Design science research addresses important, complex real-world problems. Although well-accepted as part of research in information systems, initiating or progressing a design science research ...project still requires effort to describe how knowledge creation emerges and its underlying dynamics. Given the existing body of knowledge on design science research, it should be possible to learn from that knowledge to progress future work. This paper analyzes design science research projects to identify and make explicit their knowledge contributions while recognizing the plurality of a project's knowledge contributions with respect to a project's knowledge scope and knowledge goals. The construct of a path of knowledge types is introduced that represents how knowledge contributions are dynamically created throughout a project. These paths form the basis for the derivation of seven design science research strategies, which lead to guidelines for initiating or progressing a project. This effort is compared to other research that analyzes the growing body of work in design science with respect to knowledge contributions and project classifications.
How a research team defines their study sample can be decisive in shaping impact on both practice and theory. However, sampling in design research faces several major challenges, including diverse ...terminology, limited prior literature, and lack of common framework for discussing sampling decisions. We address these challenges by bringing together guidance from across related research fields as well as cross-referring to examples from published design research. We offer a structured process for sample development and present eight key sampling considerations. The paper contributes to research method selection, development, and use, as well as extending discussions surrounding knowledge construction, standards of reporting, and design research impact.
•Identifies critical sampling challenges in theory driven design studies.•Describes eight key sampling considerations.•Proposes a structured sample design process.•Illustrates links between sampling, theory development, and knowledge construction.•Provides guidance for reporting of sampling considerations.
This paper develops an approach to evaluating designs for digitalisation interventions in purchasing and supply management (PSM), and identifies some fundamental design principles for such ...interventions. A set of advanced technologies for digitalisation and a theory-based set of seven value drivers for PSM are identified for the proposed grid to facilitate the design of applications and interventions for digitalising PSM. The grid relates the digital technologies to the PSM value drivers in a matrix-like manner, allowing the structured consideration of the space defined by these two dimensions. The proposed approach to the strategic evolution of digitalisation in PSM is tested and its utility is demonstrated in analyses of practitioner literature and multiple case-study-based perspectives on PSM digitalisation. Two fundamental design principles relating to the use of the grid, or to the filling of its space, are set out, thus the research provides new theoretical perspectives on the design of advanced forms of PSM digitalisation. The proposed grid may be used in application design, communicating current and future states of PSM digitalisation to stakeholders, and specifically in developing a future-oriented strategy with a digitalization element for the PSM function.
•A grid, linking digital technologies with PSM value drivers is proposed.•Two fundamental design principles are stated for designing digital interventions.•We provide theoretical perspectives on the design of advanced digitalization of PSM.•The grid is useful in designing, communicating and strategizing digitalization in PSM.
The paper motivates, presents, demonstrates in use, and evaluates a methodology for conducting design science (DS) research in information systems (IS). DS is of importance in a discipline oriented ...to the creation of successful artifacts. Several researchers have pioneered DS research in IS, yet over the past 15 years, little DS research has been done within the discipline. The lack of a methodology to serve as a commonly accepted framework for DS research and of a template for its presentation may have contributed to its slow adoption. The design science research methodology (DSRM) presented here incorporates principles, practices, and procedures required to carry out such research and meets three objectives: it is consistent with prior literature, it provides a nominal process model for doing DS research, and it provides a mental model for presenting and evaluating DS research in IS. The DS process includes six steps: problem identification and motivation, definition of the objectives for a solution, design and development, demonstration, evaluation, and communication. We demonstrate and evaluate the methodology by presenting four case studies in terms of the DSRM, including cases that present the design of a database to support health assessment methods, a software reuse measure, an Internet video telephony application, and an IS planning method. The designed methodology effectively satisfies the three objectives and has the potential to help aid the acceptance of DS research in the IS discipline.
The last decades in urban design research are characterised by a focus on technological aspects of cities which is commonly known as the smart city strategy. The concerns and interests of citizens ...are coming to the forefront nowadays with the awareness that a liveable city does not only consist of good infrastructure and sustainable energy supply but also citizen input and feedback. In this paper, we present Citizen Design Science as a new strategy for cities to integrate citizens' ideas and wishes in the urban planning process. The approach is to combine the opportunity of crowdsourcing opinions and thoughts by citizens through modern information and communication technology (ICT) with active design tools. The active design feedback from a city's inhabitants is identified as a yet missing but essential way towards a responsive city. We therefore propose a system to merge Citizen Science and Citizen Design, which requires a structured evaluation process to integrate Design Science methods for urban design.
