Blekinge Institute of Technology Master in Informatics Theisea Allison & Adnan Masood Butt Design Theory and Design

Research, Fall 10 Moment 7 Design Science Research on Information Technology Abstract The Socrates article by Per Flensburg on a human technique for systems description and development is to be critically examined and its place in March and Smiths IT research framework identified and discussed along with the reasons for the selection. Hevner et als framework for IS research is also to be applied to that Socrates article and critically analyzed. Introduction Socrates is a project at the University of Lund, sponsored by the Swedish National Board for Technical development, which involves the development of a human technique for systems description and development. Information systems development is seen as the derivation of a new social system, supported by computer-based technology (Land & Hirschheim, 1983). Klein and Hirschheim (1987) suggest that a societal change is taking place, where information systems development is seen as involving much broader social and organizational change. In a narrow sense, information systems development may be seen as technical change where a single problem is seen as well-defined and a technical solution is proposed, evaluated and implemented. Information systems development projects have a very high failure rate with the main reasons being the application of the wrong ISD methodology, inadequately overcoming the design-reality gap and lack of user involvement in the development process. The goal of the Socrates project is to provide users with a suitable technique to develop their own information systems which researchers assume will lead to more successful system development, better systems performance and organizational efficiency, with easier acceptance of changes due to the direct user involvement. Socrates The Socrates project aims to develop a methodology that uses human science and natural science methods in the development of information systems. In Socrates a technique is being developed for the mapping of events in an information system. The technique known as the AB-method arises from the premise that our reality is shaped by our set of concepts and our sets of concepts are shaped by our social environment. To start the systems development process using the AB-method, events concerning the users of the system are first identified in order to get a full description of the actual events as perceived by the
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actual users, this is done by asking a range of questions, who, what, whom, when, where, how, etc. This is then followed by the identification of the relationships between the events. The next step in the development process is to find the activities that deal with information, the ability to replace the verb with either be informed about or inform about indicates an information activity, and this determination must be done preferably by a user. This differentiates information activities from work activities and allows for a more logical and efficient organization of the work. The information activities are described using common programming language concepts such as procedures, with loops, iterations and conditions. The analysis is continued with the study of the direct object in the information activities, construction of a data model with two basic concepts, information object and attributes of the object, which can also have other information objects as attributes. The completion of this process by all persons who come in contact with the computerized information system will make it possible to construct the whole information system thus achieving the goal of user developed systems. The key features of this technique are: the orientation towards tasks in work, the use of natural language grammar to make more exhaustive sentences about the work, the use of the built-in formalism in the natural language to develop a formalized data model and process model and the strong orientation towards user development. (Flensburg, 1984) March and Smiths IT Research Framework March and Smiths IT framework presents a research agenda for the scientific study of IT which reconciles the natural science and design science aspects also known as the knowledge-producing and knowledge-using aspects of information technology research (March & Smith, 1995). The natural science aspects are aimed at understanding and explaining reality, why and how things are. This is done by the development of theories which are well-substantiated explanations or claims of some aspect of the natural world or phenomena (Wiki). Natural science is often viewed as consisting of two activities, discovery and justification. Discovery is the process of generating or proposing scientific claims (e.g., theories, laws). Justification includes activities by which such claims are tested for validity. Progress is achieved as new theories provide deeper, more encompassing, and more accurate explanations (March & Smith, 1995). Design science is aimed at creating artifacts to attain or serve human goals. There are four types of design artifacts; these are constructs, models, methods, and implementations. Constructs are vocabulary and conceptualizations that enable communication and description of problems (phenomena, possibly within a causal chain), solution components, constraints, and objectives for the designed artifact. Models use these constructs to represent a problem and its solution space. Methods are algorithms or guidelines that are used to search the solution space and enable the construction of instantiationscomputerbased systems implemented within an organization (March & Storey, 2008). Building and evaluating are the two activities of design science, building is the process of constructing an artifact for a specific purpose; evaluation is the process of determining how well the artifact performs. Progress is achieved in design science when existing technologies are replaced by more effective ones (March & Smith, 1995).
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Figure 1: March and Sm M miths IT Re esearch Fram mework

