Hevner design-science

Hevner et al./Design Science in IS Research

RESEARCH ESSAY

DESIGN SCIENCE IN INFORMATION
SYSTEMS RESEARCH1

By: Alan R. Hevner Sudha Ram
Information Systems and Decision Management Information Systems
Sciences Eller College of Business and Public
College of Business Administration Administration
University of Arizona
University of South Florida
Tucson, AZ 85721
Tampa, FL 33620 U.S.A.
U.S.A. ram@bpa.arizona.edu
ahevner@coba.usf.edu

Salvatore T. March
Own Graduate School of Management Abstract
Vanderbilt University
Nashville, TN 37203 Two paradigms characterize much of the research
U.S.A. in the Information Systems discipline: behavioral
Sal.March@owen.vanderbilt.edu science and design science. The behavioral-
science paradigm seeks to develop and verify
Jinsoo Park theories that explain or predict human or organi-
College of Business Administration zational behavior. The design-science paradigm
Korea University seeks to extend the boundaries of human and
Seoul, 136-701 organizational capabilities by creating new and
KOREA innovative artifacts. Both paradigms are founda-
jinsoo.park@acm.org tional to the IS discipline, positioned as it is at the
confluence of people, organizations, and techno-
logy. Our objective is to describe the performance
of design-science research in Information Sys-
tems via a concise conceptual framework and
clear guidelines for understanding, executing, and
evaluating the research. In the design-science
paradigm, knowledge and understanding of a
problem domain and its solution are achieved in
the building and application of the designed arti-
1 fact. Three recent exemplars in the research
Allen S. Lee was the accepting senior editor for this
paper. literature are used to demonstrate the application

MIS Quarterly Vol. 28 No. 1, pp. 75-105/March 2004 75


of these guidelines. We conclude with an analysis ness and efficiency of an organization. These
of the challenges of performing high-quality theories impact and are impacted by design
design-science research in the context of the decisions made with respect to the system
broader IS community. development methodology used and the functional
capabilities, information contents, and human
Keywords: Information Systems research meth- interfaces implemented within the information
odologies, design science, design artifact, busi- system.
ness environment, technology infrastructure,
search strategies, experimental methods, The design-science paradigm has its roots in
creativity engineering and the sciences of the artificial
(Simon 1996). It is fundamentally a problem-
solving paradigm. It seeks to create innovations
that define the ideas, practices, technical capa-
Introduction bilities, and products through which the analysis,
design, implementation, management, and use of
Information systems are implemented within an information systems can be effectively and
organization for the purpose of improving the efficiently accomplished (Denning 1997;
effectiveness and efficiency of that organization. Tsichritzis 1998). Such artifacts are not exempt
Capabilities of the information system and char- from natural laws or behavioral theories. To the
acteristics of the organization, its work systems, contrary, their creation relies on existing kernel
its people, and its development and implemen- theories that are applied, tested, modified, and
tation methodologies together determine the extended through the experience, creativity,
extent to which that purpose is achieved (Silver et intuition, and problem solving capabilities of the
al. 1995). It is incumbent upon researchers in the researcher (Markus et al. 2002; Walls et al. 1992).
Information Systems (IS) discipline to “further
knowledge that aids in the productive application The importance of design is well recognized in the
of information technology to human organizations IS literature (Glass 1999; Winograd 1996, 1998).
and their management” (ISR 2002, inside front Benbasat and Zmud (1999, p. 5) argue that the
cover) and to develop and communicate “knowl- relevance of IS research is directly related to its
edge concerning both the management of applicability in design, stating that the implications
information technology and the use of information of empirical IS research should be “implemen-
technology for managerial and organizational pur- table,…synthesize an existing body of research,
poses” (Zmud 1997). …[or] stimulate critical thinking” among IS practi-
tioners. However, designing useful artifacts is
We argue that acquiring such knowledge involves complex due to the need for creative advances in
two complementary but distinct paradigms, domain areas in which existing theory is often
behavioral science and design science (March insufficient. “As technical knowledge grows, IT is
and Smith 1995). The behavioral-science para- applied to new application areas that were not
digm has its roots in natural science research previously believed to be amenable to IT support”
methods. It seeks to develop and justify theories (Markus et al. 2002, p. 180). The resultant IT
(i.e., principles and laws) that explain or predict artifacts extend the boundaries of human problem
organizational and human phenomena sur- solving and organizational capabilities by pro-
rounding the analysis, design, implementation, viding intellectual as well as computational tools.
management, and use of information systems. Theories regarding their application and impact
Such theories ultimately inform researchers and will follow their development and use.
practitioners of the interactions among people,
technology, and organizations that must be Here, we argue, is an opportunity for IS research
managed if an information system is to achieve its to make significant contributions by engaging the
stated purpose, namely improving the effective- complementary research cycle between design-

76 MIS Quarterly Vol. 28 No. 1/March 2004


science and behavioral-science to address funda- artifact, the instantiation (system), although other
mental problems faced in the productive applica- research efforts have also focused on the
tion of information technology. Technology and evaluation of constructs (e.g., Batra et al. 1990;
behavior are not dichotomous in an information Bodart et al. 2001; Geerts and McCarthy 2002;
system. They are inseparable (Lee 2000). They Kim and March 1995) and methods (e.g., Marakas
are similarly inseparable in IS research. Philo- and Elam 1998; Sinha and Vessey 1999).
sophically these arguments draw from the prag- Relatively little behavioral research has focused
matists (Aboulafia 1991) who argue that truth on evaluating models, a major focus of research
(justified theory) and utility (artifacts that are in the management science literature.
effective) are two sides of the same coin and that
scientific research should be evaluated in light of Design science, as the other side of the IS
its practical implications. research cycle, creates and evaluates IT artifacts
intended to solve identified organizational prob-
The realm of IS research is at the confluence of lems. Such artifacts are represented in a struc-
people, organizations, and technology (Davis and tured form that may vary from software, formal
Olson 1985; Lee 1999). IT artifacts are broadly logic, and rigorous mathematics to informal
defined as constructs (vocabulary and symbols), natural language descriptions. A mathematical
models (abstractions and representations), basis for design allows many types of quantitative
methods (algorithms and practices), and instan- evaluations of an IT artifact, including optimization
tiations (implemented and prototype systems). proofs, analytical simulation, and quantitative
These are concrete prescriptions that enable IT comparisons with alternative designs. The further
researchers and practitioners to understand and evaluation of a new artifact in a given organi-
address the problems inherent in developing and zational context affords the opportunity to apply
successfully implementing information systems empirical and qualitative methods. The rich
within organizations (March and Smith 1995; phenomena that emerge from the interaction of
Nunamaker et al. 1991a). As illustrations, Markus people, organizations, and technology may need
et al. (2002) and Walls et al. (1992) present to be qualitatively assessed to yield an under-
design-science research aimed at developing standing of the phenomena adequate for theory
executive information systems (EISs) and systems development or problem solving (Klein and
to support emerging knowledge processes Meyers 1999). As field studies enable behavioral-
(EKPs), respectively, within the context of “IS science researchers to understand organizational
design theories.” Such theories prescribe “effec- phenomena in context, the process of constructing
tive development practices” (methods) and “a type and exercising innovative IT artifacts enable
of system solution” (instantiation) for “a particular design-science researchers to understand the
class of user requirements” (models) (Markus et problem addressed by the artifact and the
al. 2002, p. 180). Such prescriptive theories must feasibility of their approach to its solution
be evaluated with respect to the utility provided for (Nunamaker et al. 1991a).
the class of problems addressed.
The primary goal of this paper is to inform the
An IT artifact, implemented in an organizational community of IS researchers and practitioners of
context, is often the object of study in IS behav- how to conduct, evaluate, and present design-
ioral-science research. Theories seek to predict science research. We do so by describing the
or explain phenomena that occur with respect to boundaries of design science within the IS
the artifact’s use (intention to use), perceived discipline via a conceptual framework for under-
usefulness, and impact on individuals and organi- standing information systems research and by
zations (net benefits) depending on system, developing a set of guidelines for conducting and
service, and information quality (DeLone and evaluating good design-science research. We
McLean 1992, 2003; Seddon 1997). Much of this focus primarily on technology-based design
behavioral research has focused on one class of although we note with interest the current explora-

