The Creation of Users: A Learning Experience in Information System Development

The purpose of this article is to provide a better understanding of an information systems development process from a learning theory perspective. The authors wish to investigate how learning concepts can improve the practice of developing such systems. They look closer at the activities and outcomes of a development project with the focus on the user side and how these can be understood using different theories from the field of learning. The purpose of the case project was to ensure that the intended users of the systems (in this case, heart failure patients) should be able to influence the choices made during the project so that the implemented system would benefit the whole group of patients. During this process, it became apparent that the users themselves developed and changed a great deal. In this research, the authors therefore wish to investigate the learning and change mechanism that came into play through the designed participative ISD process. As a result, they suggest that a learning mechanism should be planned for in any ISD process, regardless of what methodology is applied.