Audience map for eLivingCampus

Audience mapping was used by student groups to identify stakeholders of the Living Campus project.

Ethics is an important component of the Agile development framework (earlier post). We strongly believe that ethics should be integrated, and the best way of doing this is from the start.

The Living Campus student groups have been identifying stakeholders potentially affected by their developments.

A critical aspect of any ethical analysis is to identify the stakeholders who may be affected by the use of the system under development. Our take on stakeholderis much wider than traditional definitions that usually assume a financial stakeholding in a project. This narrow focus would usually only include the client who has commissioned the software system. Instead we follow Williamson’s (2003) wide definition of four levels of stakeholder:

1. Direct – People or groups who directly interact with the project (eg, end users, operators).

2. Indirect – People or groups who do not directly interact with the project, but exercise strong influence over direct users (eg, employers, supervisors).

3. Remote – People or groups who remain at a distance from the project, but could be affected/influenced by the project (eg, patients, clients).

4. Societal – Wider social influences. This might include government or regulatory agencies who have an interest in the organisation where the software is used.

This broader view ensures that we consider the ‘downstream’ effects of the system being developed. For an ethical analysis there is a need to check for issues at every stage of development, with every stakeholder and from every perspective.

Probably the most important outcome from this process has been a realisation of just how many people are directly affected by the Living Campus project. Lots of work to do!