MIS Quarterly Vol. 28 No. 1/March 2004 77


tion of organizations, policies, and work practices organizations to engage new forms and new
as designed artifacts (Boland 2002). Following structures—to change the ways they “do busi-
Klein and Myers (1999) treatise on the conduct ness” (Drucker 1988, 1991; Orlikowski 2000). Our
and evaluation of interpretive research in IS, we subsequent discussion of design science will be
use the proposed guidelines to assess recent limited to the activities of building the IS infrastruc-
exemplar papers published in the IS literature in ture within the business organization. Issues of
order to illustrate how authors, reviewers, and strategy, alignment, and organizational infrastruc-
editors can apply them consistently. We conclude ture design are outside the scope of this paper.
with an analysis of the challenges of performing
high-quality design-science research and a call for To achieve a true understanding of and appre-
synergistic efforts between behavioral-science ciation for design science as an IS research
and design-science researchers. paradigm, an important dichotomy must be faced.
Design is both a process (set of activities) and a
product (artifact)—a verb and a noun (Walls et al.
1992). It describes the world as acted upon (pro-
A Framework for IS Research cesses) and the world as sensed (artifacts). This
Platonic view of design supports a problem-
Information systems and the organizations they solving paradigm that continuously shifts perspec-
support are complex, artificial, and purposefully tive between design processes and designed
designed. They are composed of people, struc- artifacts for the same complex problem. The
tures, technologies, and work systems (Alter design process is a sequence of expert activities
2003; Bunge 1985; Simon 1996). Much of the that produces an innovative product (i.e., the
work performed by IS practitioners, and managers design artifact). The evaluation of the artifact then
in general (Boland 2002), deals with design—the provides feedback information and a better
purposeful organization of resources to accom- understanding of the problem in order to improve
plish a goal. Figure 1 illustrates the essential both the quality of the product and the design
alignments between business and information process. This build-and-evaluate loop is typically
technology strategies and between organizational iterated a number of times before the final design
and information systems infrastructures (Hender- artifact is generated (Markus et al. 2002). During
son and Venkatraman 1993). The effective transi- this creative process, the design-science re-
tion of strategy into infrastructure requires exten- searcher must be cognizant of evolving both the
sive design activity on both sides of the figure— design process and the design artifact as part of
organizational design to create an effective the research.
organizational infrastructure and information
systems design to create an effective information March and Smith (1995) identify two design
system infrastructure. processes and four design artifacts produced by
design-science research in IS. The two processes
These are interdependent design activities that are build and evaluate. The artifacts are con-
are central to the IS discipline. Hence, IS research structs, models, methods, and instantiations.
must address the interplay among business Purposeful artifacts are built to address heretofore
strategy, IT strategy, organizational infrastructure, unsolved problems. They are evaluated with
and IS infrastructure. This interplay is becoming respect to the utility provided in solving those
more crucial as information technologies are seen problems. Constructs provide the language in
as enablers of business strategy and organiza- which problems and solutions are defined and
tional infrastructure (Kalakota and Robinson 2001; communicated (Schön 1983). Models use con-
Orlikowski and Barley 2001). Available and structs to represent a real world situation—the
emerging IT capabilities are a significant factor in design problem and its solution space (Simon
determining the strategies that guide an organiza- 1996). Models aid problem and solution under-
tion. Cutting-edge information systems allow standing and frequently represent the connection



Strategy Information
Business Alignment
Technology
Strategy
Strategy

Organizational Information
Systems
Design
Activities Design
Activities

Infrastructure
Organizational Alignment Information
Infrastructure Systems
Infrastructure

Figure 1. Organizational Design and Information Systems Design Activities
(Adapted from J. Henderson and N. Venkatraman, “Strategic Alignment: Leveraging
Information Technology for Transforming Organizations,” IBM Systems Journal
(32:1), 1993.)

between problem and solution components people, (business) organizations, and their
enabling exploration of the effects of design existing or planned technologies (Silver et al.
decisions and changes in the real world. Methods 1995). In it are the goals, tasks, problems, and
define processes. They provide guidance on how opportunities that define business needs as they
to solve problems, that is, how to search the are perceived by people within the organization.
solution space. These can range from formal, Such perceptions are shaped by the roles,
mathematical algorithms that explicitly define the capabilities, and characteristics of people within
search process to informal, textual descriptions of the organization. Business needs are assessed
“best practice” approaches, or some combination. and evaluated within the context of organizational
Instantiations show that constructs, models, or strategies, structure, culture, and existing busi-
methods can be implemented in a working sys- ness processes. They are positioned relative to
tem. They demonstrate feasibility, enabling con- existing technology infrastructure, applications,
crete assessment of an artifact’s suitability to its communication architectures, and development
intended purpose. They also enable researchers capabilities. Together these define the business
to learn about the real world, how the artifact need or “problem” as perceived by the researcher.
affects it, and how users appropriate it. Framing research activities to address business
needs assures research relevance.
Figure 2 presents our conceptual framework for
understanding, executing, and evaluating IS Given such an articulated business need, IS
research combining behavioral-science and research is conducted in two complementary
design-science paradigms. We use this frame- phases. Behavioral science addresses research
work to position and compare these paradigms. through the development and justification of
theories that explain or predict phenomena related
The environment defines the problem space to the identified business need. Design science
(Simon 1996) in which reside the phenomena of addresses research through the building and
interest. For IS research, it is composed of evaluation of artifacts designed to meet the iden-



Environment Relevance IS Research Rigor Knowledge Base

People Foundations
•Roles Develop/Build •Theories
•Capabilities •Theories •Frameworks
•Characteristics •Artifacts •Instruments
•Constructs
Organizations Business Applicable
•Models
•Strategies Needs Knowledge •Methods
•Structure & Culture Assess Refine •Instantiations
•Processes
Methodologies
Technology Justify/Evaluate •Data Analysis
•Infrastructure •Analytical Techniques
•Applications •Case Study •Formalisms
•Communications •Experimental •Measures
Architecture •Field Study •Validation Criteria
•Development •Simulation
Capabilities

