Magnus Li

• Ness, Ane Marthe; Løfqvist, Tonje & Li, Magnus (2022). Challenges with organizing for solution discovery in socio-technical design projects. In Bednar, Peter; Islind, Anna Sigridur; Hult, Helena Vallo; Nolte, Alexander; Rajanen, Mikko; Zaghloul, Fatema; Ravarini, Aurelio & Braccini, Alessio Maria (Ed.), Proceedings of the 8th International Workshop on Socio-Technical Perspective in Information Systems Development (STPIS 2022). CEUR-WS. ISSN 0000000000000. p. 33–40.
• Bengtsson, Anastasia; Nielsen, Petter & Li, Magnus (2021). Component trustworthiness in an enterprise software platform ecosystem. NOKOBIT: Norsk konferanse for organisasjoners bruk av informasjonsteknologi. ISSN 1892-0748. Show summary

  Enterprise software packages are increasingly designed as extensible software platforms. These platforms are characterised by modular architecture that allows third parties to innovate and create value through the development of complementary applications. The development process of complementary applications from scratch is resource-intensive. One way of optimising the development process is by using the component-based software engineering (CBSE) approach that focuses on software reuse and suggests building applications with reusable components. There is a considerable amount of literature on CBSE; however, there has been little discussion on how component-based software engineering can strengthen third-party application development in the context of an enterprise software platform ecosystem. Specifically, it is unclear how the challenge of component trustworthiness can be addressed in this context. To explore this, we conducted a design science research(DSR) study to answer the following question: What are design principles pertaining to component trustworthiness for implementing a component repository that facilitates component reuse in an enterprise software platform ecosystem? In our study, we have explored the potential for component reuse in the ecosystem of the global health software platform DHIS2 by designing and developing a prototype component repository. During the design and development process, two design principles were identified: Principle of component trustworthiness and Principle of balanced certification. These principles are to guide researchers and practitioners on how a component repository can be implemented in the context of an enterprise software platform ecosystem.

• Thomassen, Maja Lanestedt & Li, Magnus (2021). Enterprise Software Implementation as Context for Digital Innovation. IRIS Selected Papers of the Information Systems Research Seminar in Scandinavia. ISSN 1891-9863. 12. Show summary

  Many of the IT systems used in organizations are based on comprehensive generic enterprise software (ES) solutions. Accordingly, the process of implementing ES solutions, where generic features are configured and extended according to specific user needs represents a relevant context for digital design and innovation. Yet, besides a few exceptions, it remains little explored by IS research, and the dominant perspective on how generic solutions are implemented portrays a process with little flexibility to design and innovate digital solutions based on emerging user needs. In this paper, we address this gap by studying how innovation takes place during ES implementation. Our empirical analysis is based on data from the first phase of an ongoing case study, where we investigate the practices of five consultancy firms specialized in ES implementation. This paper contributes to the body of knowledge on ES implementation by proposing a conceptualization of how digital innovation takes place in the intersection between ES as a 'design infrastructure' and the needs of individual customer organizations.

• Li, Magnus (2021). Generic Enterprise Software Implementation as Context for User-Oriented Design: Three Conditions and their Implications for Vendors. In Parmiggiani, Elena; Kempton, Alexander Moltubakk & Mikalef, Patrick (Ed.), Proceedings of the12th Scandinavian Conference on Information Systems (SCIS2021). Association for Information Systems (AIS). ISSN 978-82-303-5054-6. Show summary

  User-oriented approaches to designing IT are consistently promoted by academic and practitioner literature. These orients the design process around the specific practices and needs of end-users to build usable and relevant systems. However, an increasingly relevant but little explored context for the design of IT is that of implementing generic enterprise software solutions. In this paper, we explore conditions for user-oriented design during the implementation of generic enterprise software. Our empirical data is based on an ongoing engaged research project, where we work with the vendor of a global generic software solution and a set of implementation specialist groups (ISGs). Together, we explore how user-oriented design during implementation of the software solution can be supported and promoted. The paper contributes to the body of knowledge on the design and implementation of generic enterprise software by identifying several challenges and three conditions for user-oriented design in this context. The conditions are: the project configuration, the implementation practices of the ISGs, and the features and adaption capabilities of the generic software solution. We further contribute by discussing their implications for vendors who want to support and promote user-oriented design during implementation of their software solutions.

