An Exploratory Study of Joint Application Design (JAD) in Information Systems Delivery

Joint Application Design (JAD) methods are used in information systems delivery for tasks such as gathering business requirements for systems development projects. Although these methods are popular and their use is widely advocated, there have been no systematic empirical evaluations of their use and potential organizational outcomes. This paper reports on an exploratory field study into the adoption and use of JAD methods at three research sites. Data collected at these sites suggest that JAD participants commonly modified espoused JAD methods in ways that reinforced the status-quo ISD process, thus limiting the potential for realizing substantial benefits typically ascribed to JAD methods. Two theoretical approaches to analysis of these data and to further study of JAD use are considered. These approaches, institutional theory and mutual adaptation theory, are discussed within the structuration framework outlined by Orlikowski and Robey (1991). Implications for management of ISD process changes such as adoption of JAD methods are considered.