is that guideline descriptions and explanations are not satisfactory. Analysis results demonstrate vagueness and are ambiguous in explanation. The aim of the paper is to propose a set of principles (meta-guidelines) to be used for improving the usability of guidelines.

Measures that Matters : Service Quality in IT Service Management

Purpose – IT service management (ITSM) is a discipline for management and maintenance of IT-systems and is claimed to play a critical role in supporting and satisfying business requirements. However, from a customer perspective, ITSM is considered as being costly and the outcome is not always satisfactory. Measurements used to monitor and evaluate ITSM-processes are mainly suggested from a service provider perspective. The purpose of this paper is to suggest measurements for ITSM based on a customer perspective that can be used for improving questionnaires. Design/methodology/approach – The SERVQUAL scale has been used as a base for suggesting customer-oriented measurements for the ITSM-field. The gathered qualitative empirical data consisted of customer feedback, in questionnaires, to five IT service providers in Sweden. Based on these empirical data, the SERVQUAL scale has been modified according to ITSM-specific customer requirements. The service providers represent the sectors: car construction, forest management, IT consultants, public sector and logistics. Findings – The paper demonstrates three types of findings: confirmation of original SERVQUAL determinants that could be reused in the ITSM-field, modification of attributes of the SERVQUAL determinants to better fit in the ITSM-field, and development of new categories and new attributes. Moreover, the analysis of SERVQUAL in relation to the empirical data revealed that the SERVQUAL’s original conceptual structure needed to be improved. The authors have added a third hierarchical level that supports a conceptual understanding. Originality/value – The knowledge contribution consists of a developed SERVQUAL, adjusted to fit the ITSM-field, and a suggested new conceptual structure of SERVQUAL consisting of three concepts: determinant, category and attribute.

Guiding situated method transfer in design and evaluation

Abstract The purpose is to suggest guidelines for supporting the transfer of design and evaluation methods from one organization/field/sector to another. There exist a variety of methods for designing and evaluating interactive socio-technical systems. Many of them have been developed for dedicated purposes, such as heuristic evaluation, referring to specific situations and artifacts. Due to the recent diversification of devices and the continuing diffusion of society with interactive systems, applying design and evaluation methods in an effective and efficient way has become crucial, in particular when operating under tight economic conditions and demanding user constraints. Learning from other projects, cases, disciplines or sectors seems to be one way to effectively apply methods in design and evaluation. In order to validate the suggested guidelines, the guidelines are theoretically informed and empirically supported by the use of a case study. The results consist of a set of seven guidelines for method transfer. The guidelines are described in terms of questions to ask, expected input and expected output and how they relate to the other guidelines. Transferring methods require an informed procedure, reflecting the rationale of methods, application-specific factors and experience of use. In this paper, some conceptual foundations are given when exploring transferability of methods and implemented in the field of IT cross-sector developments. The developed guidelines allow developers to identify situation-specific elements and design an effective learning experience for a case at hand. The introduced content structure and interactive features show an effective way of developer support.

Method transfer across domains and disciplines: enriching universal access development

Universal access development procedures refer to the systematic effort to proactively apply principles and tools applicable to universal design, in order to construct accessible and usable interact ...

Reflection/Commentary on a Past Article: “Multi-grounded Theory: An Update"

Design Knowledge Theoretical gounding

IT Service Management: Core Processes Aligning Business and IT

The problem we address is that researchers have insufficiently investigated the processes and nuances of Business and IT alignment. One attempt to tackle Business and IT alignment in a process-oriented way is to adopt the concept of IT Service Management (ITSM). However, identified challenges entails that ITSM is hard to define and that existing ITSM frameworks sometimes are considered as overly complex containing an extensive process scope, making it costly and hard to implement. The purpose of this workshop paper is to understand in what way are ITSM core processes supporting business and IT alignment? Our qualitative research approach embraced a two-phase method based on empirical studies where identified core processes were mapped using the Strategic Alignment Model. The result shows that the core of ITSM consists of five processes and that these processes somewhat constitute the bridges and interfaces that aligns Business and IT.

Actable Information Systems

The problem we are approaching in this paper is that the actions offered by information systems (IS) often seem to disharmonise with the actions performed in the work practice. Several researchers report lacks in IS use. For example, Hagerfors (1994) claims that there is a lot of IS which is not fully usable in the context wherein they exist. Henderson & Kyng (1994) claims that there is a discrepancy between creation of IS and work situations. Bannon (1994) claims that there is need for a better understanding among researchers and system designers about users and their work settings. We need to understand people as actors with a set of skills and shared practices based on work experiences (ibid.)