Understanding Design Science: Concepts and Applications

 
Introduction to Design Science
 
Erik Perjons
Department of Computer and Systems Sciences (DSV),
Stockholm University
 
What is Design Science?
 
Positioning design science
 
Natural Science
 
Social Science
 
Design Science
 
Empirical science 
- 
aims
at 
describing and
explaining the actual
world 
in the present (as-
is) or the past (has
been)
 
Design science 
- 
aims
at 
improve and change
the world in the future
(to-be) - by developing
and introducing
artefacts 
in practice
 
Defining design science
 
Design science
 
is the scientific study and creation of
artefacts
 as they are 
developed and used by people 
with
the goal of 
solving practical problems 
of general interest
 
 
 
Defining artefact
 
An 
artefact
 
is an object made by humans with the intention
to be 
used to address a practical problem
 in a 
practice
 
Artefact types in information systems
 
IT system
Prototype of an IT system
Method
Model
Guidelines
Requirements
 
 
 
Algorithm
Notation
Metric
Pattern
Socio-Technical system
 
 
 
Usually, 
four types of artefacts 
are presented when introduce design
science (
March & Smith, 1995)
:
Construct 
– is a term, notation, concept needed for formulate problems and their
possible solutions
Model
 – is a representation of possible solution, that is, a model can be used for
supporting construction of other artefact
Method
 – defined guidelines and processes of how to solve problems and achieve
goals
Instantiation
 – is a working system that can be used in practice
 
 
 
 
Artefact types in information systems
 
Artefact and practice
 
An 
artefact
 
is an object made by humans with the intention
to be 
used to address a practical problem
 in a 
practice
 
Defining practice
 
A 
practice
 is a set 
of human activities performed
regularly 
and seen as 
meaningfully
 related to each other
by the people participating in them.
 
An example of a practice
 
The 
practice of dentists
 is an example a practice
Dentist are engaging in cleaning teeth, drilling teeth, taking
X-rays, and many other activities.
To carry out the practice, dentists make 
use of artefacts
,
such as pliers, drills, X-ray machines, and other tools
 
What characterize design science?
 
The 
artefact
developed 
in a design
science project 
needs
to be novel,
something new and
original
, not previously
developed
 
What characterize design science?
 
The 
artefact is the
solution that needs to
be developed 
to
address the problem
 
The 
artefact
developed 
in a design
science initiative 
needs
to be novel,
something new and
original
, not previously
developed
 
What characterize design science?
 
The 
artefact needs to
be used in a practice
 
The 
artefact is the
solution that needs to
be developed 
to
address the problem
 
The 
artefact
developed 
in a design
science initiative 
needs
to be novel,
something new and
original
, not previously
developed
 
What characterize design science?
 
The 
artefact needs to
be used in a practice
 
The 
problem needs
to be a problem in a
practice
 
The 
artefact is the
solution that needs to
be developed 
to
address the problem
 
The 
artefact
developed 
in a design
science initiative 
needs
to be novel,
something new and
original
, not previously
developed
 
What characterize design science?
 
The 
artefact needs to
be used in a practice
 
The 
problem needs
to be a problem in a
practice
 
The 
problem needs
to be generic
, that is,
a solution not only
for one organization
 
The 
artefact is the
solution that needs to
be developed 
to
address the problem
 
The 
artefact
developed 
in a design
science initiative 
needs
to be novel,
something new and
original
, not previously
developed
 
Design science and Practice research
 
Design science 
is often seen as part of what is called
practical research
Practice research 
is research that addresses problems in
practices
 
 
Design science and Practice research
 
Design
Science
Project
 
[Inspired by Goldkuhl,  2012]
 
A Design Science Framework
 
Define
require-
ments on
artefact
 
Explicate
problem
 
Design and
develop
artefact
 
Demon-
strate
artefact
 
Evaluate
artefact
 
Initial
problem
 
Explicated
problem
 
Requirements
 
Artefact
 
Demonstrated
artefact
 
Evaluated
artefact
 
[Inspired by Peffer,  et al, 2007]
 
A design science framework
 
Define
require-
ments on
artefact
 
Explicate
problem
 
Design and
develop
artefact
 
Demon-
strate
artefact
 
Evaluate
artefact
 
Initial
problem
 
Explicated
problem
 
Requirements
 
Artefact
 
Demonstrated
artefact
 
Evaluated
artefact
 
A design science framework
 
In this activity, the
problem needs to be
precisely formulated and
justified by showing that
it is significant for some
practice
 
Explicate problem
 
Two categories of problems, and both need to be stated:
Practical problem
 – is an issue for practitioners in the
practice that they want to be addressed
Knowledge problem 
– is often a knowledge gap in research
 
 
Example of practical problem:
The difficulty of finding and selecting
appropriate best practices (BPs) in
large collections of BPs impedes the
use of BPs.
 
