Soft design science methodology

This paper proposes and evaluates a soft systems approach to design science research. Soft Design Science provides an approach to the development of new ways to improve human organizations, especially with consideration for social aspects, through the activities of design, development, instantiation, evaluation and evolution of a technological artifact. The Soft Design Science approach merges the common design science research process (design, build-artifact, evaluation) together with the iterative soft systems methodology. The design-build artifactevaluation process is iterated until the specific requirements are met. The generalized requirements are adjusted as the process continues to keep alignment with the specific requirements. In the end, the artifact represents a general solution to a class of problems shown to operate in one instance of that class of problems. The proposed methodology is evaluated by an analysis of how it differs from, and could have informed and improved, a ...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2009
• Where: DESRIST
• Authors: Richard Baskerville, Jan Pries-Heje, John R. Venable
• Keywords: Design Science, Design Science Research, DESRIST 2009, Education, Soft Design Science