The article presents a conceptual framework and a coherent method for design in an organizational context within the participatory design tradition. The MUST method has been developed throughout 10 projects in Danish and American organizations, and it has recently been evaluated and adopted by 3 Danish organizations. The method is based on thorough participation with users and managers, and it combines the use of ethnographic techniques and intervention. The article describes the application area and perspective of the method, presents 6 general principles on which the method is based, and describes 5 main activities providing a stepwise decision-making process in the overall design process. Each of the main activities is illustrated by an example taken from our last project. The article concludes by summing up the main points.

We review Structured Analysis as presented by Yourdon and DeMarco. First, we examine the implicit assumptions embodied in the method about the nature of organizations, work processes, and design. Following this we present the results of an exploratory study, conducted to find out how the method is applied in practice. This study reveals that while some of the tools of Structured Analysis—notably the data flow diagrams—are used and combined with other tools, the designers do not follow the analysis and design procedures prescribed by the method. Our findings suggest that there is a gap between the way systems development is portrayed in the normative technical literature and the way in which it is carried out.