The M March and Smith IT research framewo is drive by the distinction between two d T h ork en n n dime ensions, re esearch ar rtifacts or outputs and resear a rch activit ties. IT res search builds and evalu uates the outputs or artifacts the design science aspect. The outpu or artifacts are s, e uts name constructs, mod ely dels, meth hods, and instantiat tions. It also theoriz about these zes artifa acts and attempts to justify these theo a ories, the natural sc cience asp pect. structs or concepts form the vocabulary of a dom f v main in wh hich problems and s solutions Cons are d defined an communicated (L nd Liang, 200 06). They define the terms us e sed when describing and t thinking about task a ks". As exa amples of construct tions they present " "entities, a attributes, , relationships, identifiers constraints" in da modeli s, ata ing formal lism and " "consensu us, participation, satisfactio in coop s on" perative work (Joke w ela, 2001). March and Smith describes s odel as a set of prop s positions or stateme o ents expre essing rela ationships among c s constructs. a mo A mo odel uses constructs to represent real world situ s w uations, th design problem a he and solut tion space (Liang, 2006). A model is a solution c 2 m componen to requi nt irements deter rmination tasks and a problem definition to syst d tem design tasks (J Jokela, 2001). A me ethod is a set of ste used to perform a task (M eps o m March & Smith, 199 95). Metho define ods proce esses and provide guidelines on how to solve pr g o roblems (L Liang, 200 06). March and h Smith state that method are bas ds sed on a set of unde s erlying co onstructs ( (language) and a repre esentation (model) of the solution spac Metho ds can be tied to pa n ce. e articular m models in that steps take parts of the mode as input Addition e el t. nally, meth hods are o often used to d trans slate from one model or repre esentation to anoth in the course of solving a problem. n her Liang states th instant g hat tiations de emonstrat that con te r s nstructs, models or methods can be imple emented in a working system Instantiations sh ow the fea m. asibility and effectiv veness of the m models and methods containe they provide wo ed; p orking artifacts (Ma arch & Smith, 1995) ).

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Figure 2: Relation nships betwe een researc artifacts ( ch (Jokela, 200 01)

The build rese earch activity refer to the constructi rs c ion of an artifact t perform a specif to m fic d ation that the art tifact can be cons structed. Building an artifact task or the demonstra onstrates feasibility and these artifacts becom e the object of stu y udy. Research in th he demo build activity should be judged ba s ased on th value o utility t a comm he or to munity of u users. Eac ch artifa is a te act echnology that, onc built, must be ev ce m valuated s scientifica ally. (Marc & Smith, ch 1995 Evalua 5). ate refers to the development of cr s d riteria and the ass d sessment of artifact perfo ormance against th a hose criter ria. We evaluate artifacts to determine if we have mad o de any progress. Evaluatio require the dev on es velopment of metrics which define w t what we are trying to accomplish. Metrics are used to assess th perform M e he mance of a artifac (March & an ct. Smith, 1995) We theorize an then ju nd ustify theo ories abou artifacts to determ ut s mine why and how the artifact work ked or did not work within its environ d k nment. M arch and Smith sta ates theorizing in IT resea arch must explicate those characteristics of the IT artifac operatin in its environment t e ct ng that make it unique to IT and require unique exp o u planations For jus s. stification of a give en theor we must gathe evidenc to tes the the ry er ce st eory. Tes sting with artifacts based on h s o math hematical formalism can be done mathematically wh ms b hile the j justificatio of non on nmath hematically represented artif facts follow the na ws atural scie ence meth hodologies governin s ng data collection and analysis. n lication of March & Smiths IT Rese o earch Fra amework to the S k Socrates p project Appl The Socrates project fa alls in the Method artifact a e and Evalua ate activit cell of March an ty nd Smiths IT res search framework. As a method the S Socrates p project de escribes th powerf he ful langu uage proc cedure use in the specificat ed tion and d developme ent of use involved computer er d information sy ystems (March & Sm mith, 1995 5).