Example of knowledge problem:
There is a lack of
knowledge/research of how to find
and select appropriate best
practices (BPs) in BP repositories.
 
Define
require-
ments on
artefact
 
Explicate
problem
 
Design and
develop
artefact
 
Demon-
strate
artefact
 
Evaluate
artefact
 
Initial
problem
 
Explicated
problem
 
Requirements
 
Artefact
 
Demonstrated
artefact
 
Evaluated
artefact
 
A design science framework
 
Defining requirements can be seen
as a transformation of the problem
into demands on the proposed
artefact.
 
In this activity, the
problem needs to be
precisely formulated and
justified by showing that
it is significant for some
practice
 
Define requirement
 
Two categories of requirements:
Features/Functions
 – for example, the artefact should
support communcation between decision makers
Generic qualities 
– for example, the artefact should be
should be easy to use for the users
 
 
Define requirements
 
Example of requirements in form of 
generic qualities
:
Understandability
: The artefact should be easy to comprehend for the
users, since they need use it in an effective way
Efficient:
 The artefact should make it possible to carry out improvement
of business processes in a time and resource efficient ways, since
business process improvement  is a cost and resource intensive
endeavor, where cost may easily exceed the benefit
Completeness
 ….
 
Specify the generic quality for the
artefact
 
Define requirements
 
Example of requirements in form of 
generic qualities
:
Understandability
: The artefact should be easy to comprehend for the
users, since they need use it in an effective way
Efficient:
 The artefact should make it possible to carry out improvement
of business processes in a time and resource efficient ways, since
business process improvement  is a cost and resource intensive
endeavor, where cost may easily exceed the benefit
Completeness
 ….
 
Justify the generic quality for the artefact
 
Define
require-
ments on
artefact
 
Explicate
problem
 
Design and
develop
artefact
 
Demon-
strate
artefact
 
Evaluate
artefact
 
Initial
problem
 
Explicated
problem
 
Requirements
 
Artefact
 
Demonstrated
artefact
 
Evaluated
artefact
 
A design science framework
 
Defining requirements can be seen
as a transformation of the problem
into demands on the proposed
artefact.
 
In this activity, the
problem needs to be
precisely formulated and
justified by showing that
it is significant for some
practice
 
This activity creates an artefact
that addresses the explicated
problem and fulfils the defined
requirements.
 
Design and devlop artefact
 
This part usually contains:
A description of the artefact and its components
A description of h
ow the artefact was designed and developed
 
Define
require-
ments on
artefact
 
Explicate
problem
 
Design and
develop
artefact
 
Demon-
strate
artefact
 
Evaluate
artefact
 
Initial
problem
 
Explicated
problem
 
Requirements
 
Artefact
 
Demonstrated
artefact
 
Evaluated
artefact
 
A design science framework
 
Defining requirements can be seen
as a transformation of the problem
into demands on the proposed
artefact.
 
In this activity, the
problem needs to be
precisely formulated and
justified by showing that
it is significant for some
practice
 
This activity creates an artefact
that addresses the explicated
problem and fulfils the defined
requirements.
 
This activity uses the developed
artefact in an illustrative or real-life
case, sometimes called a “proof of
concept”, thereby proving the
feasibility of the artefact.
 
Define
require-
ments on
artefact
 
Explicate
problem
 
Design and
develop
artefact
 
Demon-
strate
artefact
 
Evaluate
artefact
 
Initial
problem
 
Explicated
problem
 
Requirements
 
Artefact
 
Demonstrated
artefact
 
Evaluated
artefact
 
A design science framework
 
Defining requirements can be seen
as a transformation of the problem
into demands on the proposed
artefact.
 
In this activity, the
problem needs to be
precisely formulated and
justified by showing that
it is significant for some
practice
 
This activity creates an artefact
that addresses the explicated
problem and fulfils the defined
requirements.
 
This activity uses the developed
artefact in an illustrative or real-life
case, sometimes called a “proof of
concept”, thereby proving the
feasibility of the artefact.
 
This activity determines how
well the artefact fulfils the
requirements and to what
extent it can solve, or alleviate,
the practical problem that
motivated the research.
 
