Qualitative documents include email messages, memos, signs on bulletin boards and in work areas, Web pages, procedure manuals, and policy handbooks. Many of these documents are rich in details revealing the expectations for behavior of others that their writers hold and the ways in which users expect to interact with information technologies.
Although many systems analysts are apprehensive about analyzing qualitative documents, they need not be. Several guidelines can help analysts take a systematic approach to this sort of analysis. Many of these relate to the affective, emotional, and motivational aspects of HCI, as well as interpersonal relationships in the organization.
- Examine documents for key or guiding metaphors.
- Look for insiders versus outsiders or an “us against them” mentality.
- List terms that characterize good or evil and appear repeatedly in documents.
- Look for the use of meaningful messages and graphics posted on common areas or on Web pages.
- Recognize a sense of humor, if present.
Examining documents for key or guiding metaphors is done because language shapes behavior; thus, the metaphors we employ are critical. For example, an organization that discusses employees as “part of a great machine” or “cogs in a wheel” might be taking a mechanistic view of the organization. Notice that the guiding metaphor in the memo in teh figure illustrated below, “We’re one big happy family.” The analyst can use this information to predict the kinds of metaphors that will be persuasive in the organization. Obviously, if one department is battling another, it may be impossible to gain any cooperation on a systems project until the politics are resolved in a satisfactory manner. Assessing the use of humor provides a quick and accurate barometer of many HCI, interpersonal, and organizational variables, including which subculture a person belongs to and what kind of morale exists.
Along with the five preceding guidelines, the analyst should also consider who sends memos and who receives them. Typically, most information flows downward and horizontally rather than upward in organizations, and extensive email systems mean messages are sent to many work groups and individuals. Memos reveal a lively, continuing dialogue in the organization. Analysis of memo content will provide you with a clear idea of the values, attitudes, and beliefs of organizational members.
Signs or Poster on Bulletin Boards or in Work Areas
Although signs may seem incidental to what is happening in the organization, they serve as subtle reinforcers of values to those who read them. Slogans posted such as “Quality Is Forever” or “Safety First” give the analyst a sense of the official organizational culture.
Web sites used for business-to-consumer (B2C) ecommerce as well as those used for business-to-business (B2B) transactions should also be viewed by the analyst. Examine the contents for metaphors, humor, use of design features (such as color, graphics, animation, and hyperlinks), and the meaning and clarity of any messages provided. Think about the Web site from three dimensions: technical, aesthetic, and managerial. Are there discrepancies between the stated goals of the organization and what is presented to the intended viewer? How much customization of the Web site is available for each user? How much personalization of the Web site is possible? If you are not designing ecommerce sites for the organization, how does what you see on its Web site affect the systems you are investigating? Remember to note the level of interactivity of the Web site or sites, the accessibility of the messages, and the security level.
Other qualitative documents the analyst should examine are organizational manuals, including manuals for computer operating procedures and online manuals. Manuals should be analyzed following the five guidelines spelled out previously. Remember that manuals present the “ideal,” the way machines and people are expected to behave. It is important to recall that printed manuals are rarely kept current and are sometimes relegated to a shelf, unused.
The last type of qualitative document we consider is the policy handbook. Although these documents typically cover broad areas of employee and corporate behavior, you can be primarily concerned with those that address policies about computer services, use, access, security, and charges. Examining policies allows the systems analyst to gain an awareness of the values, attitudes, and beliefs guiding the corporation.