Application in the Additions to the
Appropriate Environment Knowledge Base

Figure 2. Information Systems Research Framework

tified business need. The goal of behavioral- artifact and the need to refine and reassess. The
science research is truth.2 The goal of design- refinement and reassessment process is typically
science research is utility. As argued above, our described in future research directions.
position is that truth and utility are inseparable.
Truth informs design and utility informs theory. An The knowledge base provides the raw materials
artifact may have utility because of some as yet from and through which IS research is accom-
undiscovered truth. A theory may yet to be devel- plished. The knowledge base is composed of
oped to the point where its truth can be incorpor- foundations and methodologies. Prior IS research
ated into design. In both cases, research assess- and results from reference disciplines provide
ment via the justify/evaluate activities can result in foundational theories, frameworks, instruments,
the identification of weaknesses in the theory or constructs, models, methods, and instantiations
used in the develop/build phase of a research
study. Methodologies provide guidelines used in
2
the justify/evaluate phase. Rigor is achieved by
Theories posed in behavioral science are principled appropriately applying existing foundations and
explanations of phenomena. We recognize that such
theories are approximations and are subject to numer- methodologies. In behavioral science, methodol-
ous assumptions and conditions. However, they are ogies are typically rooted in data collection and
evaluated against the norms of truth or explanatory empirical analysis techniques. In design science,
power and are valued only as the claims they make are
borne out in reality. computational and mathematical methods are



primarily used to evaluate the quality and effec- has produced a considerable literature on design
tiveness of artifacts; however, empirical techni- (Dym 1994; Pahl and Beitz 1996; Petroski 1996).
ques may also be employed. Within the IS discipline, many design activities
have been extensively studied, formalized, and
The contributions of behavioral science and become normal or routine. Design-science
design science in IS research are assessed as research in IS addresses what are considered to
they are applied to the business need in an be wicked problems (Brooks 1987, 1996; Rittel
appropriate environment and as they add to the and Webber 1984). That is, those problems
content of the knowledge base for further research characterized by
and practice. A justified theory that is not useful
for the environment contributes as little to the IS • unstable requirements and constraints based
literature as an artifact that solves a nonexistent upon ill-defined environmental contexts
problem.
• complex interactions among subcomponents
One issue that must be addressed in design-
of the problem and its solution
science research is differentiating routine design
or system building from design research. The
• inherent flexibility to change design pro-
difference is in the nature of the problems and
solutions. Routine design is the application of cesses as well as design artifacts (i.e.,
existing knowledge to organizational problems, malleable processes and artifacts)
such as constructing a financial or marketing
information system using best practice artifacts • a critical dependence upon human cognitive
(constructs, models, methods, and instantiations) abilities (e.g., creativity) to produce effective
existing in the knowledge base. On the other solutions
hand, design-science research addresses impor-
tant unsolved problems in unique or innovative • a critical dependence upon human social
ways or solved problems in more effective or abilities (e.g., teamwork) to produce effective
efficient ways. The key differentiator between rou-
solutions
tine design and design research is the clear iden-
tification of a contribution to the archival knowl-
edge base of foundations and methodologies. As a result, we agree with Simon (1996) that a
theory of design in information systems, of
In the early stages of a discipline or with signifi- necessity, is in a constant state of scientific
cant changes in the environment, each new revolution (Kuhn 1996). Technological advances
artifact created for that discipline or environment are the result of innovative, creative design
is “an experiment” that “poses a question to science processes. If not capricious, they are at
nature” (Newell and Simon 1976, p 114). Existing least arbitrary (Brooks 1987) with respect to
knowledge is used where appropriate; however, business needs and existing knowledge.
often the requisite knowledge is nonexistent
Innovations, such as database management sys-
(Markus et al. 2002). Reliance on creativity and
tems, high-level languages, personal computers,
trial-and-error search are characteristic of such
software components, intelligent agents, object
research efforts. As design-science research
results are codified in the knowledge base, they technology, the Internet, and the World Wide
become best practice. System building is then the Web, have had dramatic and at times unintended
routine application of the knowledge base to impacts on the way in which information systems
known problems. are conceived, designed, implemented, and
managed. Consequently the guidelines we
Design activities are endemic in many profes- present below are, of necessity, adaptive and
sions. In particular, the engineering profession process-oriented.



Guidelines for Design Science contend that each of these guidelines should be
addressed in some manner for design-science
in Information Systems research to be complete. How well the research
Research satisfies the intent of each of the guidelines is
then a matter for the reviewers, editors, and
As discussed above, design science is inherently readers to determine.
a problem solving process. The fundamental
principle of design-science research from which Table 1 summarizes the seven guidelines. Each
our seven guidelines are derived is that knowl- is discussed in detail below. In the following
edge and understanding of a design problem and section, they are applied to specific exemplar
its solution are acquired in the building and research efforts.
application of an artifact. That is, design-science
research requires the creation of an innovative,
purposeful artifact (Guideline 1) for a specified
problem domain (Guideline 2). Because the
Guideline 1: Design as an Artifact
artifact is purposeful, it must yield utility for the
specified problem. Hence, thorough evaluation of The result of design-science research in IS is, by
the artifact is crucial (Guideline 3). Novelty is definition, a purposeful IT artifact created to ad-
similarly crucial since the artifact must be dress an important organizational problem. It
innovative, solving a heretofore unsolved problem must be described effectively, enabling its imple-
or solving a known problem in a more effective or mentation and application in an appropriate
efficient manner (Guideline 4). In this way, domain.
design-science research is differentiated from the
practice of design. The artifact itself must be Orlikowski and Iacono (2001) call the IT artifact
rigorously defined, formally represented, coherent, the “core subject matter” of the IS field. Although
and internally consistent (Guideline 5). The pro- they articulate multiple definitions of the term IT
cess by which it is created, and often the artifact artifact, many of which include components of the
itself, incorporates or enables a search process organization and people involved in the use of a
whereby a problem space is constructed and a computer-based artifact, they emphasize the
mechanism posed or enacted to find an effective importance of “those bundles of cultural properties
solution (Guideline 6). Finally, the results of the packaged in some socially recognizable form such
design-science research must be communicated as hardware and software” (p. 121), i.e., the IT
effectively (Guideline 7) both to a technical artifact as an instantiation. Weber (1987) argues
audience (researchers who will extend them and that theories of long-lived artifacts (instantiations)
practitioners who will implement them) and to a and their representations (Weber 2003) are
managerial audience (researchers who will study fundamental to the IS discipline. Such theories
them in context and practitioners who will decide must explain how artifacts are created and
if they should be implemented within their adapted to their changing environments and
organizations). underlying technologies.

