INTERACT 05 - Workshop User Involvement in e - Government development projects Program Committee

Many methods have been developed for engaging users in systems design. Our research found that traditional methods for user involvement do not apply to the development of large-scale e-Government systems. Nonetheless, involving the users in the design process of technological innovations is paramount for the success of these systems in terms of acceptance, trust and use. The aim of this paper is to shed some light on user involvement methods in e-Government projects. To begin with, we argue that especially for e-Government it is crucial for citizens to be involved in the design and implementation of new systems. Further, we will explain why involving users in large-scale innovations is different from traditional user engagement. Finally, we will briefly show how we tried to combine participatory design (PD) and technology assessment (TA) methods to effectively involve end-users in two eGovernment projects and discuss whether this was a fruitful exercise.