Procuring Usable and Work-friendly Software : How to Select IT Systems for a Healthy Work Environment in Public Procurement Processes

Abstract: The introduction of IT systems in workplaces has often been accompanied by a detriment in workers’ health and wellbeing. The design of software tools used at work has proved to be one of the risk factors that can increase workers' level of stress and contribute to create an unhealthy work environment. Previous research in this area has mainly focused on measuring the effects of an existing IT system on workers. Nevertheless, once a software is implemented, it is normally too difficult and expensive to perform the necessary changes in its design to ensure quality and healthy work. This research studied the possibilities of considering work environment factors when selecting which IT Systems to purchase in public procurement processes. Results include an analysis of the constraints of public procurement framework to set up a work environment evaluation, a list of work environment guidelines to evaluate IT  systems and the insights obtained after testing a first evaluation setup with real users. The research also provides some guidance in how to better involve users in assessing the suitability of IT systems for a specific work situation. The knowledge achieved by this study can be used as a basis for the design of a methodology to evaluate work environment aspects in public procurement processes.