Design Science Methodology for Information Systems and Software Engineering

by Roel J. Wieringa

This book provides guidelines for practicing design science in the fields of information systems and software engineering research. A design process usually iterates over two first designing an artifact that improves something for stakeholders and subsequently empirically investigating the performance of that artifact in its context. This “validation in context” is a key feature of the book - since an artifact is designed for a context, it should also be validated in this context. The book is divided into five parts. Part I discusses the fundamental nature of design science and its artifacts, as well as related design research questions and goals. Part II deals with the design cycle, i.e. the creation, design and validation of artifacts based on requirements and stakeholder goals. To elaborate this further, Part III presents the role of conceptual frameworks and theories in design science. Part IV continues with the empirical cycle to investigate artifacts in context, and presents the different elements of research problem analysis, research setup and data analysis. Finally, Part V deals with the practical application of the empirical cycle by presenting in detail various research methods, including observational case studies, case-based and sample-based experiments and technical action research. These main sections are complemented by two generic checklists, one for the design cycle and one for the empirical cycle. The book is written for students as well as academic and industrial researchers in software engineering or information systems. It provides guidelines on how to effectively structure research goals, how to analyze research problems concerning design goals and knowledge questions, how to validate artifact designs and how to empirically investigate artifacts in context – and finally how to present the results of the design cycle as a whole.

Genres: Research

347 pages, Hardcover

First published August 31, 2014

Reviews

[Jindřich Mynarz · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is dense, perhaps too dense. I frequently found myself re-reading the same paragraph multiple times in order to understand it. While the language is precise, its abundant use of abstract concepts leaves the mind often wandering off topic.

Table references are frequently wrong in the print version, but it is easy to locate the referred tables anyway.

[Franck Chauvel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found many answers in this book on how to carry out sounder research. While I am working as a research scientist for about 10 years now, this text helped me understand where new knowledge steems from in applied research.

It presents research as the development of an artefact (a piece of software, a method, a language, etc.) to treat a problem in a context. From there it explains how to evaluate the artefact, argue for causality, and argue for generality.

I definitely recommend it to anyone doubting about the value of its research activities but also to anyone doing research in applied technologies.

[Tyrone Letang · Rating 2 out of 5]

The level of abstraction used to describe common phenomenon in this book is simply comedic, but more importantly unpleasant... I understand the writer's desire to formulate concepts as consice as possible, but there is a point of no return where nothing makes sense and sentences need to be re-read hundreds of times. There is no shortage of knowledge but this knowledge was unfortunately conveyed in such a way that i felt compelled to write my first book review (ever) and inform everyone attempting to read this book that this wordsmith is not joking around.

[Nicky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the easiest book to read. The concepts in this book can be quite vague and it took me about half the book to get a grasp on the bigger picture. Once I understood the different research cycles and how everything fits together, I do think design science is very important and useful. It's a bit of a pity it is written the way it is.

[FollowtheEnergy · Rating 5 out of 5]

In computer science, this should be a mandatory book. It explains precisely how computer science from a design perspective is conducted.

[Marko Njegomir (Њ) · Rating 4 out of 5]

The methodology of design science is nicely explained. Examples could be more interesting though.

[Alican Tüzün · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is a very informative book; however, terms are used interchangeably to the degree that it is impossible to absorb them. To understand what he was saying, I created an ontology. He also has a YouTube channel that provides more information about the book. I highly recommend it.

[Michiel]

Nuttig voor mijn PhD