Interaction Design for Internal Corporate Tools

Abstract: Software tools to be used by employees of large organizations rarely satisfy the end-user. They might be complex, difficult to use, not feasible in the actual work context or even worse adding to the workload of the users. This is however not that surprising, since designing for such complex organizational contexts can be challenging. Typically, such projects involve a large number of stakeholders and a diverse group of users, all with their own roles, backgrounds, wishes, needs and preferences. For large enterprises is is a challenge to create internal tools that fulfill their supporting role for the employees and at the same time take away few as possible resources from the core business. This paper reports on a research under the umbrella of the larger areas of CSCW and HCI. The project aimed at getting more insights into using a user-centered approach to the design and development of internal-tools within a large multinational corporation. Field observations from within the department were combined with design explorations in which new tools were prototyped. A model for thinking about the work setting is presented and recommendations for interaction designers aiming at applying a user-centered approach to design of internal tools are given.