Requirements and the Generation of Design Space
The early stages of the design process continue to pose a formidable challenge to the effectiveness of information systems development and implementation efforts. While the language employed to characterize this phase of the design effort may vary according to the design context (e.g., requirements engineering, needs analysis, discovery), the fundamental challenge remains the same – the collaborative determination by design professionals of the ultimate ends of their process. What are the processes by which contmeporary designers discover, articulate, and manage design requirements? How have these processes changed in recent years?
Design Team Processes
The pursuit of a common vision among members of a design team extends beyond the initial determination of project requirements. I am deeply interested in the ways in which design professionals collaborate to achieve and maintain a collective understanding of their design space. Is a common understanding or vision of the design domain the real objective?
Web 2.0 and New Media
As an extension of my interest in team processes and virtual collaboration, I have explored a variety of ways in which Web 2.0 applications, such as wikis and virtual worlds, are revolutionizing both contemporary professional environments and the broader mechanisms of social discourse. Key questions include: How can managers and other business professionals appropriate collaborative web platforms in the pursuit of real-world organizational objectives? In what ways do interactive information sharing applications enable more open discourse at the societal level?
Distributed Cognition
In a number of my research efforts, I have drawn upon the theory of distributed cognition widely associated with the work of Edwin Hutchins and his collaborators. Drawn from the field of cognitive science, distributed cognition posits that cognitive processes are not bounded by the skull of an individual thinker, but are rather distributed socially, technically, and temporally across individuals and artifacts within the external environment. I believe this theoretical perspective offers useful insights into multiple areas of IS research, including design team dynamics and questions of technology adoption.
Research Statement |
