UFuRT: A Work-Centered Framework and Process for Design and Evaluation of Information Systems

A current and significant challenge in the design and implementation of information systems (IS) is to deal with the high failure rate of IS projects. A large number of IS projects fail. Most of these failures are not due to flawed technology, but rather due to the lack of systematic considerations of human and other non-technology issues in the design and implementation processes. In other words, designing and implementing IS is not so much an IT project as a human project about human-centered computing such as human-computer interaction, workflow, organizational change, and process reengineering. To address the high failure rate, we need a process that would increase efficiency and productivity, increase ease of use and ease of learning, increase user adoption, retention, and satisfaction, and decrease human errors, decrease development time and cost, and decrease support and training cost. In this paper we present a work-centered process called UFuRT for the design and evaluation of information systems.