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Identif activitie fy es Ask que estions What do yo do? What happens? W ou t When? Verbs denote activ d vities

Identif depende fy ency betwe een activit ies Ask que estions 1. Who performs the activity? (the subject) e 2. What <a activity><wh ho>? (direc object) ct 3. To whom <activity> m ><who><wh hat? (indirect object) 4. When <a activity><w who>? 5. Where <activity><w < who>? 6. How <ac ctivity><wh ho>? 7. Whats th intention with the ac he n ctivity? 8. Which ar the conditions for pe re erforming the activity? Qualifie of verbs represent dependencie ers d es

Identif information activit fy ties Study the informat t tion object and propert of said inf a ty formation o object Verbs can be repla c aced with be informed about or in e nform about t

Create process description e d IF a=b b THEN xyz x ELSE d + e = j AND s = t OR nby y

Autom mate proced dure

Figure 3: The Socrates A method e AB

Figur 3 illustr re rates the underlying language construc u g e cts, verbs, qualifier of verbs and rs s prepo ositions, and the re a epresentat tion of the problem and solut e tion space in the AB e B-method. . The i identification of activities invo olves asking an exh haustive li of ques ist stions of t the users of o the s systems in order to get a full and descriptive pic n cture of th work sit he tuation to be comp puterized. The verbs used in the respo onses to th questio he ons would denote th he activities. The qualifiers of verbs used would represe the de ent ependencie that ex es xist betw ween activi ities. The next step is to iden ntify inform mation act tivities and study th various he s information ob bject and the properties of the object. The aim o these activities is to t of s deve elop a deta ailed description of the variou process us ses in the work acti ivity that w lead to will elopment of informa o ation syste ems. This clearly sh hows the A AB-method fits in th method d he d deve resea arch artifa row of March & Smiths framework illustrated by the s act S d step by ste process ep s outlin ned.

