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Given the resource constraints many researchers in developing countries face, digital platforms are an important resource in supporting intra and inter-university as well as international research collaborations. The design of digital platforms for supporting research collaboration in the field of Information and Communication Technology and Development (ICTD) pose a complex problem since the target group is diverse and dynamic. This study reports on an investigation into the use and usefulness of a digital platform for ICTD research collaboration in South Africa. The study uses interpretivism as a philosophy with the theory of deferred action (TDA) as a theoretical lens and a knowledge repository (digital platform) as the IT artefact to be evaluated in terms of use and usefulness. The sequential mixed-method data capturing approach involved the survey method with open-ended questionnaires to capture user's input and Google Analytics to capture actual use. The findings on the users’ demographics and access patterns provide insight into the diverse user group and some counterintuitive insights on the origin of many of the users. The research contributes to the body of knowledge by providing evidence-based insights on the use and usefulness of a digital platform for research collaboration in the field of ICTD. The application of TDA to theorize the findings provides a unique theoretical contribution as well as some practical recommendations on improving the usefulness of knowledge repositories for collaborating and sharing research knowledge.

Knowledge visualisation, in the field of information systems, is both a process and a product, and is informed by the closely aligned fields of information visualisation and knowledge management. Knowledge visualisation has untapped potential within the purview of knowledge communication. Even so, there is little evidence of knowledge visualisations being deployed. This might be due to a lack of evidence-based guidance to inform their creation. To improve this situation, we derived a number of "lenses" that can be used to reveal essential perspectives and feed into the visualisation production process. We propose a conceptual framework which incorporates these lenses to guide producers of knowledge visualisations. This framework uses the different lenses to reveal critical perspectives that need to be considered during the design process. We conclude by demonstrating how this framework could be used to produce a knowledge visualisation with maximum communicative power.

Storytelling is part of the knowledge creation and transfer tradition and constitutes the knowledge base of many African cultures. Visualization, as a means of knowledge creation and transfer, goes back to the origins of human communication and provides a mechanism for extending and enhancing human cognitive capacity. Technological advances have made the consumption and creation of visualizations easier and more accessible. However, the connection between storytelling and the visualization of African knowledge has not been explored in depth, particularly not from the perspective of benchmarks and standards. Knowledge is context specific, and knowledge visualization guidelines need to be developed and validated within specific contexts too. Cross-cultural studies expose Western biases in design, as well as incorrect assumptions about the universality of concepts, methods, theories and models, which have led to inappropriate decisions. This workshop aims to focus on this gap in the literature by exploring the visualization of knowledge generated through storytelling, and then benchmarking the visualizations based on African context-specific guidelines.

Knowledge visualisation is enjoying increasing attention from researchers and organisations, due to its potential for expediting knowledge transfer. Despite the availability of many information visualisation guidelines, those who are tasked to produce knowledge visualisations currently do so without any formal guidance. These unguided efforts do not reliably deliver efficacious visualisations. The research reported in this paper sought first to delineate the essence of knowledge visualisation. We captured this essence in the form of a comprehensive definition as well as a list of essential criteria exhibited by effective knowledge visualisations. Using these, we moved on to address the lack of guidance by producing a set of knowledge visualisation guidelines. We report on how we derived and evaluated these guidelines. The guidelines, despite the rigorous derivation process, did not help the evaluators to produce effective visualisations. We reflect on the reasons for this and report on a number of lessons learned during the process. We conclude by suggesting a direction for future research.

In Open Distance Learning (ODL) institutions the teaching model is moving towards fully integrated information and communication technology applications. To successfully teach or facilitate the use of technology, academics need to have a strong comfort level with the use of technology tools. The academic staff are qualified and experienced subject matter experts but this does not translate to having the necessary technical competencies to do online teaching. They consequently could experience feelings of incompetency to facilitate courseware on a technology platform.The objective of this paper is to identify the factors that influence the user experience when using a Learning management system (LMS) in an academic institution. The research design comprises a convergent, parallel design mixed-method case study. A literature review was conducted to abstract the factors that influence the user experience into a conceptual framework. An expert review was conducted to evaluate the conceptual framework and then a questionnaire-driven survey was performed. The quantitative responses were analysed and the results revealed that eight of the nine factors proposed in the conceptual framework do have an influence on the perceived user experience of the academic when using the LMS. The scope of this paper is the analysis and presentation of the quantitative results of the study.The contribution of this paper is to present a framework of the factors that influence the user experience of the academic when using a LMS and to improve our understanding of the experience of the academic and the practical challenges involved for academics that have to facilitate learning in an online environment. The findings should be of interest to developers of LMSs and to institutions in support and training of academics that have to use the LMS.

