Customizing an Open Source Web Portal Framework in a Business Context : Integrating Participatory Design with an Agile Approach

Abstract

In this thesis, we have investigated how an open source web portal can be used in a business context. This investigation required development of components for a web portal to meet the company’s needs. The motivation for this thesis was to design a web portal to organize the rapid growth of information and to improve the communication both internally and externally. The company that we collaborated with experienced expansion of the working staff, as well as in the customer base. Because the requirements for the web portal were uncertain, the development demanded a lot of communication and collaboration between us, as developers, and the company. With help from the Agile methodology and Participatory Design we were able to clarify the requirements and to overcome the problems during the development. We have especially utilized Agile’s Extreme Programming method as the developing technique. We argue that by applying this method in the given context, we attained the necessary foundation needed for the successful realization of the project. In addition, in situations where we supplemented it with techniques from Participatory Design; we gained a better understanding of the components to be made.