Conference,
The Role of Early User Participation in Discovering Software - A Case Study from the Context of Smart Glasses
(2019)
Abstract
Smart glasses facilitate advanced user interaction and increase workplace efficiency through innovation. Yet, their capabilities rely on user-driven discovery of new software that harnesses its benefits. This study investigates user participation during the discovery of new software, leveraging this emergent technology. We investigate user participation during software product discovery, i.e. during early activities that precede classical development and design activities, through an in-depth longitudinal case study with two representative user organizations. The results suggest an evolutionary perspective toward the benefits of different types of user participation: 1) user as a source of information, 2) user as a co-creator, and 3) user as an innovator. Practitioners benefit from our lessons learned, validation and extension of software discovery toward the emergent technology, and recommendations to apply user-driven software discovery. We distill three lessons: evolving types of user participation, enhancing desirability through user participation, and carefully discovering software products for emergent technologies.
