Abstract
Design science research (DSR) in the IS-field is getting more and more an accepted place. Yet it has still not yet realized its full potential impact. I suggest in this conceptual article that design science researchers need to take two hurdles to realize maximum impact of their publications. The first one is taken by explaining to editors, reviewers and readers the nature of DSR contributions in general and their fundamental differences with explanatory contributions: the model one uses in DSR for IS is engineering research, rather than physics, for many the mother of all academic research. The iconic contributions of DSR are well analysed and validated generic design models. Design theories are not about explaining nature, but about artefacts, realized on the basis of generic design models, producing desired effects in given contexts. The second hurdle is to be taken by explaining the special nature of design science contributions in the IS-field: information systems are socio-technical systems. Design science for their ‘hard’ technical components is much like design science for engineering, but design science and design science research for their ‘soft’ components is different. In actual designing these differences include issues in the evaluation and realization of designs and in design science research the validation and generalization of designs. These differences are discussed as well as strategies to deal with them.
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van Aken, J. (2014). Two Hurdles to Take for Maximum Impact of Design Science Research in the IS-Field. In: Helfert, M., Donnellan, B., Kenneally, J. (eds) Design Science: Perspectives from Europe. EDSS 2013. Communications in Computer and Information Science, vol 447. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-13936-4_3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-13936-4_3
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