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Research in the evaluate activity develops metrics and compares the performance of the research output or artifact for the specified task, the developed system in the Socrates project. Evaluation of methods considers operability (the ability to perform the intended task or the ability of humans to effectively use the method if it is not algorithmic), efficiency, generality, and ease of use. These can be evaluated for completeness, consistency, ease of use, and the quality of results obtained by the users applying the method (March & Smith, 1995). In evaluating completeness every relevant activity of the problem situation has to have been described from asking an exhaustive list of questions. Operability can be evaluated by the ability of users to apply the method to systems development with very little knowledge of programming and computer systems. The system developed would have been done mainly by the users so it is easy for them to make changes and have full control. The success of the AB-method can be evaluated by the users assessing the resulting information system. The main purpose of increased user involvement in the system development would have been achieved by the application of the method (Flensburg, 1984). Hevner, March, Park and Rams Design Science IS Research Guidelines The goal of design science research is to create and evaluate IT artifacts to solve the identified organizational problem. The design process is a sequence of expert activities that produces an innovative product (i.e., the design artifact). The evaluation of the artifact then provides feedback information and a better understanding of the problem in order to improve both the quality of the product and the design process. This build-and-evaluate loop is typically iterated a number of times before the final design artifact is generated (Markus et al. 2002). Hevner et al (2004) created a framework which serves to guide designers and researchers on how to conduct, evaluate and communicate the development of information systems. The seven point guidelines proposed by Hevner et al are as follows: Guideline 1: Design as an Artifact A viable and novel design artifact (constructs, models, methods or instantiations) must be developed. Guideline 2: Problem Relevance The objective of design science research is to provide technology-based solutions to important and relevant organizational problems. Guideline 3: Design Evaluation The utility, quality, and efficacy of the design artifact must be rigorously demonstrated through well executed evalution. Guideline 4: Research Contributions Effective design-science research must provide clear and verifiable contributions in the areas of the design artifact, design foundations, and/or design methodologies. Guideline 5: Research Rigour Design-science research relies upon the application of rigorous methods in both the construction and evaluation of the design artifact. Guideline 6: Design as a Search Process Research must be conducted with knowledge of other, competing approaches and should approach the process as a cyclical problem
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solving process, in which solutions are tested against each other and against their efficacy for solving the full problem. Guideline 7: Communication of the Research Research must be presented effectively to address both the requirements of the technology oriented audience and the relevance requirements of the professional (business) management audience. Application of Hevner et als IS Research Guidelines to the Socrates project The Socrates project is the development of a methodology that uses human techniques along with those of formal science to develop successful user involved information systems. The intent is to solve the user related problems that causes information systems development failures. Design as an Artifact The AB-method represents the artifact produced from the Socrates project; it is the step by step process that makes up the technique. The ABmethod is unique in the significance of the role of the users (human) involvement in the development of the system and the actual process of user involvement. The method is evaluated based on greater user involvement and the increase in the user demand for user control in the information systems development, maintenance and future enhancements of the said system achieved from its application. Problem Relevance The objective of the project is to demonstrate the value of user involvement in information systems development where the lack of user involvement or user approval has resulted in the high percentage of IT project failure. The AB-method requires the user to be the significant participant in the development of systems to solve work/organizational problems. Design Evaluation The Socrates project is ongoing and evaluation of the developed technique is constant part of the process. The design evaluation methods used are observational and experimental. The evaluation was carried out at a Swedish company by the team of researchers and the users; the method was applied and analyzed in an actual business environment. The results of this observational evaluation process will be the improvement and further development of the method. The experimental evaluation method involves the comparison of the AB-method to other different methods for user design. The user element is a key part of the evaluation process as only the users of the system who can judge the benefit they have from the system. Research Contributions The technique of the AB-method, the design artifact itself is a contribution to design science research. The methodology to be applied to systems development will initially be a working prototype and this is also a contribution along with the results from the experiments. The utility of the AB-method as a tool to allow users in developing their own data systems contributes to design science research as users are a primary element in the design process. Research Rigour In developing the AB-method a rigorous process of construction and evaluation is engaged. The construction involves a step by step process where the desired
