Week 9: Stakeholder and Designer Effect on LMS Software

I have found that when designing a software system, the analysis phase is the most interesting. This phase of a development project is when the needs of all the stakeholders are determined. It is these needs that then determine the direction of the project, and ultimately what the final software system will look like. This sounds simple enough. What could possibly go wrong as long as we find and handle all of the needs? Well, sometimes the needs of the stakeholders conflict. For example, someone financing the project is more concerned about cost than the user who wants a capability that will make him more effective at his job. Then there is the security officer who wants to be certain that solid security is built into to software which may make user access more cumbersome. Ultimately, the find product becomes a compromise between all of the stakeholders needs.

I began to think about this again when I came across a blog by David Jones called “The dissonance gap in systems and LMS evaluations” at http://davidtjones.wordpress.com/2008/11/17/the-dissonance-gap-in-systems-and-lms-evaluations/. LMS stands for Learning Management System. In his blog entry he takes the stakeholder needs idea a step further in that he says that designers (all those involved in designing a system) are affected by their world view that has been created by their past experiences. This world view then will affect the design of the system. The “dissonance” or difference between what the software will support and how you want to use the software can have an effect on your ability to use the final software product effectively. The wider the gap, the less likely it is that you can effectively use the product. Blackboard is used as an example of how groups of users are restricted in some ways as to how they can be organized into discussion groups. This is an example of the “dissonance gap” created by the design (and the designers) between the Blackboard software and the users.

What can you do about it? First, determine how you expect to use the software. What are all of the scenarios that describe how it will be used? Then, does Blackboard, or whichever LMS software you are evaluating, support those scenarios. If not, can you work within its limitations, or do you need to look at another LMS product?