Evaluate artefact
 
Ex ante evaluation
 
- means that the artefact is evaluated without being
used or even being fully developed
For example, an ex ante evaluation of a 
new collaborative editor
software 
(like Google docs) can be carried out by 
interviewing a number
of experts 
on word processing and social software, based on a specification
and early prototype of the editor
.
Ex post evaluation
 
- requires the artefact to be employed.
An ex post evaluation can be done by 
implementing the collaborative
editor software in an organization and observing the use of it
.
 
(Pries-Heje et al, 2008)
 
Evaluate artefact
 
Evaluate how the artefact 
fulfills each requirement
, for example in
form of strengths/benefits, weaknesses/drawbacks, and also
suggested improvement
Evaluate how the artefact 
addresses the overall practical
problems
, for example in form of strengths/benefits,
weaknesses/drawbacks and suggested improvement
 
 
Evaluate artefact: Informed argument
 
Informed argument 
- is an 
evaluation “method” 
presented in
Hevner et al. (2004).
Informed argument 
- is a 
lightweight evaluation method
where the 
researchers who developed an artefact discuss
its benefits and drawbacks
, and by this argumentation show
that it does (or does not) fulfil the defined requirements.
 
Define
require-
ments on
artefact
 
Explicate
problem
 
Design and
develop
artefact
 
Demon-
strate
artefact
 
Evaluate
artefact
 
Initial
problem
 
Explicated
problem
 
Requirements
 
Artefact
 
Demonstrated
artefact
 
Evaluated
artefact
 
A design science framework
 
The design science framework
 
IMPORTANT: 
The design science framework 
supports
presentations of the research methodology: it presents the
result of each activity.
However, the design science framework is 
NOT a description of
how the research has been carried out
.
 
The design science framework
 
The actual design science research 
can be carried out in
different ways
, for example:
often a design science research project is carried out 
using several
iterations of design and evaluation 
(as in agile software development
methods). 
This is not explicitly showed in the framework. 
The
framework just present the result of each activity when the research
project has been finished
the developed artefact 
may solve another problem than the first
expected
, therefore the original problem statement (and probably also
the requirements) need to be changed
 
Peffer et al (2007)
 
Define
require-
ments on
artefact
 
Explicate
problem
 
Design and
develop
artefact
 
Demon-
strate
artefact
 
Evaluate
artefact
 
Initial
problem
 
Explicated
problem
 
Requirements
 
Artefact
 
Demonstrated
artefact
 
Evaluated
artefact
Research strategies and methods
 
Research methods
 
Research
strategy
 
Research
Method
 
Data collection
method
 
Data analysis
method
 
Qualitative
analysis method
 
Quantitative
analysis method
 
Case Study
Survey
Action research
Experiment
 
Questionnaire
Interview
Observation
 
Content analysis
Discource analysis
 
Statistical methods
 
govern
 
(Denscombe, 2014)
 
Define
require-
ments on
artefact
 
Explicate
problem
 
Design and
develop
artefact
 
Demon-
strate
artefact
 
Evaluate
artefact
 
Literature
survey
 
Survey using
expert interviews
Literature survey
based on
Grounded Theory
 
Case study
using interviews
 
Survey using
expert interviews
Quantitative
analysis using
descriptive
statistics
Qualitative
analysis using
content analysis
 
Initial
problem
 
Explicated
problem
 
Requirements
 
Artefact
 
Demonstrated
artefact
 
Evaluated
artefact
 
Literature
survey
Research strategies and methods
 
Define
require-
ments on
artefact
 
Explicate
problem
 
Design and
develop
artefact
 
Demon-
strate
artefact
 
Evaluate
artefact
 
Literature
survey
 
Survey using
expert interviews
Literature survey
based on
Grounded Theory
 
Case study
using interviews
 
Survey using expert
interviews
Quantitative
analysis using
descriptive statistics
Qualitative analysis
using content
analysis
 
Initial
problem
 
Explicated
problem
 
Requirements
 
Artefact
 
Demonstrated
artefact
 
Evaluated
artefact
 
Literature
survey
Research strategies and methods
Knowledge base
 
Define
require-
ments on
artefact
 
Explicate
problem
 
Design and
develop
artefact
 
Demon-
strate
artefact
 
Evaluate
artefact
 
Literature
survey
 
Survey using
expert interviews
Literature survey
based on
Grounded Theory
 
Case study
using interviews
 
Survey using
expert interviews
Quantitative
analysis using
descriptive
statistics
Qualitative
analysis using
content analysis
 
