Design Science Research

Building and evaluating artifacts

Design Science Research (DSR) focuses on creating and rigorously evaluating novel artifacts — constructs, models, methods, or instantiations — to solve an identified problem. Common in information systems and engineering, it complements the behavioural science tradition: rather than only explaining the world, DSR builds useful things and extracts knowledge from the process of building and evaluating them.

What Is Design Science Research?

Design Science Research involves purposefully creating artifacts to address a problem and then systematically evaluating how well those artifacts work. Following Hevner et al.'s (2004) framework, a researcher draws on an existing knowledge base to design a solution and then assesses its utility against the relevant environment. The process produces both a new artifact and generalizable knowledge derived from the design, development, and evaluation activities — contributing to theory as well as practice.

Core Steps and Types of Artifacts

A DSR cycle typically follows these steps: (1) Problem identification and motivation; (2) Defining objectives for a solution; (3) Design and development of the artifact; (4) Demonstration and evaluation; (5) Communication of findings. Artifacts fall into four types: constructs (vocabulary), models (representations), methods (algorithms or guidelines), and instantiations (working prototypes or systems). Evaluation can take many forms — technical testing, case studies, simulations, or expert panels — chosen to match the artifact type and research question.

A Concrete Example

A researcher might design a new ontology (a construct) to improve data integrity in hospital records systems. They first identify gaps in existing systems, draft the ontology, and then test it against real health data. A measured reduction in error rates demonstrates the artifact's utility and simultaneously contributes to data-management theory in information systems. The researcher's contribution is not just a software product but a reusable design principle that others can adapt or build on.

Common Pitfalls and Good Practice

A frequent mistake is treating a demonstration of interest as sufficient evaluation — rigorous assessment of the artifact's utility is mandatory. Another pitfall is defining the problem in isolation from real stakeholders, producing solutions with no practical fit. Good DSR practice involves problem clarification with relevant stakeholders, explicit justification of design decisions, a pre-specified evaluation strategy, and clear articulation of the generalizable design principles produced. Because DSR is hybrid in nature, it is sometimes confused with purely qualitative or quantitative research; its distinguishing mark is always the artifact created to address a concrete problem.

Key terms

Artifact: A construct, model, method, or instantiation purposefully designed to solve a problem.
Design Cycle: Iterative loop of design, development, and evaluation that refines the artifact.
Relevance Cycle: Link connecting the research to real-world environment problems and stakeholder needs.
Rigor Cycle: Grounding the design and evaluation in existing scientific knowledge and foundations.
Instantiation: A working prototype or deployed system that realizes an abstract design in practice.