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ABSTRACT
Previous literature has treated software functionalities as a binary choice between informating and automating, based on Zuboff’s definitions. We suggest that the space between the role of a user engaging with a system (informate) and what the system can accomplish for the user (automate) has increasingly become blurred, moving toward a more nuanced continuum. We present a user-system interaction framework that analyzes this continuum with a focus on the user’s perspective. Using cases from archival data, this paper provides an analysis of what goes well and badly in the locus of control handoff between users and systems, highlighting the implications of software that is created in one region but used globally. The paper contributes to the literature by extending Zuboff’s informate vs. automate discussion and identifying design decisions that could help to avoid potentially catastrophic design errors. Using the interaction framework, we argue that it would be beneficial for system designers to move toward the informate end of the continuum, when designing systems for users with a high level of domain knowledge and expertise, and when there are significant differences between the environment in which the system is designed and the one in which the system is used.
Disclosure Statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Salman Nazir
Salman Nazir is an Associate Professor of MIS at West Virginia University. He received his PhD from McGill University, Montreal, Canada. He enjoys studying agile development teams using quantitative and qualitative methods. He also studies agility at the organizational level. His research has been published in the Journal of Strategic Information Systems, European Journal of Information Systems, Journal of the Association of Information Systems, Information & Management, and Information Technology & Management.
Virginia Franke Kleist
Virginia Franke Kleist is the Dean at the Mike Ilitch School of Business at Wayne State University, and Professor of Technology, Information Systems and Analytics. She was formerly Associate Dean, Graduate Programs, Research and Academic Affairs, and MIS Department Chair at the John Chambers College of Business and Economics, West Virginia University. Dr. Kleist’s publications are found in the Journal of Global Information Technology Management, IS Frontiers, Journal of Information Systems, Journal of Information Security and Privacy, Information Systems Management, Journal of Computer Information Systems, Electronic Commerce Research and other research journals. Her work includes the economics of information technologies, information systems data security, and IT auditing issues. She is a long-time member of AIS, has been Track Chair for ICIS, and is a member of AIS’s Special Interest Groups in Security and Accounting Information Systems.
Nanda Surendra
Nanda Surendra is an Associate Professor of MIS at West Virginia University. He has more than 30 years of teaching and research experience in Information Systems. His research and teaching interests are in designing and developing software systems that enable users to accomplish their work in mindful ways. His research has been published in Information Systems journals including the European Journal of Information Systems and Information & Management.
A. Graham Peace
A. Graham Peace is an Associate Professor of MIS at West Virginia University. He has served as Associate Dean and Department Chair in the John Chambers College of Business and Economics at West Virginia University, and has published research in several journals, including the Journal of Management Information Systems, Communications of the ACM, Journal of Computer Information Systems, and Journal of Information Systems Education. His research and teaching interests include information ethics, and database management systems.