Initial
problem
 
Explicated
problem
 
Requirements
 
Artefact
 
Demonstrated
artefact
 
Evaluated
artefact
 
Literature
survey
 
Existing solutions
for documenting
best practices
Research strategies and methods
Knowledge base
 
Literature on Best
Practices and on
documentations on
best practices
 
Literature on Best
Practices and on
documentations on
best practices
 
Knowledge base
 
Design
Science
Project
 
Cases of Design Science
 
Many design science projects 
do not undertake all of the five
activities of the method framework 
in depth.
Instead, they may focus on one or two of the activities, while the
others are treated more lightly.
Typical cases of design science research:
Problem-focused Design Science Research
Requirements-focused Design Science Research
Requirements- and development-focused Design Science
Research
Development- and evaluation-focused Design Science Research
Evaluation-focused Design Science Research
 
 
What is the science part of Design Science?
 
-
Design science needs to develop artefacts that are:
-
generic
, in that they are solutions for generic problems
-
new, novel, original
-
based on the knowledge base/scientific body of knowledge
-
contributing to the knowledge base/scientific body of knowledge
-
well described, so it is possible to critically discuss and evalute the artefact 
using
rigouros scientific strategies and methods
-
evaluated/tested
-
communicated to both researchers
    and practitioners
 
 
An master thesis example of Design
Science Research
 
Background
 
An 
insurance company have carried out a business process
improvement project 
where an insurance claim process (also
called regulate damage process) has been improved
However, the insurance company wanted to know 
if these
business process improvement could be further improved.
The insurance company 
did not know which business process
improvement methods to use for this
 
(Skoglund, 2016)
 
Research problem
 
The research problem that the thesis addresses is that it is
difficult for an organization to find a business
improvement method (BPI) that best suites the
organization at hand
, either by choosing an existing BPI
method or selecting a combination of different existing BPI
methods.
 
Research goal
 
The goal of this thesis is to 
design and evaluate a BPI
framework that supports practitioners to find an
appropriate BPI method
, either by choosing an existing
BPI method or select a combination of parts from existing
BPI methods
 
Requirements
 
Understandability
: The BPI framework should be easy to comprehend for the
users
, which are mainly business managers, business analysts, business process
designers, IT managers, and requirement engineers. The reason for this requirement is
that the BPI framework will be used by employees in these roles in an organization.
Reflection and sense making: 
The BPI framework should support reflection and
sense making of doing BPI
, 
including alternative ways of carrying out BPI. 
The
reason for this requirement is that BPI is a complex endeavor that requires that the
employees involved in the BPI project mange different issues that may arise
 
The artefact
 
The artefact was a 
BPI framework 
consists of various 
BPI tasks
from different BPI methods
, more precisely Six Sigma and Lean,
and from a method called manage duplicate systems.
The framework also consists of 
goal and problem statements
related to the BPI tasks
, and these goal and problem statements
are represented as goal and problem models.
These 
goals and problem models aim to support the selection,
combination, and application of the BPI tasks given a
situation at hand.
 
The artefact
 
Define
require-
ments on
artefact
 
Explicate
problem
 
Design and
develop
artefact
 
Demon-
strate
artefact
 
Evaluate
artefact
 
Case study
Informal interviews
Literature study
 
Initial
problem
 
Explicated
problem
 
Requirements
 
Artefact
 
Demonstrated
artefact
 
Evaluated
artefact
 
Case study
Informal
argument
Research strategies and methods
Knowledge base
 
Literature on
Business
Improvement
 
Case study
Interviews
Literature study
Document study
 
Case study
Interviews
Document study
 
Case study
Interviews
Data analysis
 
Literature on Business
Improvment methods:
Lean, Six Sigma
 
Demonstration
 
The demonstration showed
 in which respects the 
artefact,
the BPI framework, could improve the existing process
descriptions further
The BPI framework were applied on the existing
process descriptions in order to find the improvement
possibilities
 
Evaluation
 
The BPI framework has also been 
evaluated based on
interviews with practitioners and academic experts
The evaluation indicates that the 
BPI framework was
understandable, and support reflection and sense
making of doing BPI
, although the evaluation also 
shows
some drawbacks and suggestions of improvements
 
Positioning Design Science
 
What is design science?
 
Which of the following statements are OK to use
Design science is a methodology
Design science is a research approach
Design science is a branch of science, such as natural, social and
formal science
Design science is a paradigm, such as positivism and interpretivism
Design science is a research strategy, such as case study and survey
 
What is design science?
 
