Design Science Research Process: A Model for Producing and Presenting Information Systems Research

The authors design and demonstrate a process for carrying out design science (DS) research in information systems and demonstrate use of the process to conduct research in two case studies. Several IS researchers have pioneered the acceptance of DS research in IS, but in the last 15 years little DS research has been done within the discipline. The lack of a generally accepted process for DS research in IS may have contributed to this problem. We sought to design a design science research process (DSRP) model that would meet three objectives: it would be consistent with prior literature, it would provide a nominal process model for doing DS research, and it would provide a mental model for presenting and appreciating DS research in IS. The process includes six steps: problem identification and motivation, objectives for a solution, design and development, evaluation, and communication. We demonstrated the process by using it in this study and by presenting two case studies, one in IS planning to develop application ideas for mobile financial services and another in requirements engineering to specify feature requirements for a self service advertising design and sales system intended for wide audience end users. The process effectively satisfies the three objectives and has the potential to help aid the acceptance of DS research in the IS discipline.

[1]  Alan R. Hevner,et al.  Design Research in Information Systems , 2010 .

[2]  Jay F. Nunamaker,et al.  Systems Development in Information Systems Research , 1990, J. Manag. Inf. Syst..

[3]  Lascelles Adams,et al.  Achieving relevance in IS research via the DAGS framework , 2004, 37th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, 2004. Proceedings of the.

[4]  L. B. Archer,et al.  Systematic method for designers , 1963 .

[5]  Joyce J. Elam,et al.  Semantic Structuring in Analyst Acquisition and Representation of Facts in Requirements Analysis , 1998, Inf. Syst. Res..

[6]  A. J. Fulcher,et al.  Towards a Strategic Framework for Design Research , 1996 .

[7]  Ephraim R. McLean,et al.  Expertise Integration and Creativity in Information Systems Development , 2005, J. Manag. Inf. Syst..

[8]  Salvatore T. March,et al.  Design and natural science research on information technology , 1995, Decis. Support Syst..

[9]  Judy E. Scott,et al.  Enhancing functionality in an enterprise software package , 2000, Inf. Manag..

[10]  Omar El Sawy,et al.  Building an Information System Design Theory for Vigilant EIS , 1992, Inf. Syst. Res..

[11]  Glenn J. Browne,et al.  An Empirical Investigation of User Requirements Elicitation: Comparing the Effectiveness of Prompting Techniques , 2001, J. Manag. Inf. Syst..

[12]  Venkataraman Ramesh,et al.  Improving information requirements determination: a cognitive perspective , 2002, Inf. Manag..

[13]  Tuure Tuunanen,et al.  Planning for IS applications: a practical, information theoretical method and case study in mobile financial services , 2005, Inf. Manag..

[14]  Jan Fransoo,et al.  Modeling the planning process in advanced planning systems , 2004, Inf. Manag..

[15]  G. Kelly.  The Psychology of Personal Constructs , 2020 .

[16]  Omar A. El Sawy,et al.  Assessing Information System Design Theory in Perspective: How Useful Was our 1992 Initial Rendition? , 2004 .

[17]  Alan R. Hevner,et al.  Design Science in Information Systems Research , 2004, MIS Q..

[18]  Oscar Pastor,et al.  A specification pattern for use cases , 2004, Inf. Manag..

[19]  R. Cooper,et al.  Winning With New Products : Doing It Right , 2000 .

[20]  K. Peffers,et al.  Identifying and Evaluating the Universe of Outlets for Information Systems Research: Ranking the Journals , 2003 .

[21]  Tuure Tuunanen,et al.  Wide Audience Requirements Engineering (WARE): A Practical Method and Case Study , 2008 .

[22]  Robert G. Cooper,et al.  Stage-gate systems: A new tool for managing new products , 1990 .

[23]  Elizabeth J. Davidson,et al.  Technology Frames and Framing: A Socio-Cognitive Investigation of Requirements Determination , 2002, MIS Q..

[24]  Russell L. Purvis,et al.  An examination of designer and user perceptions of JAD and the traditional IS design methodology , 1997, Inf. Manag..

[25]  Glenn J. Browne,et al.  Stopping Behavior of Systems Analysts During Information Requirements Elicitation , 2004, J. Manag. Inf. Syst..

[26]  S. Sivaloganathan,et al.  A Survey of Design Philosophies, Models, Methods and Systems , 1996 .

[27]  J. Rockart.  Chief executives define their own data needs. , 1979, Harvard business review.

[28]  John S. Gero,et al.  An evolutionary process model of design , 1992 .

[29]  Joan Ernst van Aken,et al.  Valid knowledge for the professional design of large and complex design processes , 2005 .

[30]  E. Hippel,et al.  Lead users: a source of novel product concepts , 1986 .

[31]  Alan M. Davis,et al.  A Unified Model of Requirements Elicitation , 2004, J. Manag. Inf. Syst..

[32]  Simon A. Austin,et al.  Development and verification of a generic framework for conceptual design , 2001 .

[33]  Joey F. George,et al.  Exploring the software engineering component in MIS research , 1995, CACM.

[34]  Earl H. McKinney,et al.  The role of communication values in swift starting action teams: IT insights from flight crew experience , 2004, Inf. Manag..

[35]  Paul Veerkamp,et al.  Modeling Design Process , 1990, AI Mag..

[36]  Tuure Tuunanen,et al.  Extending Critical Success Factors Methodology to Facilitate Broadly Participative Information Systems Planning , 2003, J. Manag. Inf. Syst..

[37]  Malcolm Eva,et al.  Requirements acquisition for rapid applications development , 2001, Inf. Manag..

[38]  Tuure Tuunanen,et al.  A New Perspective on Requirements Elicitation Methods , 2003 .

[39]  N.F.M. Roozenburg,et al.  A methodological comparison of the structures of scientific research and engineering design: their similarities and differences , 1991 .

[40]  Evan W. Duggan,et al.  Integrating nominal group technique and joint application development for improved systems requirements determination , 2004, Inf. Manag..