Aesthetics in design science research

© 2018 Operational Research Society. Much research has focused on understanding design science research and providing guidelines for its successful execution. However, there is still a need for more work on the raison d'etre of design science research, which is the development of artefacts that...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Baskerville, Richard, Kaul, M., Storey, V.
Format: Journal Article
Published: Palgrave Macmillan Ltd. 2018
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/69251
_version_ 1848762008375132160
author Baskerville, Richard
Kaul, M.
Storey, V.
author_facet Baskerville, Richard
Kaul, M.
Storey, V.
author_sort Baskerville, Richard
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description © 2018 Operational Research Society. Much research has focused on understanding design science research and providing guidelines for its successful execution. However, there is still a need for more work on the raison d'etre of design science research, which is the development of artefacts that can be applied to solve real-world problems. The value of design science research thus far has been to provide practically applicable solutions, as well as a contribution to knowledge. This paper proposes aesthetics, in addition to truth and utility, as a way to advance this raison d'etre. We identify the design science triad of analytics, synthetics, and aesthetics and justify why the aesthetics quality attribute should be appreciated. We then identify twelve quality criteria for articulating and assessing aesthetics in design science research. Doing so enables us to both recognise and achieve artful design so that rigour, utility, and aesthetic value can collectively justify a valuable design science research contribution.
first_indexed 2025-11-14T10:40:44Z
format Journal Article
id curtin-20.500.11937-69251
institution Curtin University Malaysia
institution_category Local University
last_indexed 2025-11-14T10:40:44Z
publishDate 2018
publisher Palgrave Macmillan Ltd.
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling curtin-20.500.11937-692512018-10-02T07:27:52Z Aesthetics in design science research Baskerville, Richard Kaul, M. Storey, V. © 2018 Operational Research Society. Much research has focused on understanding design science research and providing guidelines for its successful execution. However, there is still a need for more work on the raison d'etre of design science research, which is the development of artefacts that can be applied to solve real-world problems. The value of design science research thus far has been to provide practically applicable solutions, as well as a contribution to knowledge. This paper proposes aesthetics, in addition to truth and utility, as a way to advance this raison d'etre. We identify the design science triad of analytics, synthetics, and aesthetics and justify why the aesthetics quality attribute should be appreciated. We then identify twelve quality criteria for articulating and assessing aesthetics in design science research. Doing so enables us to both recognise and achieve artful design so that rigour, utility, and aesthetic value can collectively justify a valuable design science research contribution. 2018 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/69251 10.1080/0960085X.2017.1395545 Palgrave Macmillan Ltd. restricted
spellingShingle Baskerville, Richard
Kaul, M.
Storey, V.
Aesthetics in design science research
title Aesthetics in design science research
title_full Aesthetics in design science research
title_fullStr Aesthetics in design science research
title_full_unstemmed Aesthetics in design science research
title_short Aesthetics in design science research
title_sort aesthetics in design science research
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/69251