Which of the following statements are OK to use
Design science is a methodology
Design science is a research approach
Design science is a branch of science, such as natural, social
and formal science
Design science is a paradigm, such as positivism and interpretivism
Design science is a research strategy, such as case study and survey
 
These statement
are OK to use
according to me
 
DS vs DSR
 
Design science research creates solutions to specific classes
of relevant problems by using a rigorous design process
Design science investigates the design science research
process and creates standards for its rigour.
 
(Winter, 2008)
 
What is design science?
 
The core of design science is based of 
prescriptive knowledge
:
Definitional knowledge 
- consists of concepts, constructs, terms, definitions,
classifications
Descriptive knowledge 
- describes an existing or past reality
Explanatory knowledge 
- provides answers to questions of why
Predictive knowledge 
- offers black-box predictions, i.e. it predicts outcomes based on
underlying factors but without explaining causal or other relationships between them.
Explanatory and predictive knowledge
Prescriptive knowledge
 
(Gregor, 2006)
 
Presciptive knowledge
 
Prescriptive knowledge
 
consists of 
prescriptive models 
and
methods
 that help solve 
practical problems
Prescriptive methods 
are 
guidelines and procedures 
that
help people to work in systematic ways when solving problems.
Prescriptive models 
can be seen as 
blueprints
 for developing,
for example, business processes or IT systems
 
 
Presciptive knowledge
 
Typical examples of 
prescriptive methods 
are 
systems and software
development methods
, such as the 
Rational Unified Process (RUP)
(Kroll et al. 2003), or agile methods, such as 
XP and SCRUM 
(Cohn
2009).
Typical examples of 
prescriptive models 
are 
conceptual reference
models, such as SCOR 
(Bolstorff and Rosenbaum 2007), or
architectural models, such as OSI 
(Day and Zimmerman 1983).
 
 
 
Presciptive knowledge
 
Prescriptive models and methods 
can be viewed as comprising two
parts.
The first part 
- is the 
model or method itself
The second part 
- is a 
statement 
about some desirable effect of using the
model or method.
This 
statement 
(the second part) implies that if a prescriptive model or
method is used in a certain practice, this will contribute to effects desired by
some stakeholders.
In this sense, prescription can be seen as a special case of prediction
.
 
 
Presciptive knowledge
 
Examples of 
prescriptive knowledge
:
Apply sun lotion before sun bathing!
Develop your software system iteratively!
 
 
 
Seminal Research Papers about
Design Science
 
Some seminal research papers
 
Hevner AR, March ST, Park J, Ram S (2004) Design science in information
systems research. MIS Quarterly 28:75–105
Peffers K, Tuunanen T, Rothenberger MA, Chatterjee S (2007) A Design
Science Research Methodology for Information Systems Research.
Journal of Management Information Systems 24:45–77
Sein M, Henfridsson O, Purao S, et al. (2011) Action Design Research.
Management Information Systems Quarterly 35:37–56
Gregor S, Jones D (2007) The Anatomy of a Design Science Theory.
Journal of the Association for Information Systems 8:312–335
 
Hevner et al (2004)
 
Make a distinction between two paradigm that characterize
much of the research in the information systems discipline:
behavioural science 
and design science
Introduce 
seven 
guidelines 
for understanding, executing,
and 
evaluating design science research
These 
seven 
guidelines 
can be 
used for summarizing
the design science research
 
Peffer et al (2007)
 
Sein et al (2011)
 
They introduce 
Action Design Research, 
inspired by action research
They argue that design science research methods have focused 
too much
on building an artefact and have relegated evaluation to a
separate phase.
In order to address this shortcoming, 
they propose action design
research 
as an alternative method of design science research, in which
building, organisational intervention, and evaluation are
intertwined
 
Gregor and Jones (2007)
 
They have introduced design theory
Design science results can be expressed knowledge 
about
the artefact – especially when this knowledge is mature and
comprehensive
The purpose of expressing design knowledge as a theory is to
make the knowledge explicit and systematic 
so that it can be
used and extended in a process of cumulative knowledge
development
 
 
[Gregor and Jones, 2007]
 
Gregor and Jones (2007)
 
Design theory – the artefact is described using a set of
components:
Purpose and Scope of the artefact
Constructs
Principles of form and functions
Artefact mutability
Testable proposition
Justificatory knowledge
Principle of implemantation
Expository instantiation
 
 
[Gregor and Jones, 2007]
 
Book and presentations
 
Johannesson, P., & Perjons, E. (2014). 
An introduction to design science
. Springer.
 