We show examples of existing approaches of Citizen Design Science and present the Quick Urban Analysis Kit (qua-kit) as an application of this methodology. The toolkit allows users to move geometries in given environments and provides the opportunity for non-experts to express their ideas for their neighbourhood or city.
•Citizen Design Science as a new strategy for cities to integrate citizens’ ideas and wishes in the urban planning process.•Citizen Design Science means the participation of citizens in the urban planning process with online design tools.•The term Citizen Design Science arises from the its pillars: citizen science, citizen design and design science.•The Quick Urban Analysis Kit (qua-kit) as an application of the Citizen Design Science methodology is presented.
Faced with growing pressures to become more environmentally sustainable, many companies are exploring innovative ways to incorporate “green” practices into their business processes. We focus on ...employees and their pro-environmental behaviours in the workplace. Drawing on gamification and persuasive design principles, we utilized five design cycles to develop and test a system that tracks employees' electricity usage on their computer-related equipment, engages them through a mobile application using a garden metaphor, and encourages them to reduce their energy consumption. The results of the design cycles built on each other, demonstrating that the system decreases employees' electricity consumption and increases their motivation to continue engaging in pro-environmental behaviours. Possible extensions to the system were also explored. Reflecting on our experiences, seven guidelines emerged related to gamification design and the wider field of design science research. Limitations and future research directions for gamification and environmental sustainability research are discussed.
•Feedback through a gamified app helps employees decrease their use of electricity.•Two weeks of monitoring and feedback can create habit change.•App usage results in sharing tips and spillover to other sustainability areas.•Iterative design cycles result in revised design principles.
Recognizing the importance of various types of artifacts for entrepreneurship, design science (DS) has been proposed as an inclusive approach that combines relevance and rigor. By enabling ...researchers to go beyond their traditional roles as observers and analysts of established artifacts to help design new artifacts, DS can improve the relevance of entrepreneurship research. However, there is a paucity of knowledge on how this type of research can be published in leading entrepreneurship journals. In this editorial, we seek to provide practical guidance on how to craft and assess DS studies that target Entrepreneurship Theory & Practice (ETP) and other top-tier journals.
We propose the definition of genres in IS design science research (DSR). In recent years DSR has become a well-accepted research paradigm within IS; however, now the diversity of purpose, ...methodology, and mental models has increased to a point where reviewers and editors are unsure about which standards to apply to particular research submissions. For some researchers an artefact of value is a system or system component, while for others artefacts ought to be theories or theory components. Such differences are hard to reconcile and researchers often face criticism from diverse corners of the paradigm, where beliefs and standards are very different. We observed this diversity of views among authors, editors, and reviewers while editing this special issue. The problem continues to the current day. A solution may lie in defining genres of IS DSR, each with its model for DSR processes and outcomes. We define five prototype genres, based on selected articles, along with their typical characteristics, standards, and values. Several articles in this special issue typify various potential genres. The recognition of mutually respectful DSR genres may improve researchers' ability to publish in the highest tier IS journals, as colleagues, reviewers, and editors recognize and respect genre differences.
Design science research is typically used to conduct research in the information systems space. Design science research has also existed for many years, and might be seen as a daunting task when ...first undertaken by inexperienced researchers. This is most likely due to the various approaches and terminologies that exist for conducting design science research. Therefore, this paper proposes a tailor-made approach for inexperienced researchers to conduct design science research. Accordingly, this approach aims to specifically assist researchers to develop an artefact as a research contribution in an environment where the artefact is developed and evaluated concurrently in close collaboration with stakeholders.
Tourists' emotions have a pivotal role in tourists' cognitive evaluations and behavioral responses. Fleeting but powerful, emotions are associated with individuals' biological makeup, shaped by their ...experiences and related to personal mental associations. The aim of this contribution is twofold: to broaden the depth and breadth of the emotion discourse in tourism and to offer principles for emotion-oriented tourism design. Mainstream emotion literature and tourism emotion contributions are critically analyzed and discussed. This study proposes novel paths to investigate emotions in our scholarly field, offers insights for the emerging tourism design science and outlines the contribution that the uniqueness of our field of research can offer to emotions' theorists.
•The study reviews theoretical and empirical investigations in emotion literature.•Systematic examination of mainstream emotion research is advocated.•Five principles to guide tourism experience design are discussed.•This contribution offers insights to advance tourism emotion research.
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