debra levin gelman — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 11:18:14 GMT

I enjoyed this article very much! I would add another dimension here… as IAs, we are the ones who will have direct insight into existing user behavior, through the primary research phase that (ideally) precedes recommendations for system design. This positions us perfectly to play a key role within the change management process. By understanding our target users’ behaviors, prior to implementing change, we can ensure the design process takes these existing behaviors into consideration and does not completely disregard the ways our users currently accomplish their tasks. It seems as though we shouldn’t have to salt the proverbial oats, or manipulate our users into leveraging the system we’re building, rather, we should be able to demonstrate deep knowledge of their existing processes and develop a system that maps, as closely as possible, to their current mental models, while providing greater efficiency, rapidity, etc etc.

Boxes and Arrows: Comments by debra levin gelman