The Value of User Participation in E-Commerce Systems Development

Many researchers and practitioners consider user participation in the development of an information system is essential to the success of the system. System designers have promoted development techniques that demand user participation, such as prototyping, rapid application development and joint application design. Interestingly, the research literature on the topic has not been conclusive about the value of user participation, although the perception of value has still existed. The importance of user participation in information systems could be seen as a myth. The time pressure to develop Web based e-commerce systems and the propagation of the view that e-commerce is different and subject to different rules has led developers to question the value of customer participation in the development process. Indeed, the notion of the "user" has become confused. No longer is a user necessarily found in-house, but may be a geographically remote customer unknown to an organization. This paper proposes and validates a model that examines the role of key users and stakeholders in e-commerce applications development. Despite the business need for remote, untrained users to quickly feel comfortable and satisfied in an e-commerce site encounter, it appears that many organisations are making little effort to engage users in e-commerce site developmental activities.