PARTICIPATORY INFORMATION-SYSTEMS - INFORMATION-SYSTEMS AS VENUES FOR PARTICIPATION

Technical development, improving user skill and the development of computer systems that are, in various forms. publicly accessible have changed the preconditions for information systems (IS) development. The nature of computer applications is becoming more varied and more complex, both in terms of technical systems and in terms of organizational structure and culture. This development has led to a situation of choice between a centralistic and a decentralistic way of employing information technology (IT). In this paper, we delineate an ''Information Network Paradigm,'' which Lakes the clients' information needs as the starting point for the design of information systems. We argue that participation in IS development has to be conducted all through the life of the system, for reasons of a practical as well as an economical nature. We coin the term ''Participatory Information Systems'' (PARTIS) to denominate systems that are designed to support participation integrated with system use. The ''Feedback Learning Strategy'' is introduced as a way of designing PARTIS. The ''LiveBetter'' is an idea prototype system designed to meet some of the communication and self-service demands raised by this strategy. LiveBetter includes some tools for redesign activities among users.