Designing a usable mobile phone interface is a non-trivial task, especially when it is intended for use by a special needs group. The group we focus on here is composed of the elderly in developing countries. To inform specialised design, researchers produce and refine sets of tailored guidelines. In this case there is surprisingly little empirical evidence attesting to the value or efficacy of such guidelines. Corroborating evidence, in the form of endorsements of designs that have resulted from their implementation, would constitute such evidence. The aim of this paper is to evaluate existing mobile interface design guidelines for the elderly in developing countries by means of implementation. Guided by the design science research methodology, published guidelines were used to design and implement a mobile phone interface tailored to the needs of elderly South Africans. The resulting prototype was evaluated with two groups of South African elderly mobile phone users. Besides validating and refining the guidelines, the challenges experienced in implementing guidelines were noted together with some conclusions about the viability and usefulness of the specific guidelines, as well as mobile interface design guidelines in general. The unique contribution of this paper lies in the reflection on crossing the research-action divide by also considering the challenges of the developers in implementing the guidelines.

eModeration (or online moderation) can improve the user experience of the examination process while lowering the risk of losing scripts or delaying the moderation process. Despite these benefits to optimising examination procedures, the application of online moderation is limited. There could be various reasons for the lack of adopting eModeration including the technical, organisational and human factors. The focus of this study is on the human factors involved in eModeration and the research is guided by the following question: What are the most important user experience constructs for evaluating an electronic moderation (eModeration) system within the context of Higher Education Institutions in South Africa? This research uses a design science methodology, which comprises the development and testing of a user experience framework. In this paper, we will only report on the identification of the constructs for the user experience framework. The data generation methods will include interviews with deans from the different faculties and a survey with moderators and deans. The research was conducted at Midrand Graduate Institute, a Private Higher Education Institution in South Africa. The contribution of the paper is to identify the most important user experience constructs for evaluating an eModeration system and also to provide some insights on the user experience of the two different user groups. The enriched understanding of eModerators' and deans' user experience of eModeration contributes to the understanding of the human factors that influence the adoption of innovative assessment practices.

Business Intelligence (BI) applications provide business information and drive decision support. To derive maximum benefit from BI applications, the applications need to be used optimally. Optimal use depends on various factors including the usability of the product. The documented need for BI usability research together with the practical need for BI evaluation guidelines provides the rationale for this study. The purpose of the study was to investigate the usability evaluation of BI applications in the context of a coal mining organisation. In a mining environment companies need to derive maximum benefit from BI applications, therefore these applications need to be used optimally and that places the focus on usability. The research is guided by the question: What criteria should be used to evaluate the usability of BI applications. The research design included user observation, heuristic evaluation and a survey. Based on observations made during user support on a BI application used at a coal mining organisation a log of usability issues was compiled. The usability criteria extracted from this log was compared and contrasted with general usability criteria from literature to synthesize an initial set of BI usability evaluation criteria. These criteria were used as the basis for a heuristic evaluation of the BI application used at the coal mining organisation. The same BI application was also evaluated using the Software Usability Measurement Inventory (SUMI) standardised questionnaire. The results from the two evaluations were triangulated to provide a validated and refined set of criteria. The main contribution of the study is the usability evaluation criteria for BI applications presented as guidelines. These guidelines deviate from existing evaluation guidelines in the emphasis on information architecture, data quality and learnability.

Capacity in and enhancement of critical, scarce and intermediate skills are seen as a national priority in South Africa. The Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) in South Africa has prioritized the success of the Further Education and Training (FET) sector to meet this need for capacity development in critical, scarce and intermediate skills. Management information systems (MIS) are pivotal in the efficient and effective running of FET colleges. Therefore, the evaluation of MIS success is an essential spoke in the wheel of FET college success. The problem is that no MIS success evaluation model for FET colleges could be found. In this paper, we describe the development and testing of an evaluation model and tool for MIS success. Information system's evaluation theory and an analysis of FET policy documents were used to propose an initial success evaluation model and tool (questionnaire) for an educational environment (FET colleges) in South Africa. Using a quantitative approach the tool was applied in a survey at one public FET college to evaluate the success of the MIS deployed at the college. Findings from the survey lead to the refinement of the model which is also articulated in this paper and reflected as the SAFETMIS model. The paper is novel in proposing an IS theory based model and tool which can be used to evaluate MIS success at FET colleges and similar education contexts. The paper should be of interest to researchers in the field of Information Systems success evaluation and also to practitioners and managers in the field of Education.

