Subjective perceptions of value : A qualitative case study using informal evaluation to measure the value of an Information System

Abstract: The debate on how to measure the value of IT is an ongoing debate within the IT evaluation research. Research about the value of IT tends to focus on formal aspects and ignore informal aspects such as the subjective perceptions of individuals and researchers acknowledge a lack of informal evaluation methods used in practice. This study aims to answer two research questions: How can informal value of IS be evaluated? and What are the benefits and drawbacks of relying on informal value when assessing IS? To answer these questions a qualitative case study have been conducted using the DeLone & McLean IS Success Model as a theoretical framework. The results show that using the model was successful however we argue that important aspects were missing in the model. The benefits of relying on informal value showed to be the possibilities of discovering aspects of value that are not visible in formal evaluation. The drawbacks of performing an informal evaluation are that they are complicated and time-consuming and do not promise useful results.