Our purpose for establishing these seven Our definition of IT artifacts is both broader and
guidelines is to assist researchers, reviewers, narrower then those articulated above. It is
editors, and readers to understand the require- broader in the sense that we include not only
ments for effective design-science research. instantiations in our definition of the IT artifact but
Following Klein and Myers (1999), we advise also the constructs, models, and methods applied
against mandatory or rote use of the guidelines. in the development and use of information
Researchers, reviewers, and editors must use systems. However, it is narrower in the sense that
their creative skills and judgment to determine we do not include people or elements of organi-
when, where, and how to apply each of the guide- zations in our definition nor do we explicitly
lines in a specific research project. However, we include the process by which such artifacts evolve



Table 1. Design-Science Research Guidelines
Guideline Description
Guideline 1: Design as an Artifact Design-science research must produce a viable artifact in the
form of a construct, a model, a method, or an instantiation.
Guideline 2: Problem Relevance The objective of design-science research is to develop
technology-based solutions to important and relevant
business problems.
Guideline 3: Design Evaluation The utility, quality, and efficacy of a design artifact must be
rigorously demonstrated via well-executed evaluation
methods.
Guideline 4: Research Contributions Effective design-science research must provide clear and
verifiable contributions in the areas of the design artifact,
design foundations, and/or design methodologies.
Guideline 5: Research Rigor Design-science research relies upon the application of
rigorous methods in both the construction and evaluation of
the design artifact.
Guideline 6: Design as a Search The search for an effective artifact requires utilizing available
Process means to reach desired ends while satisfying laws in the
problem environment.
Guideline 7: Communication of Design-science research must be presented effectively both
Research to technology-oriented as well as management-oriented
audiences.

over time. We conceive of IT artifacts not as 1997; Tsichritzis 1998). This definition of the
independent of people or the organizational and artifact is consistent with the concept of IS design
social contexts in which they are used but as theory as used by Walls et al. (1992) and Markus
interdependent and coequal with them in meeting et al. (2002) where the theory addresses both the
business needs. We acknowledge that percep- process of design and the designed product.
tions and fit with an organization are crucial to the
successful development and implementation of an More precisely, constructs provide the vocabulary
information system. We argue, however, that the and symbols used to define problems and
capabilities of the constructs, models, methods, solutions. They have a significant impact on the
and instantiations are equally crucial and that way in which tasks and problems are conceived
design-science research efforts are necessary for (Boland 2002; Schön 1983). They enable the
their creation. construction of models or representations of the
problem domain. Representation has a profound
impact on design work. The field of mathematics
Furthermore, artifacts constructed in design-
was revolutionized, for example, with the con-
science research are rarely full-grown information
structs defined by Arabic numbers, zero, and
systems that are used in practice. Instead, artif- place notation. The search for an effective prob-
acts are innovations that define the ideas, lem representation is crucial to finding an effective
practices, technical capabilities, and products design solution (Weber 2003). Simon (1996, p.
through which the analysis, design, implemen- 132) states, “solving a problem simply means
tation, and use of information systems can be representing it so as to make the solution
effectively and efficiently accomplished (Denning transparent.”



The entity-relationship model (Chen 1976), for To illustrate further, prior to the construction of the
example, is a set of constructs for representing first expert system (instantiation), it was not clear
the semantics of data. It has had a profound if such a system could be constructed. It was not
impact on the way in which systems analysis and clear how to describe or represent it, or how well
database design are executed and the way in it would perform. Once feasibility was demon-
which information systems are represented and strated by constructing an expert system in a
developed. Furthermore, these constructs have selected domain, constructs and models were
been used to build models of specific business developed and subsequent research in expert
systems focused on demonstrating significant
situations that have been generalized into patterns
improvements in the product or process (methods)
for application in similar domains (Purao et al.
of construction (Tam 1990; Trice and Davis 1993).
2003). Methods for building such models have
Similar examples exist in requirements determi-
also been the subject of considerable research
nation (Bell 1993; Bhargava et al. 1998), individual
(Halpin 2001; McCarthy 1982; Parsons and Wand
and group decision support systems (Aiken et al.
2000; Storey et al. 1997). 1991; Basu and Blanning 1994), database design
and integration (Dey et al. 1998; Dey et al. 1999;
Artifact instantiation demonstrates feasibility both Storey et al. 1997), and workflow analysis (Basu
of the design process and of the designed pro- and Blanning 2000), to name a few important
duct. Design-science research in IT often ad- areas of IS design-science research.
dresses problems related to some aspect of the
design of an information system. Hence, the
instantiations produced may be in the form of Guideline 2: Problem Relevance
intellectual or software tools aimed at improving
the process of information system development. The objective of research in information systems
Constructing a system instantiation that auto- is to acquire knowledge and understanding that
mates a process demonstrates that the process enable the development and implementation of
can, in fact, be automated. It provides “proof by technology-based solutions to heretofore unsolved
construction” (Nunamaker 1991a). The critical and important business problems. Behavioral
nature of design-science research in IS lies in the science approaches this goal through the devel-
identification of as yet undeveloped capabilities opment and justification of theories explaining or
needed to expand IS into new realms “not predicting phenomena that occur. Design science
previously believed amenable to IT support” approaches this goal through the construction of
(Markus et al. 2002, p. 180). Such a result is innovative artifacts aimed at changing the pheno-
significant IS research only if there is a serious mena that occur. Each must inform and challenge
the other. For example, the technology accep-
question about the ability to construct such an
tance model provides a theory that explains and
artifact, there is uncertainty about its ability to
predicts the acceptance of information techno-
perform appropriately, and the automated task is
logies within organizations (Venkatesh 2000).
important to the IS community. TOP Modeler
This theory challenges design-science re-
(Markus et al. 2002), for example, is a tool that
searchers to create artifacts that enable organi-
instantiates methods for the development of zations to overcome the acceptance problems
information systems that support “emergent predicted. We argue that a combination of
knowledge processes.” Construction of such a technology-based artifacts (e.g., system concep-
prototype artifact in a research setting or in a tualizations and representations, practices, tech-
single organizational setting is only a first step nical capabilities, interfaces, etc.), organization-
toward its deployment, but we argue that it is a based artifacts (e.g., structures, compensation,
necessary one. As an exemplar of design-science reporting relationships, social systems, etc.), and
research (see below), this research resulted in a people-based artifacts (e.g., training, consensus
commercial product that “has been used in over building, etc.) are necessary to address such
two dozen ‘real use’ situations” (p. 187). issues.



Formally, a problem can be defined as the crucial component of the research process. The
differences between a goal state and the current business environment establishes the require-
state of a system. Problem solving can be defined ments upon which the evaluation of the artifact is
as a search process (see Guideline 6) using based. This environment includes the technical
actions to reduce or eliminate the differences infrastructure which itself is incrementally built by
(Simon 1996). These definitions imply an environ- the implementation of new IT artifacts. Thus,
ment that imposes goal criteria as well as evaluation includes the integration of the artifact
constraints upon a system. Business organiza- within the technical infrastructure of the business
tions are goal-oriented entities existing in an environment.
economic and social setting. Economic theory
often portrays the goals of business organizations As in the justification of a behavioral science
as being related to profit (utility) maximization. theory, evaluation of a designed IT artifact
Hence, business problems and opportunities often requires the definition of appropriate metrics and
relate to increasing revenue or decreasing cost possibly the gathering and analysis of appropriate
through the design of effective business pro- data. IT artifacts can be evaluated in terms of
cesses. The design of organizational and inter- functionality, completeness, consistency, accu-
organizational information systems plays a major racy, performance, reliability, usability, fit with the
role in enabling effective business processes to organization, and other relevant quality attributes.
achieve these goals. When analytical metrics are appropriate, designed
artifacts may be mathematically evaluated. As
The relevance of any design-science research two examples, distributed database design algo-
effort is with respect to a constituent community. rithms can be evaluated using expected operating
For IS researchers, that constituent community is cost or average response time for a given
the practitioners who plan, manage, design, characterization of information processing require-
implement, operate, and evaluate information ments (Johansson et al. 2003) and search
systems and those who plan, manage, design, algorithms can be evaluated using information
implement, operate, and evaluate the tech- retrieval metrics such as precision and recall
nologies that enable their development and (Salton 1988).
implementation. To be relevant to this community,
research must address the problems faced and Because design is inherently an iterative and
the opportunities afforded by the interaction of incremental activity, the evaluation phase provides
people, organizations, and information technology. essential feedback to the construction phase as to
Organizations spend billions of dollars annually on the quality of the design process and the design
IT, only too often to conclude that those dollars product under development. A design artifact is
were wasted (Keil 1995; Keil et al. 1998; Keil and complete and effective when it satisfies the
Robey 1999). This community would welcome requirements and constraints of the problem it
effective artifacts that enable such problems to be was meant to solve. Design-science research
addressed—constructs by which to think about efforts may begin with simplified conceptuali-
them, models by which to represent and explore zations and representations of problems. As
them, methods by which to analyze or optimize available technology or organizational environ-
them, and instantiations that demonstrate how to ments change, assumptions made in prior
affect them. research may become invalid. Johansson (2000),
for example, demonstrated that network latency is
a major component in the response-time perfor-
Guideline 3: Design Evaluation mance of distributed databases. Prior research in
distributed database design ignored latency
The utility, quality, and efficacy of a design artifact because it assumed a low-bandwidth network
must be rigorously demonstrated via well- where latency is negligible. In a high-bandwidth
executed evaluation methods. Evaluation is a network, however, latency can account for over 90