Presentation of the major chapters:
https://introtodesignscience.wordpress.com/
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Design science involves the study and creation of artefacts to solve practical problems, aiming to improve and change the future by developing objects for real-world applications. This field positions itself between natural science and social science, focusing on empirical research and introducing innovative solutions. Artefacts in information systems play a vital role, including IT systems, algorithms, models, methods, and instantiations. By defining artefacts and practices, design science offers a structured approach to problem-solving and goal achievement.


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  1. Introduction to Design Science Erik Perjons Department of Computer and Systems Sciences (DSV), Stockholm University

  2. What is Design Science?

  3. Positioning design science Natural Science Social Science Design Science Empirical science - aims at describing and explaining the actual world in the present (as- is) or the past (has been) Design science - aims at improve and change the world in the future (to-be) - by developing and introducing artefacts in practice

  4. Defining design science Design science is the scientific study and creation of artefacts as they are developed and used by people with the goal of solving practical problems of general interest

  5. Defining artefact An artefact is an object made by humans with the intention to be used to address a practical problem in a practice

  6. Artefact types in information systems IT system Algorithm Prototype of an IT system Notation Method Metric Model Pattern Guidelines Socio-Technical system Requirements

  7. Artefact types in information systems Usually, four types of artefacts are presented when introduce design science (March & Smith, 1995): Construct is a term, notation, concept needed for formulate problems and their possible solutions Model is a representation of possible solution, that is, a model can be used for supporting construction of other artefact Method defined guidelines and processes of how to solve problems and achieve goals Instantiation is a working system that can be used in practice

  8. Artefact and practice An artefact is an object made by humans with the intention to be used to address a practical problem in a practice

  9. Defining practice A practice is a set of human activities performed regularly and seen as meaningfully related to each other by the people participating in them.

  10. An example of a practice The practice of dentists is an example a practice Dentist are engaging in cleaning teeth, drilling teeth, taking X-rays, and many other activities. To carry out the practice, dentists make use of artefacts, such as pliers, drills, X-ray machines, and other tools

  11. What characterize design science? The artefact developed in a design science project needs to be novel, something new and original, not previously developed

  12. What characterize design science? The artefact developed in a design science initiative needs to be novel, something new and original, not previously developed The artefact is the solution that needs to be developed to address the problem

  13. What characterize design science? The artefact developed in a design science initiative needs to be novel, something new and original, not previously developed The artefact is the solution that needs to be developed to address the problem The artefact needs to be used in a practice

  14. What characterize design science? The problem needs to be a problem in a practice The artefact developed in a design science initiative needs to be novel, something new and original, not previously developed The artefact is the solution that needs to be developed to address the problem The artefact needs to be used in a practice

  15. What characterize design science? The problem needs to be a problem in a practice The artefact developed in a design science initiative needs to be novel, something new and original, not previously developed The problem needs to be generic, that is, a solution not only for one organization The artefact is the solution that needs to be developed to address the problem The artefact needs to be used in a practice

  16. Design science and Practice research Design science is often seen as part of what is called practical research Practice research is research that addresses problems in practices

  17. Design science and Practice research Design Science Project [Inspired by Goldkuhl, 2012]

  18. A Design Science Framework

  19. A design science framework Initial problem Explicate problem Explicated problem Define require- ments on artefact Requirements Design and develop artefact Artefact Demon- strate artefact Demonstrated artefact Evaluated artefact Evaluate artefact [Inspired by Peffer, et al, 2007]

  20. A design science framework Initial problem Explicate problem Explicated problem Define require- ments on artefact Requirements Design and develop artefact Artefact Demon- strate artefact Demonstrated artefact In this activity, the problem needs to be precisely formulated and justified by showing that it is significant for some practice Evaluated artefact Evaluate artefact

  21. Explicate problem Two categories of problems, and both need to be stated: Practical problem is an issue for practitioners in the practice that they want to be addressed Knowledge problem is often a knowledge gap in research Example of practical problem: The difficulty of finding and selecting appropriate best practices (BPs) in large collections of BPs impedes the use of BPs. Example of knowledge problem: There is a lack of knowledge/research of how to find and select appropriate best practices (BPs) in BP repositories.