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systems development criteria include completeness, exhaustiveness, correctness, comprehensibility, reliability and easiness of change. As Flensburg states achieving absolute in the listed criteria is theoretically impossible thus making the ease of detecting and correcting errors the most important property of the system. The development allows for continuous evaluation with feedback allowing improvement and further evaluation. Design as a Search Process The Socrates project utilizes an old research technique called the dialog method, a well-known method but not in the field of systems development. The human/user element is the primary focus of this research and so the existing sociotechnical approach is analyzed as a tool for user involved systems development. Flensburg states that the strength of the tools of the socio-technical approach is its base in the more human sciences like sociology, pedagogics and psychology with its weakness being the tools are used with no previous investigation about their assumptions about the "reality" and the user of the tool. The development of a working prototype of the AB-method is needed for the experiment phase where the results of feedback will be applied to the further development of the method. It is an iterative process of build and evaluate. Communication of the Research Communication, and more specifically communication between users and researchers, is critical to the development of the AB-method. The technique is based in an old research technique called the dialog method. Communication in the form of mutual understanding and learning between users and researchers is required to complete each step of the AB-method. It is recognized that the system must be used by the people in the particular work situation therefore the method and the underlying constructs must be based on their professional language. The AB-method has turned out to be a very efficient technique with the use of natural language grammar to make more exhaustive sentences about the work and the use of the built in formalism in the natural language to develop a formalized data model and process model (Flensburg, 1984). Conclusion The two design science research frameworks discussed have demonstrated the value of structure and guidelines in the development of effective information systems. It is important to note that these are guidelines, not strict measures that must be adhered to, developers must assess each problem situation and organization individually and assess the relevance of various aspects of the selected framework. The unique and innovative nature of most IT artifacts adds to challenge of developing a research framework that considers the intersection of the human aspects, the organizational needs and the requirements of technology. Both frameworks have fundamental similarities, the objective of providing an IS solution for a problem situation, the development of a unique and innovative design artifact (constructs, models, methods or instantiations) and the need to evaluate the designed artifact. The aim of the Socrates project is to address the issues relating to the human element, the users, in the systems development process. The project seeks to define a technique in approaching the development of systems by focusing on the work or problem situation, the importance of language or communication, formal process models and user development.
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It is a work in progress, with more evaluations and rebuilding iterations to allow further development to the technique. There is clearly increased interest in design science and research based on the various theories and experiments being assessed. There are stages in the featured frameworks and methods that add value to the development of useful processes in information systems development. Hevner et al stated that they are excited by the ongoing discussions and increased interest in design science research projects in the IS field. Information systems and organizational routines are among the key components of organizational design as they are extensions of human cognitive capabilities. These are the tools of knowledge working to enable new organizational forms and provide management and decision-making support. (ScienceWatch.com 2008) More and more frequently, business decisions are made based on computer-based analysis and subsequent recommendations. Similarly, organizational routines are intended to provide guidance to human action within prescribed organizational contexts, yet, even these artifacts are appropriated and adapted by humans in ways and for purposes which the designers may not have envisioned. With the renewed interest in design science research in the information systems and organizational science disciplines, future research will focus on the co-design of information processing capabilities and organizational structures. (ScienceWatch.com 2008) References Andersen, Kim Viborg and Vendel, Morten Thanning, The Past and Future of Information Systems, Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann, Linacre House, Jordan Hill, Oxford OX2 8DP, 200 Wheeler Road, Burlington MA 01803, 2004. Flensburg, Per, SOCRATES, A human technique for systems description and development, Lund University, 1984 Hevner, A.R., S.T. March, J Park, and S. Ram, Design science in information systems research. MIS Quarterly, 28, 75-105, 2004 Jokela, Tim, Assessment of user-centred design processes as a basis for improvement action, An experimental study in industrial settings, Oulun Yliopisto, Oulu 2001, ISBN 95142-6551-3 (PDF), ISSN 1796-220X (Online) URN:ISBN:9514265513 http://herkules.oulu.fi/isbn9514265513/html/c186.html#AEN193 Klein, H.K. and Hirschheim, R. (1987) Social Change And The Future of Information Systems Development in R.J. Boland, and R.A. Hirschheim, Critical Issues In Information Systems Research, Wiley. Land, F. and Hirschheim, R. (1983) Participative Systems Design: Rationale, Tools and Techniques, Journal Of Applied Systems Analysis, 10, 91-107. Liang, Tim-Peng, Design Science Research in Information Systems, Fifth Wuhan International Conference on E-business, 2006
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March, S. T. and Smith, G.F., Design and Natural Science Research on Information Technology, Decision Support Systems, 15, 251-266, 1995. March, S.T. and Storey, Veda, Design Science in the Information Systems Discipline: An Introduction to the Special Issue on Design Science Research, MIS Quarterly Vol. 32 No. 4/December 2008 Science Watch.com, Alan R. Hevner, Salvatore March, Jinsoo Park & Sudha Ram talk with ScienceWatch.com and answer a few questions Emerging Research Front Paper in the field of Economics & Business, August 2008 Venable, John R., Design Science Research Post Hevner et al: Criteria, Standards, Guidelines, and Expectations, School of Information Systems, Curtin University, GPO Box U1987, Perth WA 6845, Australia

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