This paper describes the findings of a field study that explores the process of information systems (IS) development in a large organization. The paper argues that traditional IS development methodologies are treated primarily as a necessary fiction to present an image of control or to provide a symbolic status, and are too mechanistic to be of much use in the detailed, day‐to‐day organization of systems developers’ activities. By drawing on the insights gained from this study, the paper outlines some implications for IS development methodologies. A secondary purpose of the paper is to illustrate the use of an “ecological” research approach to IS development as advocated by Shneiderman and Carroll.
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