Specific Cooperative Analysis and Design in General Hypermedia Development

Cooperative analysis and design is often considered only to be applicable in settings where a system is being developed solely for the 'user' participants in the process. This paper, however, argues that there are good prospects in applying cooperative analysis and design techniques in specific use settings to inform development of general products. We discuss the application of cooperative - i.e. participatory - analysis and design in development of a general hypermedia framework, the DEVISE Hypermedia (OHM). A single engineering company managing one of the largest bridge/tunnel construction projects in the world was chosen as the user organization. We demonstrate how specific activities informed the general hypermedia framework and application design. Use scenarios and prototypes with example data from the users' daily work were used as sources both to trigger design ideas and new insights regarding work practice. Mutual challenging characterised the interaction between specific cooperative analysis and design activities and general development activities. People working across boundaries facilitated this interaction, and prototypes, scenarios, and concise bullet list notes were used as mediating artefacts rather than comprehensive requirement and design specifications.