[Paper Review] Design Science Research Process: A Model for Producing and Presenting Information Systems Research

Ken Peffers, Tuure Tuunanen+5 more|arXiv (Cornell University)|Jun 4, 2020

Information Systems Theories and Implementation36 references478 citations

TL;DR

This paper designs and demonstrates a Design Science Research Process (DSRP) model for information systems research, presenting its six-step workflow and two case studies to show its use and benefits.

ABSTRACT

The authors design and demonstrate a process for carrying out design science (DS) research in information systems and demonstrate use of the process to conduct research in two case studies. Several IS researchers have pioneered the acceptance of DS research in IS, but in the last 15 years little DS research has been done within the discipline. The lack of a generally accepted process for DS research in IS may have contributed to this problem. We sought to design a design science research process (DSRP) model that would meet three objectives: it would be consistent with prior literature, it would provide a nominal process model for doing DS research, and it would provide a mental model for presenting and appreciating DS research in IS. The process includes six steps: problem identification and motivation, objectives for a solution, design and development, evaluation, and communication. We demonstrated the process by using it in this study and by presenting two case studies, one in IS planning to develop application ideas for mobile financial services and another in requirements engineering to specify feature requirements for a self service advertising design and sales system intended for wide audience end users. The process effectively satisfies the three objectives and has the potential to help aid the acceptance of DS research in the IS discipline.

Motivation & Objective

• Motivate and define the need for a general, accepted DS process in Information Systems (IS).
• Design a DS research process (DSRP) that aligns with prior literature, provides a nominal workflow, and aids presentation of DS research in IS.
• Demonstrate the applicability of the DSRP through real-world IS case studies across planning mobile financial services and requirements engineering.

Proposed method

• Propose a six-step Design Science Research Process (DSRP): problem identification and motivation, objectives for a solution, design and development, evaluation, and communication.
• Align the model with prior DS IS literature and create a nominal process for conducting DS research.
• Apply the DSRP to two IS case studies to illustrate its use: mobile financial services idea development and self-service advertising design and sales system requirements.

Experimental results

Research questions

• RQ1 How can a standard DS process be defined for Information Systems to improve consistency and acceptance?
• RQ2 Can the proposed DSRP satisfy consistency with prior literature, provide a usable workflow, and serve as a mental model for presenting DS research?
• RQ3 Do real-world case studies demonstrate the practicality and benefits of the DSRP in IS projects?

Key findings

• The proposed DSRP is designed to meet three objectives: consistency with prior literature, a nominal process model, and a mental model for presenting DS research in IS.
• Application to two case studies demonstrates the process in IS planning for mobile financial services ideas and in requirements engineering for a wide-audience self-service advertising system.
• The process is reported to effectively satisfy its objectives and has potential to aid acceptance of DS research in the IS discipline.