  22. A design science framework Defining requirements can be seen as a transformation of the problem into demands on the proposed artefact. Initial problem Explicate problem Explicated problem Define require- ments on artefact Requirements Design and develop artefact Artefact Demon- strate artefact Demonstrated artefact In this activity, the problem needs to be precisely formulated and justified by showing that it is significant for some practice Evaluated artefact Evaluate artefact

  23. Define requirement Two categories of requirements: Features/Functions for example, the artefact should support communcation between decision makers Generic qualities for example, the artefact should be should be easy to use for the users

  24. Define requirements Example of requirements in form of generic qualities: Understandability: The artefact should be easy to comprehend for the users, since they need use it in an effective way Efficient: The artefact should make it possible to carry out improvement of business processes in a time and resource efficient ways, since business process improvement is a cost and resource intensive endeavor, where cost may easily exceed the benefit Completeness . Specify the generic quality for the artefact

  25. Define requirements Example of requirements in form of generic qualities: Understandability: The artefact should be easy to comprehend for the users, since they need use it in an effective way Efficient: The artefact should make it possible to carry out improvement of business processes in a time and resource efficient ways, since business process improvement is a cost and resource intensive endeavor, where cost may easily exceed the benefit Completeness . Justify the generic quality for the artefact

  26. A design science framework Defining requirements can be seen as a transformation of the problem into demands on the proposed artefact. Initial problem Explicate problem Explicated problem Define require- ments on artefact Requirements Design and develop artefact Artefact Demon- strate artefact Demonstrated artefact In this activity, the problem needs to be precisely formulated and justified by showing that it is significant for some practice This activity creates an artefact that addresses the explicated problem and fulfils the defined requirements. Evaluated artefact Evaluate artefact

  27. Design and devlop artefact This part usually contains: A description of the artefact and its components A description of how the artefact was designed and developed

  28. A design science framework This activity uses the developed artefact in an illustrative or real-life case, sometimes called a proof of concept , thereby proving the feasibility of the artefact. Defining requirements can be seen as a transformation of the problem into demands on the proposed artefact. Initial problem Explicate problem Explicated problem Define require- ments on artefact Requirements Design and develop artefact Artefact Demon- strate artefact Demonstrated artefact In this activity, the problem needs to be precisely formulated and justified by showing that it is significant for some practice This activity creates an artefact that addresses the explicated problem and fulfils the defined requirements. Evaluated artefact Evaluate artefact

  29. A design science framework This activity uses the developed artefact in an illustrative or real-life case, sometimes called a proof of concept , thereby proving the feasibility of the artefact. Defining requirements can be seen as a transformation of the problem into demands on the proposed artefact. Initial problem Explicate problem This activity determines how well the artefact fulfils the requirements and to what extent it can solve, or alleviate, the practical problem that motivated the research. Explicated problem Define require- ments on artefact Requirements Design and develop artefact Artefact Demon- strate artefact Demonstrated artefact In this activity, the problem needs to be precisely formulated and justified by showing that it is significant for some practice This activity creates an artefact that addresses the explicated problem and fulfils the defined requirements. Evaluated artefact Evaluate artefact

  30. Evaluate artefact Ex ante evaluation - means that the artefact is evaluated without being used or even being fully developed For example, an ex ante evaluation of a new collaborative editor software (like Google docs) can be carried out by interviewing a number of experts on word processing and social software, based on a specification and early prototype of the editor. Ex post evaluation - requires the artefact to be employed. An ex post evaluation can be done by implementing the collaborative editor software in an organization and observing the use of it. (Pries-Heje et al, 2008)

  31. Evaluate artefact Evaluate how the artefact fulfills each requirement, for example in form of strengths/benefits, weaknesses/drawbacks, and also suggested improvement Evaluate how the artefact addresses the overall practical problems, for example in form of strengths/benefits, weaknesses/drawbacks and suggested improvement

  32. Evaluate artefact: Informed argument Informed argument - is an evaluation method presented in Hevner et al. (2004). Informed argument - is a lightweight evaluation method where the researchers who developed an artefact discuss its benefits and drawbacks, and by this argumentation show that it does (or does not) fulfil the defined requirements.

  33. A design science framework Initial problem Explicate problem Explicated problem Define require- ments on artefact Requirements Design and develop artefact Artefact Demon- strate artefact Demonstrated artefact Evaluated artefact Evaluate artefact

  34. The design science framework IMPORTANT: The design science framework supports presentations of the research methodology: it presents the result of each activity. However, the design science framework is NOT a description of how the research has been carried out.

