University of Galway Research Repository
Open access to publications, including peer-reviewed articles, conference papers, working papers, reports, and other scholarly communications by University of Galway researchers.
Recent Submissions
Publication Rationalism and improvisation: An investigation of requirements engineering in a COTS selection environment(UK Academy for Information Systems (UKAIS), 2003-04-09)The use of Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) software applications has become much more prevalent with the emergence of the Web, and more recently with the explosion of hypermedia. However, using COTS applications does not mean the life cycle can be bypassed. The requirements engineering phase of regular development manifests itself in the form of product selection. Herein are reported the findings of a case study of a Web Information System (WIS) development project which incorporates such a product selection approach. Within the field of Information Systems (IS) research, much has been made of the gap between academic research and practice. Nowhere is this more evident than in the area of requirements engineering. In practice, requirements engineering methodologies are not executed in the structured, methodical way advocated by researchers. This is not surprising, as the underlying philosophy of most of these methodologies is that systems development is a rational process, whereas in actuality it is more accurately portrayed as creative, somewhat improvised behaviour. It is therefore important to determine if the key issues suggested by the normative view of requirements engineering corresponds with the approaches being used in the real world. This paper examines requirements engineering practice from a design theory perspective, focusing specifically on the contrast between “rationalism” and “improvisation” and the battle between the need for structure, coordination, co-operation, and the restrictions that they impose. Both philosophies have pitfalls inherently associated with them. This paper describes these pitfalls and discusses how these pitfalls were encountered in the case study. The findings of this paper suggest that, although a methodology may be very specific and firmly based in the “rational” paradigm, the rationale may be too simple for the problem to be solved, thereby forcing the users to improvise by privately making decisions. Furthermore, users may still improvise even if they are not forced to. In conclusion, this paper asserts that even where methodologies are developed and revised based on actual experiences in practice, as opposed to academic theory, a wholly methodical approach is difficult to develop and impossible to follow.Publication A comparative study of software engineers and graphic designers in web/hypermedia systems development(University of Galway, 2003-06-24)Web/hypermedia systems development is in many regards different from “conventional” systems development, chief amongst these differences being its multidisciplinary nature. Foremost amongst the roles in hypermedia development are software engineering and graphic design. However, there has traditionally been a pronounced tension between software engineers and graphic designers so it is important to gain an understanding of the differences between the two camps with a view to bringing them closer together. This paper reports on the findings of a survey of hypermedia developers conducted in Ireland, one of the objectives of which was to compare and contrast the development approaches, methods, and techniques used by software engineers with those used by graphic designers. It is revealed that software engineers and graphic designers are much closer than might have been believed as regards their attitudes on the value and importance of processes and documented working methods. However, graphic designers primarily base development approaches around the use of specific tools, whereas software engineers are more reliant on traditional and object-oriented software development methods. Regarding diagramming methods, there is some evidence of cross-pollination, as software engineers often use informal techniques such as storyboarding and graphic designers use software engineering techniques such as use case diagrams, but graphic designers find software engineering techniques to be less useful than vice versa.Publication The influence of disciplinary backgrounds on design practices in web-based systems development(Central European Conference on Information and Intelligent Systems (CECIIS), 2008-09-24)Web development teams are multidisciplinary, bringing together designers from a variety of backgrounds. A Web designer’s professional training and education can shape his problem-solving orientation and world view by indoctrinating certain values and conditioning him to think and behave in certain ways. This paper presents an analysis of data gathered across 14 interviews, wherein four distinct orientations were identified: (1) Web development as the design of a functional software application (emphasis on back-end functionality); (2) as the design of an interactive tool (emphasis on ergonomics); (3) as the design of a communicational dialogue (emphasis on audience engagement); and (4) as an extension of branded graphic design (emphasis on visual presentation).Publication Motivating agile teams: A case study of teams in Ireland and Sweden(Association for Information Systems AIS Electronic Library (AISeL), 2010-12-11)This research is an exploratory study, which investigates how the use of three agile practices - the daily stand-up, iteration planning and iteration retrospective - may contribute to motivation or de-motivation in an agile team in two different European countries; namely Ireland and Sweden. Several studies recognize that motivation is an important issue in software development and have identified factors that motivate software developers. However, relatively little is known about motivation in an agile context or how agile practices may impact on team motivation. Seventeen individuals across two teams were interviewed. The results indicate that in both countries agile practices can contribute to team motivation and demotivation. This study hopes to make an important contribution towards research efforts in the area of motivation and agile software development by identifying factors that can contribute to and inhibit motivation in agile software development teams.Publication Investigation of cultural aspects within information systems security research(Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, 2012-12-10)The problem of human factors in the field of Information Systems Security has been approached from different angles. At the beginning of this century the concept of Information Security Culture (ISC) became very popular among Information Systems (IS) researchers. Various ISC theories and frameworks have been produced on how to manage human behaviour and therefore avoid mistakes that cause security breaches within organisations. Unfortunately, the amount of security incidents is not declining but quite the contrary. We suggest that IS scholars should take a new approach in investigation of this problem; that is, the study of ISC should not be separated from other aspects of culture as prior research suggests that the various aspects interact and influence each other. In particular, the concept of national culture in so far as it applies to IS security culture has been practically dismissed by prior research while it is an important factor to consider in the modern global world. Along with national culture, the concept of organisational culture should be also included as organisational culture is a key to a company's success.
Communities in Research Repository
Select a community to browse its collections.