This paper investigates mobile phone adoption by older adults to better understand this user group's current level of adoption and to assess how well existing adoption models capture the acceptance levels of elderly users. The rationale is that mobile technology is continually improving and despite efforts to address their needs, this section of the population is known to be a largely untapped market.Data was captured on mobile phone usage of a sample of 46 users aged 60 to 87 through observation, a questionnaire and informal interviews. Using mostly qualitative and some quantitative data analysis techniques, the participants' levels of acceptance of the technology were determined and related to their age, how they acquired the phone, how long they have owned it, how often they use it and which functions they use.Our findings indicate that most participants in the sample have not reached full adoption but have not rejected the technology either. We found that a significant number of users stagnate in a phase of limited use with no inclination towards full adoption or complete rejection. This is contrary to the adoption presented by existing models that assume a user will reach a point of either rejection or acceptance of the technology. Therefore we conclude that existing technology and mobile phone adoption models do not adequately capture the mobile phone adoption patterns of the elderly. We have thus established the need to reconsider mobile phone adoption models. Furthermore, we have identified the specific age, the length of ownership, and the manner in which the phone was acquired as good predictors of where a user will end on the acceptance-rejection scale.

The strengths and weaknesses of heuristic evaluation have been well researched. Despite known weaknesses, heuristic evaluation is still widely used since formal usability testing (also referred to as empirical user testing) is more costly and time consuming. What has received less attention is the type of information heuristic evaluation conveys in comparison to empirical user testing supported by eye tracking and user observation. If usability methods are combined, it becomes even more important to distinguish the information contribution by each method. This paper investigates the application of two usability evaluation methods, namely heuristic evaluation and empirical user testing supported by eye tracking, to the website of a learning management system with the intent of discovering the difference in the usability information yielded. Heuristic evaluation as an inspection method is accepted to be fundamentally different from empirical user testing. This paper contributes to a deeper understanding of the nature of the differences by identifying the kind of usability problems identified through each method. The findings should be of interest to researchers, designers and usability practitioners involved in website design and evaluation.

To increase marketability in a competitive and technologically evolving market designers are compelled to add new features to mobile phones. This often leads to 'featuritis' with hit-and-miss success rates. Our research goal is to find a more informed point of departure for feature addition activities that will improve design and maximise return on investment. We argue that a human motivational factor focus could provide a solid grounding for judging whether features are likely to be used, or not. In this paper we address the motivational factors that underlie mobile phone use by young adults aged between 18 and 30. We consider models for motivational factors from psychology and consumer science, as well as mobile phone usage space models, including the mobile phone usage space model (MUSM). MUSM proposes linking usage spaces to motivational factors, but does not explicitly investigate the mapping of features to the identified usage spaces. In this paper we investigate the features associated with individual MUSM usage spaces as well as the ranking of the usage spaces for our specific target group.

Technology adoption has been studied from a variety of perspectives. Information systems, Sociology and Human-Computer Interaction researchers have come up with various models incorporating factors and phases to predict adoption that, in turn, will lead to persistent use. Technology acceptance by the elderly mobile phone user has received less attention and no model currently exists to predict factors influencing their technology adoption. A literature study yielded a set of acceptance factors (derived mostly from quantitative studies) and adoption phases (derived mostly from qualitative studies) that could influence and predict mobile phone adoption by the elderly user. We confirmed a subset of these factors by consulting findings from research into the context of senior mobile phone users, including the needs and limitations of these users. We then verified the factors qualitatively by means of structured interviews with senior mobile phone users. The interviews included the use of scenarios as well as a mobile phone design activity. Triangulating the quantitative findings from literature with the qualitative findings from this study led to a set of interlinked acceptance factors and adoption phases that we present as the Senior Technology Acceptance& Adoption model for Mobile technology (STAM). This paper makes a contribution to understanding technology acceptance by senior users and should be of interest to researchers, designers and decision-makers on technology adoption, especially mobile features and services.

Technology adoption models specify a pathway of technology acceptance from external variables to beliefs, intentions, adoption and actual usage. Mobile phone adoption has been studied from a variety of perspectives, including sociology, computer-supported cooperative work and human-computer interaction. What is lacking is a model integrating all these factors influencing mobile phone adoption. This paper investigates technology adoption models as a strategy to match mobile phone design to user's technological needs and expectations. Based on the literature study we integrate three existing technology adoption models and then evaluate the proposed model with interviews and a survey. The contribution of this paper is a model for representing the factors that influence mobile phone adoption.