Harnessing Handheld Computing - Managing IS Support to the Digital Ranger with Defensive Design

The recent years of development in mobile computing as powerful handheld computers and high-speed wireless networks creates opportunities for new user-groups in the mobile workforce to take advantage of mobile technologies. User-groups may be more or less geographical distributed and as a consequence more or less marooned when it comes to obtaining IT/IS support and this increases the complexity of delivering IT/IS support to these geographically distributed end-users. In this design paper the aim is to develop a design theory to manage problems in IT/IS support to the outbound user. Semistructured interviews were performed with developers and documents studies of an information system comprising handheld mobile computing devices for drivers. From the interviews, a design theory based on the implemented strategy of defensive design is presented. The six components of IS design theory by Gregor and Jones is applied as a theoretical framework for evaluation of the design theory.

[1]  T. S. Ragu-Nathan,et al.  How involvement, IS management effectiveness, and end-user computing impact IS performance in manufacturing firms , 2006, Inf. Manag..

[2]  Bo Dahlbom,et al.  Mobile Informatics , 1998, Scand. J. Inf. Syst..

[3]  John P. Baron,et al.  Mobile commerce's impact on today's workforce: issues, impacts and implications , 2005, Int. J. Mob. Commun..

[4]  William J. Doll,et al.  The place and value of documentation in end-user computing , 1993, Inf. Manag..

[5]  Reza B'far,et al.  Mobile Computing Principles: INTRODUCTIONS TO THE MAIN TOPICS , 2004 .

[6]  Herbert A. Simon,et al.  The Sciences of the Artificial , 1970 .

[7]  John F. Rockart,et al.  The management of end user computing , 1983, CACM.

[8]  Peter Forbrig,et al.  Perspectives in Business Informatics Research - 9th International Conference, BIR 2010, Rostock Germany, September 29-October 1, 2010. Proceedings , 2010, BIR.

[9]  Richard Sharp,et al.  Using smart phones to access site-specific services , 2005, IEEE Pervasive Computing.

[10]  Alan R. Hevner,et al.  Design Research in Information Systems , 2010 .

[11]  Mahadev Satyanarayanan,et al.  Fundamental challenges in mobile computing , 1996, PODC '96.

[12]  William R. King,et al.  The Development of a Measure for End-User Computing Support , 1994 .

[13]  Bo Andersson.  Mobile Computing from a Developer's Perspective: A 10-Year Review, 1999-2008 , 2010, BIR.

[14]  Fred Niederman,et al.  Sources of dissatisfaction in end-user support: an empirical study , 2002, DATB.

[15]  Suzanne Rivard,et al.  Investigating the Support Role of the Information Center , 1990, MIS Q..

[16]  Shirley Gregor,et al.  The Anatomy of a Design Theory , 2007, J. Assoc. Inf. Syst..

[17]  Kenton O'Hara,et al.  Place as a Practical Concern of Mobile Workers , 2003 .

[18]  Alan R. Hevner,et al.  Design Research in Information Systems: Theory and Practice , 2010 .

[19]  J. Orr.  Talking about Machines: An Ethnography of a Modern Job , 1998 .

[20]  Dong-Hee Shin,et al.  Ubiquitous Computing Acceptance Model: end user concern about security, privacy and risk , 2010, Int. J. Mob. Commun..

[21]  Stuart J. Barnes.  Enterprise mobility: concept and examples , 2003, Int. J. Mob. Commun..

[22]  T. Buzan,et al.  The Mind Map Book , 1993 .

[23]  Sven A. Carlsson,et al.  Designing for Digital Nomads: Managing the High Reliance on Single Application , 2009 .

[24]  D. Wellman,et al.  Talking About Machines: An Ethnography of a Modern Job. , 1997 .

[25]  Andreas Pitsillides,et al.  Key issues for the design and development of mobile commerce services and applications , 2005, Int. J. Mob. Commun..

[26]  William J. Doll,et al.  The Measurement of End-User Computing Satisfaction , 1988, MIS Q..

[27]  Ari J. Maunuksela,et al.  Micromobility supported WLAN networks: an empirical study of new IP protocol to support mobility and connection handovers , 2005, Int. J. Mob. Commun..

[28]  James Soo Keng Ang,et al.  Understanding the Hidden Dissatisfaction of Users toward End-User Computing , 2003, J. Organ. End User Comput..

[29]  Kenton O'Hara,et al.  Dealing with mobility: understanding access anytime, anywhere , 2001, TCHI.

[30]  D. Duchamp.  Issues in wireless mobile computing , 1992, [1992] Proceedings Third Workshop on Workstation Operating Systems.

[31]  John R. Venable,et al.  A framework for Design Science research activities , 2006 .

[32]  Daniel Fallman,et al.  In Romance with the Materials of Mobile Interaction : A Phenomenological Approach to the Design of Mobile Information Technology , 2003 .

[33]  Jan Pries-Heje,et al.  Soft Design Science Research: Extending the Boundaries of Evaluation in Design Science Research , 2007 .

[34]  J. Aken.  Management Research as a Design Science: Articulating the Research Products of Mode 2 Knowledge Production in Management , 2005 .

[35]  Karl T. Ulrich,et al.  Product Design and Development , 1995 .

[36]  Yufei Yuan,et al.  Identifying the differences between stationary office support and mobile work support: a conceptual framework , 2007, Int. J. Mob. Commun..

[37]  Mario Bunge,et al.  Technology as Applied Science , 1966 .

[38]  Jeffrey Nichols,et al.  Controlling Home and Office Appliances with Smart Phones , 2006, IEEE Pervasive Computing.

[39]  Bo Andersson.  About Appropriation of Mobile Applications: The Applicability of Structural Features and Spirit , 2008, ECIS.

[40]  Robert C. Nickerson,et al.  Issues in Mobile E-Commerce , 2002, Commun. Assoc. Inf. Syst..