We not only design and analyze information systems, but we build them, too, especially qualitative management information systems and cost systems.
We use the same open-source web applications and our expertise in information economics to build robust, secure, affordable, and custom, web-based management information systems. Affordable interactive form designer applications allow us to quickly build both input screens and report viewers. Once developed, many can be self-maintained and changed.
Open-source applications are industrial strength and secure and cheap to implement (and are either free or nearly so). By utilizing those apps as a pre-built framework, we’re able to substantially cuts both costs and development times. (It’s a great time to be alive.)
Nowadays, information technology is very affordable; however, there is still far too much bad system design. That’s usually because systems builders are enamored by the technology, don’t understand the difference between information and details, or they forget the human factor–the actual people using the system with their own tastes, preferences, experiences, and knowledge.
Whether one is building a web site for external users or an information system for internal users, it is crucial that the designer be empathetic, and take likely users into consideration. Otherwise, the system will be ignored or bypassed.
That’s what we emphasize and what other consultants, system designers, and manufacturers don’t: the behavioral implications of design choices. Yes, technology is important, but the key to effective managerial control is determining how systems and policies, including information systems, affect employee behavior to drive the results that you seek. Everything else is secondary.
Lately, we have written much about bad information system design, particularly with respect to homeland security, intelligence, and terrorists.
As time permits, we’ll write about good design, too. Here is a related essay about a common mistake: Details Are not Information.
