Remote joint application design process using package software

Corporate information systems, aiming at reduction of cycle times from order receipt to shipment are increasingly based on integrated package software. In development of such a system, joint application design (JAD) in which users and developers reach agreements based on an understanding of the package functions and on prototyping to determine how those functions will be applied to business operations plays an important role. In JAD, the key personnel making specification decisions must participate, but because these persons are not always in the same location JAD activities with remote sites often become necessary. In this paper we propose a model of processes for the development of corporate information systems using integrated software packages, and also propose a method of CSCW to support determination of specifications. In this model development tasks are divided into a number of stages, in each of which JAD activities are conducted with members located at remote sites. This methodology was actually applied to development processes, and evaluation results confirmed the usefulness of the method.