Design science research

Design science is an outcome based information technology research methodology, which offers specific guidelines for evaluation and iteration within research projects. Design science is an outcome based information technology research methodology, which offers specific guidelines for evaluation and iteration within research projects. Design science research focuses on the development and performance of (designed) artifacts with the explicit intention of improving the functional performance of the artifact. Design science research is typically applied to categories of artifacts including algorithms, human/computer interfaces, design methodologies (including process models) and languages. Its application is most notable in the Engineering and Computer Science disciplines, though is not restricted to these and can be found in many disciplines and fields. In design science research, or constructive research, as opposed to explanatory science research, academic research objectives are of a more pragmatic nature. Research in these disciplines can be seen as a quest for understanding and improving human performance. Such renowned research institutions as MIT’s Media Lab, Stanford's Centre for Design Research, Carnegie-Mellon's Software Engineering Institute, Xerox’s PARC and Brunel’s Organization and System Design Centre use the Design Science Research approach. According to Van Aken, the main goal of design science research is to develop knowledge that the professionals of the discipline in question can use to design solutions for their field problems. This mission can be compared to the one of the ‘explanatory sciences’, like the natural sciences and sociology, which is to develop knowledge to describe, explain and predict. Hevner states that the main purpose of design science research is achieving knowledge and understanding of a problem domain by building and application of a designed artifact. Since the first days of computer science, computer scientists have been doing design science research without naming it. They have developed new architectures for computers, new programming languages, new compilers, new algorithms, new data and file structures, new data models, new database management systems, and so on. Much of the early research was focused on systems development approaches and methods. The dominant research philosophy has been to develop cumulative, theory-based research to be able to make prescriptions. It seems that this ‘theory-with-practical-implications’ research strategy has seriously failed to produce results that are of real interest in practice. This failure led to search practical research methods such as design science research. The design process is a sequence of expert activities that produces an innovative product. The artifact enables the researcher to get a better grasp of the problem; the re-evaluation of the problem improves the quality of the design process and so on. This build-and-evaluate loop is typically iterated a number of times before the final design artifact is generated. In design science research, the focus is on the so-called field-tested and grounded technological rule as a possible product of Mode 2 research with the potential to improve the relevance of academic research in management. Mode 1 knowledge production is purely academic and mono-disciplinary, while Mode 2 is multidisciplinary and aims at solving complex and relevant field problems. Hevner et al. have presented a set of guidelines for design science research within the discipline of Information Systems. Design science research requires the creation of an innovative, purposeful artifact for a special problem domain. The artifact must be evaluated in order to ensure its utility for the specified problem. In order to form a novel research contribution, the artifact must either solve a problem that has not yet been solved, or provide a more effective solution. Both the construction and evaluation of the artifact must be done rigorously, and the results of the research presented effectively both to technology-oriented and management-oriented audiences. Hevner counts 7 guidelines for a design science research: