Introduction to Information Systems Models and Methodologies - High Level Models and Methodologies for Information Systems - page 9

c theoretical constructions of what
exactly is necessary to build a system. The great variety of existing methodologies
is rooted on the reality that each system has a particular context

Essentially, ISD methodologies are speci

— not only orga-

nizational, but social and technological as well — and the methodology to build that

system will be in uenced by what particular goals and philosophies the stake-

holders are trying to promote or focus on. Thus, methodologies determine the tools
and techniques that will be used to create or improve a system and are more speci c

and practice-oriented constructs of IS research than the previously discussed
paradigms.

1.5 Web Site Development Methodologies

Traditionally, projects that involved the creation and development of Web appli-
cations and sites were managed much in the same way as any other software
development projects, and the corresponding methodologies were used. However,
even during the

first years of widespread commercial use of the internet, researchers
have pointed out that there are very particular aspects to Web development which
give rise to particular needs, when it comes to developing a new product or system.
Developers had been faced with this reality, but the solution was often to
implement ad hoc strategies, without the systematic, methodical, and rigorous
approach that characterized traditional software development. This issue was fur-
ther emphasized by the rapid growth of the Internet and the perceived need by many
companies and organizations to quickly “ be on the Web, ” leading to rushed

development processes (Murugesan et al. 2001 ).
In 1998, a group of researchers and developers attempted to address this issue in

the first Workshop on Web Engineering, where Web Engineering was presented as

a new discipline of software engineering, focusing on the inherent aspects of Web
development that require appropriate solutions. A set of guidelines was determined,
essentially adapting key constructs from software development methodologies to
the reality of the Web. Their ultimate goal was to establish

c,
engineering and management principles and disciplined and systematic approaches
to the successful development, deployment and maintenance of high quality web-
based systems and applications

“ sound scienti

(Murugesan et al. 2001 ).
In Web development, there is more emphasis on design as a process stage,
because Web developers cannot control the environment in which potential users
are going to use the product. A wide variety of user preferences, as well as the
awareness of existing competition, create a prominent need to make the Web site or
application immediately distinctive and usable, thus making design a fundamental
aspect, and introducing a component of esthetic creativity that is not present in
traditional software development.
The object-oriented hypermedia design methodology (OOHDM), proposed in
1995 by Schwabe and Rossi, breaks down the design process into three dimensions:
conceptual design, navigational design, and abstract interface design, after which

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