Table 2. Design Evaluation Methods
1. Observational Case Study: Study artifact in depth in business environment
Field Study: Monitor use of artifact in multiple projects
2. Analytical Static Analysis: Examine structure of artifact for static qualities (e.g.,
complexity)
Architecture Analysis: Study fit of artifact into technical IS architecture
Optimization: Demonstrate inherent optimal properties of artifact or provide
optimality bounds on artifact behavior
Dynamic Analysis: Study artifact in use for dynamic qualities (e.g.,
performance)
3. Experimental Controlled Experiment: Study artifact in controlled environment for qualities
(e.g., usability)
Simulation – Execute artifact with artificial data
4. Testing Functional (Black Box) Testing: Execute artifact interfaces to discover
failures and identify defects
Structural (White Box) Testing: Perform coverage testing of some metric
(e.g., execution paths) in the artifact implementation
5. Descriptive Informed Argument: Use information from the knowledge base (e.g.,
relevant research) to build a convincing argument for the artifact’s utility
Scenarios: Construct detailed scenarios around the artifact to demonstrate
its utility

percent of the response time. Johansson et al. Design, in all of its realizations (e.g., architecture,
(2003) extended prior distributed database design landscaping, art, music), has style. Given the
research by developing a model that includes problem and solution requirements, sufficient
network latency and the effects of parallel pro- degrees of freedom remain to express a variety of
cessing on response time. forms and functions in the artifact that are
aesthetically pleasing to both the designer and the
The evaluation of designed artifacts typically uses user. Good designers bring an element of style to
methodologies available in the knowledge base. their work (Norman 1988). Thus, we posit that
These are summarized in Table 2. The selection design evaluation should include an assessment
of evaluation methods must be matched appro- of the artifact’s style.
priately with the designed artifact and the selected
evaluation metrics. For example, descriptive The measurement of style lies in the realm of
methods of evaluation should only be used for human perception and taste. In other words, we
especially innovative artifacts for which other know good style when we see it. While difficult to
forms of evaluation may not be feasible. The define, style in IS design is widely recognized and
goodness and efficacy of an artifact can be appreciated (Kernighan and Plauger 1978; Wino-
rigorously demonstrated via well-selected evalua- grad 1996). Gelernter (1998) terms the essence
tion methods (Basili 1996; Kleindorfer et al. 1998; of style in IS design machine beauty. He de-
Zelkowitz and Wallace 1998). scribes it as a marriage between simplicity and



power that drives innovation in science and formalisms, ontologies (Wand and Weber
technology. Simon (1996) also notes the impor- 1993, 1995; Weber 1997), problem and
tance of style in the design process. The ability to solution representations, design algorithms
creatively vary the design process, within the (Storey et al. 1997), and innovative
limits of satisfactory constraints, challenges and information systems (Aiken 1991; Markus et
adds value to designers who participate in the al. 2002; Walls et al. 1992) are examples of
process. such artifacts.

3. Methodologies. Finally, the creative develop-
Guideline 4: Research Contributions ment and use of evaluation methods (e.g.,
experimental, analytical, observational,
Effective design-science research must provide testing, and descriptive) and new evaluation
clear contributions in the areas of the design metrics provide design-science research
artifact, design construction knowledge (i.e., foun- contributions. Measures and evaluation
dations), and/or design evaluation knowledge (i.e., metrics in particular are crucial components
methodologies). The ultimate assessment for any of design-science research. The right-facing
research is, “What are the new and interesting arrow at the bottom of the figure from IS
contributions?” Design-science research holds Research to the Knowledge Base in Figure 2
the potential for three types of research contri- also indicates these contributions. TAM, for
butions based on the novelty, generality, and example, presents a framework for predicting
significance of the designed artifact. One or more and explaining why a particular information
of these contributions must be found in a given system will or will not be accepted in a given
research project. organizational setting (Venkatesh 2000).
Although TAM is posed as a behavioral
1. The Design Artifact. Most often, the contribu- theory, it also provides metrics by which a
tion of design-science research is the artifact designed information system or implemen-
itself. The artifact must enable the solution of tation process can be evaluated. Its implica-
heretofore unsolved problems. It may extend tions for design itself are as yet unexplored.
the knowledge base (see below) or apply
existing knowledge in new and innovative Criteria for assessing contribution focus on
ways. As shown in Figure 2 by the left-facing representational fidelity and implementability.
arrow at the bottom of the figure from IS Artifacts must accurately represent the business
Research to the Environment, exercising the and technology environments used in the
artifact in the environment produces research, information systems themselves being
significant value to the constituent IS models of the business. These artifacts must be
community. System development method- “implementable,” hence the importance of instan-
ologies, design tools, and prototype systems tiating design science artifacts. Beyond these,
(e.g., GDSS, expert systems) are examples however, the research must demonstrate a clear
of such artifacts. contribution to the business environment, solving
an important, previously unsolved problem.
2. Foundations. The creative development of
novel, appropriately evaluated constructs,
models, methods, or instantiations that Guideline 5: Research Rigor
extend and improve the existing foundations
in the design-science knowledge base are Rigor addresses the way in which research is
also important contributions. The right-facing conducted. Design-science research requires the
arrow at the bottom of the figure from IS application of rigorous methods in both the
Research to the Knowledge Base in Figure 2 construction and evaluation of the designed
indicates these contributions. Modeling artifact. In behavioral-science research, rigor is



