Abstract
Purpose
Reflects on experiences when traditional IT approaches were used to design large IT systems and ended in failure.
Design/methodology/approach
The requirements‐gathering process is usually a very complex affair and can represent a major obstacle to successful system development. It is argued here that one reason for systems development projects' poor performance, or even failure, is the mismatch between the customer and the developer technical knowledge/understanding instigated by the differences in the cultural background of both sides. The main argument focuses on the reasons for system failure and how they relate to the diversity of knowledge and the understanding gaps that may exist between the business customers and the system developers.
Findings
The study reveals that the understanding gaps mainly result from lack of business operations knowledge on the developer side, matched by lack of technical appreciation and knowledge on the user side.
Originality/value
A practical approach using diagramming and Set mapping techniques is described, with an explanation of how it can be used to enhance human interaction in requirement identification and consequently help address the knowledge‐gap problem.