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Joint application design has nothing to do with networks or co-designing with
other engineers or programmers. JAD is a method of working with end-users to
develop their systems. End-users actually join the development team for the
life of the requirements phase (at least) and act as subject matter experts and
user representatives throughout the development process. It's essentially the
same as participatory design (the usability experts' name for it).
An excellent book about JAD (if you can keep your eyes open) is Ken Eason's
Information Technology and Organizational Change, New York: Taylor & Francis,
1988.