often assessed by adherence to appropriate data comparability, subject selection, training, time,
collection and analysis techniques. Over- and tasks. Methods for this type of evaluation are
emphasis on rigor in behavioral IS research has not unlike those for justifying or testing behavioral
often resulted in a corresponding lowering of theories. However, the principal aim is to deter-
relevance (Lee 1999). mine how well an artifact works, not to theorize
about or prove anything about why the artifact
Design-science research often relies on mathe- works. This is where design-science and
matical formalism to describe the specified and behavioral-science researchers must complement
constructed artifact. However, the environments one another. Because design-science artifacts
in which IT artifacts must perform and the artifacts are often the “machine” part of the human-
themselves may defy excessive formalism. Or, in machine system constituting an information sys-
an attempt to be mathematically rigorous, tem, it is imperative to understand why an artifact
important parts of the problem may be abstracted works or does not work to enable new artifacts to
or “assumed away.” In particular, with respect to be constructed that exploit the former and avoid
the construction activity, rigor must be assessed the latter.
with respect to the applicability and generali-
zability of the artifact. Again, an overemphasis on
rigor can lessen relevance. We argue, along with Guideline 6: Design as a
behavioral IS researchers (Applegate 1999), that Search Process
it is possible and necessary for all IS research
paradigms to be both rigorous and relevant. Design science is inherently iterative. The search
for the best, or optimal, design is often intractable
In both design-science and behavioral-science for realistic information systems problems.
research, rigor is derived from the effective use of Heuristic search strategies produce feasible, good
the knowledge base—theoretical foundations and designs that can be implemented in the business
research methodologies. Success is predicated environment. Simon (1996) describes the nature
on the researcher’s skilled selection of appropriate of the design process as a Generate/Test Cycle
techniques to develop or construct a theory or (Figure 3).
artifact and the selection of appropriate means to
justify the theory or evaluate the artifact. Design is essentially a search process to discover
an effective solution to a problem. Problem
Claims about artifacts are typically dependent solving can be viewed as utilizing available means
upon performance metrics. Even formal mathe- to reach desired ends while satisfying laws
matical proofs rely on evaluation criteria against existing in the environment (Simon 1996).
which the performance of an artifact can be Abstraction and representation of appropriate
measured. Design-science researchers must means, ends, and laws are crucial components of
constantly assess the appropriateness of their design-science research. These factors are prob-
metrics and the construction of effective metrics is lem and environment dependent and invariably
an important part of design-science research. involve creativity and innovation. Means are the
set of actions and resources available to construct
Furthermore, designed artifacts are often com- a solution. Ends represent goals and constraints
ponents of a human-machine problem-solving on the solution. Laws are uncontrollable forces in
system. For such artifacts, knowledge of behav- the environment. Effective design requires knowl-
ioral theories and empirical work are necessary to edge of both the application domain (e.g., require-
construct and evaluate such artifacts. Constructs, ments and constraints) and the solution domain
models, methods, and instantiations must be (e.g., technical and organizational).
exercised within appropriate environments.
Appropriate subject groups must be obtained for Design-science research often simplifies a prob-
such studies. Issues that are addressed include lem by explicitly representing only a subset of the



Generate
Design
Alternatives

Test Alternatives
Against
Requirements/Constraints

Figure 3. The Generate/Test Cycle

relevant means, ends, and laws or by decom- may not be possible to determine, let alone
posing a problem into simpler subproblems. Such explicitly describe, the relevant means, ends, or
simplifications and decompositions may not be laws (Vessey and Glass 1998). Even when it is
realistic enough to have a significant impact on possible to do so, the sheer size and complexity of
practice but may represent a starting point. the solution space will often render the problem
Progress is made iteratively as the scope of the computationally infeasible. For example, to build
design problem is expanded. As means, ends, a “reliable, secure, and responsive information
and laws are refined and made more realistic, the systems infrastructure,” one of the key issues
design artifact becomes more relevant and faced by IS managers (Brancheau et al. 1996), a
valuable. The means, ends, and laws for IS designer would need to represent all possible
design problems can often be represented using infrastructures (means), determine their utility and
the tools of mathematics and operations research. constraints (ends), and specify all cost and benefit
Means are represented by decision variables constants (laws). Clearly such an approach is
whose values constitute an implementable design infeasible. However, this does not mean that
solution. Ends are represented using a utility design-science research is inappropriate for such
function and constraints that can be expressed in a problem.
terms of decision variables and constants. Laws
are represented by the values of constants used In such situations, the search is for satisfactory
in the utility function and constraints. solutions, i.e., satisficing (Simon 1996), without
explicitly specifying all possible solutions. The
The set of possible design solutions for any design task involves the creation, utilization, and
problem is specified as all possible means that assessment of heuristic search strategies. That
satisfy all end conditions consistent with identified is, constructing an artifact that “works” well for the
laws. When these can be formulated appro- specified class of problems. Although its con-
priately and posed mathematically, standard struction is based on prior theory and existing
operations research techniques can be used to design knowledge, it may or may not be entirely
determine an optimal solution for the specified clear why it works or the extent of its generaliza-
end conditions. Given the wicked nature of many bility; it simply qualifies as “credentialed knowl-
information system design problems, however, it edge” (Meehl 1986, p. 311). While it is important



to understand why an artifact works, the critical should be committed to constructing (or pur-
nature of design in IS makes it important to first chasing) and using the artifact within their specific
establish that it does work and to characterize the organizational context. Zmud (1997) suggests
environments in which it works, even if we cannot that presentation of design-science research for a
completely explain why it works. This enables IS managerial audience requires an emphasis not on
practitioners to take advantage of the artifact to the inherent nature of the artifact itself, but on the
improve practice and provides a context for knowledge required to effectively apply the artifact
additional research aimed at more fully explicating “within specific contexts for individual or organi-
the resultant phenomena. Markus et al. (2002), zational gain” (p. ix). That is, the emphasis must
for example, describe their search process in be on the importance of the problem and the
terms of iteratively identifying deficiencies in novelty and effectiveness of the solution approach
constructed prototype software systems and realized in the artifact. While we agree with this
creatively developing solutions to address them. statement, we note that it may be necessary to
describe the artifact in some detail to enable
The use of heuristics to find “good” design solu- managers to appreciate its nature and understand
tions opens the question of how goodness is its application. Presenting that detail in concise,
measured. Different problem representations may well-organized appendices, as advised by Zmud,
provide varying techniques for measuring how is an appropriate communication mechanism for
good a solution is. One approach is to prove or such an audience.
demonstrate that a heuristic design solution is
always within close proximity of an optimal solu-
tion. Another is to compare produced solutions
with those constructed by expert human designers
for the same problem situation. Application of the Design
Science Research
Guidelines
Guideline 7: Communication
of Research To illustrate the application of the design-science
guidelines to IS research, we have selected three
Design-science research must be presented both exemplar articles for analysis from three different
to technology-oriented as well as management- IS journals, one from Decision Support Systems,
oriented audiences. Technology-oriented audi- one from Information Systems Research, and one
ences need sufficient detail to enable the from MIS Quarterly. Each has strengths and
described artifact to be constructed (implemented) weaknesses when viewed through the lens of the
and used within an appropriate organizational above guidelines. Our goal is not to perform a
context. This enables practitioners to take advan- critical evaluation of the quality of the research
tage of the benefits offered by the artifact and it contributions, but rather to illuminate the design-
enables researchers to build a cumulative knowl- science guidelines. The articles are
edge base for further extension and evaluation. It
is also important for such audiences to under- • Gavish and Gerdes (1998), which develops
stand the processes by which the artifact was techniques for implementing anonymity in
constructed and evaluated. This establishes Group Decision Support Systems (GDSS)
repeatability of the research project and builds the environments
knowledge base for further research extensions by
design-science researchers in IS. • Aalst and Kumar (2003), which proposes a
design for an eXchangeable Routing Lan-
Management-oriented audiences need sufficient guage (XRL) to support electronic commerce
detail to determine if the organizational resources workflows among trading partners



