On Stage! Playwriting, Directing and Enacting the Informing Processes

Sammanfattning: Within the discipline of information systems sometimes the conception of the main object is that the information system must be computer based. An example of an information system that is non-computer based is the scenic theatre performance. Input is the message or knowledge the participants of the theatre production want to pass over to the audience; output is the information and experiences the performance in itself mediates to the audience. This has been produced through a system development process; although the developers not always have been aware about what development model has been used.The dissertation combines some of the concepts found in theatre production with traditional system development concepts, and hence introduces new perspectives into the area of information systems. Some of the main findings in the study of theatre productions were the triplicity of a theatre production as a development process, an information system and an organization at the same time; the integrated relations of context, developers and users, which leads to spontaneous changes and overlaps of development roles; and the narrative and dramaturgical approach in the practical use of methods and techniques.These aspects should be useful also in development of other types of information systems, whether computer based or using other information technologies. The triplicity gives arguments to redefine each of these concepts. The generalizability of this approach has been validated through a second study, at a folk high school, which showed that models and concepts from theatre productions are possible to generalize to other information system areas than theatre, and that the borders of the organization coincides with the borders of the information system. Especially temporary organizations must be seen as ongoing, continuous development processes.