ABSTRACT
This chapter is based on a vision, an ideal, of what system development should achieve and how it should take place. First of all, we see the ideal project as one that encourages the users-to-be in an organization, i.e., all the involved groups and individuals, to decide themselves how to develop their work by means of new computer support. This ideal is seldom realized, because organizations are characterized by conflicts, most significantly between management and labor, and because different groups have different power and resources in the organization. It is not only a matter of democracy, though. In our experience, most traditional systems development methods are too abstract and detached from the work and life of most people, even from management. Thus we need to develop and work with techniques that allow for more use of everyday experiences and professional skills in design.