• Markus, Majchrzak, and Gasser (2002), GDSS environment and then study the individual,
which proposes a design theory for the group, or organizational implications using a
development of information systems built to behavioral-science research paradigm. Several
support emergent knowledge processes such GDSS papers have appeared in MIS
Quarterly (e.g., Dickson et al. 1993; Gallupe et al.
The fundamental questions for design-science 1988; Jarvenpaa et al. 1988; Sengupta and Te’eni
research are, “What utility does the new artifact 1993).
provide?” and “What demonstrates that utility?”
Evidence must be presented to address these two The central role of design science in GDSS is
questions. That is the essence of design science. clearly recognized in the early foundation papers
Contribution arises from utility. If existing artifacts of the field. The University of Arizona Electronic
are adequate, then design-science research that Meeting System group, for example, states the
creates a new artifact is unnecessary (it is need for both developmental and empirical
irrelevant). If the new artifact does not map ade- research agendas (Dennis et al. 1988; Nuna-
quately to the real world (rigor), it cannot provide maker et al. 1991b). Developmental, or design-
utility. If the artifact does not solve the problem science, research is called for in the areas of
(search, implementability), it has no utility. If utility
process structures and support and task struc-
is not demonstrated (evaluation), then there is no
tures and support. Process structure and support
basis upon which to accept the claims that it
technologies and methods are generic to all
provides any contribution (contribution). Further-
GDSS environments and tasks. Technologies
more, if the problem, the artifact, and its utility are
and methods for distributed communications,
not presented in a manner such that the implica-
group memory, decision-making methods, and
tions for research and practice are clear, then
anonymity are a few of the critical design issues
publication in the IS literature is not appropriate
for GDSS process support needed in any task
(communication).
domain. Task structure and support are specific
to the problem domain under consideration by the
group (e.g., medical decision making, software
The Design and Implementation development). Task support includes the design
of Anonymity in GDSS: of new technologies and methods for managing
Gavish and Gerdes and analyzing task-related information and using
that information to make specific, task-related
The study of group decision support systems decisions.
(GDSS) has been and remains one of the most
visible and successful research streams in the IS The issue of anonymity has been studied
field. The use of information technology to effec- extensively in GDSS environments. Behavioral
tively support meetings of groups of different sizes research studies have shown both positive and
over time and space is a real problem that negative impacts on group interactions. On the
challenges all business organizations. Recent positive side, GDSS participants can express their
GDSS literature surveys demonstrate the large views freely without fear of embarrassment or
numbers of GDSS research papers published in reprisal. However, anonymity can encourage free-
the IS field and, more importantly, the wide variety riding and antisocial behaviors. While the pros
of research paradigms applied to GDSS research and cons of anonymity in GDSS are much
(e.g., Dennis and Wixom 2001; Fjermestad and researched, there has been a noticeable lack of
Hiltz 1998; Nunamaker et al. 1996). However, research on the design of techniques for imple-
only a small number of GDSS papers can be menting anonymity in GDSS environments.
considered to make true design-science research Gavish and Gerdes (1998) address this issue by
contributions. Most assume the introduction of a designing five basic mechanisms to provide
new information technology or process in the GDSS procedural anonymity.



Problem Relevance design mechanisms to satisfy the system
requirements for anonymity. Proposed designs
The amount of interest and research on anonymity are presented and anonymity claims are proved to
issues in GDSS testifies to its relevance. Field be correct. A thorough discussion of the costs
studies and surveys clearly indicate that partici- and benefits of the proposed anonymity
pants rank anonymity as a highly desired attribute mechanisms is provided in Section 4 of the paper.
in the GDSS system. Many individuals state that
they would refuse to participate in or trust the
results of a GDSS meeting without a satisfactory Design as an Artifact
level of assured anonymity (Fjermestad and Hiltz
1998). The authors design a GDSS system architecture
that provides a rigorous level of procedural
anonymity. Five mechanisms are employed to
Research Rigor ensure participant anonymity:

Gavish and Gerdes base their GDSS anonymity • All messages are encrypted with a unique
designs on past research in the fields of crypto- session key
graphy and secure network communication proto-
cols (e.g., Chaum 1981; Schneier 1996). These • The sender’s header information is removed
research areas have a long history of formal, from all messages
rigorous results that have been applied to the
design of many practical security and privacy • All messages are re-encrypted upon retrans-
mechanisms. Appendix A of the exemplar paper mission from any GDSS server
provides a set of formal proofs that the claims
made by the authors for the anonymity designs • Transmission order of messages is ran-
are correct and draw their validity from the domized
knowledge base of this past research.
• Artificial messages are introduced to thwart
traffic analysis
Design as a Search Process
The procedures and communication protocols that
The authors motivate their design science implement these mechanisms in a GDSS system
research by identifying three basic types of anony- are the artifacts of this research.
mity in a GDSS system: environmental, content,
and procedural. After a definition and brief dis-
cussion of each type, they focus on the design of Design Evaluation
mechanisms for procedural anonymity; the ability
of the GDSS system to hide the source of any The evaluation consists of two reported activities.
message. This is a very difficult requirement First, in Appendix A, each mechanism is proved to
because standard network protocols typically correctly provide the claimed anonymity benefits.
attach source information in headers to support Formal proof methods are used to validate the
reliable transmission protocols. Thus, GDSS sys- effectiveness of the designed mechanisms.
tems must modify standard communication proto- Second, Section 4 presents a thorough cost-
cols and include additional transmission proce- benefit analysis. It is shown that the operational
dures to ensure required levels of anonymity. costs of supporting the proposed anonymity
mechanisms can be quite significant. In addition,
The design-science process employed by the the communication protocols to implement the
authors is to state the desired procedural anony- mechanisms add considerable complexity to the
mity attributes of the GDSS system and then to system. Thus, the authors recommend that a