• Li, Magnus & Nielsen, Petter (2019). Making Usable Generic Software. A Matter of Global or Local Design? In Pekkola, Samuli; Pirkkalainen, Henri; Hellsten, Pasi & Ilvonen, Ilona (Ed.), Proceedings of the 10th Scandinavian Conference on Information Systems (SCIS2019). Association for Information Systems (AIS). ISSN 978-0-578-53212-7. Show summary

  Usability is widely acknowledged as a desirable trait of software, referring to how usable it is to a specific set of users. However, when software is developed as generic packages, aimed at supporting variety, designing user interfaces with sufficient sensitivity to use-contexts is a challenge. Extant literature has documented this challenge and established that solving usability-related problems are difficult, both during software development and implementation. Adding to this discussion, this paper contributes by developing a framework to analyze what characterizes usability-related design of generic software. This includes two levels of design; generic-level and implementation-level, and two types of design; design for use and design for design. We apply this conceptual framework on an empirical case based on an ongoing action research project where a global generic health software is implemented in a large state in India. From the analysis we argue that attempts to strengthen usability of generic software require a holistic intervention, considering design on both ‘global’ and ‘local’ level. Of particular importance is how usable the generic software and other design-resources are when implementers are customizing the software. We coin this aspect of design as meta-usability, which represent what we see as an avenue for further research.

• Li, Magnus (2019). An Approach to Addressing the Usability and Local Relevance of Generic Enterprise Software. IRIS Selected Papers of the Information Systems Research Seminar in Scandinavia. ISSN 1891-9863. 10. Show summary

  Designing for usability and locally relevant features for end-users in generic ‘product’ or ‘packaged’ enterprise software projects is challenging. On the generic level, designers must aim at supporting variety, which is contradictory to the specificity needed to make user interfaces usable, and functionality relevant to end-users within specific organizational contexts. Also, addressing these concerns during the implementation of generic software is difficult due to limitations in the design flexibility of the software, time and resource constraints, possible maintenance issues following customization, and a lack of design methods appropriate for the context of software implementation. Reporting from an ongoing Action Design Research project following a global generic health software, this paper conceptualizes a Generic Software Design Lab that aims to equip design on the level of software implementation with flexibility, tools, and methods to efficiently localize generic software. By conceptualizing the approach and discussing how it works to strengthen implementation-level designers’ ability to address usability and local relevance, the paper contributes with learnings to research and practice related to design, development, and implementation of generic software.

• Li, Magnus (2019). Usability Problems and Obstacles to Addressing Them in Health Information Software Implementations. In Nielsen, Petter & Kimaro, Honest C. (Ed.), Information and Communication Technologies for Development: Strengthening Southern-Driven Cooperation as a Catalyst for ICT4D. 15th IFIP WG 9.4 International Conference on Social Implications of Computers in Developing Countries, ICT4D 2019, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, May 1–3, 2019, Proceedings, Part I. Springer Nature. ISSN 9783030183998. p. 241–252. doi: https:/doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-19115-3_20. Show summary

  Usability is widely recognized as a desired attribute of technology, referring to how usable it is to the intended users. As health information systems in developing countries are increasingly digitalized, interaction with familiar analog technologies is replaced by digital user interfaces for many health workers. An array of literature documents usability problems in such initiatives, arguing for their adverse effects on the users, and the system as a whole. What makes it challenging to achieve usability in this context has, however, not been explored extensively. This empirical paper attempts to bring focus to this gap, by defining the concept of usability design obstacles, which refer to aspects that complicate the usability design process. The relevance of the concept is illustrated through three empirical vignettes based on two action research projects in Uganda and India. Three concrete obstacles are outlined. These are (1) constraints introduced by software, (2) constraints introduced by legacy design, and (3) scale and heterogeneity of user groups. It is argued that to address the usability problems commonly outlined and discussed by existing literature, more focus on how to overcome such usability design obstacles is crucial. The obstacles identified in the empirical case of this paper also represent avenues for further research, which are discussed.

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• Li, Magnus & Kempton, Alexander Moltubakk (2024). Digitalisering er for viktig til at vi kan fortsette slik vi gjør nå. Aftenposten (morgenutg. : trykt utg.). ISSN 0804-3116.
• Li, Magnus & Nielsen, Petter (2019). Design Infrastructures in Global Software Platform Ecosystems.
• Li, Magnus (2019). Usability Problems and Obstacles to Addressing Them in Health Information Software Implementations.
• Li, Magnus (2019). Making Usable Generic Software - The Platform Appliances Approach.
• Li, Magnus; Nielsen, Petter & Sæbø, Johan Ivar (2018). Mediators to Advocate and Facilitate End-User Participation in Digital Innovation.
• Li, Magnus (2022). Enterprise Software as Design Infrastructure. University of Oslo. ISSN 1501-7710. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The thesis examines how generic enterprise software (ES) can be designed to accommodate the specific needs of a diverse set of user organizations, and how researchers can study ES design in collaboration with relevant practitioners. Based on the findings of an engaged scholarship project, the thesis develops a theoretical framework to understand ES design. The framework conceptualizes two types of design processes – generic-level and implementation-level design – and the set of generic software features and knowledge resources linking the two as a design infrastructure. The framework highlights how generic-level and implementation-level design work in tandem to accommodate different needs. The thesis proceeds to examine conditions for accommodating user organizations’ specific needs during implementation-level design, and how implementing a platform strategy affects the dynamics of ES design. The thesis also offers a methodological contribution by conceptualizing an engaged scholarship approach to studying ES design which involves diagnostic, design, and intervention-oriented research on the two types of design processes and the design infrastructure.

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