Abstract:
The construction industry presents particular opportunities for mobile
information systems implementation to improve collaborative work practices on
building sites. Mobile systems can replace the site office as the centre of
information and instead allow access to information and documentation at the
construction work face, where much of the real decision-making on a building site
takes place. However, challenges to the design of such systems exist because of
resistance to Information Technology by construction workers, reluctance by
management to spend money on untried technologies and on training, and
practical difficulties which effectively limit user participation in the design
process. To overcome these challenges a hybrid design approach is proposed in
which the participation of expert colleagues supplements user participation in the
early paper-based prototyping phase. Using this methodology the authors ran a
pilot design project to demonstrate how a prototype can be developed which is
sufficiently credible to begin testing on construction industry users. It is believed
that this approach of employing expert colleagues to supplement user involvement
would also prove worthwhile in the design of other mobile information systems
where, because of the innovative nature of the technology, user testing is not
always feasible.