cost-benefit justification be performed before business processes. Workflow management
determining the level of anonymity to implement systems are becoming integral components of
for a GDSS meeting. many commercial enterprise-wide information
systems (Leymann and Roller 2000). Standards
The authors do not claim to have implemented the for workflow semantics and syntax (i.e., workflow
proposed anonymity mechanisms in a prototype languages) and workflow architectures are
or actual GDSS system. Thus, an instantiation of promulgated by the Workflow Management
the designed artifact remains to be evaluated in Coalition (WfMC 2000). While workflow models
an operational GDSS environment. have been used for many years to manage intra-
organizational business processes, there is now a
great demand for effective tools to model inter-
Research Contributions organization processes across heterogeneous
and distributed environments, such as those found
The design-science contributions of this research
in electronic commerce and complex supply
are the proposed anonymity mechanisms as the
chains (Kumar and Zhao 2002).
design artifacts and the evaluation results in the
form of formal proofs and cost-benefit analyses.
Aalst and Kumar (2003) investigate the problem of
These contributions advance our understanding of
exchanging business process information across
how best to provide participant anonymity in
GDSS meetings. multiple organizations in an automated manner.
They design an eXchangable Routing Language
(XRL) to capture workflow models that are then
Research Communication embedded in eXtensible Markup Language (XML)
for electronic transmission to all participants in an
Although the presentation of this research is interorganizational business process. The design
aimed at an audience familiar with network system of XRL is based upon Petri nets, which provide a
concepts such as encryption and communication formal basis for analyzing the correctness and
protocols, the paper also contains important, performance of the workflows, as well as
useful information for a managerial audience. supporting the extensibility of the language. The
Managers should have a good understanding of authors develop a workflow management archi-
the implications of anonymity in GDSS meetings. tecture and a prototype implementation to
This understanding must include an appreciation evaluate XRL in a proof of concept.
of the costs of providing desired levels of
participant anonymity. While the authors provide
a thorough discussion of cost-benefit tradeoffs Problem Relevance
toward the end of the paper, the paper would be
more accessible to a managerial audience if it Interorganizational electronic commerce is
included a stronger motivation up front on the growing rapidly and is projected to soon exceed
important implications of anonymity in GDSS one trillion dollars annually (eMarketer 2002). A
system development and operations.
multitude of electronic commerce solutions are
being proposed (e.g., ebXML, UDDI, RosettaNet)
to enable businesses to execute transactions in
A Workflow Language for Inter- standardized, open environments. While XML has
organizational Processes: been widely accepted as a protocol for ex-
Aalst and Kumar changing business data, there is still no clear
standard for exchanging business process infor-
Workflow models are an effective means for de- mation (e.g., workflow models). This is the very
scribing, analyzing, implementing, and managing relevant problem addressed by this research.



Research Rigor Design as an Artifact

Research on workflow modeling has long been There are two clearly identifiable artifacts pro-
based on rigorous mathematical techniques such duced in this research. First, the workflow lan-
as Markov chains, queueing networks, and Petri guage XRL is designed. XRL is based on Petri-
nets (Aalst and Hee 2002). In this paper, Petri net formalisms and described in XML syntax.
nets provide the underlying semantics for XRL. Interorganizational business processes are
These formal semantics allow for powerful analy- specified via XRL for execution in a distributed,
sis techniques (e.g., correctness, performance) to heterogeneous environment.
be applied to the designed workflow models.
Such formalisms also enable the development of The second research artifact is the XRL/flower
automated tools to manipulate and analyze com- workflow management architecture in which XRL-
plex workflow designs. Each language construct described processes are executed. The XRL
in XRL has an equivalent Petri-net representation routing scheme is parsed by an XML parser and
presented in the paper. The language is exten- stored as an XML data structure. This structure is
sible in that adding a new construct simply read into a Petri-net engine which determines the
requires defining its Petri-net representation and next step of the business process and informs the
adding its syntax to the XRL. Thus, this research next task provider via an e-mail message. Results
draws from a clearly defined and tested base of of each task are sent back to the engine which
modeling literature and knowledge. then executes the next step in the process until
completion. The paper presents a prototype
implementation of the XRL/flower architecture as
Design as a Search Process a proof of concept (Aalst and Kumar 2003).

XRL is designed in the paper by performing a Another artifact of this research is a workflow
thorough analysis of business process require- verification tool named Wolfan that verifies the
ments and identifying features provided by leading soundness of business process workflows.
commercial workflow management systems. Soundness of a workflow requires that the
Using the terminology from the paper, workflows workflow terminates, no Petri-net tokens are left
traverse routes through available tasks (i.e., behind upon termination, and there are no dead
business services) in the electronic business tasks in the workflow. This verification tool is
environment. The basic routing constructs of XRL described more completely in a different paper
define the specific control flow of the business (Aalst 1999).
process. The authors build 13 basic constructs
into XRL: Task, Sequence, Any_sequence,
Choice, Condition, Parallel_sync, Parallel_no_ Design Evaluation
sync, Parallel_part_sync, Wait_all, Wait_any,
While_do, Stop, and Terminate. They show the The authors evaluate the XRL and XRL/flower
Petri-net representation of each construct. Thus, designs in several important ways:
the fundamental control flow structures of
sequence, decision, iteration, and concurrency are • XRL is compared and contrasted with lan-
supported in XRL. guages in existing commercial workflow
systems and research prototypes. The
The authors demonstrate the capabilities of XRL majority of these languages are proprietary
in several examples. However, they are careful and difficult to adapt to ad hoc business
not to claim that XRL is complete in the formal process design.
sense that all possible business processes can be
modeled in XRL. The search for a complete set of • The fit of XRL with proposed standards is
XRL constructs is left for future research. studied. In particular, the Interoperability Wf-



XML Binding standard (WfMC 2000) does not Information Systems Design for
at this time include the specification of control Emergent Knowledge Processes:
flow and, thus, is not suitable for inter- Markus, Majchrzak, and Gasser
organizational workflows. Electronic com-
merce standards (e.g., RosettaNet) provide Despite decades of research and development
some level of control flow specification for efforts, effective methods for developing infor-
predefined business activities, but do not mation systems that meet the information require-
readily allow the ad hoc specification of ments of upper management remain elusive.
business processes. Early approaches used a “waterfall” approach
where requirements were defined and validated
• A research prototype of XRL/flower has been prior to initiating design efforts which, in turn, were
implemented and several of the user interface completed prior to implementation (Royce 1998).
screens are presented. The screens demon- Prototyping approaches emerged next, followed
strate a mail-order routing schema case by numerous proposals including CASE tool-
study. based approaches, rapid application development,
and extreme programming (Kruchten 2000).
• The Petri-net foundation of XRL allows the Walls et al. (1992) propose a framework for a
authors to claim the XRL workflows can be prescriptive information system design theory
verified for correctness and performance. aimed at enabling designers to construct “more
XRL is extensible since new constructs can effective information systems” (p. 36). They apply
be added to the language based on their this framework to the design of vigilant executive
translation to underlying Petri-net repre- information systems. The framework establishes
sentations. However, as discussed above, a class of user requirements (model of design
the authors do not make a formal claim for problems) that are most effectively addressed
the representational completeness of XRL. using a particular type of system solution
(instantiation) designed using a prescribed set of
development practices (methods). Markus et al.
Research Contributions (2002) extend this framework to the development
of information systems to support emergent
The clear contributions of this research are the knowledge processes (EKPs)—processes in
design artifacts—XRL (a workflow language), which structure is “neither possible nor desirable”
XRL/flower (a workflow architecture and its (p. 182) and where processes are characterized
implemented prototype system), and Wolfan (a by “highly unpredictable user types and work
Petri-net verification engine). Another interesting contexts” (p. 183).
contribution is the extension of XML in its ability to
describe and transmit routing schemas (e.g.,
control flow information) to support interorgani- Problem Relevance
zational electronic commerce.
The relevance and importance of the problem are
well demonstrated. Markus et al. describe a class
Research Communication of management activities that they term emergent
knowledge processes (EKPs). These include
This paper provides clear information to both “basic research, new product development,
technical and managerial audiences. The presen- strategic business planning, and organization
tation, while primarily technical with XML coding design” (p. 179). They are characterized by “pro-
and Petri-net diagrams throughout, motivates a cess emergence, unpredictable user types and
managerial audience with a strong introduction on use contexts, and distributed expert knowledge”
risks and benefits of applying interorganizational (p. 186). They are crucial to many manufacturing
workflows to electronic commerce applications. organizations, particularly those in high-tech


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