Information systems development is a complex process involving technical, organizational, social, and environmental issues. The active participation of nurses in information systems development is important but not easily accomplished, especially in settings in which the nurses are not familiar with the technology. Participatory design, which focuses on community participation, is an approach to information systems development that is not often used. This article explains this approach and describes the experience of using the participatory-design approach in designing a nursing information system project in a Brazilian teaching hospital. Traditional systems-development approaches are not sensitive to individuals' needs or political and organizational dimensions. The focus of the article is on the basic topics discussed with nurses and the relevance of those topics to the design of nursing information systems. A nursing classification system is a basic component of an information system and a relevant instrument for the creation of formalized nursing knowledge. However, we should not neglect other approaches that can contribute to a better understanding of nursing work situations and the development of nursing knowledge.
