Project calls often trigger new research. Project proposals are then evaluated with regard to a multitude of quality aspects. Gender and diversity considerations may be unique features and lead to innovative approaches.
In which ways might new knowledge(from other cultures, various life domains, new application areas)inspire our research and development? (reflection aspect: knowledge)
Schirmer et al. (2011) addressed the question of how big organisations can successfully migrate to Linux at all their work desks. The starting assumption was that the requirements of the various user groups might differ considerably. To benefit from their experiences the project studied a city government and a big insurance company who were in the process of or had just finished migrating. Deliberately choosing different elicitation methods for people at different hierarchy levels – interviews with IT managers, focus groups with functional managers and contextual interviews with (mostly female) staff – their diverse perspectives and requirements came to light. Based on these, a catalogue of “Dos and Don’ts” for a diversity-oriented migration to Linux was developed.