Using convergent design processes to surface hidden ambiguity and conflict in requirements

In a volatile and politically-charged design environment such as healthcare information systems (IS), ambiguity and conflict play significant roles in the success or failure of development efforts. However, the relationship between ambiguity and conflict is complex. Resolving ambiguity during IS requirements analysis may not readily lead to conflict resolution, since even the most innocent and well-intentioned probes for hidden requirements ambiguity can surface a lot of conflict. For example, ambiguity may concern issues as deciding which user constituency will be specifically favored or disfavored, or who will bear ultimate responsibility for system features and functionality, each of which involve potential conflicts of power and control over the project. The conflict averseness of IS designers may also impede efforts to employ techniques to reduce ambiguity, techniques in which issues involve changing traditional and controversial power structures. Ambiguity may even remain deliberately unresolved to passively suppress conflict, and crucial debates over critical assumptions never materialize. We also discuss a strategy for improving the effectiveness of developers in identifying hidden ambiguity and conflict during IS requirements specification.