Integrating people and technology by design: Design-first instruction for introductory students in information technology

In the design and implementation of interactive systems, teams typically consider and debate multiple perspectives, for instance exploring objects comprising a problem domain, the user population, and current technologies that might be useful. In this paper we report a field trial of our approach to using analysis and design activities as an integrating framework for introducing introductory students to the dependencies among information, people, and technology in information systems development. In this course, students work individually and in teams to 1) analyze structured information; 2) understand relationships implicit in online information; and 3) design technology concepts. We describe the activities we have developed and a preliminary evaluation of student outcomes, including a discussion of the mediating influence of students´ technology background.