Constructing representations of users needs : a living lab approach

The difficulties of understanding system requirements early on in the systems development process is an issue being discussed in the information systems discipline for several years. The requirement elicitation phase is seen as the most important phase, but it is still the least understood activity during the systems development process. Little research has been published which clarify, discuss and theorize user needs and its characteristics and how these could be used as implications for design of new IT-systems. In this paper, we aim to generate general insights about users and their situations by elaborating with situational user expressions and by this start developing theory about users' needs and requirements. During our studies, we have found that users express their needs and desires that are both dependent on the current situation they act in, but users also express their desires in general ways. Following a constructivist perspective, we have found that the users' experiences and the use of stimuli material influence what users express.Godkänd; 2008; 20080915 (ann_joh