FAIRWIS: an integrated system offering trade fair Web-based information services - an R&D case study

Due to the effects of the Internet on the global economy, organizers nowadays work, compete, and cooperate on a worldwide scale. They must be able to cope with the fast pace of worldwide competition by optimizing to market and, especially, by being highly innovative in the products and the services they offer. Because of the dynamic nature of work processes, there is a need for new frameworks and integrated computational environments to model, develop and support business processes in all their steps. We introduce a case study of an integrated system offering trade fair Web-based information services the FAIRWIS system. Our scientific and software development approaches aim at offering on-line advanced Web-based computational environments offering a common platform for the activities of all the user groups involved in the trade fair business. The underlying conceptual model integrates three basic different innovative aspects. Visual appearance: the deployment of an information visualization mechanism allows the generation of 2D and 3D representations to show retrieved data to the user in an appropriate and significant fashion. User centered approach: the employment of user models as a basis for user interface adaptation, in order to tailor information presented and functionality offered at the user interface to serve the user´s needs best. Participatory design: the involvement of relevant users in charge of leading the business process definition of the organization they belong to into the development process as co-developers, not merely as consumers.