FEDS: a Framework for Evaluation in Design Science Research

Evaluation of design artefacts and design theories is a key activity in Design Science Research (DSR), as it provides feedback for further development and (if done correctly) assures the rigour of the research. However, the extant DSR literature provides insufficient guidance on evaluation to enable...

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Main Authors: Venable, John, Pries-Heje, J., Baskerville, Richard
Format: Journal Article
Published: Palgrave Macmillan Ltd. 2014
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/41727
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author Venable, John
Pries-Heje, J.
Baskerville, Richard
author_facet Venable, John
Pries-Heje, J.
Baskerville, Richard
author_sort Venable, John
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Evaluation of design artefacts and design theories is a key activity in Design Science Research (DSR), as it provides feedback for further development and (if done correctly) assures the rigour of the research. However, the extant DSR literature provides insufficient guidance on evaluation to enable Design Science Researchers to effectively design and incorporate evaluation activities into a DSR project that can achieve DSR goals and objectives. To address this research gap, this research paper develops, explicates, and provides evidence for the utility of a Framework for Evaluation in Design Science (FEDS) together with a process to guide design science researchers in developing a strategy for evaluating the artefacts they develop within a DSR project. A FEDS strategy considers why, when, how, and what to evaluate. FEDS includes a two-dimensional characterisation of DSR evaluation episodes (particular evaluations), with one dimension being the functional purpose of the evaluation (formative or summative) and the other dimension being the paradigm of the evaluation (artificial or naturalistic). The FEDS evaluation design process is comprised of four steps: (1) explicate the goals of the evaluation, (2) choose the evaluation strategy or strategies, (3) determine the properties to evaluate, and (4) design the individual evaluation episode(s). The paper illustrates the framework with two examples and provides evidence of its utility via a naturalistic, summative evaluation through its use on an actual DSR project.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-417272017-09-13T14:19:00Z FEDS: a Framework for Evaluation in Design Science Research Venable, John Pries-Heje, J. Baskerville, Richard utility evaluation research design research methodology artefact evaluation Design Science Research information systems evaluation Evaluation of design artefacts and design theories is a key activity in Design Science Research (DSR), as it provides feedback for further development and (if done correctly) assures the rigour of the research. However, the extant DSR literature provides insufficient guidance on evaluation to enable Design Science Researchers to effectively design and incorporate evaluation activities into a DSR project that can achieve DSR goals and objectives. To address this research gap, this research paper develops, explicates, and provides evidence for the utility of a Framework for Evaluation in Design Science (FEDS) together with a process to guide design science researchers in developing a strategy for evaluating the artefacts they develop within a DSR project. A FEDS strategy considers why, when, how, and what to evaluate. FEDS includes a two-dimensional characterisation of DSR evaluation episodes (particular evaluations), with one dimension being the functional purpose of the evaluation (formative or summative) and the other dimension being the paradigm of the evaluation (artificial or naturalistic). The FEDS evaluation design process is comprised of four steps: (1) explicate the goals of the evaluation, (2) choose the evaluation strategy or strategies, (3) determine the properties to evaluate, and (4) design the individual evaluation episode(s). The paper illustrates the framework with two examples and provides evidence of its utility via a naturalistic, summative evaluation through its use on an actual DSR project. 2014 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/41727 10.1057/ejis.2014.36 Palgrave Macmillan Ltd. fulltext
spellingShingle utility evaluation
research design
research methodology
artefact evaluation
Design Science Research
information systems evaluation
Venable, John
Pries-Heje, J.
Baskerville, Richard
FEDS: a Framework for Evaluation in Design Science Research
title FEDS: a Framework for Evaluation in Design Science Research
title_full FEDS: a Framework for Evaluation in Design Science Research
title_fullStr FEDS: a Framework for Evaluation in Design Science Research
title_full_unstemmed FEDS: a Framework for Evaluation in Design Science Research
title_short FEDS: a Framework for Evaluation in Design Science Research
title_sort feds: a framework for evaluation in design science research
topic utility evaluation
research design
research methodology
artefact evaluation
Design Science Research
information systems evaluation
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/41727