User goal-oriented requirements elicitation to improve acceptance and use: a case study on document management

We present a case study that exemplifies an extension of AWARE, a goal oriented requirement elicitation technique, for a collaborative document management system. The case concerns a multinational fast growing Management Consulting company. The system serves both marketing activities and actual work of the variegated consultant community. The system is loaded at “Zero-cost” by the consultants who, through an editorial model, share the knowledge coming from the document base. The key points of the extension are a stakeholder orientation that allows to create as many document management environments as the professional communities, the use of a goal oriented approach that has actually encouraged active participation of future users, the ever present care in maximizing the value received by each professional community and minimizing the effort required to use the system. The research is still in progress but the first phase of the project has been successful, and the consulting company not only is implementing the system but decided to adopt the methodology for themselves and their customers.