An Empirical Account of Fitness-Utility : A Case of Radical Change towards Mobility in DSR Practice

Evaluation is an essential part of design science research - a means to demonstrate qualities of artefacts and knowledge abstractions. The utility-fitness model suggests that evaluation needs to move from ‘usefulness’ measures to utility functions that incorporate the long-term evolution and survival of an artefact in its design landscape. In this paper, we interpret a process of innovative change taking place within a design system, in order to provide an empirical account of utility-fitness. We propose that the utility-fitness model pays too little explicit attention to technological-ecological fit, accountability, and robustness: Three ideals that were prevalent in the scrutinized empirical setting.