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DESRIST 2007:
Links to Design Science
Design is the use of scientific principles, technical
information and imagination in the definition of a system to
perform pre-specified functions with maximum efficiency.
Information systems design is a goal-oriented activity
(Simon, 1996; March and Smith, 1995). The design artifact
includes construct vocabulary, symbols and models
for abstraction and representations, methods and
prototypes that illustrate proof-of-concept for
evaluation (Hevner et al., 2004; March and Smith, 1995).
There are similarity between a design artifact and IS
Design Theory (Walls et al., 1992). Design Science
research develops artifacts useful in the application
domain. Theories of IS Domain knowledge provide
representations and techniques that form the basis for
artifact domain (Venable, 2006).
It
is difficult to pin down a definition of
design. However Charles Eames
offered the following: “A plan for arranging elements in
such a way as to best accomplish a particular purpose”.
Design is often thought of in the context of creativity
or invention. Design research can indeed result in the
production of beautiful, useful, and better products.
Design research is distinctly different from
explanation research. The goal of explanation
research is to discover, understand, and explain
phenomena associated with natural phenomenon or
information systems. Explanation research methods and
traditions are based on natural science. The
goal of design research, on the other hand, is to
invent methods and processes for designing and
developing effective and efficient information systems.
The methods and traditions of design research are based
on design science and sciences of the
artificial (Herbert A. Simon, Sciences of the
Artificial, third edition, MIT Press, 1996). Design
research paradigm is fundamentally a problem solving
paradigm.
Please click on
the following links to learn more about Design Science
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