  35. The design science framework The actual design science research can be carried out in different ways, for example: often a design science research project is carried out using several iterations of design and evaluation (as in agile software development methods). This is not explicitly showed in the framework. The framework just present the result of each activity when the research project has been finished the developed artefact may solve another problem than the first expected, therefore the original problem statement (and probably also the requirements) need to be changed

  36. Peffer et al (2007)

  37. Research strategies and methods Initial problem Explicate problem Explicated problem Define require- ments on artefact Requirements Design and develop artefact Artefact Demon- strate artefact Demonstrated artefact Evaluated artefact Evaluate artefact

  38. Research methods (Denscombe, 2014) Case Study Survey Action research Experiment Research strategy govern Research Method Questionnaire Interview Observation Data collection method Data analysis method Quantitative analysis method Statistical methods Qualitative analysis method Content analysis Discource analysis

  39. Research strategies and methods Literature survey Literature survey Survey using expert interviews Survey using expert interviews Case study using interviews Literature survey based on Grounded Theory Quantitative analysis using descriptive statistics Initial problem Explicate problem Explicated problem Define require- ments on artefact Requirements Qualitative analysis using content analysis Design and develop artefact Artefact Demon- strate artefact Demonstrated artefact Evaluated artefact Evaluate artefact

  40. Research strategies and methods Literature survey Literature survey Survey using expert interviews Survey using expert interviews Case study using interviews Literature survey based on Grounded Theory Quantitative analysis using descriptive statistics Initial problem Explicate problem Explicated problem Define require- ments on artefact Qualitative analysis using content analysis Requirements Design and develop artefact Artefact Demon- strate artefact Demonstrated artefact Evaluated artefact Evaluate artefact Knowledge base

  41. Research strategies and methods Literature survey Literature survey Survey using expert interviews Survey using expert interviews Case study using interviews Literature survey based on Grounded Theory Quantitative analysis using descriptive statistics Initial problem Explicate problem Explicated problem Define require- ments on artefact Requirements Qualitative analysis using content analysis Design and develop artefact Artefact Demon- strate artefact Demonstrated artefact Evaluated artefact Evaluate artefact Existing solutions for documenting best practices Literature on Best Practices and on documentations on best practices Literature on Best Practices and on documentations on best practices Knowledge base

  42. Knowledge base Design Science Project

  43. Cases of Design Science Many design science projects do not undertake all of the five activities of the method framework in depth. Instead, they may focus on one or two of the activities, while the others are treated more lightly. Typical cases of design science research: Problem-focused Design Science Research Requirements-focused Design Science Research Requirements- and development-focused Design Science Research Development- and evaluation-focused Design Science Research Evaluation-focused Design Science Research

  44. What is the science part of Design Science? Design science needs to develop artefacts that are: - - generic, in that they are solutions for generic problems - new, novel, original - based on the knowledge base/scientific body of knowledge - contributing to the knowledge base/scientific body of knowledge - well described, so it is possible to critically discuss and evalute the artefact using rigouros scientific strategies and methods - evaluated/tested - communicated to both researchers and practitioners

  45. An master thesis example of Design Science Research

  46. Background An insurance company have carried out a business process improvement project where an insurance claim process (also called regulate damage process) has been improved However, the insurance company wanted to know if these business process improvement could be further improved. The insurance company did not know which business process improvement methods to use for this (Skoglund, 2016)

  47. Research problem The research problem that the thesis addresses is that it is difficult for an organization to find a business improvement method (BPI) that best suites the organization at hand, either by choosing an existing BPI method or selecting a combination of different existing BPI methods.

  48. Research goal The goal of this thesis is to design and evaluate a BPI framework that supports practitioners to find an appropriate BPI method, either by choosing an existing BPI method or select a combination of parts from existing BPI methods

  49. Requirements Understandability: The BPI framework should be easy to comprehend for the users, which are mainly business managers, business analysts, business process designers, IT managers, and requirement engineers. The reason for this requirement is that the BPI framework will be used by employees in these roles in an organization. Reflection and sense making: The BPI framework should support reflection and sense making of doing BPI, including alternative ways of carrying out BPI. The reason for this requirement is that BPI is a complex endeavor that requires that the employees involved in the BPI project mange different issues that may arise

  50. The artefact The artefact was a BPI framework consists of various BPI tasks from different BPI methods, more precisely Six Sigma and Lean, and from a method called manage duplicate systems. The framework also consists of goal and problem statements related to the BPI tasks, and these goal and problem statements are represented as goal and problem models. These goals and problem models aim to support the selection, combination, and application of the BPI tasks given a situation at hand.

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